yonny

Agree, BAF do really good gear. I also agree that it's a labour of love. Once you've factored in the cost of your time it's not that much cheaper than some of the decent off-the-shelf baits nowadays imo.

Biggin is more of a match lake, or used to be anyway. I remember going with my brother years ago, fished it on the quiver tip with corn and pellet. Had a rake of fish, also from close in.

Sticks for me, just for versatility.

That.

What I do when fishing silty waters is saturate my freebies in a mixture of water and liquid food i.e a hydroslate, this stops them taking on the silt. With those freebies comes the feeding situation (assuming they're put in the right place) which allows you to fish pretty much anything over the top. Regards shallow/deep water and pop ups/bottom baits, I don't think it makes a difference. The buoyancy of a bait (be that highly buoyant or not buoyant at all) should imo be chosen the suit the rig that will present effectively in the given substrate i.e. bottom baits on a clean deck and pop ups over weed or chod with wafters somewhere in between. I use pop ups for 99% of my fishing as I prefer the mechanics of pop up rigs and tend to fish weedy waters.

Interesting. What are your thoughts behind that buddy? I am of the opinion that if you can create a feeding situation effectively the hookbait isn't that important. As long as it's presented you'll get takes. It's creating that feeding situation that's the challenge.

In the UK there really is no need to tailor your hookbaits to specific depths imo. There are a few waters that might warrant it (Bundy's etc). But it's good to understand the principles all the same.

Good info ref depth/water pressure here too: https://www.properjobpopups.co.uk/water_pressure.php

The Ridgemnokey is overkill for UK angling imo. Decent for a week in France I guess (although the ANKER will do a phone for a week).

It'll work but you'll need some pretty poor pop ups for it to work in the next 12 months bud. You're better off getting some big wafters (20 mm or so), glugging them up and cutting them down to suit imo. Wafters are so variable I don't think you can plan for the correct buoyancy without adjusting to suit the specific rig/hook etc.

I use the ANKER jobbies, really good kit.

Also have them. Yup, nice and loose, easy to get on, great waders.

Absolutely agree bud, re-branding is ripping people off, fact, but Korda don't do that (or if they do I can't think of an example). They appear to me to have principles which is why I find it odd that they are a target for so many outspoken anglers. Trakker, Aqua, Nash, all guilty of ripping people off..... Nash recently obtained the old Taska tungsten range of products. On the chod beads they halved the qty in the pack and nigh-on doubled the price. Now I understand the purpose of any business is ultimately to yield profit but that is taking the mick imo.

It's a tricky one; I think developing ideas (copying and improving) is progress. Different to blatantly ripping off the exact same design.

That's not really fair lads. Korda designed both products, came up with the materials, determined how they could be made, designed tooling, and went through all the prototype phases. That is a process that takes many, many months and costs a hell of a lot. I know that because the company I work for design and manufacture products. NGT then essentially steal the designs (they can't be patented) and have them made for as cheap as possible to undercut them. So it's not really a case of NGT simply buying from the same factory, they are taking advantage of others hard work to make a quick buck for themselves.

With that budget I would actively seek a heavier reel buddy. At 50 quid a pop the only reason they'd be light is plastic components, you'll not find advanced composites etc for that kind of money. A heavier reel will last longer.

😲 Lucky boy!!

I tend to agree. I always do some serious research before buying anything. My objective is to buy the absolute best on the market for my kind of fishing (which is usually the mobile approach which means I need light, compact, and hard wearing gear). Sometimes it happens to be the most expensive, sometimes it's a cheaper alternative, either way I won't let price deter me from buying the best. Ultimately if what you buy isn't the best for you, you'll eventually end up replacing it regardless of whether it goes wrong or breaks. Imo the cheapest way in the long run is just to save the extra pennies and buy what you consider to be the best from the off.

Everything I've bought from NGT has been disgracefully poor quality. I used their snag ears and the thread stripped/ear cam flying off on the first take when I was fishing locked up to a snag tree. I was lucky to keep the rod, let alone land the fish. They're not fit for purpose and frankly dangerous for the fish. Tried their leads and one came off the swivel on the first cast. Tried their butt rests, the threads were all different lengths. I am not going anywhere near NGT stuff again. Funny you say that as the one thing I've heard good reports of is their 4 pc travel rod. It's supposed to be decent and it's dead cheap. I'm still not going near it though,

Yeah I heard all about this. Savage news for the lads that paid.

I'd be going for the biggun.

In this case I agree. No point in filling it in for a day session. Just enough for a bite. Unless you can fish several days sessions on the trot in which case it's worth working the spot imo.

They are the best none cork pop ups available imo. Flavours that have done me well include Fishy Peach, Pineapple/Butyric, Condensed Milk, Scopex Strawberry, Devils Dung (like a butyric acid kinda flavour, really stinks). I also use the their none flavoured hook baits for zigs, and for suspending alternative hook biats when the going gets tough. I'd use any of the flavours they do tbh. That Kevin that runs it really knows what he's doing.

I think with this increase in temps the shallow water may be good all through the night. I'd just bait both shallow and deep and fish whichever spot shows signs of activity/feeding. Try and feed a shallow spot to the right and a deeper spot the left or vice versa maybe, to account for line lay.

I agree. Least he could have done is given you a call!!!