yonny

This was yesterday afternoon. By morning it looked just like the posts above. Glad to get home for once.

I use the ESP tapered mono shock-leaders for my big water. They've been around forever and admittedly I'm a bit of a dinosaur when I find tackle I trust - I hate to change. They do the job and are very reliable. Don't discount an even finer mainline to get the most out of the leader. I've gone as low as 0.28 without issues. Obviously it all depends on how weedy your water is.

The Trent Baits shelfies are v good. They're only partially "shelfied" in that they have very low levels of preserves/stabilisers. Unopened they last a year, once the bag is opened they'll last 2 months. Trent took years getting these just right (a couple of us on here almost gave up waiting for them) but the wait was worth it. I use the Freshwater Shrimp but you see people raving about most of their recipes.

So last night I picked up a set of 3pc Harrison Ballista 9 footers. Built by Vic Gibson. Nice little addition to the collection 😃

Me too. Awesome stuff.

I'd be starting my search here... constant food source for them..... but with one day and one rod to play with I'd not even be tackling up until I'd seen a sign of carp.

Wherever you find the carp mate !!

Inbuilt should be enough, especially with two bank stick lights fella 👍👍

What are they Kev?

The bank stick lights just give you enough for the camera to set its focus point. For the shot itself, a flash is essential imo. If you have a half decent flash, I would recommend using the same settings as day time tbh.

Yeah that's a cracking tip.

I'm familiar with the manufacturing process for packaging materials (bags) and assuming PVA is the same, the bags will be cut/sealed with heat in one operation (so prior to this process you'll just have one long PVA tube rather than a string of bags to be cut). If a tube is what you're after it's worth pursuing. If it's a string of bags you're after, you may be wasting your time.

It was, but they don't do them anymore. I think the X3 is the equivalent nowadays.

Google recons 25% of your total liquids for a shelf life of 12 months and 10-15% for 2-3 months.

I'm up for it.

More like a resurgence of an old trend I think. A set of 9's is a good addition to the collection for those that can afford and/or keep multiple sets. For me, a decent set of 12's (or even 13's) is more versatile as a single set. I personally prefer an extra set of 12's with a softer action as a second set rather than 9s.... more useful for fishing the types of waters I fish. It's only recently I've considered a set of 9s for one particular water I have a ticket for. It's a bit of a maze, overgrown, and requires boat work to land them from several swims. Nine's aint essential, but they'd help. Struggling to justify the spend on a non-essential though.

Stiffer but with less of a wiry feel.

Voted pink, but tbh I couldn't choose one. Pink is a great starting point, but white can be lethal over bait. I've also done well on red when the going gets tough. I think, like rigs, it's all about confidence.

Fair play. But bare in mind you're leaving live rigs out there when the pike are cutting you off. Maybe change to lead clips and tubing?

Can't you just whack a leader on?

It still winds me up tbf. I've paid probably tens of thousands in tickets over the years and not once have I seen any syndicate I've been on benefit from license fees. I had a club ticket for the past few years which I thought made the license fee easier to swallow but even then I saw nothing. If I fished the rivers then I'd think the license is a bargain but I don't. Imo your average carp angler sees nothing from license fees. It's just another tax. I've only been checked once in the last 25 years. It was the 1st of April about 10-15 years ago, on a day ticket place, and I hadn't had time to renew (schoolboy error). To be fair to them they checked my history on their little tablet thingy and saw I'd had a license continuously for years. They let me get the license online there and then. Got a letter a while later saying no action taken. Fair play to them.

I agree. I did get the option to receive a paper license this year and went for it..... same artwork as last year 👎. Obviously clearing stocks. I've saved every paper licenses since the Miller art started. At some point I plan to get them all in a frame, will make a nice edition to my carp room.

Tbh if the X-Stiff aint stiff enough you have little choice but to go to a high memory stiff/bristle/chod filament type material. I've not come across any coated braid stiffer than the X-Stiff. Any decent stiff filament will do. I've used Gardner, Korda, and ESP stuff over the years. They're all much of a muchness imo. Knots are dead easy with super stiff stuff - just do a 2 turn blood knot. Doesn't get any easier 😃 Yup. Something a little different. Their CAMH20 stiff link is decent too and also a bit different to others on the market. It pulls straight!

Has to be the reels, all Daiwa. GS3000's and SS3000's, both from the early nineties, and 5000T's from the mid nineties (they still make this model today which says a lot). All heavy, and a bit clunky, but proper reliable - bombproof. Also have a British Army NI Patrol Pack which refuses to die. Been using it for years.

That's awesome @elmoputney. Colours on it!