yonny

The Hideout is a size up from the Lo Pro buddy so it might not be as bad. I've not seen one set up yet so couldn't confirm.

That always happens to me....... I'm always holding back on buying new books as I'm busy spending a small fortune on books that are no longer available. By the time I get round to buying the newer ones they too are no longer available and worth ££££££. If my Mrs knew what I spent on all these books she'd go absolutely mental.

I'm thinking of continuing Vik's flavour of the week threads and thought shelters would be a good'n to cover. Imo there's no such thing as the perfect shelter. There's shelters that do certain things perfectly but they'll fall short at doing something else. A really good all rounder is the Armo, of which I've had a couple and liked them a lot, but they're quite heavy (~12/13 kg) hence I ditched them in favour of a lighter alternative to suit my mobile angling approach. Therefore my choice of shelter is made based solely on weight and ease/speed of set-up. I absolutely loved the mk1 Supa Brolly. I'm aware quite a few peeps had problems with them leaking but I have to say mine was the nuts. No issues with quality whatsoever. It was light (4.5 kg) and reasonably quick to erect/take down. However, Fox did the unthinkable and released the mk2 which used the thicker Ventec material (imo this was a really stupid mistake - they tried to solve the leaking problem by changing the material when it wasn't the material that was leaking at all, it was the bell cap!). This increased weight to 6.5 kg therefore when my mk1 was worn out from dragging it round gravel pits I knew I needed a different option. I 'ummed' and 'arred' for ages about what to get and very nearly bought a Tempest Brolly (4 kg and quicker to erect than the Supa) after seeing a few mates with them. That was until ESP released the Lo Pro. The Lo Pro, for my kind of angling, is about as close to perfect as you'll get. It weighs a minuscule 3.3 kg, lightest on the market. It can be set up in about a minute, and taken down in a minute and a half at a guess. Whereas before when I had the Armo's and needed to move to stay on fish I'd look at my set up and dread it, with the Lo Pro it's easy just to pull it down and chuck it on the barrow. It's so easy and quick to put up I'll often chance it and not bother - if it starts to rain I can always whack it up in 60 seconds. There is of course a price for this weight/ease and that is space.... it's not the biggest shelter I've ever had. At 6 ft 3" I'm not the smallest fella in the world either so while it's fine for sleeping in (it takes my compact bedchair easily) it aint the most comfortable to sit in. I have to lean slightly forward so's not to hit my head on the brolly mechanism. This is usually no problem as I'm out and about looking, up trees, on the move.... However, when we see heavy rain it's a bit of a ball-ache sitting all scrunched up trying to stay dry. But.... that is a sacrifice I'm prepared to make to stay mobile. Comfort is low on my list of priorities. The material aint very thick either, but I don't mind that one bit, it is where the weight is saved. I've been using it maybe a year now with no leaking or similar issues. No tears. Not a problem. I saw Trakker released the v2 of the Tempest Brolly which has increased in weight (noooooo)!!! That eliminates it from my thoughts when the time comes to replace the Lo Pro. Nash bought out the hide which is lighter than the TB meaning it's a genuine option, and it looks quicker to erect than the TB too. But if I'm honest, if I had to buy tomorrow, I'd get another Lo Pro. Yes it's small, yes it looks flimsy due to the thin material, but when I'm on the move with all my kit 5 minutes after seeing a carp bosh down the other end of the pit it all seems worth it. So lads, what are your priorities when it comes to a shelter and what did you buy with those in mind??

Likewise! Have you read his book @B.C.? It's right up there with Tel's imo. Proper captivating stuff.

ESP have made some truly magical vids in the last year or so. Search 'Terry Hearn' and you should find them.

Same almost everywhere nowadays buddy. It's nearly impossible for the average angler to find waters with numbers of big fish that aint very highly pressured.

This is brilliant.

Good luck @greekskii.

Trent View is half hour from Grantham buddy might be worth a look.

MCF the best for sure. All I used when I did use them.

Agree, I'm sure we'd all love to plan our regular fishing trips around the moon phases but in reality it's just not possible for most with real life getting in the way. We go when we can! Funny that, I have it booked off too lol.

Lol. So Mr/Mrs Spomb cashed in when their patent was rumbled by a new design (dot spod). Bet they didn't get anywhere near what it must have been worth a couple of years ago. Still, good business for them and good business for Fox I guess. Now the two options (dot spod/spomb) are owned by the biggest firms in the business they are free to do as they please with prices.......

Henchman style! I have heard of anglers seeing this. Not seen it myself but I have seen carp seemingly protecting others i.e. nudging them away from hookbaits!

Just use the one you have dude. See B.C.'s post.

For sure Vik but I don't think a pit with 8 carp in it can be compared to a water stacked full of pasties!

Interesting that this weekend I saw nothing on each morning despite getting up at 4 am every day. There was no feeding activity at all until the hot conditions subsided. Then when the winds got up and rain started falling they started showing like clockwork. Just goes to show that no matter what we think of bite times sometimes it just won't happen if conditions aint right.

I'll let you persevere with that one bud!

I just use my carp rod with a bare lead to mark up. I carry a spod rod, needs must, but a marker is just one more thing to carry which offers no major benefit imo. Never use a float tbh. I can count the lead down to get a rough depth. Feeding carp probably serve as my most effective marker. If I can find a clear spot where they are or have been active I'm more than happy.

It looks like it has a stiff fluoro boom so it'd be good for cleaner gravel areas. Over the silt and weed I'd go for something less stiff buddy.

John Llewellyn? A very interesting piece. I don't buy it one bit if I'm honest B.C. I've caught plenty of bigguns over freshly baited areas. In addition to that, older fish are not necessarily bigger fish - plenty top out at 20's. Some even less than that. That makes sense to me fella.

How did you get on @B.C.?? It still looked banging around here when I left the lake yesterday morning. I would have killed for another night!

The moon does more than just affect the tides, it causes them buddy! Very interesting theory mate and something I've not really thought about.

The stiff hinge is a pop up rig bud. If you want to fish a snowman have a think about a simple fluoro D rig.

There's mo such thing as a cheap dull copy dude. It's a simple mix of chemicals, they're all the same thing. They only dull with age. Get the cheapest you can find.

Some anglers swear by this as a big fish tactic (fishing off the baited area). I'm not so sure but defo worth a try fella.