yonny

There's an app called Fishing Calendar that tracks moon phases and calculates bite time for you. It is very interesting that bites often come during periods that the app says they should. I stopped using it as I can't plan my fishing round moon phases and found it would just do my head in when the app told me the weekend ahead was no good for bites lol. Amen.

Agree. You don't have to spend a fortune to get really decent rods nowadays. Some of the cheaper options are an absolute steal - a lot of rod for the money!

Imo there's not really any rod that can do everything perfectly but you can get pretty close. I've used all sorts over the years, currently use 2 sets religiously: 1 - Nick Buss X-Lite 'S' customs - These are as close as you'll get to a 'do everything' rod. They have a 3.25 TC butt section but the outer carbon weave past the top 4 rings is removed giving it the tip action of a 2.5 TC. What this means is it's stiff enough in the butt to cast a long way yet you have the control in the tip to fish 1 oz leads under the tips. If I cold only ever use one set of rods again these would be the ones. They're at home casting 4 ox leads 130 yards as they are flicking surface controllers out 10 or 20 yards. They blanks are designed by Nick and built by Century so you know they'll last (mine are maybe 6 years old and perform as well as the day I had them built). They're pretty cheap too - I think mine cost 750 quid which although we're talking a while ago was still cheap for custom rods. 2 - Harrison Trebuchet Lights (standard build) - These were purchased as my beast rods for when I need real distance but I have to say they perform much better at close range than I expected. Once I bought them I switched over just to play and as of today I've not yet switched back. They can really chuck a lead but what surprised me is how forgiving they are when playing fish (I've fished zigs on these with light lines and although I wouldn't exactly call it a balanced set up I've not struggled at all). Don't get me wrong, they can't compare to playing carp on a softer rod, but they're nowhere near as bad as I expected. They also make fishing at longer mid-range very, very easy, which I like. The 70-100 yard range is so, so effortless and accurate. I like them a lot. These two sets pretty much cover everything I do. I have got an old mk1 Warrior I use for surface fishing although I'd be more than happy using the X-Lites for this. There's nothing on the market at the moment that makes me want to change anything so I'm more than happy. Maybe one day I'll look at getting a dedicated stalking rod (9/10ft jobby) but so far I've never needed to. I do like the look of the Dymag stalking rods I have to say but tbh I like a 12 ft rod to control fish even in tighter situations. I'm not sold on these shorter rods for general use. Talk about limiting yourself for no reason...... makes no sense imo.

Pretty sure the Shimmy Aero Carp marker is 3 lb tc which means yours is a carp rod. It'll be fine for fishing with buddy.

@Lumeymorris jeeeeeeeezzzz what a result!!! Well done to both of you. What a session!!!! Glad the advice helped in some way mate!

It's 2018! Go for titanium mate. All the performance without the weight!

Trooper!

I can imagine there's plenty of people worried about the impact of any potential heavy storms in the near future.

Massive algae blooms and sporadic spawning. I'm avoiding it at the mo and certainly feeling the withdrawal symptoms. Based on Saturday nights game I would agree mate. ICH!

I was fishing with a mate a few years ago, he had a beautiful rottweiler called Bear (rip). He was lining up to cast a bag, hit it, and couldn't cast. Turned round and Bear was chewing away on the bag lol, he wasn't hooked thank God!

Interesting..... Like this one??? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thermacell-Mosquito-Midge-M300-Repeller/202326281994?epid=24019996682&hash=item2f1b960f0a:g:oeEAAOSwt5VbDoGf

Don't suppose you'd care to share it?

Nutter lol.... I have to be really careful they love me so much. I was in Cuba last year and we went exploring the swamps. Despite literally dousing myself in several types of repellent I got bitten thousands of times, so many times I got very ill indeed, I was in bed being sick for 2 days. Even in the UK I'd not be able to fishing without some kind of repellent. They eat me alive!

I can't disagree with that Vik. I find though that they'll up-end, bob up and down for a bit trying to get at it, then get bored and do the off. That said, I find they can be better/worse on different waters and even from bird to bird, like different personalities, some are more persistent than others. Some are downright aggressive! I'll re-phrase and say on my current water 4 ft+ is OK for swans.

I think you need to evaluate the angling situation. I'd rather fish a single in 3 ft than fish over bait in open water if all the carp are in the shallow water. You also need to bear in mind that darkness lasts just a few hours at this time of year and getting picked up by coots at 4 am is no more fun than it is in the middle of the day. I'd agree that swans are far worse then coots. There was a water I fished a few years ago with a big shallow area in which the fish (and birds) held up. At times I'd be picked up by coots a number of times before getting a take from a carp. All depends on the substrate really, if it's clean(ish) then getting picked up by birds can prove you're presented (might even improve presentation as it'll straighten your rig!) but if it's weedy they can hang the rig up in the fronds of weed and it's game over. You need to makes sure your hookbaits can withstand being picked up - corkball pop ups are out of the question for example (unless meshed). I agree 4 ft+ is OK for swans, anything less and they'll have you.

Everyone is difficult for England when we get to the knock-out stages lol.....

If we get through tonight I'm expecting us to get to the semis, possibly even the final. I do think tonight will be very, very difficult though.

I was working in the US last week and was sitting next to a German fella in a meeting when their match was on. I was digging him with my elbow and showing him the scores on my phone under the table. He must have loved me🤣🤣🤣

You have to be careful with recommendations buddy as different options work for different people (I think it's something to do with blood type). Mozzies absolutely love me so I've tried most of the various solutions available. First option is deet such as the stuff from Lifesystems (as posted by Viking above). While it's not actually a repellent, it just 'confuses' mozzies, it does work for most people. Deet is bloomin awful stuff though, bleaches your clothes and terrible for the skin. Then you have the Avon Skin-So-Soft with citronella. It's not actually made as an insect repellent but it works for some people (me included). The SAS used to use this. There are newer modern solutions available as well such as Incognito which is a completely natural product. A lot of people swear by this but I got eaten alive no matter how much of this I put on. Then you have mozzy coils, the active ingredient being citronella, same as the Avon stuff. These work ok for me but stink the brolly out something proper. Basically you need to just try the various options until you find one that works for you then stick with it. No option works for every person (in fact stuff that some people swear by does absolutely nothing for others, hence why recommendations tend to be unreliable).

Is it not just that your pop ups ain't buoyant enough @crusian?

Whatever happens she'll love it mate, so will you.

Defo mate. Mine was a bloomin' nightmare on the bank as a puppy. Wasn't much better as an adult tbf🤣

I think you can tell by the shows if zigs are the one. Proper head and shouldering, with those little fizzing trails as they head back down, I'd be chucking a pop up out, all day. Slightly bigger shows/rolls, with slight flicks of the tail on re-entry, says to me to get on the zigs. I agree you couldn't put a number on it. Imo it's completely relative to lake depth, substrate, conditions etc.....

Those quiet shows where they just poke their heads out to the gills are the ones you're looking for imo buddy. That is more often than not feeding fish. Obviously fizzing etc tells you everything you need to know too. That said, I'll not ignore the big boshes either. I think the really big leaps right out of the water are just them 'playing' for lack of a better word. It still tells you where the carp are though.

I let the fish tell me what to do. If I come across feeding fish I'll chuck a lead at them. If I get a drop i.e. if it's presentable I'll chuck a hookbait out, simple as that. Just a couple of chucks will tell you roughly the depth and type of bottom (soft/hard, clear/weedy) etc. That is all you need to know if the carp are feeding there. Depth I'm not particularly bothered about, if the carp are having it there then who cares? If I see concentrated/prolonged activity i.e. clear evidence that something special is out there I'll have a really good mark up at the end of the session (for future reference). If it's a silt bed I'd look for seams between the softer/harder areas. If it's gravel I'd look for the edges. If it's weed I'll find the most presentable. If I locate anything at all that seems different from the rest of the lake during a session it'll be noted. Different normally means good. I would never fish a spot I'd found through marker work without seeing fish activity. The best spot in the world is no good if there's no fish feeding on it.