yonny

OK. First thing - get your manual out. I know how to do all of the below on a Canon, but not a Nikon. You'll likely have to go into menus to do some of this but the manual should make it clear. So.... Change from ‘Auto’ to ‘A’ mode (aperture priority mode). This will mean you control the aperture, and the camera will do almost everything else for you. Set your ISO to ‘auto ISO’. This means the camera will control sensitivity to light on its own. Change your AF (auto focus) Area mode to ‘Single point AF’. This will prevent the camera from trying to focus on multiple items (your face, the trees in the background etc). Change your Focus Point to ‘Centre point narrow zone’. This means it will focus on the centre of the shot i.e. the fish. Zoom the lens out to 50 mm focal length - a great length for trophy shots. Set the aperture size at the largest it will go at 50 mm focal length. The larger the aperture, the smaller the ‘f number’ – so you’ll be looking for the lowest f number you can which is probably around f4. Make sure the centre spot on the viewfinder is on the fish and off you go. This will focus on the kipper, your face will be very slightly out of focus behind this, and behind you you’ll have a lovely blurry background. I strongly recommend you practise all of this, and take shots with a prop like a bag or something. You obviously don't want to be playing with all of these settings with a fish on the bank.

I'm a Canon man. Let me google your camera model and I'll come back with some tips.

No.... but for the vast, vast majority of casters, 13ft will cast further. Long, stiff rods with decent technique is the key to distance.

The fish is actually out focus - check out the tail. I think the camera has chosen your face as the focus point. Did you take the shot in auto mode? This would explain the focus issue. What camera and lens are you using? I can give you some tips on how to set it up right.

I did a casting tuition with Terry Edmonds and he said the The Shimano Velocity 13 ft 3.5 TC, and the Fox Horizon 13 ft 3.5 TC (the cheapest version (X3?)) are the least expensive means of realising your maximum casting potential. I would expect the Kiazens to be decent too - Korda know what they're doing and very rarely release rubbish. This will have a decent impact. I go down to 10/12 lb mainline with a shock-leader for spring before the weed is up. Adds quite a bit onto my cast. For sure. Maybe drop down to a wafter? Don't go too small as you need a bit of weight in the hookbait to prevent tangles when chucking long.

No better feeling than that! Well done mate.

Imho changing the leader wont help that much. If it does, you'll be talking a few yards. Tbh I always found the wind can bow braid more than mono (it's lighter so easier for the wind to "take"). How far are you wanting to cast? You're spot on that it's the rods that's your main problem. Big casting is all about long, stiff rods. Get your 3.5's or even 3.75's (worth considering 12.6 or 13 ft length too) if you really want to go big, and up the lead size to 4 or 4.5. The reels are perfect as is mate.

It can go two ways - with the crook of the quick change facing the tip or the back of the hook. It should face the back of the hook👍

Try a size 4. I always found the hardware (micro ring/spinner swivel etc) could lead to damage with smaller hooks (6/8). I also found this could lead to losses. Switching up to 4's and even 2's eliminated this for me.

Imo the visual aspect of hookbaits is massively overlooked. Carp can see more than 4 times as many colours as humans, and can see in the UV and infrared spectrums - so basically their detection of colour is miles better than ours and they can see at night (explains how the black foam zigs work at night eh, lads). One thing I've taken from every underwater vid I've ever seen (going right back to the first Korda one in the late 90's) is that they see the hookbaits clear as day and are often drawn towards something a little different.... something that sticks out. I used to spend hours/days/weeks/months preparing and glugging special hookbaits. Over the years I've stopped doing it as I now believe colour or visual appearance is way more important than food content or flavour (when used over bait anyway). I even have a stash of Proper Job Pop Ups with zero flavour that I prefer to fish over certain groundbaits. Worth also mentioning that given their UV/IR vision, we're probably wasting our time trying to camouflage our end tackle. What's green or brown to us might look bright purple to them! You can see this on the underwater films too - sometime they just know something's not right. Luckily, they're not smart enough to know what a hook, lead, or leader is, so we catch in spite of it! Anyway I digress....... shot on the hook rig? Been around for years as mentioned. I personally haven't fished a spot clean enough for that rig in years so I have no interest. Also have to agree with @kevtaylor that there's nothing in the newer vid to suggest it's the shot making the difference rather than the very short hooklink!

I find the ignition doesn't last on most if not all mobile cookers. Always end up using a lighter.

My thoughts exactly😅

I can imagine mate. Well done to all of ya! How old are your little'n's if you don't mind me asking? My eldest is 5 now and I'm wondering if it's time to start taking him.

Had a whale of a time down at Wraysbury on a social with @greekskiilast week. Between us we had 40 odd bites over 3 days. Conditions were PERFECT. Here's a couple of my faves:

I personally prefer the old school Emblems! Built like trains and last forever.

Not sure I understand mate.... Regardless of results this could be life threatening? Isn't that what the results will tell you? My brother was in an accident maybe 20 years ago and there were complications with his recovery. He was offered something like £10k as a settlement but held out for a much bigger pay-off based on test results. The test results came back, not what my bro expected, and he ended up with £6k. I'd hate to see the same thing happen to you. I would just make sure you fully understand the impact of a clear blood result mate. I am no expert but in my experience pay-offs are valued in actual damages rather than what could have happened.

What happens if the bloods come back clear mate? I'd expect this would have a big influence on the value of the claim? Worth asking the question. The few thousand they've offered might exceed the value of a clean blood pay-off.

Hero!😆

I actually bought one of those a few years ago (not one that can also be used as a standard chair, just the one that sits on the bed). I used it once and decided it's just another piece of gear to carry. Straight on ebay after the one session. I would certainly be interested to hear about the one that does both (normal chair AND sits on the bed). I rarely take a chair at all nowadays as I resent carrying too much kit but I often wish I had one on me!

Same! I had one years and years ago and ditched it for a more modern alternative. I hated the weight of the replacement so spent 2 years finding another original adjusta (one popped up on FB for a tenner eventually). Been using it ever since. So, so light. You can't find anything that light nowadays. But I agree pack-down is ridiculous.

I agree with the above. In summer, that period following a downpour seems to be the one. You really notice it on that odd occasion there's no wind, it's warm, the rain stops, and immediately you start to see fizzing all over the lake. It's a lovely sight.

If it makes you feel better about not going I'm happy to take the blame mate 😜

Low pressure after a period of warm weather...... hate to say it but you can't get much better conditions!😟

Scientifically they only need 14, but it's party time at 18. So temp dependant then..... This year is the perfect example. Got warm then got cold then got warm again. Temp dependant. Again, perfect example. Temp dependant.

Nah that's not right mate. Spawning is temperature dependent. Once you hit 18 degrees water temps it's game on. It's when the temps are inconsistent (much like this year) that they start and stop and start again. In a perfect world it gets warm, stays warm, and they get it out of the way pretty quickly. They tend to spawn in year groups (often youngest first with the older big fish last) so it can appear even in periods of sustained warm weather that they're stopping and starting.