elmoputney

I've owned 2 boats, one was cheap and awful, the other was an actor plus, which did the job better. Sadly it's hard to get decent and budget friendly boat, actors are OK, I used one in France but you really need a compass model so it drives straight. And the batteries seem to die very easily. These can be replaced but costly. While I might be at a disadvantage not owning a boat currently, I can't justify the expense of one that would do what I wanted.

Are you packing custard?

I do really like apple pie and custard 😂

The send button malfunctioned 😂

Are you packing custard?

I caught my first/ last fish just before lockdown around the 20th March first session back and caught my first after lockdown 18th May I had a 10 fish hit and the next morning whilst sitting in my bivvy, I got a call from my boss telling me I might be on a short list to be made redundant. That was a week after my dad's funeral. So it sticks in my mind a bit. I'm all for a shut down post spawning but 3 months feels excessive to me.

Well done Yonny some cracking bangers there 😎. X spods are better than spombs, Also me TFG Airbombs are better than spombs 😂

I personally think the closed season is an outdated concept and shouldn't be reinstated. What I would like to see is fishery owners being more responsible and closing once they spawn and remain closed for a month or so to give the fish some recovery time. I think media is better in many ways, you can learn what you want, find out about products you might want and ignore the rest.

Just get. Bit of tape cover over the Sea and write carpdra, nobody would notice mate 👍 My temu one hasn't arrived yet

Good luck mate, hope you catch a few.

Always there camping, never catches anything either, most of the water out there has pads just under the surface and is pretty unfishable. Back in the rat/wasp den now, wasps have stopped being so mental and settled into building the nest, even one of the rats went out early today because of the noisy neighbours (Not me BTW)

Wasp Exile rod shot.

Struggles pah! If I don't catch the biggun after this , there is no carp god. Lost 2 to cut offs, bivvied up next to a rats nest, caught a 12oz rudd on a zig, managed to get the extra night, went to the shops, was having a look round the lake, when I came back thousands of wasps are flying round the same rat tree. I've taken a rod, net, mat and the hand of god baiting pole and I'm currently perched on a boat. If it wasn't fishing I would have quit, but it beats a day at work so I will enjoy it anyway. There is still time for my luck to change.

My latest rooblinos arrived today it's a 2000 sized reel that I bought to go on my old browning match rod, cos t me a small fortune £7 smooth as anything though lovely little reel.

If you like a wide gape have a look at the ESP Claw Hammer, lovely hooks and sharp out the packet too.

Have you ever tried the spliceable hooklinks you can get ? They might be a good alternative to braid.

Satay sauce is basically thinnned down peanut butter, probably thinned down with fish sauce or soy and coconut milk or something, I like eating it too much to waste it on fish though 😂

I went through that too when I restarted. I've had about 5 sets of rods in the last 6 or 7 years, sonik, wychwood, daiwa, sonik, free spirit, In my opinion you are best off just buying the set you really want now and save yourself going through loads of cheap rods. I had 10ft 3lb soniks and within about 6 months of use they had gone a bit soft. Also the weather is now turning in your favour, just stick at it, find the fish, bait them and you will catch them,

I saw those cheap on ebay recently.

Cork handles always seem to get damaged in my experience. Too easy to take a chunk out of them or they go out of shape after sitting in butt grips or whatever.

I have never used them but someone told me they were decent for the money, probably better than all the soniks etc in that price bracket. For £85 you could get some free spirit helicals, which will be decent.

Phwooar nice reels matey 😉

Also gemini booms are good, but I'm like you with your bait, they are a lot more expensive to use, and the length is fixed so if you need to adjust you are stuck.

Krimps can be very useful, it's up to you if you want to use them or not but they do have some great uses. I am sure you have tried them for more than just booms though, they are great for making shorter chods and hinge rigs, because you don't need to knot them you can easily control the height and make them much shorter than knotting. And let's be honest trying to knot 25lb mouth trap nicely can be a right chore. Not with krimps 👍