elmoputney

31lb 8oz 👍

Duck free lol  aaaagh!!!
On the plus side I learnt to fill them up with mixers late evening Saturday, that worked - no more diving and 3 passing single fish stopped and had a few too, Sunday morning they weren't too much trouble.  Before that basically all day Saturday they destroyed my 2 spots - I reckon they've eaten about 15kilo over the last 2 weekends most of which was boilie!  So much for getting spots going 👎
I did catch one (a duck) Saturday early evening and that did scare them off for a while, tapped him on the beak and called him 'Stupid', that showed him lol
Next 6 weeks I'm in work on Fridays so will be getting there late or going early Saturday.  I need to find where these fish do their early morning feeds because I'm not getting enough traffic in this part of the lake and the ducks well they're just being ducks - and lots of them.
Might need a complete change of approach going forward tbh
 
 

Sold my 9 footers a few months back because I had no need for them.. just bought a set of 9ft scopes, picking them up tomorrow 👍🤣

Yeah dropped about a foot and a half to what it looks like is the natural level, it's mega, got 3-4 foot in the edge in most places still.
Pressure drop and rain, hopefully I'll guess the right section if none spotted, but wind is swinging mid session.  In it to win it 😎👍
 

View from last weekend, got excited with my bait mix smashed it all in then had duck wars over it all night lol
On the plus side I found what feels like a banging area so might well be back on that tonight, less bait lol 🤞

Had these from the canal today 👍
24lb

 
12lb 14oz

19lb 4oz

I’ve not really had the rods out in anger for a while, but my daughter has been showing me how it’s done with her first carp from a little campsite pond. 

Mmm nice 😎

With a line lay like this you won't be disappointed. Smooth a silk, excellent drag, great retrieve, much better than my aerlex spod reel tbh. 

With a line lay like this you won't be disappointed. Smooth a silk, excellent drag, great retrieve, much better than my aerlex spod reel tbh. 

Back on it post spawning, great to be back out at long last.

I’ve had a look at both today. It looks like the Okuma as the only one they had was the owner of the shop. He s going to ring me when he can get one in. I must admit they both look good, the reason I went for the Okuma was the price.
 

Thanks for that I’m going to have a look today. I am thinking more on the lines of the Okuma 8k.

I would just coat them in a bucket so they have a good glaze, then let them soak it all in and repeat as necessary. 
I think I overdid it in my spod mix this weekend. I probably put half a bottle in and it made it honk. And smell a bit sour. 

Night view 
Morning view complete with still glowing green light. 

You gotta love day ticket fishing. 

I usually just chuck some in with the water tbh, I quite like the liquid to be thinner as it soaks through the bait more. I would use more than a capful, maybe like 25% hydro 25% squid brand and 50% water something like that anyway. Might be less that seems OK , you can add whatever you like though 

£45 Jakes Rakes 

I can guarantee you right now that they will sell. They've drummed up loads of interest.
It is a complete no-brainer to offer one with a speaker. For every guy that prefers the speakerless version, there's one that prefers a speaker. It's a win-win for them to offer both. Their only other remote alarm is based on a design that's nearly 30 years old (TLB+), and even that needs the ATT receiver.

I won't be changing over. When I bought mine the attraction was that if I had a take only I would know, not every angler within earshot. I like silent heads and don't want or need speakers.
Ian.

If I felt I was missing out having a speaker I might, but tbh I've got used to the receiver now and love just having that nearby at all times. 

Cracking news mate, are you going to ban the magic twig on your water? 

Believe it or not I can possibly beat that 😅
I have a full size faux taxidermy carving of the ex record carp, Two Tone, fully mounted in mahogany case. The centrepiece of my fishing room.  There's a funny story that comes with it too.
I came across it on ebay. It was advertised as a carving so clearly not the actual stuffed fish. I bought it, knowing full well it wasn't real, for the fishing room and thought I'd see if I could find some info on it. I posted it on the old Anglers Forum but no-one could tell me anything about it. But, the Anglers Mail got in touch and asked to do an article on it. Me being me, I told them I don't really want to be in a magazine, and turned them down.
So rather than just leave it.... they made a story up. They published an article, using the picture I'd posted on the Anglers Forum, that said the buyer had purchased it thinking it was the real thing i.e. the actual stuffed Two-Tone. The cheeky gits. Naturally, I went back to them and called them scum of the earth A) for making the story up, and B) for stealing my photo. Needless to say they never replied. This was maybe 10 years ago but the story  was still available online not long ago.
I just Googled it and found the image but the link no longer works.
 

I got a Korda Spring Bow net delivered last week. I have a thing about real decent nets and have inadvertently amassed a bit of a collection. It drives the Mrs mad. A pal of mine showed me his Spring Bow a while back and I was well impressed so I've had a search set up on fleabay/marketplace for a while. The right deal finally came up so it's now racked up with the various Dymags and Chris Brown nets in the fishing room, much to the Mrs' annoyance.
I'll use it on my next session out of principle and then decide if it replaces the Dymag mk2 I tend to use most of the time.

Why not just use a bucket?  they've never breached my ridgemonkey yet. I never leave my bait in the bivvy either. And always close my food bag, then I throw boilies in other people's bivvies works a treat 😂

I bought a new dog because of rats at fishing, having them climbing up my spod rod in the doorway and running all over the bivvy was the final straw at Bluebell lakes.  I'd never experienced that level of rat infestation there before because of my previous dog largely keeping them away. I keep all bait in buckets outside the bivvy.
They've damaged cars there eating wires and getting into the vehicle for food/bait.
Not seen one on my syndi in 3 years!