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Good quality bait... I can knock together a quality bait for very little money using a blender and basic ingredients. Catch a shedload of fish as well. The idea that a good catching boilie needs to cost much is incorrect and irritates me to be honest. The carp are not fussy and eat most things, so stop trying to second guess them and give 'em a bit of what they like. It's not that hard - and there is very little proof about many components sold as carp attractors/stimulators etc... other than someone has sat by a lake and caught a few on it. I done that with a can of sweetcorn, it is still not a great bait imho. Or they have stuck carp in a tank and gone, ooo look, it likes that. Fieldtesting - wot a joke. Like fieldtesting a pig on a farm. If only ppl knew Good quality carp food - well, no idea what that costs. Often people confuse bait with food. I don't. This statement is the sort of thing bait companies punch out (no offence mate) : Kelp powder - pure dried seaweed, rich in vitamins and minerals and trace elements that carp require for optimum digestion. I mean really? As it would never ever be able to eat seaweed normally what a strange and random claim to make... Anyway, just start rolling simple bait and see how you get on, then you can see if your 'wonder' ingredients add anything later on. I doubt they will as location is 90% of it and the other 9% is called luck.

Steaming or boiling is done - why? To make the egg albumin harden to give bait a skin to stop nuisance fish and aid casting. To bind the bait together. How long do you boil an egg? There is one answer. Steaming - lose less of the attractants V boiling. Boilie recipes are designed for boiling, not steaming and designed to compensate for loss of flavour in the boiling process. So if you steam baits (about 5 mins for 20mm boilie) you need to factor that into your rolling process and adjust recipe, under flavoured definitely best. Carp work on chemo-reception but have taste buds in their mouth which are unique (different to those on their body), can taste sweet V sour for example. But more likely to be initially attracted to bait via chemo-reception coming from base mix + protein + vitamins/minerals + amino acids etc..., not how the bait tastes (taste from solubles) - but that might affect how long they hold it in their mouth, up to 15 secs if they like it or just a few secs if its too strong (repellent). Bit complex to explain briefly - but I always steam - but if I use a bought 'flavour' I would only use 2.5ml per egg, not 5ml. Can make up the other 2.5 ml with soluble oil, such as hemp oil for example, if high leakage type bait preferred. Will break down faster in water if steamed not boiled - correct. Not always a bad thing though As always, do your research, adapt things a bit, but firstly understand why you are doing something and have an idea of how you are going to apply it at the lake. Bait is one part of it, steaming might give you an edge if you use your head though and have a plan to start with. Like most things in fishing, rigs particularly, they are designed initially for a purpose and when used incorrectly they do not always help, in fact may often hinder.

No secrets there, was on the news as had such low water levels back in 2003. Nothing hiding I am afraid, high 20's, maybe scraping 30's biggest possible. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/01/drought-risk-high-england-2012

Are you planning to spod it out then?

You are correct that carp do carry spawn all year round, when they are getting ready to drop they actually take on a lot of water which pushes up the weight divide the weight of the fish by 10 and times by 1.5 and that is (apparently) a rough guide to the 'extra weight' they will put on at spawning times. (25/10 x 1.5)

You'll have to better than that - besides i am not trading atm as you well know and even if i was, its not my money.

Thought that would get a response... Don't agree mate, man manages fish and wildlife, not the other way round. Next time you come across a beautiful lake that looks wild, bear in mind that is because its been looked after, even if it isn't 'obvious'. A bit like when they stopped dredging the Thames recently and we all got told it would find a natural balance - yeh it did, it flooded everywhere and its silting up. I don't think many people who actually live and work in the countryside would share your view it all looks after itself and everything is all our fault - for what? Existing? For working the land and making hedgerows and protecting endangered species... KIR

Who do you think has managed the fishing stocks for generations to make them what they are today. Why do think they were shot out? Maybe we could bring back wolves and bears as well and release them near towns and villages. They have a right to eat after all. Point being that left to itself nature does not find a perfect balance, it needs to be managed by people, whether it being removing pike or shooting an otter. In the end we shot them all because they are a menace and now our fish stocks are thriving again certain people have decided its a great time to deplete them again - and for what? To re-introduce an animal that is of no benefit to any part of the food chain whatsoever because it looks nice and cuddly?

Fish a venue with less than 1 carp per acre and you will soon find out what consistent means...

I think the idea is you slacken off the line and let it swim out

Take lots of maggots and go float fishing. Fish by the wall in a likely looking spot, probably the quietest area or if there are trees near the water anywhere, and see whats about. Chances are if you pleasure fish for a few hours the carp will start to come along. I would start about 6 foot and play around with it. I wouldn't worry about it being deep, just fish it like you would fish anywhere else but if there are no features then the wall is the feature, so they will feed along the bottom of that at least some of the time. Windward end or wherever you reckon food will accumulate for whatever reason. They may well go round and round the base of the wall all the time when they feed, or there may be bloodworm banks etc.. you will need to plumb around and see what the bottom is like. There is probaby one end shallower than the other due to the wind build-up (stuff blown to one end, sinks, rots/snaggy), depends how old the place is. Use something smelly as bait as the carp will have grown used to sniffing grub out due to poor visibility at depth.

You would think its just plain common sense really wouldn't you? You will find people who have been fishing longer often still fish this way. Saves a lot of tackle and obviously you want your weakest link to be as close to the hook as possible. People used to fish fairly tight to the lead as well so if we got a drop-back or a carp was mouthing the bait we could hit it. Wary carp will suck and blow a bait and even fan the ground in front of them with their pectoral fins to see how the bait reacts, hence the invention of critically balanced baits for particular venues. The fashion now is to sit there with your line completely slack and wait patiently for a screaming run whilst also using a really heavy lead so, instead of registering a drop back, your anchor will cause the line to run out even if the fish runs towards you. I would heartily recommend you apply your own thought process to fishing, based on what you can observe and learn about the actual quarry. And float fish whenever possible.

Fantastic mate, really pleased for you! Two twenties is a real result, good dangling fella!

A day with you would be a long long day