emmcee

So after losing that fish at the net and fishing every weekend of that season to that point I kind of felt deflated. Daft really as I'd have taken anything as a bonus after the very slow summer early autumn. So with Christmas approaching I decided to have a break for the rest of December. As usual though I kept the bait going in no matter what. I recall no more captures to anyone for the rest of December though the weekend of the 12th and 13th of January 2 of my mates both caught. I went down to help with the photos. One mate was fishing the opposite end of the lake to where I had been fishing. So I got to his swim and the sack came out the water. Undo the zip and there was a nice 32lb mirror but what made it even better for me was that the bottom of his sack was full of my red milk protein bait. Pictures done and off down the end where I'd been fishing/baiting. My other mate was fishing about 150yds up the bank from my main baited swim. He gets his fish out and once again his sack was full of my bait. Seen enough so the next weekend I obviously started fishing again and had my good session. After that good session the next weekend just turned into a bit of beer up if im honest. The previous weekend had been amazing for a few of us so a bit of trotting and socialising was done. Nothing was caught this particular weekend mind, though we did try, kind of haha. Now the following weekend and it was my usual arrival on a Friday about 3/ 3-30. Rods out, sit back and chill. It was a big full moon that weekend as it was shining down lighting up the lake one of my had a slow take on it. I instantly thought chunk, but it turned out to be a 27lb common, my smallest fish that winter. The rest of the weekend past without anything doing but a fish was a result. I didn't fish the following weekend as I was out celebrating my birthday which was on the Wednesday coming up and I'd booked it off along with the Thursday and friday. So with my baiting up all through the season, I was baiting on a Wednesday and a Friday. So this was to be the first time I'd fish a Wednesday. I got down and one other angler on and he was fishing about 100yds round the bank from me. Sadly by this time the half dozen of us who had fished all winter had been dropped in it so to speak by someone letting on what we had been catching that winter. Still to this day I'm not sure who let it slip, but up until that point no one else had fished that winter. Still I was plotted in my swim and bang on the spots. Sadly no birthday fish for me and nothing seen by myself or the other angler. That changed around first light of the Thursday morning. About 200yds up the lake a right kipper stuck its head out, that was all I needed to see. I just sat on my bed thinking he's coming down for his breakfast. 7-00 and a couple of liners on my middle rod had me set and ready for a bite any moment. 7-10, no bite but still liners. 7- 20 and left rod starts having liners, my god they are on me big time. The next thing I know my right hand rod is melting, the last rod I thought would go due to the liners. A proper battle ensued, the fish finding every rotten weed bed it could but fortunately it was dead and steady pressure had it out of one and into another. I get the fish about 20 yes out and it rolls, a proper lump. I instantly recognized the shape of the fish and the top lobe of its tail not being rounded, it could only be "paw print", the same fish I'd lost in December. This time though I had the happy ending. My suspicions from that loss in December were right though, it did look big and at 44lb 06oz it was at its biggest weight having never been 40lb before. So my birthday present was only a few hours late. The rest of the session saw no more action. After the fish all my liners stopped and everything, nevermind, there was always the next session.

Maybe you could show him what rig he should use instead of berating him. You've been fishing for 20yrs plus you say , so you should have plenty to bring to the table. Like I said in another thread, maybe you can educate us and not just say this is wrong or that is wrong.

We all have opinions, that is what makes a great forum. No ones opinion is correct over someone else's. Just because one person likes one thing it doesn't mean that someone else should or will like it as well. They are only opinions and someone's opinion is worth the same as someone else's. We all like different things, luckily, as if we all like the same things it would be a boring world. I've got to ask, what is it about terry that these people don't like? I've personally never met or fished with a more quiet or placid a person. In my 30 years of carp fishing I've got to say I've never heard a bad word said against him.

I must admit I've not read hutchies books but I prefer to read a book that is written how it happened with No airs or Graces . For me the, the best book I've read is Micky gray's book "a merry olde dance" because it is written as it happened. Looks like I must have to try and get a couple of Rod's books.

When you say poor writing quality, is that the way the story has been penned or the way it's written as in poor grammar etc?

He is Dirty Harry's younger brother 😉

The only thing I soak my cork balls in is egg white. It will help the paste stick to the cork ball. Your paste will need to have the right level of egg albumin in to harden the bait up. Once dried for 4 or 5 days roughly after you've boiled them then you can add flavours, dips etc of your choice. That's what I do anyway when I've made them and it's always worked. I've got a pot in my garage that well over 10yrs old and still going strong.

I've used some DT products in the past when I've rolled my own bait. Milk B , green beast and sweet damson flavours was what I used in conjunction with a mates base mix. As for you combining baits, I've been going to the same bait company for 20yrs now and they sell bags of randoms. A mixture of all the over rolled baits that were rolled and mixed together with all different sizes and combinations of base mixes/ flavours etc. They are cheap as chips and work a dream, no doubt confusing the carp with the different tastes, scents, sizes and textures etc. Though i do primarily stick to one bait and have done for the past 10,12 or 14yrs now. Been that long I've forgotten. But it's what I'm confident in and due to the amounts I've been known to use im convinced the fish see it as part of their diet .

Agree totally. People that chop and change are in my opinion not confident in their approach and confidence is key. You turn up at your chosen lake already doomed and chances are you won't catch.

Well sounds like you've been there, done it and got the t-shirt, fair play. Your experience will help us all I'm sure 👍

And And what's wrong with roach? Carp are inquisitive and will often seek out what's going on in my opinion. So you never use maggots for carp fishing then?

not being picky but just maybe because your chosen baits have a proven track record on there, maybe something different might give you more of an edge. don't get me wrong if the fish see it all the time and are confident on it then fair enough, but if thats all that goes in they might also know it as danger. just thinking outside the box like. i know i always try being different to the other anglers on the syndicates that i fish

make a boilie or homemade paste as normal or buy a readymade paste but don't boil it. it will breakdown then.

it certainly will workout expensive if all you use is 1 or 2ml out of a 100ml bottle. though this will only be used in a 6egg mix say, so roughly 1kg of rolled bait. if all you use is 1kg of bait in a season then yes a waste of money you're doing well if thats all you use. though 6-10 quid for 50 6egg mixes at 2ml is cheap as chips if you ask me. and is your lake hard because you struggle to catch or because most struggle to catch on there? whats your lake called, someone on here may have fished there and could maybe help you out.

That common is insane. The top pic, my god the colours are amazing. Like someone has just varnished it. Then as black as anything when in the shade. The other 2 mirrors aren't bad either 😉. Top angling mate.

I've never had a designated coloured pop up mix change colour due to flavouring/ liquid additives etc. Nor has a normal base mix changed colour when doing cork balls. Don't forget you'll only be using a couple of mil of flavour in your mix so it will be ok.

Cheers stevo, more to come soon mate. 👍

Cheers yonny, loving your posts too mate. I read your reports at the time but now seeing the captures to go with them is special mate. As for the fish, it is a corker. One that everyone wanted and you can't beat a returner shot. Must admit there weren't many anglers on there that id give my camera to but the few I did certainly had an eye for a shot.

I must admit I'm not normally gutted at losing fish, move on , recast and catch another is my way of thinking. Though seeing what it was and how big my head dropped, I was truly gutted.

So I've finally scanned the rest of the pictures from my list in my opening post. So I'll continue with that winter. After catching "Sandy" from my back up swim I went back in there the following friday and I recall not seeing anything so moved to my main swim on the Saturday. Once again that night was very quiet so after packing up I put all remaining bait out on the 3 spots. I recall the long range forecast and it had a proper wet and windy one coming in the following weekend. I was back down again on the Wednesday and I gave it 1kg of boilie on each rod and half a bucket of hemp per spot as well. So the following Friday arrived and I got down my usual time for a friday. True to the forecast and it was certainly a strong wind , very mild and a bit wet. On arrival I saw a fish show about 150yds up the lake. My main swim was bang centre of the bottom bank right at the bottom of the lake and from there I could see 85% of the lake from my swim. The only part I couldn't see was the car park bay. So being encouraged by the sighting and the wind howling I was quite confident. I certainly heard a few crashing out, the wind carrying the sound to me so I wasn't entirely sure how close they were. Seeing that the wind was properly howling now the loose weed that was on the surface around the lake through decay or from being uprooted was blowing into my lines as I'm right on the end of the big south westerly. Back then my Neville alarms were continually beeping through the weed as the wheel would rock back and forth with each wave. 10-30 that evening and the right hand rods single beeps turned into a one noter. Picking the rod up and I recall being flat rodded instantly and the clutch spinning which was done up quite tight due to the odd weed beds that were still around. The fish was feeling heavy and with its power it gave me a proper scrap. To my right was Reed bed which the fish headed for once I got it closer in. Luckily all the weed that had blown down formed a raft before the reed bed and once the fish found that and got covered in weed it stopped fighting. With that ,steady pressure applied and I scooped the lot up. Even with a net full of weed the tail was curved up the side of the net, holy **** this must be a long fish. Get my head torch and peel away the weed and there lying in my net is " the long linear " also known as "Bernie's linear". So I weigh the fish and it's a new PB for me so I sack the fish and go to see my mate. Being the time of year and the big wind the oxygen levels should be high so my mate suggested to sack the fish up until morning. I wasn't so keen but by this time it was near on midnight as I'd cast back out , had a cuppa etc before going to see my mate. I didn't sleep a wink that night worrying about the fish, constantly checking it, making sure it's up right and gills moving etc. As soon as there was a hint of light coming I told my mate to come round. So pictures done and a new PB, catching "Sandy"a couple of weekend's before my poor season was slowly getting better. The rest of the weekend past without a bite. I did see the odd fish but that was it. A few more blank weekends followed this fish. Mid December though and another big wind was forecast. So pre-baiting continued through rain or shine , blanking or catching, the bait would still go in no matter what. This particular weekend I saw fish on the friday again but no joy. The Saturday was to see the wind pick up even more. To the point that I didnt sleep for one minute due to fearing that my bivvy would either be blown away or the tree next to my bivvy would blow over. My Neville alarms were continually beeping , driving me mad so I decided as I wouldn't be getting any sleep I turned them off. Around 3 or 4am the wind eased off just slightly and I crashed out. I was awaken by a phone call, one of the lads up on the back of the wind was calling me. "Hello " I said, all he said was " thank god for that, you're alive". No word of a lie the wind being in my face was that hairy through the night my mate was genuinely concerned for my safety. Phone down and the next thing I hear is my bobbin smacking the butt of my right hand rod. I'd forgot my alarms were off. Pick up the rod expecting the fish to be out to my right and the line pings up through the water and starts heading on a 45degree angle to my left, what the hell. Anyway this is just a solid and unbelievably heavy lump. No line being taken just very slowly moving towards me. A mate further round the lake sees me and comes to see me. Slow steady pressure and all we see is a weed bed the size of my bivvy coming towards me and my line going into the middle of it. Weed bed in the margin and my mate is tearing at the weed bed. All of a sudden a rod length behind the weed bed and from the depths a right kipper swirls on the surface. The line pulls tight as the fish makes a lunge. This weed bed is so big and so entangled my line just isn't coming out of it so I play this fish with my rod top to the weed. I get the fish back in and just within netting range, it rolls on top, its "paw print " and looking huge. Lower the net and it makes one last lunge and with it the line parts at the weed bed. #### absolutely gutted. I had caught this fish before in my first year on there at 32lb but it was most certainly a lot bigger, last out at 39lb so being winter it certainly looked 40 but I'd never know, or would I? ..... to be cont'

I do a fair bit of beach fishing though never used a crab stick. Did you catch?

Must admit I weigh everything, I like to put a weight to a fish and I do enjoy every fish. Some of that is also down to the fact that the lakes I fish/have fished, the owners want to follow fish weights/growths etc so I do it instinctively. Though I've seen other anglers, mates even just slip fish back without weighing. If you feel that weighing a fish takes something away from the capture then that's your choice. Each to their own I guess.

Proper wood carving mate. Once again weight is immaterial. Result

Totally right mate. If you're not on them then you can't catch them. But having them all over you and not catching is proper frustrating. Had it many times on dinton. We used to say if they showed on you then move Haha. I recall one session when I had a guest down. The first evening/night I must have had 50 shows in my area. My mate was , "you're going to hammer them". I knew I'd have nothing. The next evening and night still showing but a lot less. The sunday morning and not a fish insight. And similar to you, I was just packing up. I thought I'd wind the left rod in first. Just put that rod in the sleeve and my other rod rips off and I had the long linear (Bernie's linear). Fine lines. Like you, 2 seconds earlier and you would have pulled the bait from the commons mouth. Sometimes your name is on it and sometimes it's not.

Did she fight just as hard for your mate? Anyone would have weak legs seeing that roll in front you if your attached to it.