crusian

The first image is a wind up, unfortunately the second isn't! I would just like to thank the pair of clowns on Big Hayes last year for the inspiration!

I’ve recently started taking a pair of flood lights with me. They are absolutely brilliant as they provide a nice even light that makes tying rigs or cooking a meal dead easy and no more faffing about with head torches. I’ve got a 3kW portable power station with LiFePO4 batteries that will provide enough juice to run them for at least two full winter nights.
The picture below is me on the right and my mate is in the next swim. He’s a bit of a wimp and only went for some cheap lower powered lights. The photo was taken by another mate who was fishing the far bank but I think he’s a bit jealous as he said it was like fishing at an airport! It will make landing fish after dark pretty easy but I haven’t actually needed it yet, the fish on my lake seem to have shut up shop since I’ve been trying it out.

This first picture is where I had my bivvy to take the picture of the swans.
I mentioned bird flu in the original post, it looks like it has hit again. The lake is down to 7 swans, 3 of which look like yearling cygnets from one of the dominant pairs. 
The lack of numbers has meant that the dominant males are not so aggressive and not such a pain in the rectum.

 
And a couple of pictures from the last two sessions, taken in the same swim on the other side of the lake.
Just to the left of the picture on the far side is the copse that Sky and I were using for shade.

So onto another session at the syndicate lake from Sunday through to Wednesday.
I arrived around 3pm Sunday afternoon amidst a mix of South Westerly winds, rain shower and yuck.
Syndicate rules permit putting the shelter up and putting tackle inside before taking the car down to the car park, so that is what I did. Car down to car park, and give Sky a walk back to the swim, followed by getting 3 rods clipped up and baited. Left hand rod 40metres, a 12mm purple Monster Crab pop-up and a small bag of micro pellets, middle rod, a 'greedy pig' snowman of 2x 12mm bottom baits topped with a couple of tiny Spiced Garlic pop-ups and a stringer at 50metres, and the right hand rod was a Monster Crab pop-up core.
 
I know it's early, but I've been putting a bucket of particles in on one rod on arrival, to prebait and to try to wean a particular fish that I have never seen eat bait. This fish is a big uncaught common, that I reckon makes a 42lb common look small, added to the mix this time was a couple of pints of red maggots.
Spombing out 40metres was not fun, the Spomb was on target with hardly any effort, but retrieving it was fun, and trying to catch the Spomb in the wind...
Sunday night I spent much of the night awake listening to the wind shake the bivvy.
No joy, and even the coots, tufties and swans left me alone.
Monday the wind switched more westerly, with a touch of north. After a walk around with Sky, fish searching and putting the sheep's electric fence back up there was no reason to move. Sorted the rods out, sticking to the same formula. A really quiet afternoon, but around 10pm the tufties moved in, and with the laser pen the little gits would spook and then come back. At 1am, I got a few bleeps and watched the indicator move up and down, so picked up the rod, and landed a tufty. 
Expectations, and reality...
 

Could always dull it down with a sharpie coloured pen.

Just my opinion? Use a standard size 8 swivel. Ok, so PTFE has the lowest coefficient of friction known to man but we're asked to believe that this helps with rig alignment when this relatively small device is lying amongst whatever detritus is in the area of the landed rig. The PTFE thing is more a marketing ploy than a mechanical advantage.
Once again, just my opinion.
Ian.
 
 

Mine usually involve not checking wind direction before setting up the bivvy, (not this week despite nearly losing bivvy), but include leaving tackle box at home more than once, discovering I'd left rucksack at home after an 80mile drive and once leaving my rods at the reservoir as I packed and loaded car up in the dark.

I used to fish one trotting rod for pike and got to the river and couldn't find the rod. A 60 mile round trip found it propped up at the rear of the house against a wall. Well, it was dark when I set out!
Another  time I had 2 conoflex  barbel rods but they were slightly different. I picked up a top and bottom piece and when I got there, discovered they were from different rods and wouldn't fit together! Just drove home and sulked but after that, always kept the rods made up and held together with bands.

When I first started carp fishing, I bought my first set of bite alarms.  They were wired to a receiver as that's all I could afford.  Anyway... I got a run in the middle of the night and the receiver blurted out the tune to jingle bells.

You can get castable weed rakes 😉 

I've just ordered the small version of the Plumb-Ezzee , Framey . Looking at the video it could solve the problem I sometimes have with Polaris floats when my mono has gone crinkly and the float jams . Or I could just use braid .

After not going carp fishing since August due to having personal issues to deal with regarding my dad I managed to get a couple of trips on the bank this month.
Last week was Wednesday to Friday. I got to the lake, and fancied an area towards the shallower east end of the lake. I did have an angler on the opposite bank slightly to my left, so I made sure I wouldn't interfere with his fishing, and got myself set up. 
Sorting out my dinner I realised I had left my cutlery set at home, no major issue as I had a fork in the spares pocket of my food ruckbag. It did mean that I had to gauge 2 teaspoons of sugar in my coffee though.
The more important issue was the bucket of birdfood to get the ducks and swans to clear some weed if the carp didn't eat it, and worse Sky's food bowl.
I was in the sleeping bag for 8pm, but awake listening for fish. A few crashed between Dave and I between 8 and 10pm when I eventually fell asleep while the frost was forming. Sky refused to come in the bivvy, and slept outdoors.
Thursday was a walk around looking, but nothing made me want to move. That night was most definitely warmer, but nothing crashed, so Friday saw a slow pack up with a blank.
 
I wasn't intending to fish again for a week, but Sunday I got back to the empty lake, complete with garlic soaked birdfood particles. I hadn't forgotten anything this week, set myself up in the same swim, although checked the wind forecast to the 3nights and had the back of the bivvy facing North West. 
Two quiet days, despite searching and walking around the lake with Sky on Monday and Tuesday. The only action I saw was the swans, tufties and coots mooching around the particles, although they never picked up a hookbait
Tuesday night, just after dinner Sky decided to come in the bivvy, so I knew that the rain and wind forecast was coming that night. Around 8 I crashed out for a couple of hours, but at 10 got woken up to the short bivvy pegs being pulled out of the soft ground by the wind getting up to 50mph. Sky was sitting on the umbrella skirt/groundsheet join, so it didn't blow away, but it was close!
I got out my long pegs and bank sticks, and went out to swap pegs and push them in at least 50cm. Managed to get sorted, but stayed awake until 1am, when I realised that my 20year old Aqua rod holdall had been blown away, and is likely to have sunk. 
This morning was a bit of a pig to pack away, my mix of banksticks, tent pegs were difficult to pull out, and obviously trying to juggle loose rods, landing nets, slings and throwing stick into the car.
The sad part is that the historical black poplar has finally given in to old age and nature.
Expectations or hopes were a fish, reality was a near disaster.
 
 
 

If you want to get a bank loan for leads the fox gripper leads are good. 
If not any will do I found the ridgemonkey ones awful though I couldn't feel the drop with those for some reason. 
I quite like a coated lead but the rough sort as they pick up any clay off the bottom. But basically any will do. 

I nearly always use a tournament or plain pear lead on the marker rod.
 
I've always got some handy for a bit of clearance, a couple of 3's and 4oz.

Uncoated lead so you can feel more through it. I’m pretty sure you can get hold of small marker style leads. 
I often use a sea fishing breakaway lead, cut the arms down and cable tie them in position. Very useful for picking out debris or minor weed clearance in the margins. You can get them in all sizes fairly cheaply too on eBay. 

I'd just grab the first lead I could find. I don't think at such close range it makes any noticeable difference. Maybe some prongs if you want to check for specific debris or silk weed.

If you haven’t spent yet 
could do worse than one of these at short range 
https://enterprisetackle.co.uk/product/et86-plumb-eze
 
back to the dart I used a dumpy pear.

One of the little clubs I belong to is an hour away ,and it's only 40 quid a year, no nights ,days only with a great mix of members ..thats the sort of place I like,especially the 5lb perch in the pool..
That's great value even if I only went 3 or 4 times a year ..

Fishing cost is always personal. Personally I find £24 for 24hours too expensive and I baulk at even £10 for a day session. I know one local water is £35 for 24hours!
 
I could not justify a minimum of £2000 for a years fishing at day ticket prices.
However I can justify a £500 syndicate season ticket or even £300 for a club season ticket.
Fishing is my 'get away from the world', my relief from pain, from being trapped inside the flat. It is cheaper to be fishing for 3 or 4 days than the cost of electricity and gas in my flat. 

One of my favourite open access waters has put the prices up.,it's a lovely safe ,secure place ..
I've just worked it out ,for me to do a 48 hr sess,all things considered including 
 
Fuel ,its an hours drive on bad rural roads 
Food
Bait and other sundries ,I'm now looking at 100 quid for a 48 hr ,I shall still fish it ,but not as many sessions ,for me it's too much outgoings ...so really ,they've lost custom in reduction of potential sessions from me ,I know a few who are saying the same ...so in a way the reduction of footfall is counter productive ...to putting up the prices ...
Lots of full carp set ups for sale,not only post scamdemic either,have some places priced themselves out of reality of today's climate ..?

Went to a little pond with my youngest boy yesterday and he caught his first ever carp.
Lovely little 7lb common.
He's got the carp bug now😉

My daughter bought me this at xmas, at first i did not notice quite what was printed but this is the perfect one for me seeing what my user name on here is and my err.....catch rate

a mid double common to christen the new rods 

Woke up at 7 on the dot to a lovely 27lb linear.
One of my best trips for a long, long time.
Not sure the moon phase had any effect as they were all caught at first light

New wands 😁