crusian

Good grief , Commonly , no easing yourself in gently , great stuff 😄.

Lol well I do love it, this was 2 levels of grass with a 2 tonne concrete slab separating the two last year.  Didnt know what to do and came up with this, not bad for its first growing year 👍

Just had my first 48 on a new syndicate water.
Managed a 33lb linear around 1 this morning. 
Made up!
No pics allowed on SM, I'm afraid.

Maybe you could take up Landscape Gardening , Kev ? 😁 .

All the Carp in your 'photos look in excellent condition , Ouch , and your last gasp one is displaying itself beautifully 😀 .

He was an angry wee beastie, this lake isn’t heavily fished, the carp in there are in good condition, except a few that have deformed spines and sores, but they are very much in a minority. 

Another blank, another swims view sorted out but bad news this week, my target fish has passed 2 weeks back - gutted! 👎
Still I didnt join to catch a particular fish so nothings changed really, still loving the complex so carry on regardless 🤷‍♂️

Happiness is two landing nets drying out in the morning sunshine 

On my water they do the job for tufties, coots, moorhens and swans. The mallards aren't bothered but they tend not to cause a problem in anything over around 3 ft depth.
I got rid of my laser pen several years ago after I saw how the carp react to it. I was perched in the lower branches of a tree watching the carp that were on my spot just up the margin. A couple of coots were diving on it so I got the pen out to scare them off. Big mistake. As the laser hits the water it refracts, and a bright green stripe akin to a light sabre trails through the water. The water is that much denser than air that it really accentuates the laser.... it looked awful. The carp were absolutely horrified - they immediately bolted right out of the bay I was in, and didn't come back until the same time the next day. It was that bad I literally binned the laser as soon as I got home.

The joys of angling hey, good job we like wildlife or they'd get it at times for sure! 😆👍

I got hold of Hutchy's Golden Years after pre-ordering it almost as soon as it was given a release date.
Rod Hutchinson was, or is, an angling hero of mine, and I have read many of his own books; from bait to tackle he was a pioneer and understood more than us mere mortals will ever get, so I was really interested in his early life and journey into carp fishing and this book most definitely does not disappoint. From his time at Redmire with Chris Yates, to Savay, with chapters on his captures by long time companion Brian Hankins and his joy for fishing and life by Simon Crow.

Tufty torch doesn't work on here when the mallards and tufties are in the mood.
The only thing that keeps them away is a laser pointer pen. In daylight you have to line up on them with the laser pen underneath your binoculars and 'ping' them, that gets rid of them.
I had mallards diving over boilies and particles a few weeks ago. I hooked, landed and returned one. The swan last week was not fun either. There were swan wars at the time, and one of the more dominant in the group decided to chase a younger one which tangled up in the line about 2metres from the rod tip, despite the tips being almost touching the water. It took 10minutes to untangle the poxy thing, holding a swan between my legs, while untangling the line from it's wing, head and legs, all the time keeping away from Sky who was on her long lead attached to the bedchair.
This week the swans are keeping across the other side of the lake.

Na mate, I'm on a lake with my dad for 24 hours 👍 hopefully back on the canal tomorrow night 👍

Wow ! , I'm guessing not from the canal ? .

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. 

Wow ! , I'm guessing not from the canal ? .

That's  right , Jules , don't want to peak too early 😁  .

31lb 8oz 👍

Thanks mate it was a red letter session for me 👍 everything just aligned and I managed to get 3 off the same spot in about 2 hours lol. 
They were really cool looking fish, dark and some scars, I think the 24 is one of the older ones 👍 100% best looking fish I've ever caught 👍

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
 
 

Well done ,  jh92 , especially in this heat .
My favourite is the last 'photo , the smaller dark mirror .
😀

Well done ,  jh92 , especially in this heat .
My favourite is the last 'photo , the smaller dark mirror .
😀

Every few minutes...........
Ian.

I identify with that as well.
And yes, I look at mates playing American football and think I used to do that. I'm also looking at kids coming through that weren't even born when I was playing. One of my mates I used to play with's son is now in the senior team. I retired from playing at 39, and now the kids who were starting then are now retiring.

Today's Thought?
I'd really hoped that growing old would take much longer than this. 😗
Ian.