crusian

Jack probably has spotted one , which is more than Kev. does 😁 .

Jack probably has spotted one , which is more than Kev. does 😁 .

What a fishing buddy , every angler should have a Jack 😀 .

He's great lol
Follows me up trees - out over the water and everything, then remembers every climbing tree and looking spot on our laps and pulls me towards them. he also thinks every car in the world is mine and tries to get in each to go home lol
Not as interested in the waterfowl as George was but still barks if someone goes past or enters the swim 👍

Jack looking fab, Waterside Fishery, back in spring - keeping an eye on the snags for me ❤️

Oh grief!
I am so wound up. My father is 84, and has dementia so my brother and I split visits with him a few times a week each as he is still independent and living on his own.
Today was my day, and I had to be there from 10am until his normal medication delivery arrived, but immediately after had to go pick up his antibiotics prescription from Boots and do him some shopping, which involved a trip into town.
So one of the 'homeless' trying to 'help' at the car park ticket machine, in other words beg.
This idiot chose to give me verbals in Ipswich town centre, and then decided to try to push me when I refused his assistance as I paid on my card. I put him down and left him tangled up in the post at the car park. Got back to my car and he was taking photos of my car.
He then tried to carry on with the mouth and wanting to fight. I just picked his bike up and moved it and him out of the way.
You can see what happened to his trousers when I left him attached to the post by the waistband

I waited until dark to avoid the children, paddle boarders and kayakers on the River Wensum.
4½lb chub on half a cocktail sausage, size 10 Solar Tackle 101 hook.

I am absolutely shattered today, and my right knee and hip are agony.
Yesterday was a busy day, from Ipswich to collect Bruce Lait and take him to the airport at 2.30am. Back home grab a couple of hours sleep and then go collect my son Levi from Basildon and back to Ipswich via Poplar Nursery at Marks Tey for coffee and a doughnut. Definitely a cafe/restaurant worth a visit.

22lb 15oz from the canal👌
Its been a good crack these last couple weeks, cutting out swims, raking spots, prebaiting from paddle boards 🤣
Here's 3 of the Carp from last months hit
This is my best one at 24lb

 
really please with these ones as well tho 👌


 
got the bug for it big time at the moment, I did a quick over nighter last night but unfortunately no carp, only tench and bream 🤣

One out the syndi Sunday morning 1st fish in 4 weekends, came after a change of presentation 👍

It definitely comes down to personal choice ..I'm not actually sure how many shelters or bivvys I've owned ,all I can say ,is its a lot !!,an  ,embarrassing amount ,of money I've probably wasted looking for the 'one'...
I've come down to this ,tempest 100t ,no frills ,groundsheet is homemade superlight, and infil door ,it's got a nice bit of height to it ,and a pair of whychwood mhr 50 brollies ,and the wrap for ,days ,carping ,perching or a cooking tent ,for camping/ outdoor stuff..and ideal for tight swims on some of the wheals I fish 'wheal means ,mine'clay pit..
I've also got a speedflex pop up bivvy ,but I'll probs move it on ,bit low,it is...all my kit is mega minimal,and hardly ever changed around ,it's just bivvys, that kind of disrupt the flo ...I've got to control it,ha,ha...
I'm currently typing this on the edge of a cliff,'stealth camping' within 30 ft of a very long way down 👇..wrassing tomorrow..

Blimey wasn't ready for that - shocker, nearly passed out - negativity about the man, unheard of! 🤣
Not seen it yet gotta get some popcorn in - he could say anything at this point lol coolest carper ever! ❤️
Got my esp bucket hat and Fortis waders, just need the knitted jumper 🤪🙌 oh and catch something 👎
 
 

How big is the lake, do you need to cast long distances?
If the answer is no to the above then I'd be on 15lb,  18lb or 20lb mainline (though you should still be able to cast a fair way with either breaking strain line). You should be looking at  a mainline that is known for being abrasion resistant  especially with the presence of lily's,  reed beds and tree over hangs etc as the carp will want to get into these if you hook them. 
Hooklinks are personal choices and should really be determined by what the lake bed is like, gravel, silt, clay etc, suit your hooklink to whichever you're fishing over. As for the breaking strain,  most are between 15lb to 25lb I'd say and once again with the lily's etc I'd go on the heavier side personally.  

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.