crusian

2nd time I've seen the odd bubble come up in this tiny back bay, this time though the culprits moved about up in the kelp bed on the left, didnt look big but a bites a bite.  Nothing overnight but heard a slosh amougst the fireworks last night, fingers crossed - last trip before a venue switch.

Fogged out ! 🤞🤞

To anyone thinking theres a lack of ladybirds this year - wrong!  Same as last year when parked down the lakes.
Love nature!

No mate big fat blank but loved it, was gonna do an extra night tonight but ran out of supplies, deffo fishing a spot on the middle sized lake there that does the big-un.  I absolutely love this lake, drawn between two - a nice problem to have.
On the plus I did find some suitable wood to make a hobo stool for the garden lol.
Back next week sunday - tues 🤞

Change of scenery, equally mega - got a rod on the spot I know does the biggun and one I've caught from before so fingers well and truly crossed with these poor conditions - still, easteries, high pressure and misty 👎
Still in it to win it, just fab being out and getting the swims I want for a change🤞😎

I am of the make sure you wear decent clothing and have a decent sleeping bag brigade.
I can remember a few nights wrapped up wishing I was warmer though, from inadequate bedding and being soaking wet.
I've been through the brolly and wrap, EasyDome, Apotheosis and gone back to brolly and wrap, with a decent sleeping bag.
I've woken up with condensation frozen inside the brolly, but I was nice and warm in the bag. Come to that, I have had to get up to reel in as the lake froze over or woken up with the lake surface gone solid.
At night the jacket, hoody, (not many decent fishing ones around) and overtrousers come off and I sleep in my (Regatta) base layer.
The important thing for me is socks, Merino wool socks keep my feet warm in my boots, either combat boots or Tundra boots.
 
Now while I prefer not to be using a heated blanket, if it does keep you fishing go for it.
However if it is that cold, I'm not likely to be fishing now.
 

I'm thinking maybe Interax doesn't want to end up crippled with arthritis in old age  and unable to go fishing / enjoy his retirement ? . 

One from last week just prior to the storm and right on dusk at a days only water. A lovely half-lin at 21-8, one of the nicest looking fish I've ever caught.

Managed to get out for storm Austen and it was great fun. I really enjoy being out in extreme conditions and while it was a bit sketchy at times, I came out the other side free of injury and/or death. I got myself right on the end of that massive wind so careful placement of the brolly was required to prevent losing it. The rain wasn't actually too bad where I was, but the wind was every bit as strong as forecast.
Just as the storm hit, I managed a nice low/mid twenty common which made the trip worth it. I added another little one later that went back without a pic. Saturday morning was fantastic..... wandering around surveying the damage, branches all over the place. All in all, a fun little trip.

If it doesn’t hurt anyone else’s fishing and it is not against any rules then fill your boots with whatever makes your fishing more enjoyable.
boat 
drone 
baiting pole 
hair rig 
nylon line or a bite alarm 

My 2p for what it's worth.....
The best and cheapest source of heat available to you at any time of year is the heat from your own body.... you just need to harness it. If you get a really good set of insulated togs (i.e. jacket and salopettes), they store the heat you produce. The trick, which most guys miss, is not to wear too much underneath. A decent base layer and micro fleece mid layer is all you need. Anything thicker than that (like a hoody) interferes with the system and prevents your body heat from heating the insulation. Same as a sleeping bag basically.
It's why I'm happy in a brolly all year.... I've just learned how to use the heat my body produces.
I'm with you on this. Not a big fan of technology in angling but when it comes to winter fishing and warmth, you fill your boots imo. Use whatever you want mate. The situations we'd put ourselves in back in the day were frankly stupid and certainly a little dangerous. It's easy now to look back with rose tinted specs but I think back to the completely inadequate gear I'd use in the depths of winter and I shudder. If I caught my lad heading out in minus 8 with the rubbish I used to use I'd go ballistic at him 😂

I'm thinking maybe Interax doesn't want to end up crippled with arthritis in old age  and unable to go fishing / enjoy his retirement ? . 

That's good, you know to ask the naming committee first - i.e. me and Elmo 🙃
and NO Dayvids Mirror/Common is not allowed! 

Np. I didn't mean to sound like I was having a go back if that's how it came across. I was just letting loose a little.
And, again this isn't meant as a dig at you personally, but there does at times feel like theres a bit of hypocrisy from some people when it comes to comfort/more recent innovations. If there wasn't any progress, we'd all still be using split cane rods with 10+ rings all sat within a few mm of the rod blank and centerpin reels loaded with cat gut. 
As I said, you do you. Everyone's entitled to do what they want as long as it's within the rules and doesn't affect others.
I've never fished through the winter before and have had previous few nights before, so a bit of comfort/warmth will be very welcome.
Who knows how long any of us have left. If there's something you want to try, I say go do it. 
 

Sorry mate if it sounded like a dig at you, it deff wasn't intended.
Just seems to me that if people feel the need to buy this stuff, shouldn't they question if they should be fishing in colder weather at all?
As for a Throwing stick, used to use an origanal Cobra one, long sinced binned, flying rats soon put pay to that, and where I fish now not needed at all.
I still use a spomb on occasions to get particles out.... actually made 'spods' out of gardner boilie gun tubes and shampoo bottles back in the day.
Bait boats not relevent for me as they are banned on the lakes I fish, if they were allowed, would I spend money on them? I think not.
Carp reels, yes Shimano bait runners, rapidly found at the time before 'big pit' reels were 'invented' that a change to sea fishing reels - Ryobi Project - I think were a vast improvement on anything 'carpy' at the time.
Not sure about 'specialised' ringing thet we now use? Hutchy horizons didn't seem to have them, oh I obviously don't use them now, long gone. Just use a fairly cheap pair of Korum 2.5 test curve rods, I love them.
Anyway, take care in your fishing and stay safe in the cold weather, at my age I just don't do it anymore, not my idea of enjoying my time on the bank anymore 👍

Tbh, I'm generally a summer fisherman. I have avoided going when it gets below 6c at night. My bag is a big snooze+ 3 season jobby.
I'm over 50 now and am fed up with being uncomfortably cold without good bl**dy reason. So, a heated blanket for a few hours with the bed cover so I'm not climbing into a freezer seems like a sensible idea and a weight sacrifice I'm willing yo make. It runs off my Ridge Monkey Vault 26000mah powerbank which I take anyway, so its a negligible change for me.
I don't get the self flagellation at the altar of discomfort. If your doing something to save weight great  you do you, but doing something just because it was done like that 30 years ago seems like madness to me.
20-30 years ago I smoked, mostly used a bike to get around and used to go raving. If I hadn't changed I'm not sure I would still be here, let alone have a decent job, house, be married with kids going to uni. If carp fishing had stayed the same we'd still be using argos sunbeds, optonics and cheap 50" brollies with a tarp over the top.
Just look at your phone in your hand. How old is that and how old is the tech?
The world changes, moves on and progresses. Embrace it where you want to/can justify it.
I would ask, do you use a throwing stick/spomb/bait boat/baiting pole/sonar/gps? None of those were available 30 years ago, at least not in their current form. Back then, were there any carp reels, rods with the specialised ringing we now use?

If I get stung/bitten 
I use after bite, the sting of it working is a relief itself 

I had a mozzie bite on my arm about 30 years ago and remember struggling to drive home as I could hardly change gear as it was so swollen and it lasted for a week.
After that, nothing. I can't remember getting bitten in all that time. There are several threads on here about the merits of jungle formulae, Avon skin so soft and burning coils but didn't really need to act on it.
Two weeks ago I got bitten, luckily just on my ear lobe and it was only a minor inconvenience. I decided to get some jungle formuale just in case and stuck it in my bag. Just got back from a Sunday to Tuesday session on another lake and on the Sunday, I had some buzzing around my ear and when I woke up the next morning I had been done with a series of bites across my forehead, neck and cheek. I try to avoid putting the door panel on my bivvy  during the warmer months as I prefer to be able to look out and watch the water, even after dark. The second night I sprayed some jungle formulae on my chest and head  and heard some mozzies approach during the night but they seemed to fly straight off again which was encouraging. I found one outside my bivvy the next morning and he got squashed into the chippings under my size 12! 
I've been up the chemist and got some Anthisan bite and sting cream which will go in my bag for future sessions.
I wonder if the long hot summer we have had increased their numbers and activity time as conditions are still unseasonly warm.
 

Fished with a mate on Friday who was on the new DNA test bait. He caught and I blanked so take from that what you will.

Just found out the lake I've been waiting all summer to fish, is shut due to low water/oxygen levels😤
I'll find somewhere else for weds/Thurs night. 
I can't blooming wait

Blank night, new swim 3 islands and 4 channels to go at.  Just one fizzer seen and closer than I was fishing.  Back down Thursday 🤞

Back on it, 3 nights - full moon coming, fingers crossed, not seen any yet, but didn't last week either.
Very happy with all 3 rods this time 🤞

Back on the rods at the syndi for a couple of nights, weather looks good for it, fingers crossed 🤞 

Beginning and end of my quick overnighter, god I love September/October carping! 
 

A couple from France, double take madness 🇫🇷