fantasticmrfox

I have a 2 12ft banshee feeders and a marker a spod, they're great, especially for the price, I think they were 2 for £60 when I got them. The only problem I had was one of the eyes on one of the quivertips was blocked, I emailed them, and got 2 replacements (one for each rod) the very next day. That was from fishtec all though I ordered from the TFG website. TFG does get a slating at times, but these I cannot fault and the companies I dealt with were awesome

Wow, I'm only half an hour away by car as well, damn sight cheaper than Drayton too! Thanks lad's, Will definitely have to give there a go soon!

Is it a day ticket mate? If so, how much is a 24hr stint? Been there to the fair loads of times, every time I go I wish I had my rods with me, but didn't know you could fish it lol!

Can you elaborate please on the things that would make you change your rig? Ok I'll try, I tend not to think about why I make the changes I do, I just do it instinctively I guess. If I'm getting bites but no takes, or poor hook holds, I'll change to a bolt rig with a long hooklink, because the extra resistance on the line helps set the hook, which helps when fish aren't feeding very confidently. If I'm struggling to bait up at a distance then I'll shorten the distance between the running lead and the hook, than add a PVA stick, this helps get bait to difficult areas (under overhanging trees etc) and goes a long way to helping eliminate tangles. If I'm fishing over weed or amongst lillypads, then I may use a braided hooklink for the added abrasion resistance, or use a buoyant bait and small blobs of putty rather than a ledger, which will allow the bait to sit on top of the weed rather than bed into it, this only really works short distance. If I want similar effects but at greater distance I tend to use a helicopter set up. Method of bite indication makes a difference to the type of set-up I use, When using my quivertip I like to keep it simple and use my "Default" setup for lack of a better word, then tweak it depending on the strength of the tip I'm using, wind conditions etc, but I mainly only change to a slightly heavier lead or feeder. When using bobbins I like to use a running rig with a fairly heavy lead, because regardless of the way the fish moves off, line will always be pulled so no drop backs, I allow my bobbin to sit on the ground with very slack lines and wait for the fish to lift the bobbin considerably before striking, I also set my bait runner so I can hear line being taken if I get a take when I'm not fully concentrating, but this is only really good to use mid water, as a fish can take line and be snagged up before I've even got to my rod if fishing tight to the margins. That's kind of all I can think of off the top of my head. As you can tell I tend to use the same old methods with slight variations depending on a certain situation, I hope this has helped Keenook.

Yup, I do, 90% of my fishing is mono straight through, with a running ledger (as light as I can get away with) a stop shot between the lead and the hook to stop the lead running right down the rig and a hook tied to the end, If I'm using a hair rig then its nearly identical except I tie my hooklink out of mono 1lb less than the mainline I'm using, tie a bead onto the mainline just below the lead, then loop to loop the hooklink on. Simple, easy and effective. If it aint broke, don't fix it! It's worked for me since I was 7 and is still working so why change it? Occasionally I'll use different or more complicated rigs, but only if I feel the occasion calls for it. sometimes I REALLY like to spice it up a little and use a cage feeder instead of a lead! It's fun taking risks

OR disturbing, just more evidence of how over-stocked and under fed it is... BTW, I don't like the place

Seem's like you all ready have your mind made up mate, in which case why ask? Nick gave you a very useful piece of advice and an effective rig for the situation you gave mate yet you seemed to completely disregard it. If you come across with that demeanour when someone answers the question you ask with something other than what it is you want to hear no one will want to help in future. Try taking all the advice and use it constructively, not turn a deaf ear until you hear what you want.

Pop on Youtube and look for fox, nash, ESP and gardner pages, they all have loads of how to tie different rig videos, It'll help you a lot, many of the videos tie the same rigs just slightly different ways using their own products, so you'll get an idea of what type of product you need rather than watching a fox video and thinking "I have to buy this fox product for this to work" sort of thing. I did add links to these videos on another thread a while back, I'll try and dig it out and send you the links mate hope that'll help. Edit. Can't find the post where I listed all the rigs and added a video link to it, it may have been removed but I doubt it, I can't remember which topic it was in either :/ sorry mate, but if you search Youtube for how to tie the "rig name here" rig loads will come up. I always use the simple knotless knot on mono with a line aligner though, simple and VERY effective, you don't need complicated or fancy rigs to catch fish mate.

I don't know the area mate, but A few general pointers for you. check out the sticky's in the where to fish section & use the search facility on here, If it's been mentioned before that'll find them.... Failing that Google Maps is a fantastic tool for us anglers to use, put in your new postcode and pan around, you'll soon find waters around the area, then search them specifically.

90% of my fishing I use running rig's, mostly using pendant style leads but occasionally I'll use in line. More often that not though if I'm using an in line lead its a semi-fixed set up, using a tulip bead over the swivel then the lead connected to that with a bit of tubing, pushed on gently to allow the lead to slide off the line if I break off. I always use a hooklink of a lesser breaking strain than my mainline by at lease 1lb, so if I break off, 99% of the time I break the hooklink and not my mainline anyway. I don't see many people using tulip beads any more, it seems all about the lead clips etc. why is that? are the lead clips really that much safer? I've never used them but have never had too, if it aint broke, don't fix it and the tulip beads work well for me.

what about Walthamstow res, north met pit and the other lea valley water's, or are they not essex water's/ syndicates? :\

Agreed! Maybe we could start a day ticket waters across the country thread, where everyone could do a write up about the day ticket waters in their area, that way there is all the information in one place, that's easy to locate. It might help lower the amount of "where is a good day ticket in.........." thread that pop up all the time. Great post mate

The reasoning behind it is as you pierce the pop up, you break the skin allowing it to take on water and become less buoyant over time, also if your using cork ball pop ups then there is a good chance you will push some cork through the pop up, creating a rather big tear in the skin of the pop up, which reduces the integrity of the pop up and makes it more likely to loose buoyancy. It's only really a problem if you have the same pop up out for many hours.

Not good to hear, I know over the summer they lowered the level to make it possible for more night anglers to put up their bivvys, it would seem the level hasn't recovered as they had anticipated. IMO It has been going downhill quite rapidly recently, but as it is the closest place to my house and is accessible by public transport, I'm not left with much option... If I'm honest, I doubt I'll be fishing again until I can go further afield and join a syndicate. They reason the water level is low is because that reservoir is used to feed the grand (union?) canal. So when the canal is low they use the reservoir to fill it back up, but I'm unsure how the ressy fills back up, the water level goes down every year and then will get back up eventually. Its a swings and roundabouts kind of thing, when the grand union needs water, Drayton and the country park (when the water level is high enough to reach the overflow which it hasn't reached in a few years) fill it up, but the grand union is such a vast expanse of water, lowering Drayton's water level by a few feet will only raise the canal by a few inches, so they can lower the water level when they see fit, which they did in the summer to encourage more night anglers, which in return made British Waterways more money the reservoir then relies on rain water and road run off and snow melt to fill it back up over the winter.

Not good to hear, I know over the summer they lowered the level to make it possible for more night anglers to put up their bivvys, it would seem the level hasn't recovered as they had anticipated. IMO It has been going downhill quite rapidly recently, but as it is the closest place to my house and is accessible by public transport, I'm not left with much option... If I'm honest, I doubt I'll be fishing again until I can go further afield and join a syndicate.