nealjt

Just because.....

Ah Crusian very cool! I will pass it on, thank you. Although your wife definitely hasn't seen my fishing gear[emoji39]

Crusian - I'm not sure I get it? Was hoping it was going to be a child friendly Spanish Cathedral with a massive carp lake!!! Bream went well except one of them turned into this! Quite good fun on a 4 weight fly rod I nodded for him to use as a float rod [emoji39] [emoji39]

I think if and when I get time I will attempt to fully document what I did today, including rig pics and explanations of what, where and why, I'd be genuinely interested in people picking apart my approach and see what others would do. (Don't worry SPR I won't go all Def Con 5 and start a war [emoji41] ) One thing that stood out today was although I had birds on my bait on and off all day the only pick up from them off the bottom was on a rock hard, very old, Solar salmon and black pepper pop up, it is a dull red colour and has been soaked in oil for over a year.... maybe this is the way to go? Is this note worthy? If I WANTED to catch a bird at Bayeswater I know I wouldn't use a small yellow pop-up, could the carp be the same?

Ha ha! My predictive text makes itgoes into orgies! Says a lot about the sort of words I use most...... anyway I better prepare for tomorrow, wouldn't want a snotty blank..... [emoji85] [emoji86] [emoji87]

Crusian - you ask about "Ron" but missed "orgies" I can't even work out what I meant to put [emoji12]

Crusian - hope Madrid treats you well

Well 2 runs so far....! One from a gull and one from a coot [emoji36] [emoji36] safe to say my zig is now lower in the water! Only 3 swims free when I arrived, the spot I wanted was taken so all change here. I'm in the swim where my cousin caught a monster carp while float fishing. So I've a rod in the margin which I'm just going to leave. If orgies I think it'll be towards the end of the day. A zig currently at about 4ft on about 9 foot of water. Middle rod is straight out in front about 1/4 across the lake to where I saw a carp poke it's head out

Not Sam, I think the patch of yellow grass from his recent campaign gave it away!

Oh dear just found out my favourite swim is taken.....

Oh yes I have waders ready and plan to get as intimate as I can [emoji15]

yup am there tomorrow

Didn't you know Jesus was an alien?!? Rose to heaven on a bright light....? Erm alien teleport, obviously! Moses got the ten commandments in one moment straight to his brain... erm alien data download!!!

Am on bacon duty this morning to earn my fishing allowance... think I went to far when the church goers were waiting for their rolls and I said "be patient, Jesus had to hang around a bit, so can you [emoji12] [emoji12]

Pm on its way to you Crusian

Took my dog for a walk around a lake yesterday, she was chewing on something that turned out to be a rabbit head.... [emoji195]

And now this is my problem with fishing, I know soooo much but I am terrible at putting it into action. What you say about spots and areas makes total sense. But I end up thinking about it so much I do my head in and just cast in and hope for the best. I've 2 lakes I'll be focusing on over the next year or so, bayeswater and a lake local to me. Both totally different, bayeswater is a very good quality lake but it is still a young, man-made day ticket venue, lots of fish but without loads of personality. I like it because it is secure, the rules and availability suit me well. It feels like a club. I'm honing my ability which I enjoy and I'm almost certain when I catch it'll be near on or above a 20 which I'm looking forward too, I may not use scales but I want to catch bigger fish! The other lake is pretty much untouched proper snaggy, full of bream hardly any carp and probably average size is mid teens but they are old, dark and very tricky to catch. Bayeswater probably does have spots in spots, but it is more about finding the right area getting them to feed and presenting a bait they will readily take. (Sounds easy but is above me so far!) The other lake is definitely spots in spots! and those spots are usually in 6 foot of snags! The carp can easily be found but I think only readily feed on quite specific "spots" My problem on both lakes is being confident in what to do. I've filled my head with so much info I think I've lost myself. Was saying to spr on Sunday how I used to fish a club lake and would just cast to the middle with a shop brought rig and what ever bait the mags told me to use, never once thinking about location or what I was fishing over or my baiting tactics and pretty much every session, summer or winter I would catch! If I went there now I bet I'd blank!!! I always enjoy fishing, it is necessary for my mental well being. I thrive on being near the water with the chance of a mystery being discovered. My expeditions to bayeswater feel like an opportunity to start again and learn to fish well

Yes makes total sense and no he was fishing an area in an area [emoji12]

Well I couldn't comment on spr, but now you mentioning I have been sitting funny......

Yonny - I suppose I mean to try and take a longer view. Yes I'd always have an aim to catch. By that if I'm not happy in the swim I could be proactive and make my confidence better for the next time. Rather than trying to chance a fish with a guessed cast for fear of spooking the swim

Newmarket - Yeah I don't like it either, he has put the effort in and reaped the rewards, seems like a proper nice chap so deserves the recognition (top rod is what I've said no one else) no not waded the lake, just the shallows. Which is only 2 swims.

Newmarket - I've specifically focused on less popular swims to hopefully get in there every time. It has worked so far but I think now that Mr top rod is targeting that area it may get more popular [emoji30] but it is as far from the gate as can be and notorious for weed so it'll never be the most popular area

Crusian - yes that's me in the waders [emoji3]

The most beneficial lesson was watching how the chap went about things. He knows the lake and the fish well and where I have been very cautious of creating minimal disturbance. He happily chucked a load of bait in and recast until he was where he wanted to be. But when in his spot the only time his rods came in was because of a fish. Basically he was confident in what he was doing. It was also nice that he confirmed a lot of what I already believed about the layout of the swims. His major advantage / edge is time. He works near by and lives locally so can literally set up fish over night, head to work and then just come back after. In hindsight I could do a similar thing by having my first few sessions a pure swim sussing, as you say get the waders out, use a marker rod. If I'd spent two of my days doing this I would be catching now!