chillfactor

Nothing better mate, been taking my boy since before he could walk . Slowly progressed him to bigger fish the last two fish were caught on our first over nighter together, I had also took his older cousin with us . He had gone to bed a bit down as his cousin had caught a couple during the day & he hadn't had a bite lol .. his rod screams off at 1 am & there's no waking him no matter how hard we tried so his cousin landed that one too , anyway he stuck with it the next day & got his rewards . Very proud Dad x

Cracking fish gents 😎 Couple more nice mirrors

The shell suit era 😂

Your right mate Ali G style , mind you, you must of been a fan to remember that detail lol 🕺

Was this around the time East 17 were popular mate 😁

Favourite mirror... which was really hard to choose as I've had some real crackers over the years, certainly not my biggest mirror, but defiantly one of my personal favourites, also marked a good zig session where everything fell into place for me . Favourite common also not my biggest, but it's a survivor after we thought it was lost to otters after doing the disappearing act for a couple of years

Great topic idea Dave .... & absolute crackers lads 😎

Can't remember what the temps went down to tbh mate , but I have definitely fished in colder . Funny it's exactly a year ago today that session .

Had a shout for a snow carp last year . Apart from the fact I didn't get a touch lol

Lots of waters with nothing left mate real sorry state of affairs eh , laws need to change before it's to late .

Not far from where i live , not a fishery but a private lake already lost a lot of good fish the past few years . Otter fencing is the only way to be as sure as you can of keeping them out & protecting your fish. But not all lakes can do this. We are going to put an electric fence up thus week which might save the odd kill but it's not fool proof , I've got enough spare from my sheep to set one up , proper otter fencing with an over hang is what you need but we can't do it there due to not owning it outright , just the fish !!!

Our first visit this winter .... well the first one we know about !!! , keeps your eyes peeled it's that time of year !

Do you think the rolls have reversed these days ? Should carp fishing be seen as the pinnacle . If we all stop thinking carp fishing is the pinnacle , you won't see the same issues with people starting out carping over other species. Has the pinnacle for carp become more about certain fish from certain waters ? Over just managing to land one of those elusive carp . You really have to look at it as a complete beginner to fishing in this day & age of course your your going to end up carpin it's what's readily available. when I was young it was the rivers & the odd visit to a park lake .

No probs 😎

That's right mate , I'm heading back up there early spring if you fancy it .

Your not trying to pass it over the eye of the hook are you ? Most micro ring swivels will pass over a micro barb .

As your finding mostly match lakes around in the vale . Have you fished Horseshoe ? 70 acres so plenty to get your teeth stuck into & stunning fish , probably just shy of an hours drive for you .

It's got to help fishing from a young age, but saying that I know enough carpers that haven't & good ones at that & you also see old boys who have fished all there lives with shocking fish care & zero watercraft so it's more down to individual habbits & what lessons you've learnt be it over 5 years or 50 years . I remember my uncle taking me fishing as a kid & tieing hooks on with granny knots, he was still doing it some 10 years later until as as a teenager I showed him a few different knots. Think watercraft maybe the only thing that's hard to catch up on , as you spend so much time as a kid fishing that's got to be hard to replace , but even that over time comes .

Realised last night that I'm off to France fishing on the day of brexit !!! Could be fun & games depending on what eventually gets sorted 🙈😁

Different repair Nick ... the one I did was on the bottom of the pouch , hense why I said I've used braid before,

Use all the above methods when needed ,but my favourite has to be by hand on a margin spot or spoon . @Dannygooner I will have to keep an eye out for the catty you mention as the carp ones are pants these days, when I was working away earlier in the year forgot to take a catty so had to buy one, the shop we used only had korda ones & the pouch came off within 5 mins of using it . I repaired it with cable ties trimmed them back & ended up with the lock part of the tie ripping a big tear in my hand gripping the catty didn't have any braid with me as I've used that in the past to stich them back on with to good effect.

What s the thinking behind the shape of the claw hook ? Anti ejection etc ?

You could hang a 10 0z lead on my builders hands lol Big fan of the cryogen hooks that Nick mentions & what I currently use. I avoid Korda hooks seen enough mates loose fish with snapped hooks ! A few times it's been at socials & we all look at each other & say " korda strikes again " happend To Mick at churn one year .

That's what most do on waterways with boat traffic mate .

Normally just small 2 -3 inch little rattlers muft on a coated length of trace . I normally cut at least one hook off sometimes two if there trebbles on the lure , causes a lot less damage.