chillfactor

No doubt Danny .... watched a program on Tele a few years back can't remember what world river it was but these were giant otters & they were defending there young from crocs & winning on that occaion. Think the reintroduction was a good thing but there needs to be control too . Another point to mention these otters we have now are the European otter & a fair bit bigger than are native otter was .

Dogs & Eagles ... can't think of much else?

Rats normally clean up after the otters & birds, sometimes Mr fox all depends what finds it first .... normally Rats though . Funny this subject came up. Just be on the phone with a good friend who has decided to pull the plug on his lake lost to many fish this year . Selling what he has left & calling it a day for now . It's very short sighted to think just target other species, what do you think they will eat next ?

Thing is Ian... once it's left out the water others clean the carcus until there's nothing left . So your never sure how much the original culprit took .

What you have to bare in mind is that the carp are a major problem in these areas you speak of cm . Because of the warm conditions they breed like you wouldn't believe... hence why there are plans to mass cull carp . We get a small breeding window & the % of them don't make it .... so that's why we have lakes & rivers being emptied & they don't. It all boils down to numbers at the end of the day + the sheer size of the countries . Horseshoe is still a great tench water.

This does seem to be the pattern on many lakes Vic. Get the odd visit over a period of time , can be months & months apart . Then bang get a big hit & lots of loses , my thinking is this is down to them emptying another lake somewhere else so the kills on your lake will increase . Not sure about carp being safe in snags / weed though Vic, but suppose they might think they are & hold up , even easier target for the otter, open water they stand a better chance but the otter is the apex preditor & nothing is safe tbh unfortunately they are incredibly good at catching fish .

Can you compare America with our tiny country ?.... the anglers over there are't fishing fisheries for starters & the rivers they are fishing are rammed with carp so they won't see a issue just the odd dead fish & also there supposed to knock carp on the head anyway , you can bow fish for them, completely different scenario. It really boils down to what sort of lakes your fishing, if it's very low stock like one of my lakes & your losing fish then yes it won't take long for it not to be worth fishing as otters need to eat there own body weight in food every day & considering the will take a 20lb + carp and only eat the offal you can lose a few big fish a day , like many others around the Cotswolds that have been hit hard & were tough waters anyway there now devoid of fish & anglers . There is a reason why so many lakes are having to fence & the more that do will obviously put the ones that don't or can't at bigger risk . If you search back years on here I had a similar view to cm's as I fished along side otters on the Wye for years , unfortunately there are to many people interfering with otters these days & numbers are getting silly . Eventually there will be a cull on them i reckon but it will be to late for many fisheries. The problem will be getting on lakes in the future that are fenced busy will be an understatement & certainly not what I look for in my fishing.

What you have to bare in mind is they are both cheap rods probably cost around 5£ to make & ship into the country ! So does the 50£ deal look so good now ? I see you mentioned the ctx range on the other thread .... much better to think down that road at least you know the rods have had some proper testing in there design & by all accounts a lot of rod for the money .

I've used the camotex & stopped using it pretty quickly, the coating crinkles up far to easily for my liking. The korda alternative or esp tungsten are far superior, really impressed with the esp stuff tbf after " yonny" put me on to it . those two 40lb plus cats I had last year both powerd through a large lillie bed & had to be played back through it, not a mark on the rig ...in fact it was the same rig that landed both fish . I would save ya money & avoid the fox stuff .

She's a goodun lads no doubt, her legs have just started to play up this last year or so . Been giving her a supplement the last few months & have definitely noticed she's not quite so stiff/ lame after exercise & is generally moving a little easier, there' no miracle cure for old age but think it's making her more comfortable so going to stick with it . Mans best friend without doubt.

Not the same without my old girl with me especially on the long sessions , my new water allows dogs witch is great as she's getting on now bless her & want to make the most of the time left with her & fishing is a big part of that . she's been on a load of socials over the years with old members off here never been a problem in fact quite often the first thing mentioned is " are you bringing Jess "

it Will all be intertwined somewhere down the line if there using the same tooling , knowing how it all works a little some one got them in the factory in the first place who more than likely has involvement in one or both .

so who owns Cyprinus then ?

aqua use a higher rated aquatex than they put on the trakker models .... hence why they are a bit more pricey again .

pretty sure the materials are different mate having seen them in the flesh . the aqua is different again from the trakker higher rated aquatex .

still sounds good though fella

can't see it being aquatex though lads like the trakker ?

well gave it as long as I could gents but no snow carp .... it was getting over 2ft deep on the track out so was time to make a start on the long journey home , would of stayed longer if i could of but needed to get back to the family. started slowly as we couldn't get up the hill out of the lake lol . But a bit of graft on the shovel & we were soon on our way. loved it

come on the carp

yeah just the way it goes ... still just good to be out Ian ... bit of a social as well as a good friend is in the peg to my right & hopefully Nige will be able to pop down for a catch up . not shows Bird life ... there are fish moving about but silver's & toothy critters, may get the lure rod out & some point .

hope to see you later on though mate? I can see me having issues trying to leave tomorrow with even more snow forecast , left Kate with 4×4 I'm in the old van lol

morning all ... reels & alarms frozen solid going to change all three on to zigs today & give that a go I reckon. forecast is for a lot more snow so getting home could be interesting tomorrow !

was exactly the same setting up at midnight last night mate ... got a sweat on getting everything to the peg, nothing worse when it's Baltic as you really can get cold if your not to careful once you stop . won't lie its a chilly one tonight lol