smufter

I would do mate, but the venue are pushing for a 50% deposit to reserve asap, despite the fact we are two years away! So £1,050.00 required immediately, which is putting me off a little if I'm honest. I have booked Lake Beauregard for myself and five mates from White Cottage for July 2019. Despite all six of us being prepared to pay the deposit when I booked it (November last year) the owner said he doesn't want it until a year before the trip, which has given us plenty of time to arrange things and we've got a meeting planned for 23rd June when I can collect the monies. And he only wants £100.00 per person, not 50% of the holiday cost.

58 now!

Well I've got 4 definites so far, including myself That's NOT including anybody that has commented on here by the way

Doh! Forgot mate. Let me know how you get on fella

I've also got one other who PM'd me from here interested and a couple of mates of mine. Despite the lake advertising the fact that they can take 9 on a lake exclusive, after emailing the owners I reckon 8 would be better to give ourselves a little more room. So that works out at £263.75 each. The week I am talking about is from Saturday 9th May (2020!!). I have asked the owners to "reserve" that week for me for a couple of months to confirm names and pull in the required deposit (50%). Rob

Where you off to Chris????

Not this week mate. I'm pacing myself

Well they arrived this morning!!! That was quick! They are smaller than anticipated (which is good) and they stink of maggots (which is bad when you open them up in the showroom!!). Wish me luck lads, these little soldiers are going in on Monday night

They also offer "orb" boilie bottom baits..... Bit different, and I would imagine harder to eject.

Nope. A bit murky and a load (and I do mean a LOAD) of leaf litter on the bottom. Lighter baits have always worked well at the Cottage. You can't get much lighter than those jobbies lol! For £6.99 I haven't wasted a lot if they don't work. Got to be worth popping one out on my "sleeper" rod, you never know!

You talked me into it. Had the last pot @ £6.99 delivered. Got the white ones too.........maggot flavour. You never know, do you????? On your head be it if I blank though.

blooming hell! I thought you were going to give me a rollocking

I was joking Geezer! I've ordered some "Ting Tongs".......supposed to be the Mutts.

Let's hear it for the "fat maggot" pop ups...........................................

Just ordered a tub of the "creme de la creme" of pop ups.

Funnily enough, Jerry (my mate) came round to my swim on Tuesday and we had a good chat. We got talking about pop ups, and I showed him my rig. He confirmed that he is fishing almost exactly the same as me, and had his pop up about 4" off the deck, same as me! Only difference was that he was using a pink pop up whereas mine was a deeper red (Plan b's natural colour lol!). As said, the fish have got to be in front of me to be interested, so I guess they weren't lol! I will persevere with them, just might change the colour over to something more visible like pink, white or possibly yellow. I know my presentation is right.... it's just finding the fish.

Well tried your suggestion yesterday Yonny, raised the pop up to 4". Still nothing..... Mate of mine who has just joined White Cottage had a 30lb carp on Monday, his first visit. On a pop up!!

Bait ordered and paid for......

Have never owned any Greys rods, but HAVE owned some FreeSpirit 11' TS's. Without a shadow of doubt the best rods I have ever handled. I stupidly sold them after needing to raise some money for other things and it's my one big regret, fishing wise. If I had the money I would buy some more in a heartbeat, they were that good. But I don't so I won't lol!!

70 now.....

Don't tell me you don't know how to work it out???

A long way away, but the best places get booked up very early. Having a look at this place, gets very good reviews, good facilities and a decent head of carp to 67lb. http://www.estatelake.com/en/home/ Looking at early May 2020, price of a lake exclusive is £2,100.00 drive 'n survive. Should be early enough to avoid spawning, but late enough to get a decent amount of daylight hours and temps. It "could" be munch time lol!! Apparently can take up to 9 anglers so that would work out at a paltry £233.00 each. Looks idyllic. Anyone fancy it (in principle)??????

Just checked. 82" How does that fit in a 60" brolly so well!!????

I haven't measured it geezer, but I'm just under 6' and have loads of room either end!!

Have you considered the Wychwood MHR (maximum head room) brolly? I'm a big fan of Wychwood brollies, having owned the previous model (Solace HD) for about 5 years having experienced no problems whatsoever. The material they use is second to none, and they are unique in that they come with a 5 year warranty. I upgraded to the MHR early this year, and despite only using it twice so far I am very impressed with it. The headroom is much, much better than my old Solace and because I can now push my chair/bedchair much further back, there appears to be so much more room and you are well tucked away out of the rain. Plenty of space for my luggage and other bits and pieces. I went for the 60" by the way, I personally wouldn't bother even looking at the 50" "Compact" version. It's a doddle to put up, and is very rigid. Also has a small area of groundsheet pre-attached at the rear, which is a godsend when setting up on wet/muddy ground. Also has two handy pockets built in at the back to hold important valuables like mobile phone, alarm receiver, keys that sort of thing. Saves scrambling around in your gear looking for them. You can buy an overwrap for it, but I haven't bothered because I only tend to fish the warmer months when condensation doesn't rear it's ugly head or total protection isn't needed. A newer rear vented model has just been introduced, but personally I wouldn't pay the extra for it. The material used is much better than some other brollies out there, and that in itself offered better shade. I can highly recommend it, and I picked mine up (60") for just under £120.00 brand new. Bit of a bargain.