smufter

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.

If you put me in a 12x12 room and fed me nothing but McDonalds burgers, funnily enough I'd be eating nothing but McDonalds burgers! For years we have been using luncheon meat for bait. How much poop is in that? It's hardly a natural bait is it???

Two?????

I've only been "carping" for about 7 years or so, and can remember quite clearly my first trip to a so called "specimen" water. My intention was to go down and fish it with luncheon meat and bread/corn, but I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was wasting my time and would need to arm myself with some boilies. Now I'd heard of boilies, but I'd never actually used them before and to be honest..... I didn't have a clue. Cracked off down to my local tackle shop to buy some with a pocket full of cash, a heart full of hope and a brain full of "no idea". Came away with a couple of kilo bags of different flavours, can't remember which make they were now, but I remember insisting on "the best" and even me, in my newbie ignorance, recognised the name on the packaging. They were a top make, well respected. I was cooking on gas!! Those things were like chalk. Rock hard on the outside, I could hardly get a baiting needle through them without them crumbling to dust. I can remember thinking to myself "why ever would a carp eat these?" But I used them and blanked (I started blanking early in my career and have carried this ability with me like a badge of honour). The shelf life baits you can buy nowadays bear no resemblance to those horrible things I was using back then. Absolutely none. Personally, I cannot tell the difference between a freezer bait and it's shelfie equivalent. Whether this is clever marketing, or due to the better ingredients being used nowadays I haven't a clue, but I'd like to think it's the latter.

Funnily enough, I was like that with boilies when I first started lol! Had always caught my fish on breadflake, luncheon meat, corn etc. Thought I'd have to give these new fangled boilies a try and blanked the 1st couple of times. Took me a while to get my head around them.

I already use wafters and bottom baits. Rig tubing, semi slack lines to ensure it's all pinned down

I know!! I'll change bait

I'm on 14's at the moment mate, and a lot of the time I whittle those down a bit too.

I'll try this next time out Yonny. As I say, the lake bed at White Cottage is strewn with leaf litter. I normally fish with my pop up about 2" off the weight but I'll try upping it by a couple of inches next time out to see if that makes any difference at all. Again, thanks all for your thoughts. Much appreciated.

That will confuse the hell out of the young 'uns...... Unfortunately I knew immediately what you meant

I almost exclusively use n-trap in 15lb. Never had any problems with it whatsoever. I've just started trying ESP Tungsten loaded which is okay but I find the hair loop is fraying up a little compared to the n-trap and that's using a braid friendly baiting needle.

Thanks for your advice lads. I do test my rigs before I use them (in a bucket of water on the bankside prior to casting out). Just got no confidence in pop ups I guess. I've caught on popped up corn before now, but never on an actual "pop up".

Despite accumulating countless tubs of various pop-ups over the years, I don't fish them that often. Lack of confidence I guess, as I've never had a sniff on one in the past. I've read up/watched videos on the rigs involved, but the only thing I'm not really sure of is the amount of weight I need to use. My question is, can you use too much??? I don't like using putty, so tend to use Fox "Kwik-change" pop up weights. I find these much neater, and once on, they stay in place. I use Gardner pop-up rig aligners, with a bait screw, and the rig to me looks nice and neat. I will test them out in a bucket before launching into the lake and this shows me they are sitting correctly. I strip my braid back just past the weight so I know that things are kicking up as they should. But as I say, can I use too much weight? I tend to use the biggest of the kwik change pop up weights which are the equivalent I guess to the old swan shot. I just want to make sure that my rig is down on the bottom as it should be. I will vary the length of stripped braid from the weight to the hook somewhere between an inch to two, but tend to favour two inches due to the amount of leaf litter/silt in my lake. But despite the fact my rig "looks" and seems to present itself okay, (in the bucket test at least), I still lack confidence. Can anyone give me any tips or maybe point out where I might be going wrong??? Could it be the weight I am using???? Cheers m'dears. (My "business end" looks exactly the same as the one pictured below)

You can pick them up on the 'bay for around a fiver. Well worth the money, very small (and light) you don't even know you've got it with you. One of my better buys. There are other makes out there but I think this one is the best. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gardner-Tackle-Peel-Pull-Braid-Stripper-Carp-Coarse-Fishing/263241449212?epid=1405351307&hash=item3d4a69befc:g:JdUAAOSwua1Z0flv

I'm trying the ESP tungsten loaded but find that the stripped part forming the hair loop is fraying up a bit, and I'm using a "braid friendly" baiting needle. I don't get this problem at all with n-trap. In all other respects I'm finding it fine. I use one of these Gardner stripping tools to strip the coating and it's perfect, doesn't damage the inner core and is much better than using teeth or fingernails. Has a handy little knot tightener built in too!

Tell me about it Ian lol! Next Tuesday will be different though. I can feel it in my water.

Well used it for the first time yesterday and got to say I am mightily impressed with it. Casts well, but more importantly sinks well, which is what it's advertised to do! It hangs nicely through the rings, the only thing I can't comment on is it's fish playing properties, 'cos I blanked! Got snagged up in a tree going for a really tight rig placement and had to pull for a break. Very strong, it went off like the crack from a rifle when it eventually did break. Just a little bit of curly wurly at the very end, snipped that off and it threaded perfectly through some new rig tubing. So far, a big thumbs up from me. Just got to wait until I hook into a fish now.

If it were me I'd be looking no further than the FreeSpirit CTX Creepers. At just over £100.00 each a bit of a no brainer really. I'd be proud to have those in my bag.

Errrr washers "on" will bunch the line up towards the back of the spool. To get it to load more to the front you'd take washers "off" (if there are any)...

Ahh! That will be a different subject for review Ian...... When I can also comment on it's stretch etc. I'm interested in it's sinking properties initially, to see if it lives up to it's name. Technium sinks reasonably well, so its that I'm comparing it to