smufter

That'll do!

Sexy little beasts in green..........................

I did fire out a fair few as freebies Geezer, I thought you meant how many on my rig!! Am going to tie a few more rigs up this week-end with some size 6 and 8's on there just to ring the changes. Quick links used, so not a big faff to swap them around a bit.

About 10 to a dozen on a medium maggot clip mate. I was thinking with the amount of dead leaves and other material on the lake bed, even a size 4 would be difficult to see by a fish. But he reckons that these carp are so "clued up" that they could mouth the bait and feel the hook before even registering anything on the alarms. My thoughts are if they are sucking a bait in, by the time they've realised there's a hook there, it should be too late??? My hooks are well sharp by the way, and I am using pva to help mask them.

Well, another blank! I was the only one fishing today, a couple of guys were there when I first arrived but they were coming to the end of their sessions and both reported that the lake had been very quiet. There were definitely fish in "Back Pond" today, but just couldn't tempt them despite my best efforts. I may not be catching, but I am definitely honing my fish spotting skills! Couple of single beeps, but nothing I could get my teeth into. Bailiff has suggested scaling down my hook size. I've been using 4's for my bottom baits, but may well go down to a 6 or an 8. I had maggots on my "trap" rod (right in the bay entrance) by the way Yonny, and was using sticks CM......

There are fish in front of me. Some really nice swirling and something BIG has just entered the bay I'm fishing in. Feeling a little more confident today. Fingers crossed.

Just about to head off for another session at "The Lake with no fish"......it's blooming cold out there!

Well they've arrived, and bearing in mind they are blue, (which aren't as bright as green), they are fine. Look quite funky!! There is a small amount of room left in the body, so to give them a little more weight I am going to feed a tiny amount of tungsten putty into the bottom of them which will help, failing that I will attach a Fox Edges kwik-change weight to the cord tight to the base, which will work and won't look too odd.

Cheers Yonny. I don't fish at distance or tight lined, so these should be fine. I'll let you know about the isotopes. I had read somewhere else that clear PVC tubing would do the same, but as I say I got these three cheap on the bay so I took my chances

Mmmmmm. Common sense tells me otherwise but we'll see. Just picked up three on the 'bay relatively cheap.

Been offered a set of three really cheap by a mate. Too cheap to resist actually..... Just a question on the "JAG" isotopes that are available for these. They come encased in an acrylic sleeve that helps protect them, and fits the bobbin's body perfectly. JAG say that this acrylic sleeve actually helps increase the isotopes perceived brightness. Is this the case, or is it bull****? Just trying to find out how bright they are in relation to other isotopes.

Just a heads up if anyone is looking for winter trousers. Mountain Warehouse have a promo on at the moment, 20% discount on everything using code OCT20. I bought some of their "Winter Trek" trousers last year, and they have been fantastic. Nice and warm, fit really well, and wash up brilliantly. https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/search/fleece lined trousers/

Have run out of cream Geezer.

Except if I'm crusting....... Forgot about crusting.

Two simple rigs for me too. I'm either fishing on the bottom, or fishing a pop up rig. That's it.

That was unlucky.

No I have never owned Delks. And I'm not knocking them. All I am saying is that to brand every other alarm as "rubbish" is a bit short sighted. Why were your microns rubbish????

I do mate. I only changed because I wanted something with a receiver, and to upgrade my Fox's would have cost me a fortune. But had I not required the receiver, I would have quite happily continued with them. They had never let me down in nearly 5 years.

Nothing wrong with Fox Alarms mush.

Very shortsighted old bean. There are other, very good alarm systems out there.

I like the idea of being able to alter the brightness of the LED's in night mode. My Fox's were fine during daylight, but when darkness fell you were lining yourself up for retina burn. I have never seen an alarm LED so bright, used to light up the whole swim. You couldn't see what the bobbin was doing, and anybody else on the lake would have thought the emergency services had arrived!! My new JRC alarms have much more subdued lights.

"Large" it is then Mush. As I say, they are really simple. I thread a bait screw onto the D rather than a ring. Just prefer to mount my pop ups like that.

They are a doddle. Even I can use them!! If you are going with a size 6 or 4 hook you'll need the "large" size. Anything smaller hookwise, go with the "small".

For my pop up presentations I tend to use these..... http://gardnertackle.co.uk/product/pop-up-hook-aligners/ There's an accompanying video on that page if you click on the link. Very easy to use. I thread the rubber part that forms the D through a bait screw with a rig ring attached. Can get that well hidden within the pop up and doesn't weigh too much I also use these instead of putty or split shot to hold them down..... https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/fox-edges-kwick-change-pop-up-weights Nice and neat.

Thanks for your suggestions lads, I went for three Wychwood "Slugs" in the end...... picked them up cheap off the 'bay (£6.50 each). Like the idea that they come with so many chain options as standard (including a Dacron cord) and the fact that I found some in really bright orange, which is my preferred colour. They're not the prettiest kids on the block, but then nor were Fairy Liquid bottle tops! Shame about the chains on the Avids, they are a really nice, simple bobbin but the aforementioned chains are made of chocolate! I emailed Avid about two weeks ago to find out if I could buy the chains separately, but had no response from them. Thanks Avid.