smufter

Definitely a 5 year guarantee. Fairly unique in that. Thanks for your responses lads. 60" MHR it is. Wife has said she'll get it for my birthday, which is a bonus! If the new one is up to my Solace build quality, I'll be well chuffed.

Anybody got one??? If so, what do you reckon of it??? I've owned a 60" "Solace" HD for the past 4 years or more, absolutely love it. Great material, totally waterproof. The only downside is that I've clouted my head a couple of times on the ribs. I've also berated the fact that it doesn't have rod retaining straps fitted to it a couple of times, but have learnt to live with that! The new one comes with two retainers, has much higher rib arrangement, and two handy internal mesh pockets which seem ideal for popping your easily misplaced items in. So theoretically it ticks all the boxes. I have seen the new one on the bay for £129.99 delivered, and can get £60.00 for mine no problem. Seems a bit of a no brainer really doesn't it???? https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mhr+brolly&&view=detail&mid=2661530AFDA9E57C9B752661530AFDA9E57C9B75&&FORM=VDRVRV

I think they should be fined if somebody is caught fishing their water without a licence. That would make them check.

My wife has recently bought me one of these for Christmas... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quest-MK1-2-Man-Bivvy-Carp-Fishing-Pram-hood-Overnight-Shelter-Tackle/362076858000?epid=22003782162&hash=item544d766690:g:yksAAOSwvv9ZhFSz Haven't used it yet but it gets very good reviews, and I thought it was brilliant for the price.

Maybe that's because you don't need a driving licence to actually OWN a car. Similarly you don't need a fishing licence to OWN a fishing rod and reel. But in both instances you DO need a licence if you intend to USE either. Now it's the same situation.

Wouldn't take two seconds just to ask for anybody fishing their lake to produce one. If a youngster manages to buy cigarettes or booze, the shop will get done for supplying. So why not a fishery owner allowing somebody to fish their waters without one????

They do look (and sound) nice. Don't know if you have seen it, but there is a video of them at the bottom of this "review".... https://www.carpology.net/articles/reviews/greys-xlerate-rods Bit expensive for my pocket though.... and at the price they're asking you're finding yourself in Harrison and FreeSpriit "custom" territory so lots and lots of choice. I've had FreeSpirit rods before, and loved them. Stupidly sold them on during a moment of madness, (read financial problems), and it's my one major regret fishing wise. But as I say, they do sound the business.

That's my new screen saver.....

The one swim on the lake that allows a bait boat!!

Yeah, but they wouldn't have looked so funky..... and we all know that funky puts more fish on the bank 😉

I know what you mean but it's amazing what a dob of "Heavy Metal" can do, along with swapping the cords out for some 30lb coated braid.....

Why are you saving for Delks??? There are a lot better out there

I've just bought a set of 3 JRC Radar CX alarms, and am really chuffed with them. £99.00 brand new off the bay, do absolutely everything I want (and more) Separate tone, volume and sensitivity buttons, and my much preferred toggle on/off switch on the bottom. Left to turn on, right to turn on with night light and middle for off. So easy.

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.