smufter

I've got the JRC Radars and cannot fault them at all. A very useful set of features, I especially like the 3 way on/off toggle switch which makes things a doddle when setting bobbins etc. Switch to the right and they're on, in the middle they're off, and to the left they are on but with a neat little nightlight to show where they are in the dark. Battery life is superb, (I'm still on the originals with no sign of them giving up the ghost), and separate tone/volume/sensitivity controls. The receiver is a little "plasticky" but that doesn't bother me as it is either on my bivvy table or hanging from the brolly. I would highly recommend these for the price. Just under £95.00 on ebay for the all blue set (which I have because blue is cool!)... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-JRC-Radar-CX-3-1-Carp-Fishing-Bite-Alarm-Set-Blue-With-Case-1411118/132764328259?epid=2255211171&hash=item1ee95ee143:g:1f8AAOSwA3dYHe4q

Went into our local tackle shop to buy some bits and pieces. All the guy kept trying to do was sell me some Sonik rods. I didn't want any Sonik rods!! But I was in the market for a new brolly. Had made my mind up I wanted a Wychwood Solace, asked him how much he could do one for. He checked his price list, told me and I was happy to order. It was a little bit more expensive than I could buy it for online but I felt like I wanted to support him, and if I had any problems I could go back to him. "Don't worry" he said, "the Wychwood rep is around next week, I'll order you one up". Left it a bit more than a week, popped in to see if he had it, he told me it should be here in a couple more days. Popped back a week later, it still hadn't arrived. "Give me a call when it comes in" I said, "I'll pop straight round and pick it up". I never did hear back from him, and his shop has closed down now. Wonder why?????

I'd be filtering through them and putting the mis-shapes on my rig 😉

I cast out and sent him this.....

Mate of mine sent me a photo of the swim I'm in today and highlighted the best place to put my rigs....

Late Edit (for Yonny)....... I may not be able to fish 160 with mine, but they have isotopes fitted into the handles which increase their fish catching abilities by 0% 😉😉😉

I've just "splashed the cash" and am back on the rods I've been promising myself since stupidly selling a set of them about 3 or 4 years ago. I regretted doing it at the time, but I needed the cash due to work issues.... I only fish 11' rods, (which limits my choices somewhat), but FreeSpirit, within the S range, offer the TS 2.75lb 11 footer. They are absolutely fantastic and I sold every other rod I had to help fund buying them. These, to me, are the "ultimate" 11 footers. Absolutely superb fish playing action, very light, minimal graphics, and can flick a lead out brilliantly. Caught my pb on one of these (37lb Common) so I certainly don't feel "undergunned" using them on waters that hold bigger fish. I don't consider myself a "tackle tart" but it's nice that everybody who has seen them has commented on how good they look and feel. "Best rod" is a little subjective, because you can only gauge it on ones that you have actually used. But to me, these are MY best rods. I just hope the wife never finds out how much I actually spent on them.....😲😲😲

I'm working today but didn't have to start until 10am so had a bit of a play around early doors and made up a few of each (German and Ronnie). Both very easy and quick to make up. Tried them out with their respective baits in the kitchen sink and they all performed as they should. I don't very often fish pop ups so only tied a few of the Ronnies, but I do like using wafters/bottom baits so the Germans will get a work out on Tuesday. I used a swivelled bait screw instead of the small swivel recommended on the Gardner website as it's much easier to screw a bait onto one of those than faff around blobbing floss. Used a good quality coated hooklength and left the coating intact to aid presentation. Let's see how they perform on Tuesday 😎

Yep. Absolute rubbish. I think they'd last about 3 hours on a new battery before the light started dribbling out of the lens..... "Ever Ready"... there's a larf. Ever Unready more like....

What is the difference between a "German" rig and a "Ronnie" rig???? 😲😲

Prior to the Starlites coming out, we used to take the front lights off of our bikes and with the aid of small stones position them so that they lit up our floats in the dark. A yellow quill was the best float for this. It used to make us jump when the float just disappeared from sight!! Tench on lol!! Batteries never seemed to last all night though.....

I use the ones from Carp Craze. They are a little bit smaller so I tend to use two in different colours. That way, you know they've both come off....😉 I bought a box of cheaper ones, they are okay but not quite as "dense" so tend to come off a bit too quickly sometimes, doesn't matter how hard I squeeze them together. I've even had them fly off at impact before, which kind of defeats the object!! I'll stick with my Carp Craze jobbies. The bright blue ones are best

If you only want to spend around £25.00 or so, have a look at Okuma reels on ebay. Very well made reels, and will last you a while. I have 3 that I bought about 15 years or so ago and they are still working fine.

I think my "passion" for isotopes comes from when I used to go night fishing years ago, without alarms. In those days, star lites had just come out, (the ones you snap and shake to get to light up), and they were a natural progression from lumps of breadflake on your line, and then fairy washing up liquid tops. A star lite was a luxury! Didn't have alarms, you just waited in the dark (or the light from a candle in a jam jar) to see your home made bobbin rise up. A star lite made it so much easier and it has naturally progressed to isotopes.

Not only that, but they look pretty 😉

Wychwood Slug Bobbins for me, in "hi-vis" orange. I find they're the perfect weight for the type of fishing I do and they stand out really well in all lights and against any background. The only thing I'd change is the isotope slot. It's next to useless where it is.

I bet those parts make a helluva splash don't they??? 😉

Again, not being argumentative Yonny, (I respect your thoughts on all aspects of angling mate) but unless there has been a bit of editing on that first run, it takes him 10 seconds to get to his rods, not 2 or 3. With no landing net evident. Jeez, I sleep like the dead but I could get out of my bivvy and on my rods quicker than that!! I tend not to do it though because I consider it bad angling.

He states in the video he's only fishing one rod. And in the 1st take (the one I'm talking about) he didn't have the landing net in his hand! I'm not trying to be argumentative (honestly I'm not) but as good as he is, I call that bad angling.

Korda n'trap. Never given me a moments problems.

I've got some carp craze ones, and also bought a box of cheap ones off the bay. The carp craze ones are really good. The cheap ones pop up to the surface almost immediately. Not good. I also use two separate colours. Saves any doubt!

I wasn't suggesting he sit ON the jetty. Sitting at the end bankside in his chair (on the grass) would have cut down substantially on his reaction time.

I must have been watching it wrong then Yonny. Looked to me like he was late to the rod and it snagged him up.....

I'm not doubting the fact that he is one of the greatest anglers of our generation Yonny. But whats the difference between this example and fishing whilst asleep and not getting to your rods on time?? The end result is the same.... you've allowed a fish to get to a snag with your inability to get to your rod. No different in my mind to him nattering away in the next swim to a mate. All I am saying is he should have been sitting closer to his rods. It's not as if it was hissing it down with rain, blowing a gale or 5 degrees below zero where he needed the warmth of a bivvy is it??? If that had happened to a mate of mine, I'd have called him all the names under the sun!!

I'm not saying he should have been on top of his rods. But if it had been me, on a nice morning like that, I'd have been sitting in a chair and the bank end of the jetty watching the water rather than sitting in my bivvy 50 yards away.....