jh92

This may sound silly but pike do feed at night right? I’m thinking of going down the canal after work and chucking a couple dead baits out. By the way if bottom fishing would you use a small running lead or just freeline? I’ll probably be using a smallish mackerel or something similar to that size lol

Thanks I will pick one up, I’ve got one with the bars but it’s pretty chunky and not ideal when trying to take minimal kit lol

Do weigh slings need to have the bars in them? I've seen a few that are just the bag Are these safe for the fish or do they need the support bars in to keep the sling straight?

I think with cockerpoos it's best to check it's parents/blood lines, if it's got working cockerspaniel in it, they can be a bit of a handful. This is what I've been told by a cockerpoo owner anyway lol. The dog looks well cute though mate haha

She has raw bones apparently they keep them clean lol I did try some meaty toothpaste and brush when she was a pup but she ended trying to eat the brush so stopped doing it 😂 Nice mate there's still hope then lol and my niece plays with her and gets tired before the dog does 😂 We've just got to the canal gonna have a walk and look for some fish and then fish from the van to kill some time lol 👍

Cheers mate Not on the lakes mate she barks at people coming close to the bivvy, likes to let me know someone is coming 😂 I take her on the river and canal though, there’s some ropey people who walk the banks down there especially at night so don’t mind her barking to let me know someone is coming lol. She is 2 this month so still pretty young, hopefully she grows out of it/calms down as she gets older 😂 she’s pretty hard to settle on the bank as well, wants to play all the time and doesn’t like sitting down for too long 😩😂 did yours calm down as he got older??

couple kilo of pigeon conditioner cooked up, gonna start baiting up a spot on the canal where I can fish from the van. Can’t wait for all this rain to stop my river hasn’t been fishable since November/December time, it’s tidal so I’m hoping all the carp hasn’t been washed out to sea 😂

Doesn’t look like a puppy now lol

Yeah mate they are nuts ain’t they 😂 I used to have one and she was mad for anything that moved. I tried taking her when I was a teenager and she jumped in the water when I wasn’t looking and swam after a duck and ended up on the island. I managed to call her back but didn’t take her much after that 😂😂 Would be good 😂 it’s good on the canal/river though with strange people walk past at night, she will make herself known and they give the bivvy wide birth 😂😂😂

I've had to stop taking mine, she started to bark and people getting close to the bivvy and gets all defensive of our swim 😂 Hopefully as she gets older she calms down and can come again 😂

Most of my time will be on the rivers and the canal. I've done 2 carp to 19lb on my tidal stretch, would love a 20. Theres another river close by that holds a few carp, big chub and grayling, so will be trying for all them species. Use the float rod more and just try for all the different species possible. Then when it's summer I'll be taking the kayak out and doing some sea fishing, had some really nice wrasse this summer, but would like to catch something bigger 😁

I want to try float fishing on one of the lakes I fish, they have a rule for line being 8lb minimum. Will a normal float rod be alright to use, or should I use something a bit stronger? Tackle wise I'm gonna fish 8lb line straight through to a size 10 korda hook, float will be a standard wagler float held by a float band. I've fished for carp with a float before but these were about 3lb, the average size of fish in this lake is 20lb, so wondering if I should beef my gear up a little. Any advice would be great thanks 👍

Hi my dad is having trouble using his net, once it hits the water it sinks and is heavy for him to use. Are the ones with the double floats much better or can some recommend one? Thanks

Down here you get people going on benders on the bank, drinking around the clock and sniffed out of their heads.. They are an accident waiting to happen 😐

Starting to wonder if my day ticket lake has had it. There were reports of otter kills a few years ago (unfenced) anyway, I've noticed over the last 2 years catch rates have dropped, but also the number of people fishing has dropped. On a weekend if you wasn't here by 6am you wouldn't get a swim, people would be queuing outside the gates waiting for it to open. In the winter on a weekend the lake would be half full easily. anyway, I would say the last 5 or so times I've been here this summer it has been practically empty with 2 maybe 3 people fishing. Theres something going on I reckon 🤔

Frozen meals, if I cook a stir fry, stew etc at home I'll freeze it in a plastic tub and take it fishing with me, put it in a sauce pan on really low heat and raise the heat once its not a solid block anymore, maybe and a teaspoon of water. if not, cups of tea and biscuits as snacks, Poridge for breakfast and pot noodle for dinner. I used to cook proper meals on the bank but the washing up drove me mad lol

I've decided to make 2 rigs a day until all my braid/hooks have gone. I should have enough rigs for a while then lol.

Annoying ain't it mate, don't take long to pack an extra plastic bag for all your rubbish. I take my dog with me on most sessions and I'm always finding rigs. We came close with a rig baited with 2 fake bits of corn, but luckily she didn't eat it lol. Good news is I've sold my car and got a van yesterday. Can fish out the back of it. Buzzin 😁👍

Just been and got a loop tyer, gonna give it a go 👍👍

Cheers for the replies lads, I'm not very keen on the shop bought ones either, but that said when I was a kid I used to fish with them and didn't have many problems. One problem with the coated braid is stripping the correct length and then tying the loop knot at the bottom and not loosing too much on the tag end, it's never the same length and drives me nuts lol I'm wondering if I could get away with with that iq 2 fluoro for rigs, I've also got uncoated braid, that might be worth a shot. I'm gonna check the tackle box and see what I've got 👍

I've kind of lost the buzz recently and find tying rigs a tedious task. I'm fishing the river at the moment so bottom baits are a must really. My current rig is a knotless knot with coated braid stripped down by the hair, with a small bit of shrink tubing on the shank to keep the hair next to the hook. It's the stripping the braid to the correct length and shrinking the tubing over a kettle that's making me not want to tie the rigs up in advance.. Any ideas how I can tie bottom bait rig even easier? Any suggestions welcome 👍👍

I'm looking into getting a gopro camera for my kayak fishing and other stuff involving water. What camera do you suggest on a budget? I have no idea what I'm buying lol I'm happy with & 100-150 second hand 👍

At the end of the day mate if you wanna sit in the bush and fish over a bed of bait, wait for one to come a long or cast at showing fish at 100 yards and call it stalking then awesome, that is stalking for you. What i classed as stalking is what stalking is for me 👍 as long as we are all having fun and getting a buzz that’s all that really matters 👍👍

Not sure, there’s not much info on the place really so I’ll probably give swlakes trust a ring and ask them. theres a nice big island at the back of the res, using a boat to get to it and fish from there seems a good idea lol

Putting the bait basically on the fishes nose is stalking for me. find a fish on the surface, cast a bit of bread flake floater or w/e just past the fish then retrieve it back slowly until in range of the fish then hopefully it will nail it lol.