jh92

I've been walking the canal and river a lot over the last few months and haven't seen anything really except a few pike in the margins. Even spoke to a few anglers saying otters are about down there. Anyway I walked a stretched of canal last night and it seemed alive, loads of small fish breaking the surface with a few big splashes as well. Makes me wonder if I should try again down there or not. There are still fish there but so are the otters lol.

Fair play mate hope it goes well 😂👍 Had anyone seen some of the new stuff done by ngt? I was down go outdoors yesterday and some of their luggage stuff looks the dogs. I really like the look of the ngt xpr ruck sack. Might be on the to buy list for when I next get paid 😂

Car tax, car insurance, pet insurance, phone bill and vet bills goes out this week. Hoping to have 40 left over to buy my permit for the canal and river 😂

Funny you say that, over Xmas my 5 year old niece was around ours and I set her up to watch a video on YouTube using the laptop. Anyway about 5 minutes later I can hear her saying the screen won't scroll down so I go in and take a look... She's got her finger on the screen trying to drag it down like you would with a tablet 😂😂

Just wondering if anyone has been doing any evening sessions? With it getting dark so early I've lost all motivation to go after work because of the extra gear I'd have to take and packing away in the dark.

What a beauty mate, bet you had loads of joy from him. She has a lazy eye mate and yeah she was licking her lips, probably sizing up one of the ducks 😂😂😂

It's horrible when they leave us mate our last dog left us last year, still think about her everyday.. Not sure if it's an age thing but she's been a little **** on the bank this afternoon, barking at the twitchers when they get close to us 😂😂 Getting a bit bored of this water now, it's too small for me tbh, hopefully get on the canal or river next session 👍

Had the afternoon off work so doing a few hours with the pooch. Rods have been out for about 40 minutes and just had a knock so hopefully catch something by the end lol

I've done well using ondex spinners, like chillfactor says, I don't like using full trebles either, I always find they get themselves hooked deep, so I'll cut 2 of the trebles off or switch it to a size 2 or 4 hook. I'll use a wire trace just incase I hook into a pike but a lot of people don't bother and reckon perch are less likely to go for a lure attached to a wire trace. I'm not sure how true that is but I thought I'd share lol.

That's a lot cheaper mate thanks.

I've had 3 delkim eV plus bite alarms for years and never had any problems with them, but with winter coming and wanting to do nights with the door down it's gonna be best to use a receiver. What's the cheapest way to use a receiver with the delkim eV plus bite alarms? The only way I see is with using tx micro transmitters and rx plus Pro mini receiver which works out quite expensive.. Is there a cheaper option? Also, what are your thoughts on the tfg ignite mag runner set with receiver? Seems like a bargain for the price lol

Woke up this morning dying from man flu...debating whether I should still go fishing or not lol

For a while I struggled with bait and confidence using it, a while back I switched to sticky krill and it's really playing in my favour with short sessions. I've bought the pure krill liquid too and what I do is put a few boilies in a bag and a splash of liquid, coat the boilies in it and then add some ground up boilie so it sticks to the outside of the boilies. Not sure if adding it to the boilies is making any difference but it's catching me fish on some of the harder waters I fish on so will keep on doing it lol.

Thanks mate ill look into the boilie/corn toppers, it'll be a good alternative for the lake plastics are banned on. I've been using plastic toppers on a different lake recently and found its working in my favor lol. Funnily enough as I was reading your post yesterday I had horrible drop back and missed a fish which was on a bait with a topper 😂

I see your point mate it's just annoying because it ruins it for the rest of us. As for the plastic baits, what about stuff like foam, zig bugs, cork, are these bad to use as well?

One of the lakes I fish have a few weird rules... No particle No artificial /plastic baits No home made baits unless its checked with the owners first. Do they enforce the rules? Lol Put it this way I've fished there for 13 years and never had my bait bucket or rigs checked lol

Sorry lads I haven't had chance to go get one yet, my dog thought it would be a good idea to eat a strip of ibuprofen ending in an emergency vets appointment making me skint lol.

I've been an early bird for as long as I can remember, it used to drive my mum nuts when I was a kid, up at 5 wanting to watch cartoons... Even worse now I've got a pup that's got a mental body clock and knows I get up at 5, she will be in my face waking me up at 4.55 - 5am every morning lol.

Thought I'd give you an update on this, we've done about 5 successful sessions so far, it's been an absolute pleasure. No problems at all really, she will sit and watch the birds on the lake without giving chase or barking at them, she loves meeting other anglers and always gives them a nice greeting when they come into the swim. Once the rods are out we do a lot of training on the bank followed by a some play time (no swimming or being noisy) she's a bit jumpy around catapults and still hasn't seen a fish on the bank yet, so will have to see how it goes lol. All together though, taking her fishing is the best thing I've ever done, it's completely changed her behaviour. She used to have a few bad habits at home (nipping/biting, thought she was boss basically lol) but after a fishing session she is that wiped out she gets in the door, has some food and heads straight for the bed without being a little [censored] lol.

Yeah mate I'll start off with a few and add another 1 or 2 to each boil and see how it gets on. I see on argos they have a double deep fat fryer for £40, I'll try the hob first and if it isn't up to the job I'll get a deep fryer. I've switched from a coleman to a t4 too, I love using it and not having to worry about fuel getting on everything. I think it's still got some fuel left in it so might use it for some particles. Not sure if it's any use to you mate but they have 10 of them canisters for £10 in go outdoors.

I'll pick one up next week and let you know how it goes. I've only got small pots so won't be able to do too much lol, will it be alright for boilies if I don't put too many in? Me and my old neighbour used to cook up particle on our colemans all the time, great stoves!!

I've been looking at these induction cookers for my shed and was wondering if they'd be man enough to cook particles and boilies with? This is the one I'm thinking about getting https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/kitchen-products/appliances/hobs/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-white-art-40331630/ Any thoughts?

Been doing a few short sessions after work this week and baiting the swim up before I go. Decided to do the night tonight so loaded the car and off I went, turned up and the lake is rammed... gutted!

Yeah mate, this weather is a bit of a killer though, hopefully it cool down a little bit soon and i'll be able to get back on the bank with her. To be fair though, it's gave me time to take her for walks around different lakes and look at some swims for us

Had the day off so took the dog fishing for the first time... nightmare lol. When we arrived at the lake I got the barrow loaded, hooked the dogs lead on the side and off we went. We had to cross a bridge which she cant walk across because the bottom is like a grid and her feet would fall in between so I sat her on top the barrow, wheeled across and got to our swim. It was going well until I pegged her lead down while I tried to set up, she didn't like being tethered and not being able to get to me, I had to get her to sit, give her a treat, set the rod up, another treat, cast out, treat, set the alarm, treat, and repeat for the second rod. Anyway I got there in the end and finally sat down, the dog had other ideas, as soon as I sat down, she jumped off the chair and started chewing the bark, didn't think that one through. She got bored after an hour so jumped back up on her chair and chilled for most of the day, but she had her moments where she got back down and chewed the bark again. I went to get it away from her and she managed to slip out of her harness...twice. Called it a day after at 5pm, packed up and made my way back. When I got to the bridge I put her on top the barrow to cross it and she thought it would be a good idea to try and get off, she slipped down the side and got her leg caught on the bungee strap, luckily she wasn't hurt. Got across in the end, got to the car and went home. Few lessons from today I've learned is Take solid bags already made and attached to a leader Take lots of chews so she's interested in them instead of stuff on the ground Choose swims easier to get to Don't go in swims that have bark in. Get a smaller harness A fish would of been nice but at least it can't get any worse lol.