Gazlaaar

I've not been able to fish for the last 6 weeks and I doubt I'll be going until the kids are off next week. The club have been trapping crayfish with margin nets, they do own other waters but I just don't fancy fishing them, too busy for my liking. Apparently the metoffice have given mild conditions until mid December so I'm hoping it holds out for a couple of months yet before we see any significant freezes. I've been chatting with a couple of coarse anglers I've gotten to know this year. They were surprised at the lack of carpers fishing last winter, especially as they had seen the carp on a regular basis. As you can imagine my ears pricked up at this point and the decision was promptly made to stay for the duration of winter. Anyway, I'm counting down the days until next week, at least I've managed to score some brownie points with getting some bits done on the house and give her a hand with some early Christmas shopping 😉

Great vid, I've watched it 4 times alresdy 😊

Dumbell bottom baits, I believe an elongated bait is harder to eject than a round one, plus the rig I use for bottom baits relys on the weight of the bait to turn the hook. Pop ups I do use from time to time, bright baits for Hinged Stiff Rigs and a match the hatch for my lower multi/pop up rig. I can't really call it a multi as I use shrink tube for a kicker so it's just a low pop up rig really. The dumbell I'll sometimes cut in half and use a tiger or a couple of bits of maize, it totally depends on the situation.

Wow you really have got it in for shelf life boilies, Show us on the dolly where the naughty boilie touched you

Back to the original post, ccmoores live system shelf life boilies are quite soft or you have the option of heat treating what ever boilie you want with hot water. Poor on hot lake water an hour or so before to really soften baits up. If your paranoid about losing any attractions mix in a dollop of matching liquid.

Knotless knot for bigger hooks, whipping knot for smaller hooks

Shhhh we only talk about the P word with the curtains closed

I'm just looking at the bait situation as a whole from outside the box. Yes I believe if your making your own bait and you have the time and money you should make it as nutritious as possible, but I don't think nutrition adds to a baits appeal, not in the way it's being thrust upon us all of late. I've often said aminos have wrongly taken centre stage but that seems to of shifted into guilt tripping potential buyers into buying what they believe to be the most nutritious bait out when in reality, fish get caught on all manner of things. I would even go as so far to say that some homemade bait makers are looking for something to replace their own inadequacy for banking fish. Bait is thrust as the end all and be all, get it in and they will come. Bait doesn't deserve the name it's made for itself, the anglers who are consistently catching deserve the credit. Bait, like rigs are just small pieces of a big jigsaw.

Bait Nutrition I know this has been done to death but I thought I'd start it off from a slightly different angle with a question. Is bait Nutrition the end all and be all of bait? For me No I don't think it is, once more I'd like to point out, nutrition doesn't catch fish. Further more I'll make a distinctive point, lower nutrition doesn't equate to a harmful bait. The two subjects couldn't be any further apart. A generalisation I know but, personally I'm bored of seeing nutrition this and nutrition that, it's a new buzz word that has replaced the older words of Amino Acid. We're frequently told that we shouldn't listen to hype, well I think this is hype, it's what everyone wants to hear, playing on the guilt of anglers. Yeah sure we all have a responsibility to the care of the fish we catch but come on people look at it from outside the box. Carp aren't only eating your boilies, there's an abundance of food items present in every single venue around the country, man made and natural. A bait doesn't have to be a nutritionally packed item to catch fish. Once more I have proof. Let's look at some of the best anglers around. Darrell Peck, admitted he knows very little about bait yet catches. Simon Crow was with Nash, he caught fish, he's now with DNA, still catches fish Ian Macmillan was with dynamite, he caught fish, he's now with DNA, he catches fish. Gaz Fareham was with ccmoore, he caught fish, he's now with sticky, he still catches fish. Adam Penning was with mainline, he caught fish, he's now with sticky, guess what, he still catches fish. Look at our very own nige, (sorry nige but your the best example I can think of) used essential baits he caught fish, now uses Nash, guess what, he still catches fish. Terry Hearn, has the bait world at his knees, and still he catches on tigers. I bet non of the baits above are nutritionally perfect, they catch fish, and again they don't cause any harm. Jim Gibbinson once wrote Some anglers who subscribe to the HNV theory catch fish. Some anglers who subscribe to the HNV theory don't catch fish. Some anglers who don't subscribe to the HNV theory catch fish. Some anglers who don't subscribe to the HNV theory don't catch fish. Never a truer word It's all about the angler

People are allowed to have and voice an opinion, non of the lads on here mean any harm, do you think sticky would be bothered by the comments? Na, maybe you should chill out a little and take it all in your stride

How very dare you besmirch the name lol I quite like sticky I must admit, you be careful chilly I'll make you do lines 😁

A lot of this distrust and animosity toward bait companies comes from these Facebook groups, from supposed ex employees or disgruntled hearsay mates from the trade. Don't fall into the trap of believing everything you hear or read. Kev Knight, Gary Bayes, Keith Sykes, Ian Moore, Geoff Kemp, Bill Cottam, Geoff Bowers, Ken Townley, Mike Willmott and many more were all making baits while I was a glint in the milkmans eye. They know what their doing, if they didn't, they wouldn't of survived as long as they have. I've browsed these groups and they all have one thing in common and that's the same animosity toward the existing big companies. They think they know everything, and most are looking for that something special to replace their inability to locate and catch fish, It simply doesn't exist. Rumours are rife and facts are a little thin on the ground, just don't fall into the trap of thinking like them.

Lol some still do Without knowing exactly who uses what, it's not my place to speculate. Some shelfies have a use by date, which tells me preservatives haven't been used or at least inferior products such as sugar solutions have. By inferior I mean these solutions won't preserve a food item for as long as a chemical synthetic variation. You say preservatives are still used, maybe they are, but how do you know without knowing the ins and outs of every company out there, it's all speculation.

Because an angling environment is totally different to a sterile tank, where the only option is the food the student pumped in. Anyone with half a brain knows that too much of one thing may cause long term damage, the conclusions are obvious. Every species from fish to man needs a varied diet, that's not rocket science. I applaud his efforts but the findings aren't really shocking are they? Do you know what, if the date of the experiment was 2018, and conducted in a lake, using the baits we have now, I'd be shocked. Weve moved on a long way since then in many forms and I choose to pit my faith in the companies who tell me their baits are 100% Fish Friendly.

If I was angling in a sterile fish tank, I'd be worried but this simply isnt applicable. You only have to look on the packets for the 100% Fish Friendly logo to see things have moved forward from 2008. Plus you have to take into consideration, the fish your angling for have a varied diet, naturally and unnaturally. How many anglers do you know who use boilie only? How many venues receive boilie only? How many venues receive only one type of boilie? Most waters could happily sustain the fish they contain so surely any bait is a mere addition. The test simply doesn't hold any value in an angling environment. The closest we have seen to this was either Birch Grove or The Mangrove when the fish lost condition through only being fed peanuts by anglers. The simple fact is, too much of any one thing may pose a problem, but this senario just doesn't exist.

There's me, all set for the winter ahead as regards to bait and plan until I bought a kilo of live system and thought wow. I really like these boilies, perfect for winter fishing, a true birdfood/milk high energy, soft bait. The matching pellets look very good and the Roasted Nut Extract is a belter. I plan to spend all winter where I've been fishing of late, I've not fished for 3 weeks due to getting the house done and dusted, but now I've got some time to get back to it

I think every aspect has had an impact including predation, if there's nothing to fish for, waters won't attract anglers. I was talking with the lads in the tackle shop yesterday, who all said the local canals and council waters just aren't safe enough anymore, some give up, some move onto more commercial waters purely because they can fish without having to look over their shoulder's. Your only safe if you fish in numbers, some have had their boxes kicked in and bags stolen, some have actually been challenged by groups of lads whilst fishing alone. I think fishing for the younger generations has lost it appeal. Like I said before, the decline in people participating in fishing has been in decline for years, it's not a sudden drop.

During the early to late eighties every canal and council lake were full of match/coarse anglers, I know, I was there fishing amongst the grumpy old gits who didn't have time for anyone younger than 150 years of age. All my mates went, and their dad's or uncles or more. Now, the local council lakes and canals just aren't the same, you might see a few over the weekends but nothing compared to back when I was coarse fishing. Yeah, I think carp fishing has a bit more appeal, and as a consequence a few more do it, maybe some of the coarse anglers have gone into carp fishing but you only have to look at the industry as a whole to see its only going in one direction. The industry has been saturated with tackle and bait companies, I just don't think the current situation is sustainable, take a look at ebay, I bet that in itself has done a lot of damage to sales. Simple fact is, money is a bit thin on the ground so new tackle just isn't being bought. I bet most of the particle we all buy isn't from any bait company it's all bought from animal feed shops, purely and simply because it saves us a bit of money. I genuinely just don't think a lot of kids want to go out in the cold and go fishing. Gaming has played it's role but social media has also had an affect.

I think angling reached it peak over ten years ago, you've only got to look outside the box to see angling is a declining sport. The EA have been pushing the initiative with getting kids into fishing for free, Country File has even promoted this on one of their programmes not so long back. Forums are shutting down one by one, there just isn't the interest out there anymore. I predict the bigger retailers like Angling Direct and Fishing Republic will start to close a few of their stores to try and thin out profit loses, I presume they'll end up scaling all the way down to their head offices and just working with online sales. The number of kids just aren't there anymore, the rise in online stuff has sealed that. One of the club's in the Cotswolds lost half of its waters a couple of years ago, you'd expect they'd find more but the decline in members has halted that idea. I think companies who already have their fingers in other pies will be ok, like ccmoore who also retail pet feeds. To many fingers in the tackle trade has had its affect, their all taking a slice of that ever decreasing pie, Nutrabaits, Kryston and others have suffered, mitchell, shakespeare, and the like have all been bought out by bigger conglomerates. Yes banks will be clearer, but gear will also be harder to purchase, nearly all the little independent shops are gone which just leaves the mail order only companies. I think it'll end up as it was 10 to 20 years ago, just a few tackle and bait retailers to hand.

The bedchair is a fox r2 standard, I think it's 900mm wide, or there abouts,

Make no mistake it is low, so if your the type of angler that likes a bit of space the lo pro probably isn't the one for you. Both the mozzi mesh and wrap arent whole wraps, but I only use the mozzi mesh as I can't stand mozzi's buzzing around my ears when I'm trying to sleep. Now their gone it'll be full open front for me until next summer. I'm one of those anglers that packs up just before first light during the winter months so it's important my shelter packs up, packs down and easily fits into my quiver without any hassle, it's an important aspect when packing up in the rain. The thing I like about brollies, is there up and done, pram hood style bivvies need setting up on the ground so there all ready wet before you've started. I'll even go as far to say it's made moving mid session so much easier and lighter. I like it, it could do with a vent at the back but that's it, otherwise it's great for me.

I have the lo pro, I really like mine, It's not the biggest brolly on the market but it's light, easy to pit up and take down again, perfect for my over nighters. I use storm poles with mine although there's no real need to be honest I just like the extra stability they provide. If you can go and see one in the flesh, it's the only way you'll ever really know.

Isotopes I don't know about anyone else but I find them very handy. My indicator bodies are the older solar lite flo jobbies, the isotopes are housed inside different coloured bodies, red, yellow and green. At night I have all of my indicators level, so I can see which one has moved out of position if I miss the LED on my buzzer. Plus on a number of occasions both LED's on my buzzers have lit up at night on a take. The indicator confirms which one is moving

Solar quiver lock for me, hangers for general short range to medium range work the springers for medium to long range. I got the presentation set a while back for peanuts, to my mind there hasn't been any better since, they cover every situation I find myself in. The hinged hockey sticks are a great purchase as I can really tighten down the springers for long range or if im fishing a far margin or snag, I do also have the swinger arms, but never felt the need to use them. Currently, I'm not using any kind of indicator at all as I'm fishing so close in. Generally, the further I fish the tighter I want my lines, there are exceptions of course as mentioned above, far margins, snags, weed etc.

I don't like them personally, I can't help but think the further we move into relying on tech the further we move away from natural ability, saying that. If I was already set up fishing and someone turned up next to me with the intent on markering, I think I'd rather they use a deeper. Everybody to their own, if you choose to climb or take the lift up Everest, who am I to argue.