Gazlaaar

Yeah same rig, supple braid hooklink, size 8 curve in a solid pva bag.

Well in chilli

Definitely same genes

Both exactly the same weight, I know there's a few fully''s in there, I took it as being the same fish but the more I look the more I question.

In your opinion, are these the same fish?

I would of fished exactly the same, boards and jetties are inherently noisy at either end, plus leaving the net at the end of such a narrow platform in my opinion would be a trip hazard, especially when wet. There was no real difference in time running with the net or not, it's just silly that his methods are called into question when you don't really understand his thinking or his reasoning.

Do you think he'd of gotten the take in the first place if he'd of been parked up on top of his rods. It's easy to see flaws in anybodies fishing but Martin Bowler has been angling for a long time and knows what he's doing.

Same as, reuben dials all day long

The shrink wrap seems to be working well, the baits arent totally impervious to the attentions of the crays but it does slow them down somewhat. One of the bailiffs has assured me there are some traps going out soon to try and thin the cray population down. Personally, I'd rather deal with crays as I believe they'll be in every single water within the next ten years so I might as well come to terms with it now. Anyway I'm back out Wednesday, rigs, bags and bait have all been prepared already and I can't wait to get back.

Best advice I can give you stevo is contact Simon Scott if your on fb or Twitter.

Just a thought, has anyone considered using flag poles? https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Telescopic-Flag-Poles-From-3M-to-10M-Windsock-Pole-Camping-Caravan/400863573513?hash=item5d5554b609%3Am%3AmTJuODvHXdX26MP4-f7tG6Q&var=670413588187&_sacat=0&_nkw=telescopic+flag+pole&_from=R40&rt=nc You can get some pretty decent lengths for a very good price,

KBO have recently released a load of old videos on youtube. Kevin Maddocks, Alan Taylor and so on. Old but good viewing for those into a bit of nostalgia

I'm fishing this friday for 24hrs, it's a bit of a long session for me. I've changed things slightly on the bait front and gone more for stink and dark. All my hookbaits are now wrapped, I just need to get the pva bags done tomorrow then I'm all set. Good luck BC

We've gone from roughing it to the ultimate in bankside accommodation and back to roughing it again The only time I ever use a front on my brolly is this time of year to keep the dredded mozzi's away, as soon as it cools off again, it'll be open front all winter. Wraps and groundsheets I just find are an unnecessary ball ache, so I don't bother with them.

Another point I'd like to make about brollies is they don't need putting together on the floor, when it's wet theres nothing worse than getting your shelter covered in rain and mud before you've even set up. Plus if my brolly is wet I can leave it in a corner somewhere, namely the shed to dry out, try doing that with a pram hood bivvy.

@yonny You've probably seen on instagram I've been collecting older material, both reading and watching. What do you think it is about the older stuff that appeals?

Just a little update on the crayfish front, I was dead against wrapping my hookbaits, thinking any leakage would be seriously slowed down until I saw Korda's perforated shrink wrap, after a bit of practice I'm quite happy, I just need to see how they perform with the crayfish now, fingers crossed

I had the supa mk1, and thought it could never be bettered. I was wrong. I now have the lo pro, weight isn't such an issue but set up and breakdown time is, especially when I need to move onto fish. I do overnighters, so every minute counts and believe me it counts when your packing up in the rain. My most important factors Quick set up and breakdown No faffing bits and pieces Removable centre pole Light Everything on this brolly is designed to make it quick and easy and I absolutely love it, so much so I got the mozzi mesh cover which again is really easy to fit. I don't mind it being so low as I have 2 storm poles with quick adapters, which are a doddle to use. All in all, perfect for my fishing

MCF changed their swivels over to plastic poo eyelets a long time ago and I went off using them because the braid used to eat through the plastic. Since they changed back, it's all I use. One other thing to mention, get the korda marker stems, their absolutely brilliant at reducing tangles.

Spod rod without question, I've yet to find a marker rod that will cast and work properly at distance. The further you cast the more buoyant (bigger) float you'll need to successfully pop up, which inherently means more weight from the float and lead. You may not be casting the distance at the moment but what if you fancy fishing a bigger lake in the future? I certainly wouldn't want to feel under gunned. Tie a 6" loop in the end of your marker braid to make changing between a marker float or spomb/spod a doddle. 2.75 to 3lb tc marker rods just don't cut it with me. Plus, don't neglect the size of reel. My normal fishing reels are 5000's but my marker/spomb reel is a 5500. Anything I can do to get that extra distance will make everything else that little easier. The best floats I've use are from a company called MCF, I use a number of their floats but the Thunderbirds really are the best all round marker float.

I'm not out fishing until a week Friday, I've got too much to catch up with at home, building wardrobes, hanging doors and decorating, that sort of thing. Typical because it's looking great out there at the moment (sods law) Long Term I've decided to do the winter where I am, a couple of perch fishermen and mentioned in passing the amount of carp they saw last winter and not a single carp fisherman. The cray activity would of died off, the weed won't be such a problem and the fish aren't really fished for during the colder months. It's not an easy water by any stretch during the best timed but if I can just get one or two I'll be happy. Anyway, as for now I'm just going to keep plugging away week in and week out, there are some lovely fish to be had and my spirits are high

A 3lb tc should be ok, the bags will take a bit of practice at first but once you get used to tying them their a doddle.

PVA (solid) bags are good because you'll always have a decent presentation, but your rods will need to be able to cope with the weight of a fully laden bag. Take a look at Kev Hewitt on youtube, there's a video where he goes through the bags he uses. I use a 2.5oz inline lead, short supple braided hooklink. The bags I use are ESP''s multi bags, there 120mm x 60mm, just my preference. I use a mixture of different size pellets, mainly small and micro and use either a dumbell boilie or a tiger nut. Like I say look up kev hewitt

There's a fair amount of literature on moon phases and it's affects on bass. It stands to reason if the moon has the gravitational pull to move seas and tectonic plates there has to be some kind of affect on smaller fresh water pools and ponds, even if it is in minature. I don't know enough about it to warrant a comment but if anyone else knows more please fill us in. If I remember rightly @chillfactor hannon and aldon ring a bell.

I have been through my fair share of rods right from shakespeare when I first started to powermesh x''s to jrc defenders, rovex to my current velocity's. The velocity's are as yonny described a lot of rod for the price, great casting tools which have enabled me to hit in excess of 130 yards. I can only really afford a single set so these have to do everything I ask and they do it admirably. However, surface fishing has turned into a bit of an art form, I hate mainline over 10lb and the only rods that will cushion and cope really well with these lower breaking strains are softer avon to barbel rods. I'm currently using the korum carp float with is rated at 1.5lb tc, lovely piece of kit than has enabled me to use much lighter lines, 7lb fly leaders believe it or not, it's an absolute joy to play fish and it really gives you those heart stopping moments. I know bits an pieces about the carbon wraps and the general make up of rods but it all comes down to how they feel. Plus I think no matter what rods you have, you and your body adapts itself for using them, in essence your rods become part of you. I've never had any mega expensive rods, I've played about with a few but nothing comes close to what I have for the reason mentioned above