Gazlaaar

It fits snugly in the back of my car, no fold up no fold down, it carries more than I need and it's easy to push around.

Wickes Barrow, £30 job done

I've just gotten rid of my supa to get a lo pro, to be honest, I thought I'd made a mistake when I first purchased it, but it's grown on me and I like it, it's not the biggest brolly in the world but suits me fine, especially with the addition of storm poles to raise and lower the front. It''s perfect as I never use a ground sheet or front even through winter. ESP are releasing a wrap and mozzi front next month, I might be tempted for the mozzi front but it depends how much the bugs get on my nerves this year.

Steve I do share your thoughts to some degree, nature will find an equilibrium, but at the cost of many a fish. You say, maybe fishing will return to the way it was, maybe it will, I'll certainly still be fishing but as Kev suggests, I want a chance of breaking my PB, or at least replicating it. Plus, I don't want to feel imprisoned inside a fenced fishery. Other animals depend on water and fences will stop this. I think the only way forward to to get Fishery Owners, Managers the right to deal with what ever threatens their livelihood. Many don't want to see the word CULL, but let' face it. Simply moving an Otter somewhere else doesn't solve the problem. Maybe the word CONTROL, would be a better phrase. I'm not being funny, a fence is only as secure as the anglers who fish, I've seen many an angler leave gates wide open. I've heard of fenced fisheries been wiped out by animal rights cutting holes in fences. The PAG are doing what they can but fighting any governing body takes years and it could well be to late. Carp fishing now feels like a battle against time, it's something I really don't like but that's just the way it is. Some of the waters in the Cotswolds will never be fenced because their nature reserves, these waters are some of the best around but for how long?

Do both, keep a smattering of bait going into the spots you know but keep an open mind. Don't count your chicks and all that That's what I'm doing, I've picked a central swim on each bank, so depending on what the weather is doing, or what I see, will dictate where I go.

Half the battle is keeping out of the wind or breeze at this time of year, I'll always try to get the back of my brolly facing any wind. Those trakker mattress toppers are good fella's, Yonny How are you finding the low pro? Any better than the fox supa?

Good luck fella's I drew a blank but never mind, I'll be back out Wednesday. I did move on to a couple of shows but nothing materialised, I did get soaked packing up but 20 minutes later I was back home warming up in front of the fire It doesnt matter how hard it gets or how dreadful the weather is, time on the bank is a medication I'm quite willing to take I'll be back out Monday afternoon getting some more bait in then fishung Wednesday. As I said, good luck fella's

Fishing at last, and tucking into a Cornish pastie

After the week I've had I can not wait, im still like a kid at Christmas

Yes mate, I've already stuck in a load of bait over a few spots, I've just spent the evening getting all of my gear ready to go

I'm still up too excited to sleep at the moment. Laying on the sofa watching River Cottage at Christmas, I love this time of year. Fully recovered now, and raring for my first session tomorrow

Cheers Yonny, ideally I would of liked 6 weeks of baiting the same area twice a week, but time is of the essence at this time of year. Having the water so close is great for driving down and getting in some bait, regardless of fish, I shall enjoy it

I did my final baiting up this afternoon ready for Wednesdays session. Another 2.5kg of mix gone out over 3 spots, the best day weather wise is Thursday but Wednesday is looking good with highs of 9 and lows of 6. I'm absolutely gagging to get out

That's the problem with this time of year, with temperatures being up and down as they are and like a lot of anglers, you have your days to go and just deal with what ever your faced with. The temperature has already gone up this morning a few degree's, I'm fishing on Wednesday and every extremity on my body is firmly crossed, in the hope nothing changes.

Finally managed to get down to the water this morning. All that bait has now been put over 3 spots, I'll be back on Monday afternoon to top the spots up then fish it on Wednesday. The weather seems to be warming up a little for next week, I'm gagging to get out now I'm fully recovered

That's the bait sorted for tomorrow, 2 kilo of crushed boilie, 2 kilo of frozen corn and 6 cans of evaporated milk. By tomorrow morning the mix would of soaked right into the chopped and boilie crumb. I shall do another couple of kilo for Monday afternoon, then fish on Wednesday. It' a very attractive mix and it's one that has caught me a couple of carp this year from some very difficult venues.

I'll be getting down to my water on Thursday morning after dropping Ben off at school. My main objective is to see if I can spot any fish, I'll be having a good plumb around and hopefully get a bit of bait it. I'll be back out a week tomorrow, hopefully I'll be fully recovered by then and that'll mark the beginning of my campaign through the winter. It's not really got any winter form to be fair but I think that's coupled with the lack of anglers during the colder months. Like I say, my objective is just to spot fish but it'll be a good excuse to have a lead around.

Probably another Neighbridge victim mate, the otters are rife down there. If it ain't fenced it's' at risk. Sadly this will be a very common sight in England.

I've been doing this for nearly two seasons now, it eliminates the need for a separate spod or marker rod for me. The midi spomb weights 5 ounces fully filled the impact spod was slightly heavier. My rigs are designed to accommodate a change from rigs to spombs to just leading about, plus the lead set up items would all fit through a 16mm tip ring, meaning, if I needed to change over to braid for markering, it was quite a simple affair, without having to strip everything down

Just to give a different prospective, you don't necessarily need a designated marker or spod rod. I use my fishing rods as a marker and a spomb/spod rod, using the smaller nash marker spot on kit and a medium spomb or fox impact spod.

I've managed to get onto a local syndicate water, 20 minutes from home which is a lot better than doing a 3 hour round trip. It also means I can go down a few times a week to get some bait in. I've already been down a few times baiting 4 to 5 swims, and I'm getting through a bit of bait lately. I'm not due out fishing for another week or so due to a minor op I had yesterday but I should be able to get down for a couple of recky trips this week. I can't wait, new water, new challenge and near enough right in my door step

It all totally depends on what your using and how your fishing. I like a spread of 20mm boilies so I use longish rigs and the lightest lead I can get away with. If I were fishing smaller baits like particles I'd be using shorter rigs with heavier leads. It just depends on the feeding situation your creating.

For me Hook size all depends on the size of bait, if I were using a 14 to 16mm bait, I'd use a size 6, an 18 to 20mm, I'd use a size 4. I like curves, just a simple knotless knot and a hook. Using curves eliminates the need for shrink tube, I just think the less components you use, the less likely it will be seen.

I've pretty much used pods exclusively for years, I started with the early Gardner Tru Lock and Black Shadow Pods right the way through to Solars Globetrotter in the early days. Now I have one of the original Fox Euro Pods. It took me quite a while to hunt one down and I like the convenience of pods, and I've used it on a number of waters. I've never used single sticks, I've used bank sticks for a goal post set up but always felt a pod would be better. Everyone to their own I guess, I just like pods.

I've set myself up on one of the other club lakes after spotting a few fish in the shallows down to my right. It's one of the busier waters but it's not to bad at the moment, the one bay is full of anglers so I've come round to the other, where I spotted a few fish. These fish are used to pressure but I thought I'd do something a little different and feed and fish with half boilies. I have only chucked in a handful of chops over each rod, with 2 whole boilies. Hopefully they'll think their the hookbait's. My rods are well back, just the very tips hovering over the waters edge buy very low, plus I've got light backleads on. The fish are still here mooching about, so we'll see what happens