Ginger9991

Hey guys, So i usually just wear an old pair of Nike trainers but they are now knackered,,,So i need some new footwear for the bank, I have a pair of Skeetek boots but for running out the bivvy at night i cant get on with them. I have seen the fox waterproof boots that look alright....Anyone recommend any?

Went in to Angling direct to by some terminal bits and whilst paying they told me it was 15% off my bill so that was quite nice.

This is one of the hardest things to work out. I have gone to a venue, Started with just bags, introducing a few baits every so often and having no joy, got to a point where im about to get my head down and thought, Sod it, i will give it 10 spombs.....then got bites whilst spodding or shortly after. Sometimes the little and often approach can cost u fish, Its really hard to work out how much u should be putting in, knowledge of the lake and the stock help. On my current venue is to start with solid bags, If nothing happens for an hour or so, Give them ten spods, then play it by ear, If i can hear jumping, I would probably top up and redo the bags after a few hours. My sessions are short so i have to force the issue a little, I know they respond to the sound of the spod, I know they move around in decent groups. If i get one, 3 spods straight back over the top, stay active, Keep catching. On my last venue, no spod, solid bags, 100 boilies in the stick over each rod....pray.

All depends on the situation. As my sessions are all at night and at relatively close range (under 10 wraps) im spodding chops and corn over solid bags. Longer range where im trying to be quiet.....or 2 lazy for the spod the i will use the throwing stick. I dont use the catapult...the one i currently own is just turd...its a fox one i believe and i just cant get on with it.

Without a doubt. I was amazed by how bent the tip was and i wonder how it got so bent.....I wonder if it would stop the hook coming out should a snap happen.

I use Korda Kurvs, Have absolutely no problem with them, I dont tend to lose many fish, never had one snap and they i think they hold the point pretty well. I do use a hook for a good number of fish as well. I have also started using the Ridge Monkey Beak points and Kurvs and have also found them very good but no noticable difference from the korda hooks in terms of performance. 1 thing i would say, I tried the Korda Kamuma or whatever they are called hooks, Caught a fish, Hook was completely blunt and bent after...Stopped using them. As i say im happy to use 1 hook multiple times. And on a low stock venue the Kamuma right be the right choice, But on the lake im currently fishing, which is pretty high stocked i will stick the the "normal" hooks. Im fishing solid bags on an inline set up....You can usually tell fairly well when you have been done. Whilst a lot of people wont agree. I have used 6 rigs in rotation (because they are solid bags). over the last 2 nights and have banked 20 fish not including bream, The hooks still seem fine, Sharp enough to piece me. I will change them soon...

Yep!

Where are you getting them at that price mate?

I use pop ups in solid bags. Really is smashing the place im currently fishing.

Just wondering if anyone knows the difference between the indulgence Air-lite and the standard indulgence? they both seem to be SS3 and in the 5 season...i just cant work out what the difference is.

lol yeah for the first 2 or 3 minutes then your realise its the middle of december, Its raining, Your freezing your beans off standing at a lake in shorts in pitch black and your wondering what the definition of crazy is......

My only concern with a nice warm bed is that I won't wear much so when I get a run during the night I will be freezing my beans off...

My pop up rigs are 4" soft n-traps ronnies in solid bags or 7" on a boom if im fishing singles. Kurv shanks in a 6 or 8 with a 12mm pop up. My other rig is a blow back rig usually with a whole bottom bait and half a pop up...bait will still sit on the bottom. Thats again N-trap soft 6 to 7" on a size 8 or 6 kurv shank. Use a korda kicker on these. Have 100% faith in both these rigs so see no reason to change them although i will mess about with bigger hooks (4) to see if that makes any difference to what im catching.

I have been fishing since i was 5, Im now 31, I have never had my rod licence checked. I always buy it, because you know that i will be having the session of my life when they turn up and kick me off!

oh yeah your 100% right but you know lego will get used more then once.

£100 isnt cheap if you dont know if your kid will like it, see it from the point of view of a parent that doesnt fish. Another point people have mentioned was council lakes and rivers. I dont know of many free areas for kids to turn up and fish anymore (not in my area anyway), another issue for kids is access to get to the venues. I think its fair to say that a kid can only get into fishing if they know someone who already fishes and are able to take them (some lakes now dont allow kids under a certain age due to insurance).....

Im with Yonny on this. Is fishing in Decline? No i dont think so, More people are just moving over from other forms of angling to carping, Its trendy, You dont see pictures all over social media/mags etc of roach, You see carp, From all corners of the globe. Bait companies pulling out of the UK...Well look at the amount of bait firms now, Look at the amount of knowledge at peoples finger tips enabling them to make thier own mixes with stuff in thier own kitchen, meaning they dont spend £4 on a small amount of groundbait. Obviously britexit plays its part. It terms of angling companies Angling Direct are pumping money into the trade at the moment opening stores and buying small stores out, Theres a huge market abroad for them to move into. Kids fish, I have friends who ask me to take them and show them how to fish, kids see carp being caught, They want a carp....You cant pick up a £10 rod and reel and turn up to a lake anymore. Its an expensive spot. Its a risk to buy all the kit they need and find they dont like it.

The SS4 doesnt have a sleeping bag? Oh my god i need to check these out!

I never do this, Heard to many horror stories of the hook ending up in someones hand/finger whilst the fish is still thrashing about.

most fish will be lifted in the net out of the water then onto the matt, no doubt about it. and i think you will find evidence of most televised anglers doing this. I usually (if a big fish) take the net from the pole and roll the net up to lift the fish. so it isnt dragging or bumping the ground, Can also make sure its fins are down by its sides.

The ronnie has been my go to rig this year, has done me very well, however where most use it as a single or over a bed of boilies, I put mine in a solid bag. When i used a flurocarbon boom i dropped a few, Having better results now on something like Ntrap. I use size 8/6 hooks just because im using 12mm pop ups and on a size 4 its not boyent enough. One thing i have found, And im not sure why yet, but sometimes fish just wont take the ronnie, Its like something is giving the game away but i cant understand what. This recently occured fishing with my dad, Fish either side of a tree, no more then 1 yards apart. I was catching really well, he wasnt getting a sniff, changed his ronnies to 1 of mine......Exactly the same....after a day and a half i had had enough (he had 1 fish on that ronnie so he was adminant not to change) I made him change to a bottom bait and within 3 hours he had 6 fish banked. Same depth of water, Same slightly silty bottom as where i was fishing....they just wasnt having the ronnie on that spot. Guess the lesson for my dad was to change it up, Fish the situation, dont fish "what you like".

Depends on the water really mate. I often fish zigs and treat them as singles, Or putting a zig over an already spodded area (from when i was fishing the bottom). If your going to a lake packed full of carp, spod over the zig, otherwise i dont spod over them. black zigs always do me well at night.

So my bait choice is a bit up in the air at the moment. My fishing for the last year has been all about solid bags of pellet with either a sticky baits pepper and peach orange pop up or the ever faithful mainline tutti fruity pop up. If im using a straight boilie approach, I will still use the pop ups but i will bait with Urban Nutcracker......To be honest im still using them as often stores reduce the price so im picking up 5k for £30. Urban does catch me fish, But because i tend to use it for no more then baiting up i cant sit here and say its great. I never fish a straight bottom bait or straight wafter, I will happily use a bottom bait topped with half a pop up.

So for me, Any fish in the first few sessions is a bonus. If your going to really attack this water and do a year or 2 on the lake then you might as well use the first few sessions to lead the lake to death. Know everything you can know about your swim and any other swim thats free. Make notes, Begin to build a picture of the lake (wheres shallow/Deepest, Wheres the bar or the weed etc). Get up before dawn and watch the water, Are they showing? Where are they showing? Are they always showing over the same area? Are they always following the wind? Pick a swim with a large view of the lake and the other swims, Can you see people catching, Does one section seem to get bites in the day whilst another section seems to get night bites? is there a certain time bites seem to happen? Theres 2 of you, so you can have the lake mapped out pretty quickly, Dont worry about your bait yet. Find the fish, Find where they patrol, Where they tend to be at certain times of the day (Night/Dawn) Then start to work on your choosen approach. Its not a bad thing or cheating to watch joe bloggs from across the lake hauling and learning from him. Its all learning. Effort = Reward.

This decision should be based on the water you are fishing, the lake should dictate what you do. I will spod regardless of the hour if i have just landed a fish, be it midnight, Dawn, 9am or whenever. Theres no way that a fish has come into my swim and ate only my hook bait, For me it would be madness not to apply some more bait, After every fish i will add 3 to 4 spods back over the top. If i hadnt had a bite, I will see on my hands until "bite time" is over. I have also fished waters where i have woke up at dawn, Fish have already been high in the water so i have gambled and hit full zig tactics and caught well before half the lake have got out of bet. People may get the ass about it (no one has ever said anything to me), But if i then put another fish on the bank, What can they have the ass about?