MrToftman

I fished lac la pins a few years back very good lake well maintained, very comfortable, fish it like your back home, use a good quality bait, don't over feed, the dam wall can be a hot spot, there an old river or stream that run through the centre of the lake also a hot spot,you'll know when you find it as the colour of the debris you bring back on your lead, the opposite bank with the sheds on fishing against the reed line, hope this helps

As ive mentioned in the past all our tackle items we selected are personal choice a recommendations by others, be it a friend or a glossy mag, or passed usage.Recently i wanted to change the fluorocarbon on my shallow spools and the braid on both my marker rod and spod rod, now im not a skin flint when it come to my tackle, but sometimes the costs just seem to runaway with themselves once the door of the tackle shop closes behind you. ive used kontor by korda for a number of years and fount its to be a superb line but for some angler on a buget or young angler the cost of the branded line and other tackle items at that can be very daunting,this year with a growing family my tackle buget has to be curtailed so i went in search of alternative products. i googled fluorocarbon fishing lines and came across a products by Kastking an american outfit promoting a line called fluorokote. a while later I'd purchased 3 spools of 15lb line with a diameter of 0.30 as they only sold in 300yrds foraround £15 , also in the same transaction 3 spools of 20lb at 0.35 for £18. marker and spod braid 25lb (0.25)-40lb (0.30) for £18-00. now im not saying this is the best product onthe planet just that there are tackle items to meet a buget out there, look around gentlemen spend your penny's wisely. ive loaded the 15lb onto my shallow spools and only fished a short session so ive not done any big casts at the moments, the line seems ok a little stretcher than normal. ill let you all know how the line preforms over the coming season tight lines evry one

Take the 360 and Bin it, Enough said about that rig !!

Having the London marathon route at the 4 mile stage meant I'd could only do a 24 hour stint at my club water, So straight from work on Friday morning, after a night shift, not rushing I stopped for supply's and breakfast .Arriving lake side be 7:30 am,things are looking good. Heading straight to my pre baited swims to have a little check, overcast with promise of some sun later, I cheek out some of the snags ,as fish on this lake will be holed up, seeing a lot of the smaller fish in a number of the spot people fish, I continue walking, back at the car just about to unload and set up. 3 fish show on the other bank, having already looked at a swim I've never fished but able to reach a spot from a different direction I head back to the other swim, being in a position that could be effected by other anglers later. I pick 2 spots 1 to my right next to a snaggy tree, I drop in 20 of my new bait( the Green#1) knowing the spot I'm straight on the end of the tree with out problem, Brew time to think about the other 2 spots,out comes the marker and go for a mark about 40 yard but feel this could be the problem spot if someone turns up to fish, still with the marker I find a little weed and gravel at 30 yards and drop 20 baits here too, the last spot I'm not going to fish yet, but dropped 20 baits to my left in the margins of around 4 ft. A good fish show out at 50 yard mark , it's a little to far left to cast safely as I'm being block by a tree, shame, I stick out 5 baits just to make myself feel good, a little hope a dropping bait mite just attract it's attention. some banner with the boys on Facebook, I'm ready for some sleep now I've been up around 30 hours. Rods are in the lines settled and the hanger are on shoes off sleep time, nothing thought out the afternoon and early evening apart from the wind tuning slightly and blowing straight at me,not worried it's a S-westerly more banter on FB and there's only 2 others on the lake, alarm go of at 2:30 along with the kettle, a single bleep on the tree rod and hope is triggers, phone call from stumpy who is just leaving home for work checks what's been going on, have I had any thing, a pot noodle I rely: calls me a ****** and puts the phone down , Moore single bleeps with no action, I snooze at little,the middle rod tears off bring me back to life. a nice 15:8 oz common is in the net ,top up the spot the fish was from . I decide to check on the tree rod , as expected bait gone, Re baited Re cast, getting a better position this time, kettle is back on and I post the pic to our FB Page so we can keep fish record for the year, Stumpy calls and talks about breakfast making me hungry,On goes the pan egg and sausage sandwich with tea underway, I'm just about to eat the Second half,Bang the rod on the tree slams into a curve,I'm up and in with the fish going to open water, nice I think, As the fish turns to head back to snaggy water, a proposer little battle with this fish who want to go snaggy and try's right along the tree line, I win, an other common in the net,16lb8oz it's know 8am and I'm thinking of packing up . job done, I'm happy with the session the new bait as taken fish on a different water on its second trip out ,

Its been a Good week All round, I've just got home from 3 day session at SWP. We arrived at the lake after a 12 hour night shift.(9am Thursday) Stumpy was hoping to fish one of the swims by the café, That's stumpy for you, Don't like walking to far from the car!. Personally had other idea's. after a chat with the duty bailiff , I mentioned an alterative, his reply was I'm not fishing any of them and would rather go home than walk that far, this set the mood for the trip, Our own fault for not packing a barrow either of us, Stumpy picked the funnel swim 5 and I opted for the Reeds swim 6. deep water with lots of carpy spots I opted to use my Spicy mix for this venue with a dash of scopex as the flavour, stumpy got the boat out and started to set his spots, I set up a marker and spod, ( I wanted to blow away any cobweb). chatting to a couple of local anglers I picked two spots one on the corner of the bay. one just off the front bank trying not to snag the over hanging tree branches, lastly I fount a couple of clear gavel spots behind a weed bank out to my right about 30 yards, seeing a number of mussel on the lake bed in front of me, I decided to use a different bait for this spot. I had a little left from a baiting session on my club water, only having a limited amount of this bait I was feeding about 5 baits in a bag,I just pop the rig on the spot recasting every 2 hours, time for food and settle in for the night, Thursday night was quite cold, Friday the weather started to improve, this made me think any fish in the area would move to shallower water,( fishing alone id probably move), around mid afternoon on Friday we had a fish pop his head out of the water which gave us a lift, stumpy was straight on it and dropped a bait on the spot, Saturday was a nice warm day, Seeing a fish on my left tight in to the bank I pop around to the bailiff to ask about swim boundary's. Back in the swim I borrowed the boat from stumpy and dropped remaining bait I had left along with a good scoop of response pellet in 2ft of water along the right arm of the bank right under the tree line, just as it was getting dark, after a good home made curry from stumpy/s daughter ,a single bleep, very different from the roach and bream pick up we've been getting. The hanger slowly lifts and keeps going, I'm up as the tip starts to move, I strike and its not either a bream or a roach, a good steady battle, I give stumpy a call, not thinking its as good as it turned out, A new Pb of 33lb,14oz Marty's Mirror I'm told by the bailiff , Back at work a collage I gave some bait to reports he to had a fish of 28lb asking what one he used. As I'd given him a selection of my homemade Spicy1, Chocolate1 Green1 he tells me the Green #1 well pleased id used the Green#1 too

Don't you Just love this time of year. Changing weather encourages us to start walking the bank. Searching for some early signs of fish moving. That's if you've stopped for the colder months, Personally I prefer the winter in Egypt scuba diving, This winter I've been making a new bait, along with stumpy who as his own base mix. I've come up with a couple of base mixes of my own and quite eager to give it a season or two, Having the luxury of a club that runs 2 wonderful venues,with a very good head of carp/cats in both the first is around 5 acres, The second a littler larger at 7 Acres. I've fished this lake a few times this year prepping a few spots with a small amount of my new bait, early signs are good, just not enough time on the bank. Stumpy along with a close friend the Thacker did a long session (over 72 hrs.)on the small lake just as the weather change, it went form lovely sunshine to freezing fog, Thacker kicks off the session with a 23lb and 18lb Commons, On the first night. Stumpy yet to score, lets cut a long story down a bit , 6carp for the Thacker the biggest the 23lb, a good Early season Tench for Stumpy. This Blog is to keep an account of our season, venues fished ,fish caught, the fun and game's we have on the road, my thoughts rant & raves , pointless information, rigs bait & our disagreements So far this year we have arranges a number of trips abroad Stumpy is off to Lac Les Pins in Limoges, run by Barry and Colin, its a fly down trip, Me I'm off Diving in Egypt early May for some sun, after a long winter working nights I need a recharge. Next all three of us are Heading off to Belgium to fish on the blue water complex, Along with the CockO2 in July . September where 5finger and the Angler with no name will be fishing at our second visit two blue water, Stumpy and Me will be fishing up at SWP on Thursday, it will be our first visit and really looking forward to our first session of the season, Hope you all have a fantastic season tight lines, ill look forward to reading about your explotes over the coming month, hope we can share a mug of tea time,??? Later Toftman ?

Theobeeus my comment on bait was more a question to myself, my freezer is full of my new bait just gaging to be used, I should have made this thread in the my blog section, so ill apologies for not looking closer at the forum for info on SWP. After a visit to the venue recently Cell seems to be a popular choice, the closest bait I have to Cell is a mixed bag hybrid&Active8 so I have to considered this approach, I'm quite aware there are endless baits that could be used,My bait bag will hold a few items, not knowing if there are any bait restrictions a good bollie as to be considered .Thanks for the input fellow, have you fished SWP much ?,,was your comment a suggestion to use something other than bollie ? Nealjt thanks for the welcome & for the Heads up that there is a section on SWP, ill need to pay more attention,,,, I'm looking forward to fishing the venue, any good info is very welcome, going up on Thursday morning Just a shame the weather as changed,

I'm pretty Shaw a quick phone call to the bailiffs, a move could be quickly arranged ,job done !!! how many day ticket venues with good fish don't get busy, take the richworth linier in oxford always busy always a struggle to find swims that suit your need, ill keep this topic open as a fish this venue over the next few month, Tight lines

all the swims are numbered on a board, so you know what swims are taken & which are not. you have to book in and book out when leaving, I just feel this is quite important, this time of year changing weather play a big part of where your going to find fish, knowing what swims are free before, will help your final decision.

No one like getting to a venue to find its a bit tight.! Anglers doubling up in a single swims is never a good sign , yuk yuk yuk, one of the reasons I really venture out to day ticket venue. Sticking to my clubs 2 water a few trip over the water keeps my carping needs at bay,,, On Thursday Along with my sidekick Stumpy Harris, we're off to the Suffolk Water Park (SWP). we paid this day ticket venue a visit a few weeks back, what we fount was a very decent venue, 30+ swims. well spaced out and plenty of rood both water to fish and swim size, Not to shaw what the fish population is, I'm aware they go to around 40lb, Fish to this size is what your looking for on a day ticket venue, the onsite tackle shop and cafe where a pleasant surprise, there is limited car access to swims,Also a public car park. A Board in tackle shop with who's on the lake and in what swim, Really gives you and insight even before you walk around, on site bailiff was very helpful, I'm shaw I'll be picking is brain a some stage of the trip, Changing weather over the next few days will possibly make it a bit challenging, daytime temps around 9/ 1 degree throughout out the night, winds from the E to NNE, the swim we fancy will be blowing straight down your throat , The biggest challenge for me this trip will be using one of my new baits, deciding to go all out on the new bait or stick to my normal hybrid/active8 combo ?.. If any one reading this, how as fished at this venue, please feel free to add any information Toftman