InteraX

Got one  !!!

 It hovered about the rim of the net for ages then just flew into the net  😳 

Iv clacked it.
Iv solved the old age conundrum of how to dunk your digestive biscuit in a empty pva tube filled with coffee because you forget your mug …
 

You've got a better view than I have this morning. I hope you get some interest at least.

I went a couple of tmes about 5 years ago. We had the last Lodge on the middle lake. Really nice and peaceful.
It's s lovely place. I didn't have much luck on the top lake, but once I found the fish on the middle lake, I had fairly regular catches.
If I remember, they said no alarms, but if you ask nicely and have them so they don't disturb anyone else they seemed to be OK about that.
There's a nice little swimming pool for the rest of the family too. Our first visit, we found a hornets nest in the loft of our lodge (they were using a vent). Told the owners and they had it sorted the following morning.
Don't leave your outside door light on otherwise you will find hornets or similar hanging around. It is in the country so bugs are to be expected.  We didn't get stung at all though.

Sounds like you'll have a great time elmo. What venue are you going to. I really need to get away to somewhere in France some time. Preferably an snall exclusive lake with swimming pool. I know there plenty of places, but I struggle to find decent reviews.
That roof box sounds like a great idea. I remember seeing one that looked like a converted thule roof box at some shows years ago. Just looked up roof rod boxes now and the inno ones look really good, but you'll need a separate box for the rest of the kit. Are you using a standard roof box setup or a dedicated fishing one?

Well that certainly sounded like an adventure. I've recently started back out again after a couple of years break. Unfortunately for me, covid was bussier than ever.
Do you have any club lakes near you that might have a better angler to swim ratio?
I had a similar situation to you with my only catch so far (I only really do days), so had to make do with an unhooking matt pic.
Anyway at least you learnt things an will hopefully be able to get things sorted for next time. There will be a next time, won't there? 

I have bought my license and have an email proving that. If I am fishing without my phone (it's a chance to get away from modern life) and have not recieved a physical license (you are not legally required to carry it when fishing) how would I prove to you I have a license. That's a bit unfair.
A fishing license is like a driving license. I don't have to show you my driving license to buy a car or if you stop me on the road. Even if I was parking in a car park that you own, you wouldn't be entitled to see my driving license, so why are you entitled to see my fishing license?
Whilst I have a fishing license, if anyone other than the EA or a person in authority (police or similar) asked me for it, I would respectfully refuse to show it. Your license does not entitle you to act on the EAs behalf. There are too many people who think they are entitled to check on things that are beyond their remit.

I have bought my license and have an email proving that. If I am fishing without my phone (it's a chance to get away from modern life) and have not recieved a physical license (you are not legally required to carry it when fishing) how would I prove to you I have a license. That's a bit unfair.
A fishing license is like a driving license. I don't have to show you my driving license to buy a car or if you stop me on the road. Even if I was parking in a car park that you own, you wouldn't be entitled to see my driving license, so why are you entitled to see my fishing license?
Whilst I have a fishing license, if anyone other than the EA or a person in authority (police or similar) asked me for it, I would respectfully refuse to show it. Your license does not entitle you to act on the EAs behalf. There are too many people who think they are entitled to check on things that are beyond their remit.

Happy new year to you too.
Unfortunately, my personal opinion of Thorpe Lea is not positive.
Firstly, there was a KHV outbreak back in 2016. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/koi-herpesvirus-disease-outbreak-confirmed-in-surrey Personally, I won't go to anywhere I know has had KHV. It looks like the FHI have lifted the restrictions they had in place.
Secondly, it can be a bit of a scrum to get a swim at opening time.
Thirdly, you have to choose your swim when you arrive and it's marked off on a board at the entrance. If you go for a walk around, you could miss out on your favoured swim. It's probably less of an issue at this time of year.
Finally, back when I did try this place, fish were falling off my hooks all the time due to poor mouth condition. It is a commercial runs water and attracts the casual and less than attentive crowd.
I'm sure there are other places around that are better if you want a bend in your rod.

If I was a fishery owner, I wouldn't want the additional hassle of having to challenge and check everyone entering my fishery. I would be running a business, not acting as a policeman.
If it was put into law, then that would be something they would then have to police, but whilst it is not an obligation, why should they enforce checks. Buying a ticket to fish is not like purchasing alcohol. Do you need to show a car salesman your driving license to buy a car? It's the same situation. If they start acting as an enforcer without the legal obligation to do so, there are unfortunately a minority who will start making threats.
The EA are a non-profit QUANGO, partly funded by DEFRA.

I have some of this. I've yet to try it out, but looks to be a good idea in places where they are a nuisance.
 
Has anyone got any experience with it?

If you're going for a gas stove, a couple of pieces of advice.
Firstly make sure it has a pre-heat tube. This passes the gas through the stove flame before sending it through the stove head. Makes the stove burn hotter.
Secondly, use Jetboil fuel. This works down to much lower temperatures than most other fuels. I won't bore you with the reasoning, but on a cold night most basic fuel cans will stop working, even when there's loads of gas left in there.
If it was still available, i would recommend the Advanta Power Stove (http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/advanta-power-stove) but it seems to be discontinued. It was a rebranded fire maple stove. Nice hot flame and really quick to boil.
With a quick look around, i would probably go for this one now. Has piezoelectric ignition built in as well. It's a bit more expensive, but should last you years.  http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/advanta-discovery-csx-supernova-stove

With gas stoves, at this time of year its all down to the gas mix how the stove performs. Not all canisters are equal.
 
Please excuse me if I've already said this or its covered elsewhere, but it'll probably help people going out over the next couple of months.
 
The best fuel for low temperature is propane. It's boiling temperature at normal pressure is about is -42°c. The problem for portable stoves canisters is that propane is at too high a pressure because of the low boiling point.
 
N-butane has a boiling point of between -1°c and +1°c. Close to this temperature you wont get any gas released from a canister.
 
Iso-butane has a boiling temperature of about -12°c.
 
I'm going to exclude campingaz as that is only n-butane and is only suitable for spring to autumn usage.
 
Most canisters are blended from propane and n-butane. In cold temps like tonight (-1°c where I live), none of the butane will boil, so only the propane. From what I've seen online, this is usually no more 20%of the content. On a cold morning, you could easily find a canister that has plenty of gas in it, but won't fuel your stove because it's too cold and you've used all the propane.
 
The ideal mix for winter in the UK is propane/iso-butane. There are only 2 makes that seem to guarantee this mix that I am aware of. These are MSR and Jetboil, bot at 20 propane/80 iso-butane. I've only been able to find Jetboil fuel in the UK. It will connect to a standard stove fitting and should power it even when it's well below freezing.
 
Great for a cuppa on those literally freezing cold mornings. [emoji3] Just because it's below freezing doesn't mean you need to resort to petrol etc.

I would hazard a guess on one of the unlicensed bands. I would guess at 2.4GHz.
 
As it's an unlicensed frequency, there's very little they can do to stop the problem. Everything from microwaves and baby monitors to WiFi and Bluetooth use the 2.4GHz band. Basically anything wireless uses uses that band. The 5GHz band only got released recently.
 
Try turning off the WiFi and Bluetooth on your phone to see if it stops.
 
Also, modern components may be a lot better at picking up signals that those from 20 years ago making recent devices more sensitive to this sort of problem.

I have 2 of these. I only use them whilst travelling. For 2.75lb rods, and compared to my Greys Prodigy plus 2.75lb rods, they feel like broomsticks. I've not any significant fish on them yet and probably never will. 
What I like about them is that they can sit across my boot made up ready to go without any seats down or having to go diagonally. Makes getting them into the car when going camping etc. a much easier sell to the mrs.

Which day ticket have you been fishing?You're that close to me we should arrange a social.  
If you're Kingston way, try looking at silver mere golf club. They have a lake of a few acres which is syndicated, but is next to a road. There's also Walton angling society. They have rights to painshill park in Cobham and one other water.
 
Both of those have decent fish in from what I've heard. As for Barwell lake, from what I've heard, even if you get your name down, unless you know a member and get an invite to try out, you'll never get on there. Andy in Surbiton angling might be able to get you the contact for there if you want to try.
 
Have you looked at the Colne valley?

I was fishing a local club lake near me a few years ago. It's in the middle of a nice housing estate, so no night fishing. 
In the middle of the day, I saw something moving across the water. Initially, I thought it was a small rat, but the shape wasn't right. As it swam past my swim, no further than 5m out, I could clearly see that it was a snake. Not sure if it was grass or adder, but I suspect it was the latter.
 
My parents had an adder resident in their garden years ago. They're not really a problem to be honest. I would just recommend that you avoid treading on them. Apparently they don't like it.

Mines the 3m pack. I wonder if they had problems with line damage as I mentioned above. Cut steel wire can be sharp.

I was making some hobo stoves with the scouts out of drinks cans and noticed that it got easier to cut the cans with the scissors the more cans we had cut and how sharp the scissors were after. 
Only looked it up after. [emoji1]

I was making some hobo stoves with the scouts out of drinks cans and noticed that it got easier to cut the cans with the scissors the more cans we had cut and how sharp the scissors were after. 
Only looked it up after. [emoji1]

Try cutting some aluminium foil with the scissors you want to sharpen. Repeat until sharp enough. Usually does for me.

I've got the Chub Vantage 3 rod plus. Comes with 3 individual sleeves and you can buy extras. They can vary from 11.6 ft to 12.6ft rods. (Get them asap if you go for this and want them) It will take a maximum of 5. Well made and each rod is very well protected.
 
I've got my 3 rods, a spod rod and a float rod all made up plus my brolly system.
 
Very nice bit of kit. Not sure how much longer they'll be doing it for. They released both this an the 5 star system back in 2013, so will probably be looking to replace it in the next year or 2.
 
Is it fashion or planned obsolesence?