greekskii

just very low stock ones with hardly any pressure because they've either become extremely difficult or you're not meant to be there!

I got an adapter so I can use the cheap tall slim gas canisters. Best thing I did. Did a 15L stock pot full to the brim and it used just under half of one of those gas canisters. Not bad really and being as they are dirt cheap it’s not too bad.

Bulin t4 for me. Awesome bit of kit. Actually did some particle using it the other day. Huge stock pot on it and it got it bubbling in no time.

If you have a gas bbq just put your pan on that. Be interested to hear how this goes. I’ve got my prep down to a 48hr soak, 15min boil and then sealed to keep it cooking itself overnight. Seems to work fine but a bit laborious on the fishing stove. Need to clean out my burco and get that up and running!

Decided to drop in for my first night on the new place. I think I’ve sweat my body weight, my legs are totally numb from stinging nettles but the rods are out. Not sure if my plan on how to land fish will work out, but I’ve got to hook one first!

Best float's i've used I made. Using balsa allows for a very short float with silly amounts of buoyancy which helps reduce tangles. Very easy to make and cost around 80p per float.

true, very little small stuff in there either. My point was exactly that. It isn't a method to stop catching smaller sized fish, its a method to associated a spot with a free food source over a long period. Weeding out the bigger fish is only possible on the surface or selectively stalking, and even then a smaller one may nip in first, or be sent in by the bigger fish.

Agreed

I'd say the baiting pyramid is more about clearing a spot and getting the carp to associate the spot with food. Feed lots of just small bits (groats, pigeon conditioner, etc) to create lots of activity and clear the spot, then reducing the smaller items and replacing with bigger food items (maize, maples, etc) and then doing the same until you just have boilies going in on the spot and nothing else. The idea being that the carp will get there first as they know it's a safe feeding area with some good food on it. Long term approach, 2 months without fishing it minimum, baiting 2/3 times a week. Works wonders though. @yonny I know the Rotary got emptied this way in a very short space of time 😉

custom end caps? fit them yourself or do they need a pro?

yep, that's what you have to do @yonny. Or target them individually on the top. Or fish through the small stuff in the hope a bigger fish comes your way.

I've had 2lb bream on 28mm bottom baits on the river mate. Just watch out the smaller carp dont pick you up and move your rigs off your spots. I had bream and tench do this to me and roll my lead off of a gravel bar down in to the weed. I was recasting just as much regardless of landing them or not. A 30 will easily fit a 30mm in its mouth.

not anymore I dont!

The estate lake fish, with rough timings too if I know them. Be interesting to see what you find. 25lb - island 1 (23/05) 19:20 18lb - island 1 (24/05) 07:30 26.08lb - shallows (18/06) 13:55 21lb - shallows (18/06) 19:30 10lb - shallows (18/06) 19.12lb - shallows (18/06) 21:50 19.09lb - shallows (19/06) 00:35 13.10lb - shallows (19/06) 23.08lb - shallows (19/06) 08:40 20lb - shallows (19/06) 19.10lb - shallows (19/06) 16lb - shallows (19/06) 15lb - shallows (19/06) 17lb - shallows (19/06) 15lb - shallows stalked (19/06) 19:00 14lb - shallows stalked (07/07) 16:00 11lb - deeps (13/07) 17.04lb - deeps (19/07) 18:00 21.06lb - deeps (20/07) 01:15 13.07lb - deeps (29/07) 10lb - shallows (11/08) 18:40 20lb - shallows (12/08) 09:00 20lb - shallows (01/09) 14:45 12lb - shallows (02/09) 03:50 19.04lb - shallows (02/09) 08:00 16.12lb - deeps (08/09) 23:00 17.06lb - deeps (09/09) 03:20 Low double - island 1 (15/09) 19:00 23.03lb - island 1 (15/09) 20:20 12.07lb - island 1 (16/09) 01:30 24.08lb - island 1 (22/09) 14:10 17.11lb - island 1 (22/09) 16:05 18.06lb - island 1 (22/09) 18:55 18.09lb - island 1 (23/09) 07:15 19.12lb - island 1 (05/10) 20:00 20.09lb - island 1 (14/10) 01:20 19.11lb - island 1 (21/10) 19:15 12.10lb - suicides (28/10) 15:40 20.03lb - suicides (28/10) 17:45 26.04lb - suicides (03/11) 18:30 21.03lb - suicides (03/11) 20:45 Low double - suicides (03/11) 23:00 24.02lb - suicides (10/11) 19:45 30.01lb - suicides (24/11) 19:00 Mid double - left dam (13/01) 12:00 17.06lb - deeps (26/01) 16:00 17lb - deeps (26/01) 17:10 15.13lb - deeps (16/03) 17:15 17.09lb - deeps (16/03) 18:30 23.14lb - deeps (29/03) 19:50 24.05lb - deeps (29/03) 21:30 15.04lb - deeps (30/03) 09:00 Barely double - island 1 (20/04) 26.02lb - island 1 (21/04) 01:10 23.06lb - island 1 (21/04) 07:10 21.04lb - island 1 (21/04) 09:15 23.04lb - island 2 (05/05) 16:20 21.06lb - island 2 (06/05) 02:30 20.10lb - deeps (11/05) 17:25 21.08lb - deeps (11/05) 21:00 23.04lb - deeps (11/05) 22:40 16.10lb - shallows (18/05) 03:00 Unweighed stocky - island 1 (18/05) 18:10 21.04lb - island 1 (18/05) 22:00 17lb - island 1 (19/05) 06:20 You can factor in my friend's captures too: 05/05 05:05 05/05 06:20 05/05 20:30 05/05 21:25 06/05 07:45

Never a truer word said. I feel the exact same. Never their own fault. I’ve been there and blanked out of stubbornness or laziness. locating and finding the fish is the single most important thing when fishing, having confidence in bait, rigs, tackle means there’s less of the jigsaw to worry about. I see anglers set up where is easiest and spend an hour deciding which rigs and hookbaits to use. In reality the fish are on the other side of the lake, which they’d have realised if they spent more time looking and less time faffing!

I will plot the moon phases at some point. Probably when I get a few hours in the office on my own and work doesn’t seem like the best thing to be doing. Be interesting to see. Date and time stamps on photos are a Godsend. Otherwise I only take general notice of catch times. Dates are logged religiously.

Set to coincide with a storm where I am! Probably the once a year must be on the bank weather. Shame I’m moving house!

For me I don’t go by it. Or much really. I don’t get to pick and choose when I’m fishing hardly at all. I take what’s given to me on the day. No doubt the moon has more of an effect we will ever understand but sadly it’s lost on me.

A few of the older anglers I know bang on about the original amorphous rods being a holy grail and that they’d still happily use them if they hadn’t got rid at some point. Something to do with the carbon fibres facing backwards so the material locked up giving it much more strength for the diameter of blank. Not too sure but I can’t understand why if it was so good it’s not readily available still. Or is it down to price?

Thought I would kick this one off as I mentioned in another thread, just a all out discussion on rods (not spod or markers). What you use, favourite rods past or present, rods you are thinking of purchasing, materials, Test curves, whatever! So I have been using Sonik SK3 2.75lb rods for the last 6/7 years now. Personally very impressed with them for a budget rod. I have landed a lot of fish on them from some brutal conditions. Heavy snags, heavy weed, you name it. Personally I prefer the softer test curve, although it must be lower than 2.75lb by now! It's stood up to serious weed and stopped good fish getting in to snags, the only limitation is casting but that may be down to my technique mainly. I have not had a need to fish at any sort of range so have not been worried by this. I'm now saving for a new set of rods, and it seems like there is much more choice out there! but nothing entirely suits my needs and tastes. I love full shrink handles and I am reluctantly stepping up to 3lb test curves so require a good playing rod still, I believe its part of the enjoyment of fishing is the fight, no point reeling in a 20 like its a wet towel! Sadly after lots of research it seems my price range has nothing to satisfy my requirements fully. The Freespirit CTX rods come highly recommended by numerous friends but the lowest TC is 3.25lb. I am assured the action really does make up for this and I have seen them in action and was impressed when I cast them. I've also been assured shrink wrapping the handles yourself is extremely easy, they are either cork or abbreviated off the self. The ideal new rods would be the Sonik Gravity X as I've held and cast them and they are superb, reviews are excellent....sadly a bit out of my price range.

Do you cut it off? Min my youth I tried to melt it off with a blowtorch. Silly idea!

Dougie is great mate. He will do what he can to help you out. Other tackle shops about are angling addiction in earls Barton, Tony is a nice bloke. Or carp superstore in Kettering just off the a14.

Personally I use multi rigs for most of my fishing and have done for a number of years now, apart from I've now got two rods set up on multi chods. I use atomic chodda hooks in 4 or 5 with a similar set up to those above (my version https://carpychrons.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/in-depth-rigs-update/ ) I did at one point, through the summer months last year get a lot of hook pulls, which suddenly stopped at the end of August for some reason. I didn't change anything as I was still landing fish and I knew that it wasn't solely down to the rig, I had been hooking small tench and bream in the bottom lip on my previous venue so the rig was fine. I put it down to exactly what BC says above, the fish are not feeding hard and just grazing, funnily enough looking back the lost fish were daytime bites and the landed were mainly during the night, likely when they are feeding harder as it's cooled off. The one thing to really play with which will affect hook holds though, and is probably overlooked by many, is the amount of weight used (in my case putty), I've found even the slightest difference can make the hook act differently upon takes. The difference between a pop-up heavily weighted and a critically balanced one is vast. I found the heavily weighted got better hook holds, but when it comes to rigs re-setting it is nowhere near as good so you end up with potentially dodgy hook holds due to the rig being a mess on the bottom.

First night on the marina. I found a fish within 30 seconds of parking up. Sadly I had no floater fear with me. But my two spots have been fizzing whilst I’ve been sunbathing this afternoon. Rods are now out and the fizzing continues. 100% getting breamed out tonight!

no worries mate. I should be moving in to my house at the end of the month so will give making one a bash at some point!