greekskii

Good luck mate. Let us know how you get on on here or pm. I spent a few years chasing the carp in there recently. Not an easy one to crack by any means!

Before you do any exposing you need to be certain they are doing it illegally. Otherwise it could well backfire on yourself legally, especially if you implicate there EA are involved in illegal fish moving. they may well have the relevant permits, the canal being owned by the canal and rivers trust. Personally I think you’re better off contacting them to make them aware of the issue and the fish being removed from their water. They will be able to take it up legally with the evidence you can give them if it is being carried out illegally.

Gather some evidence, preferably in the act. EA or police can’t prosecute unless they catch them red handed.

I agree that they will change slightly day to day... Fish dont turn up in the same place at the same time every single day. A lot of variables will effect it; features, weed, sunlight, temperature, food availability, angling pressure, predation, etc. I've found that when fish turn up in areas they tend to have a routine when there, certain areas the stick to. It's not often there is a set route they take all the time however there sometimes is. One lake I fished has a old stream channel in it, full of silt now but about 6-12 inches deeper than the rest of the surrounding lakebed...the fish would follow this on their way from the island to a bi overhanging willow they would hole up in. The reason the followed it will never be known but it's most likely because it was a feature in an otherwise barren lakebed.

😂😂 that’s an April fools waiting to happen. Some form of fake experiment to go with it!

I suppose the shrink tubing stops it clanking about or knocking together. Spins like a normal swivel really doesn’t it. None of it is that loose.

Will do bud

If you want more than one bait in stock then let me know as I know a company that might want to have a chat about you stocking their bait 👍

I am currently using them on snowman and bottom bait mutli rigs, they do look ideal for pop ups too. Havent caught anything yet on them though!

Looking at these two bream maybe I should have weighed the two slabs I had a couple years back 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ Unhooked in the water during the wee hours after being plagued by tench and bream but they were bigger than those by far!

The most important part of carp fishing, or any fishing really, you need to be where the fish are. Finding the fish and fishing for them where they are is always key. You also need to think about presentation, are your rigs effective or not? What’s the bottom like? no point fishing a bottom bait in dense weed. baiting approach - smashing a spod over fish that move off the noise is pointless. Maybe a catapult or throwing stick to introduce bait. Some waters they will be attracted to a spomb, others it’s the kiss of death and they’ll not come back. How much bait you use, unless the fish are really having it off feeding id always start off with a little. You can’t take out what you’ve put in as the saying goes. This needs to be based around stock levels and other species too. Venue choice, chose somewhere with high stocking levels so you have a chance of catching more regularly as you’ll be able to learn quicker all aspects of carp fishing.

Carp couture or urban carp collective I think have a number of women anglers on their books and so do specific womens clothing. Get on instagram and send a few messages out to the female anglers, I am sure they'd be more than happy to have a chat with you, as will most anglers to be fair. Majority are friendly unless they are grumpy about blanking!!

If you want larger quantities so you can prep and freeze I have used these this year. Good quality plus you can get splits and premium nuts too. I personally went for the standards but I think I’ll go premium next time just for the larger size. https://www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/bird-straight-foods/peanuts.html if carpmachine was still on here he would be telling you to buy the Red Peanuts. They are meant to be much better however they are much more expensive.

defo reignited the river bug for me, especially as I was a bit lost for a target water this year. Funnily enough a mate just told me he used to live 500m from the public section a few years ago...imagine having those carp under your nose but never seeing them!!

I don’t think there will be mate. They went on sale about 2 weeks before lockdown didn’t they? I saw these at the big one stoneleigh and they are quite impressive to be fair. Shelter you don’t need storm poles and it weighs 4kg less.

for me the best bit of carp fishing writing I have ever read is a chapter in Subsurface Journal 2. The Edges of Places by Matt Beddows. I have read a lot of angling books and this chapter actually does something that none of the others do. I could read it back to back a few times a day and still be captivated by the words. This chapter stoked my interest to fish a quarry I had known about for a while but not looked around and I read it 4/5 times a year to keep my fire burning for all my angling. I would very much recommend getting a copy of SSJ2 (if you can find one for a good price) just for this chapter alone!

brilliant Yonny

problem is most of the releases are illegal!! there is 1 licensed rehab centre in the UK which is allowed up to 20 releases a year...they released only 7 in 2018... the figures for it will be publicly available or obtainable through an FOI request.

I can imagine it is pretty difficult to put a figure on it as they have such large territories and sightings aren't that commonplace. An otter seen in one place could be seen a few kilometres away the next day but if there are no distinguishing features how do you identify it's the same one or a different one? I'd say that the do-gooders dont want to even guess numbers as the need to release them and rehab them will be gone due to how many there are. Better for them there are no numbers so there can be no argument for or against them.

not according to Dave Webb.... he says it's too risky to chip them all as they don't respond well to the anaesthetic. If they were chipped then they'd be easy to track and get numbers and distributions...even evidence they visit your fishery and are causing the damage!

put it this way, there is no known numbers for otters, or even population estimate. How can something which could actually be in excess be deemed as endangered still?? I tell the people I work with that love otters that the so called 'its only nature' route is not true, as they are rehabilitated and released instead of being left to die...that is not natural... there is no argument to it which makes me chuckle when they try. If you find a dying animal then nature intends for it to die!! It happens with every animal, including humans. i.e. without prolonging life with complex surgery and drugs there wouldn't be a failing medical service (I still blame the Government for not funding it properly). Too many otters = no birds, fish, frogs, etc. too many lions = no gazelles. too many cows = no long grass in the field.

bit stupid to do it in front of people!! again, totally get the reasoning. I have zero respect for Dave Webb after speaking to him at length and him confirming to me that otter releases, although not condoned by the UKWOT still happen and release sites have never been recorded or selected on potential impact to fishery businesses, and the bit that made me lose his respect further, is that he doesnt support changing the release system. As much as he says he wants to help fisheries, he doesnt, he is against them and couldnt give a monkeys. The way he casually says a 30k fence is worth it for a fishery as if they have that kind of dough knocking about spare. He's an idiot and I really really hope a judge somewhere, one day, allows a fishery owner who cannot erect fencing for whatever reason to shoot otters just to see the look on his face.

Northants syndis, which ones have you enquired about?

100%. It’s similar to Felmersham. I’d love to turn the clock back a decade and fish some these places before the otters hit them!

Storton's pit. epic looking place isn't it. Old drag lined pit, hence the bars. I'd be surprised if much is left due to the otter being there the last few years but I bet there was some special ones in there at one point, probably still a few.