B.C.

The Tench have made a real come back on a water I fished a few years back and raking the swim really brought them in. Had nine in total between 5-7lb, felt sure the carp would make an appearance, but they were happy in the weed.... I stayed put as swim choice was limited. The lead free leader material (Nash cling on), made nice weighty boom sections, spliced double at 6 inches helping , imo, to nail the tench , bottom lip all day long... Did the extra night, hoping for the carp to show up, but the coots diving on me in the morning told me that not a lot had moved through the swim through the night, so it was a blank for me..... Got a feeling that the limited swim choice at the moment, has seen the same spots being fished a lot lately, the clean bottom enabling me to use bottom baits was a big clue, perhaps why the carp are a bit wary of feeding here...…. Gonna play around with the weighted booms a bit more, perhaps going shorter..... Will try to squeeze a sesh on here again next week, feel like it owes me a fish already.... Also won't get out much through June...… No carp this time, but haven't felt so relaxed in ages on a water..... Went home happy..

There are Cats present on a water I fish up to possibly 60ish (One particular fish has never been landed, but hooked and lost a few times on carp gear)…. for me it's about balancing your tackle if you are deliberately targeting these Cat's. The fights they give are epic.... Cat's to mid 30's can be tamed and landed fairly easily on standard carp gear 3lb tc and 14lb line on a lake with little weed or snags...… The bigger specimens will give you some problems, in fact they will own you on carp gear and it will be pot luck as to whether they find a snag or weed bed before they are tired enough to land...… I would look at the average size of the cats and not the biggest.... An 80lb cat will give you problems whatever gear you use. But if the average size is 40 plus then I'd be looking at using at least a 3.25 tc or even 3.5 tc, that way you can up your line bs to 18lb or above and still have a balanced set up for casting and enough grunt to have some control over the fight. If there are just occasional cats, then the 3.25 tc will be ok, quite common nowadays for carp fishing, but be prepared to up your mainline and every now and then be telling a story of *the one that got away" lol. Trust me, the big cats are brutal, I'm sure they don't know they are hooked sometimes and just hug the bottom moving slowly, possibly still feeding... Once they decide to run, they really go ,so investing in some stage stands or pod anchors would be sensible too.

Well, it's been very spawny round my way... Syndicate is shut for now and they just finished a couple of days ago on another lake (for now at least), so the raking and baiting has been put back a few days. I will walk round the local lake tomorrow evening with a rake and a barrow in the van. And if there are no signs of spawning, I'll pick up from where I left off last week and get raking... I've prepped some particle. 24 hr soak with some of the liquid aminos I concocted on the Enzyme thread, I've used the mussel one, and a slow simmer this evening to finish them off. We've got maple peas, tares and buck wheat.... I've left the hemp soaking for another 16 hrs or so as there were a few floaters still. It's the huge hemp, which usually needs a bit of a longer soak. Probably end up with about 10kg of wet particle along with 5kg boilies, enough to get a few spots going post spawning...… The maples especially, would have soaked up a lot of the liquid aminos and I'm hoping that the fish gain something extra and instantly utilisable than the plain particle offers, which will need digesting to attain the free form aminos…….. You just got to love this time of year, the extra daylight hours and long evenings makes it possible to get a few things done...….😊

Here you go Chill... Tried to show line lay and bale arm width and compact body profile...…. At the time I bought these, I thought they were the best I could get within my budget, the spare spools being a bonus too, saves you at least another £150 on 3 of them... The Technium Black in 14lb is a very wiry line, something more supple would probably lay better.

You thinking about it mate? Nice and local...….. Can't work out whether it's an extra £250 for nights or £250 all in...…. Might have a walk round and find out.... It did some big fish a few years back, so is capable of producing one or two again imo, depending on how many are in there now.

I haven't, mine were ok from the off...….. Me being lazy. If anything they load a mega fraction top heavy, but seriously negligible and only noticed when they were fully loaded, by a few strands. I will probably adjust when I re load...… You get plenty of spare washers and spool savers too..... You'll need the spool savers, if you are buying the 14000's, or you'll end up with about 600 yrds of line on each spool...….. I'll dig them out later and see which size spool savers I used, I'm pretty sure it was the largest ones, but still get 280 yds of technium black 14lb on them.

I have these Chill, they are very light, with a very compact body... The 14000's have a very wide spool/bale arm and will not fit comfortably in any old rod skins/bag. They are fine in the Trakker one I ended up with... Brilliant line lay imo and cast like a dream due to the spool size.... Haven't caught on these yet so can't comment on playing fish on them.....£200 is a good price, that's about £80 off the rrp ……

Been using these at the lead end, just to stop any swivels biting into the main line under tension..... They do have a small hole in them at the top, so if you wanted to create a drop off system with some braid and foam nugget you can.... Tbh, I prefer the lead to stay on with a heli set up, which will aid the rig sliding off in the event of a break..... If it's weedy, I use the little Gardner clips to attach the lead, which will let you cast ok, but will open up and drop the lead under tension...….

Think I've mastered it with the poundland jobbies..... But I did lose 2 splicing needles today, they somehow disappeared into thin air... Gonna scan the bit of lawn with my bivvy light magnet tomorrow, hoping to find at least 1 of them, I've only got 1 left, and that isn't going to last five minutes at this rate 🤣

If I've enjoyed my time somewhere, I try to leave the door open , just in case I want to return in the future sometime.... Some places, you just get attached to, whether it's the scenery, atmosphere, other members or the fish.. Think you've got your monies worth though mate, slaughtered it really... Good luck on your next place. Them carp will be worried sick when they see you walking the bank lol...😊

Gonna look round a local lake this evening and grab some lake water to prep some particle ready for Monday night...… Hopefully the anglers would have pulled off by Sunday night so I'll go and rake a swim out and hemp it with a jar of ready prepped and some boilies too. The lake hasn't changed much in 10yrs since I used to fish it, the fish are in their usual haunts, as long as they are finished spawning, I've good a good feeling for Monday night...…. Gotta re spool some reels and get my new rods rigged up and ready to go and tie a load of rigs up ready..... Today Ill be bottom of the garden, nice cold bottle of cider lovely sunshine, prepping for a session, love it...😊.

Sorry Rob, just haven't had time mate...… But couldn't stop thinking about it when I lapped a local lake yesterday, where I saw so many situations where a pole could/should be used..... Hopefully sometime next week I'll have put it together as best I can...… The thing you have to realise is that it it was it is, ie, it will do the job, but will have a few flaws compared to £150 shop bought version.

One pair in kit bag.... One pair in glove compartment for any off the cuff walkabouts, nightmare not having polaroids..

It was a bit naughty holding a social on there when I think about it,... Most lads from up and down the country wouldn't know about that.... I didn't get any kit wet from the lake as I blanked and we've had good weather to dry stuff properly. But I shall re spool my reels as a precaution. I would deffo not have fished there had I known..... Lesson learned.... research a lake you don't know well before fishing it..

I know the feeling on that one mate.... Got Poundland reading glasses everywhere now, 2 in the kit bag and 2 in the van 😊

The spawning seems to be a bit sporadic round my way since that hot week a fortnight ago.... Hoping they go for it in the next few days so that it's over and done with, the water is very warm here too. Hope you winkle one out mate before they go for it...😊

When I turned up for a 48hr on the lake I wanted to fish, there were a few thrashing about in the weed , despite the drop in temps. I think the thick weed had helped to keep the water temp up. Jumped on the lake next door, very runsy. Fished until dark had a single figure mirror and a low double common. As dark fell I had 2 small cats and was plagued with liners so wound in and got some kip.... left in the morning. Not the session I'd intended, but good to get out and hear the buzzer go. Plan to go on the intended lake on Monday night.

Well in Chill, awesome looking carp 😊

Yeah, I was told this after the event...... All dried out properly and sprayed with steri 7, but cheers for the heads up.

All set for tomorrow, had a quick reccy tonight. The weed is up and the thick willow blossom is covering most of the lake. Think it's put a few off as there was nobody fishing.... Spotted a few fish in front of a swim that is fishable close in up to about 10 yards so if nobody is fishing when I arrive I think I'll chuck the weed rake out and make the clear area larger, enough to squeeze a couple of locked up rods on. Bait it, get the swim set up and have a wander while it settles down for a couple of hours.... It's a small lake of about 5 acres and the fish move around a bit, I've got 48hrs planned so don't mind making a bit of noise to start with... Hope it pays off 😊

Blanked the social, only one lad caught , from 25 anglers. The fish were not playing ball, not surprising with everyone turning up at once and a bit of noise going on.... However, these things aren't really about catching. Met some good lads from up and down the country....... It was held at Frisby Lakes near Melton Mobray, 30 plus acres with plenty of places for the fish to hide in , due to the island structure in the middle. Chris, the lake manager , has introduced 300 stockies to the estimated 300 odd fish already present, which go to 30plus...... Plenty of other species present including some sizeable pike..... If you are prepared for a bit of a barrow run, there are some beautiful swims around the back of the lake, lillies, finger bays, snags, it screams carp..... Set between two villages, both a couple of miles away, the place has a nice safe feel about it. If I lived local, I would definitely revisit, just to rectify the blank lol......... Gonna give my local waters a go this week...... got a carp cradle to Christen 😊

Got a social this Friday and Saturday, followed by a week of fishing depending on the spawning situation. Got a few lakes to chose from so hopefully they won't all be at it... If they are, one of the lakes contains cats , and they are well on the munch right now, so I will target them instead..... Not ideal, but at least it's a back up plan to fill the week..... Glad I got a load of chores done to free up next week, can't wait

Just bought a pair of these, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mens-NORTHWEST-Leather-Walking-Hiking-Waterproof-Ankle-Boots-Trainers-Shoes-Size/122423853396?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=422892424043&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 It's the second pair I've bought and I've found them to be pretty comfortable. They are very similar to Karimoor, which I have also used before and would also recommend for the price... If you are just using them for fishing they will last ages..... If it's raining or you are walking through wet grass, your feet will stay dry, but if you want to go for a paddle, pack some wellies/waders If you only do them up , up to the hooks, without using the hooks, they can slip on really quick when needed.

Could try over weighting the pop up a bit more, might help the hook stick enough for a full blown run.....

Unfortunately , the schedule 40 works out at about £2 per foot, as far as I can see so far.... Bit pricey really.... But does look a whole lot stronger..