B.C.

I think these are well over priced...…. I had a go with a dwarf set up this year to test out 9footers, which I've sold on now. I landed a few half decent fish, but it was hearts in mouth stuff and tbh, I can see a few fish being lost to snags with these, I found it difficult to really control the fish, they are very very soft rods. But I did like the way that everything packs down small and neat...…… Thought about upgrading to some scopes, poss' 10 footers, but the price just puts me off. Don't mind paying for something, but at £160-£180 a piece ??.. I'd feel like I was having my pants pulled down... I've been looking at the Sonik rods in 10ft, Dominator X...… You can get a set of 3 for the price of 1 Scope. And the sort of fishing these shorter rods lend themselves too, means you are only really flicking them out short range. They won't pack down as small as the Nash rods in transit. But at the end of the day, just need a rod that doesn't get me hung up on overhead branches on a little lake I fish, they don't need to be fashionable...

They are quick and reliable service...… Only problem I've ever had ,was with some quick clips, the powder coating glued them shut and I had to cut them open. But I've had loads of bits off them that were fine....

I agree on everything you said mate, except for the above quote. Some bits of kit end up worse than the original versions..... It really is "Emperors new clothing" mindset with all the marketing hype..... I've always said, look after any older kit as best you can... Can be difficult to replace like for like..... This is why we always hear sponsors saying "we must get more youngsters into the sport", IMO, there are very few people left that continue falling for the spiel, once bitten, twice shy. They need the youngsters to fall for their shiny ads..... As you say, just in time for Christmas...…. So called upgrades and new products used to be a generational thing, now it seems it's every six months.... When they say "We've spent loads of time developing and sourcing for this ground breaking "must have" bit of bankside kit", translate that into lay mans terms, equates to "We've found some other factory that will do it cheaper, so we changed it slightly"..... My mk2 Tracker rod sleeve I bought recently, is a cheap knock off of there first one, hence the grumpy old man rant...🤩

Fox do spares on most things, although not particularly cheap and you need to catch them before they discontinue the item...…

Here's the thing, too, mate...…. If he doesn't sell it quick, the whole lot will be out of fashion, yesterdays bread, depreciating in value by the hour. Those companies will be bringing out newer versions soon 😄...….. Second hand sites are flooded with carp kit, good time to actually start up really if you are not fussed about fashion...….

That was the plan originally tbh… But change in conditions has put me off a bit..... At this rate , I won't get out until the next Low, so they may well go in.

Little grumble from me to whoever is supposed to be delivering my little bait freezer...……………………. Get your bloomin skates on, I waited in all day yesterday when you should have delivered, now wasted most of today so far...… Should be on the bank now, but gonna need a few hours to sort kit out, which isn't at my home...… Can't really leave the house either, or just blow it out, as I have a pile of bait that needs freezing...….. This week was planned with military precision .. lol... Not anymore....😃

I suffered a couple of hook pulls a little while back on the same sesh, really annoying...…. I decided to add a bit more weight to the pop up rigs I was using..... Next two enquiries on that rod resulted in 2 tench hooked and landed. Not the carp I was hoping for, but I think the added weight helped the hook stick a little better...…… Bad luck mate, tricky little lake though, very pressured. If ever there was a case for fish feeding "on edge", then that place would be on the list. Just makes them feed a bit more carefully, bit more riggy imo……. The way I see it, you've caught from there already, which takes a bit of doing. And you are getting picked up now and then..... Compare this to when you started on there, you've come miles mate...…. Inches away from something really special imo… 😊

Fishmeals for me too, all year...……. anything 7-8c or above and you will be ok...…. IMO the winter/summer bait switch is old school, there are much better, more soluble ingredients in todays fishmeal baits...… As has been pointed out before on here, it's unlikely that their nutritional requirements will change, fish meals give them what they need, although as the water starts to cool and their metabolism slows down, they won't be needing as much of it..... Besides, if you are going next week, they should be well on the munch still...…… Come Feb', we'll be begging for 8c water temps....

Yeah, you are probably right there mate

Sound a good idea that does, might have a look at that...… Stick one on a bank stick, put off any intruders......

I pulled this from a group I follow...………. Just brilliant..

That's a really valid point..... Carp gear means transport needed most of the time...…. Starting off on smaller species, meant, as kids, we could walk to the local little river with a rod and a bucket and share a little pan landing net.. (although rarely needed)….

There have been some serious drug issues on a few lakes round my way, too, club lakes, To the point where the local police have been given a corporate tickets, enabling them to fish for free and keep an eye out...….. This definitely puts parents off of getting their kids involved in fishing... When they get to that impressionable age 12-13, and still being accompanied to and from lakes by their parents, and the parents can get a whiff of it as they walk their kids to a safe swim. I know that a little bit of smoking herbal remedies has gone on forever in the fishing world, but most hippiy types I've come across have always been very descreet about it...….. Yet again, imo, certain companies, advertising in certain ways, to attract certain mind sets to the bank.... Some lakes have become a gathering area for teenagers to meet up at the weekend, out of sight of their parents and just do what teenagers do, with the excuse that they are fishing...…. Bailiffs should really sort that one out...…. But if you are getting your youngster into fishing, there will come a time when he/she will want to go on their own or with similar aged friends, instead of frumpy old dad...…….. I know of one lad who's parents won't allow him to by a night permit, for this very reason...…….. For those that have fished on private syndicates exclusively for a while now, you may not see this to such an extent,,,, But on public lakes or club waters it is rife, not just a bit of smoke either, harder stuff being delivered to the lakes, easy prey for local dealers..... Some places really have become "Uban Banx"...

Apparrantly over £2m down in revenue, and 130,000 fewer anglers, ie, names and addresses

Crack of dawn buddy ? You dressed as a dog with a lead on..... Your mate as the dog walker......🤣.

They do a dedicated Krill liquid too, but hard to know the actual krill content of this , too.... But I dare say their krill bait will have some in it... One way of upping the krill content without the buoyancy issues.

They used to do the odd swoop on my club waters in October when the 3 rod rule came in on the clubs waters.... Quite a few were caught out fishing 3 rods with a 2 rod license...… I never see an EA bailiff these days.

That made me laugh mate...…. My mates dad was an electrician, we were always nicking roles of leccy tape from his shed, he used to go nuts about it...…. Our kit was so bashed up, we would use it to tape our reels to the butts of our rods and tape the occasional eye back on the blank...… All different colours too, lol.....Whatever we could get our hands on from his shed...…. I can still picture us two denying this petty theft, his dad fuming and us two standing there, rods in hand, with different coloured leccy tape up and down the rods for our eyes and reels, ready for a session of minnow bashing...…...🤣.

Read a report earlier in the week about the decline in sales of EA licenses this year. Could be down to the new 3 rod license or could be down to fewer people actually buying one , and still fishing, who knows...… Also picked up on this from a group I follow (pictured below)……….. Do you think we are starting to see a decline in anglers?...… Can't say I've noticed on the banks yet, although the number of members at my old club were steadily falling , there were once 1800 odd members, now, more like 1200.... Can't say I'll be too sad to see a drop in numbers on the bank...……. But have we reached a point now where the huge growth in angling through the 90's and 00's is long past it's peak..? Are we about to witness a steady decline in numbers over the next decade or so? Seen a lot of tackle companies trying to diversify a bit over the last few seasons by selling products that they are not normally associated with.. Are they doing this in a bid to grow or just to stay afloat?...…..

Had some vicious takes with 3.5 - 4 inch hooklinks on clean gravel this year, after taking on board what Yonny mentioned about a friend of his using shorter hooklinks…….. Think sometimes they are so used to 7-8 inch and can get away with it...…. I imagine that as soon as they suck in the shorter hooklink, the weight of the lead is engaged instantly , and , bang, they are hooked. Haven't had the confidence to try this on anything other than clean bottom though.....

I've piddled about in the past and done my own head in.... For simplicity I just use a variation of the multi rig for pop ups (and occasionally bottom baits too)……. My go to bottom bait rig on clean bottoms is a simple stripped back a couple of inches from the hook, semi stiff coated braid...…. By sticking to two rigs for the most part, my tackle box isn't full of bits I rarely use any more...….. I'm more inclined to change the hair length/hook length or add/remove a bit of weight if I want to tweak my rig, rather than drift from the tried and tested...…. I've found, too, that by sticking to a couple of rigs, they just get easier and quicker to tie up and you don't get caught off guard at the tackle shop, as you know exactly the few components that you will be using each time...…. Hook wise I like the Gardener Mugga's for bottom baits and the ESP Cryogen stiff riggers for my multi rigs.

I'd take absolutely no notice whatsoever of what ever comes out of Ali H's mouth or any other commercial angler in regards to fish safety..... Seen a few and heard of many times where fish are retained for unnecessary lengths of time, whilst waiting for the Gimp, sorry, photographer, to arrive... Only for the poor stressed out creature to be then, kept out of the water for far too long a time, so the gimp can get enough shots off.. Followed by the immortal words on camera...… "Now let's get her back in the water as quick as we can"...…… .. 😀

You beat me to it bud.....

They're not sleeping bud...…. They are pointing and laughing...….😀