B.C.

Didn't send it back as I'd already spooled 3 reels up with it, it could have been a bad batch, but it happened twice..... Might be worth going in person to the tackle shop and just rubbing a length against the counter edge or something, just to check it...… I had these probs recently, even with tench taking me into a few weed stems...…. I'd try and check it first mate..

I mentioned on another post that I'd had a few problems with the GTHD..... Found it crinkles easily, on two batches I've had...

I quite like the England set up atm.. The youth and U21's/23's are flying..... Our first team has no fancy Dans, even Harry Kane, who is arguably our best player, seems quite level headed.... There's a good team ethic and everyone knows their job...…. The odd piece of the jigsaw imo is Sterling, but Southgate obviously thinks he brings something to the team...…. I'm not going to get carried away, but I think we can do quite well. Not based on our own performances, but those of other teams in the tournament, who, so far, all look beatable...… Just watched our second string lose to Belgium, not our best performance, but with so many changes we looked a bit disjointed at times...….. I, too can remember '90 and 96'.... Good times 🙂

That's a bloomin lobster mate ……………... Got the chance for 24hrs Thursday night...… Really low on bait and the bait rolling gear is buried under a shed load of stuff so bought one of these from Aldi for 3 quid to do a quick couple of kg in the kitchen..... I say quick,, it always takes longer than intended, so should encourage me to sort the shed out... "again"...… Been knocking up a little groundbait/stick mix/bag mix..... Just some basic seed mix, with added mung beans, crushed hemp and pellets put through a little seed mill with the addition of some dynamite amino black at about 20% to help it bind and help darken it up a bit more (you could use a bit of bread crumb to help bind it, but I had the amino black knocking about)...….. the pellets giving it some nice fishmeal attraction and some oils to hopefully lift a few small particles up into the water column and I'll mix it up with some BAF fish hydro... Tiny half inch stick with an egg sized ball over the top, is all I'll be using, bite at a time stuff on my local. Burnt my little seed mill/grinder out, so will be looking to get another... My fault for over doing it..... But for around 10 to 15 quid they are well worth having in the cupboard, giving you lots of scope to experiment with different stick and bag mixes, if that's your thing.... Just to add... When using ground bait or small particles ground up like this, there is no need to fill it in, I find less is best as long as you are adding some liquid food in there..... Too much in the water can sometimes lead to fish just sifting on the spot and too pre occupied to find a hook bait. They have an incredible ability to find a mouthful of food as long as there's some nearby attraction.

Some of the lakes round my way change significantly from Spring into Summer with thick weed seemingly sprouting from nowhere. So even if you find a feature with a gismo, and even if you bait it regularly, you will most probably still have to cast a lead out to find the clear spot when you turn up to fish...…. Just couldn't use a fish finder myself, one lad was told in no uncertain terms what everyone thought when he started wazzing out a deeper pro in between swims that were being fished on a club lake I fished..... However, I watched a lad slaughter the same lake, during the Spring after mapping it out with a deeper pro during the Winter when no one was fishing..... Each to their own, but I don't think these kind of shortcuts will improve your fishing, you may even become reliant on them long term. I probably sound like an old fart, but, the spirit of angling for me, is watching, feeling , learning and eventually working it out for yourself with any clues you find along the way..... If you find a water that you love being at, then there's no rush imo.

Need a pic of the Korda ones Grim...… The only Korda ones I could find, that would do the same thing are their "line saver beads"...…. But in typical Korda fashion, these can only be used the once due to the way they are put on the line via a wire loop..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l6T21mQ8ZQ

Haven't tried mate..... I'll take a look at them when I switch to a larger water next month...… Been using lead clips lately, the Tench are costing me a bomb in leads..... Started using much smaller leads 1oz-1.5 oz as I'm fishing close in and they are a bit cheaper...……. The trouble with the smaller leads is that a vicious liner can move them and bobbins don't re set...…. Has you thinking that you've been done....

These are the ones I use...…… They can be adapted to drop the lead if needed

Off to Bluebell then? 😊

It looked mega spawn bound by the looks of last years pics, probably couldn't get rid this year...…… Shame though, it was a nice looking fish before it became bloated...…. Don't think the guy that caught it last year claimed any kind of records due to the condition it was in..... I thought that was a nice touch on his part..

If they were stuffed in a keep net, they could quite easily be a bit lively on the bank and flap about …… There is a wet keep net in shot...….. I saw this on another site, many saying it was photo shopped. I'm on the fence as to whether or not it has been, until Sensas give an explaination…….. You are right though Greeksi, the problem does exist on every match lake up and down the country...…. I've always been told not to sack a fish in warm conditions, if at all...… But seemingly, in the match world, it's ok to stuff them packed in a net in all conditions for hours at a time...…. It's horrifying to see.

Nice Gaz..... This sought of thing is something I was thinking about the other day and begs the question, "How long do you leave it, until you realise something is wrong?" I'm inclined to leave the traps alone, for fear of spooking the fish...… It's a difficult one to decide on imo…. Left my right hand rod out for 18hrs last trip. After some initial liners in the first hour (or so I thought), I reeled it in 17hrs later with no boilie attached..... Can only think a coot was to blame early doors... Nice write up mate 😊

That'll be the first and only pic from this place, pushing it a bit with this one..... Self imposed , solo work party on the cards now 😊

A 24lber from a few days back, caught from under the tips..... Short 4 inch rig, slack lined and locked up clutch...… Have locked the kit away for a couple of weeks now. Too tempting to nip over the lake with it in the van...…. Had a walk round last night and put about 1kg of bait in around the edges, no where in particular. I will try to do this a couple of times a week. Saw a few showing. Had I left the kit in the van I doubt I would have got home any time soon 😊

Cheers, I'll have a look at the Hydro Tuff next time I'm in my local. I did buy a spool of Gardner Pro Line, in light.... As I'm fishing a lot of the gravel slopes atm..... I'll try it out first see how it goes, it's pretty cheap, £11 ish for a bulk spool. If I don't like it, I'll invest in the Hydro Tuff....😊

That is a decent price mate, you'll be surprised how much you'll fit in the holdall..... As for landing net, the one I have is discontinued, but if you can find a second hand Chub vantage 2 piece, they are worth a look and fit snug into that holdall. They also came with a quick release block as standard, which comes in handy...... Well in, for that sesh last week mate, top angling fella.

Popped back last night for an intended evening session, winkled out a 24lb Common at 7pm from under the rod tip again. So decided to stay on for the night..... Should've quit while I was ahead. Only a stubborn Cat of around 15lb through the night, took me into the weed, took about 40 mins to land and completely wiped out both rods which needed re setting from scratch...….. They don't half pull back, those cats..... Heard a few fish showing to my left through the night. My guess is that I wasn't the only one plopping some bait in after Sunday's work party...…. A fella took some pics of the Common and is going to email them to me, so I'll post it up when he does...……. Getting low on bait now, so will have to make time for a rolling sesh soon...…. Also, had 5 more tench, they are costing me a fortune in leads, Not much I can do about it though at the moment, as , imo, even a small lead needs dropping with the weed still up and dense...…… I went back onto the Gardner GTHD in 15lb for this place and I'm finding it a real pain in the backside. Can't fault it's strength and abrasion resistance, but it just seems to krimp/crinkle at the slightest touch of anything, weed, tip ring, bobbin etc. Even when playing 5lb Tench….. Not too happy about having to strip off 10 yards of line a few times each session.... It's the second time I've loaded this on my spools and had a few coiling issues the first time round. So I'll be looking to re spool again this week with something else...….

You'd be better off phoning them I recon...… 01702 233232... At least they will let you know if they do parts.

Work party tomorrow on the little lake I've been dabbling on...… The gear is still in the van so might do a few hours into dark after the fish have settled down a bit after any noise we make. Failing that I'll trickle some bait in while I'm there and hopefully nip back for an evening sesh in the week.

Thanks mate...… It's just one of very few simple rules on that ticket..... It's not the most difficult of venues and a few "bait boys" have exploited it in the past to not only promote their products, but literally fill it in with their bait and ruin the fishing. So banning public pics is a sensible way to prevent that..... I'll try to squeeze the odd pic in if I get a gooden from here, via my profile pic...… Should be ok now and then as long as no products or the venue are mentioned...…. I would have to check first, don't really want to lose my ticket over a fish pic.

Cheers, more than happy, considering my time is limited for the next month or two, it was nice to land a couple of carp.....

Fished through a downpour couple of days back...… Im not kidding, it felt tropical..... Temps were still mid twenties the next day, the rain had stopped, but couldn't get anything dried out too well as it was overcast and the air was thick with humidity..... For me, Summer truly starts tomorrow , June 1st...….. As mentioned by a few others, I think we've done ok weather wise apart from very early Spring when we had that cold snap.. Distant memory now 😊

Went back to the scene of my last blank while my mate fished the nearby runs water. Found a few fish where I'd seen one lump out last time...….. Different approach this time...… Fishing mega close in about a rod length out on the margin slope.....Simplest of rigs and maybe a dozen whole and broken baits scattered along the margin...……. 11pm a 19lb mirror obliged during a torrential downpour, 4am a lovely 23lb common on the same left hand rod... Happy days, first 20lber of this season...… I did have a couple of Tench, including a huge male which I weighed out of curiosity, bang on 6lb... Both tench coming to the right hand rod...…... Fish pics not permitted on public forums from this venue unfortunately..... But if I'm lucky enough to land something decent with a decent pic, then I may well change my Avatar now and then 😃

Got a mate coming down for a 48 hr guesty on the lake next door to where I blanked the other day.... Will be my last outing for a few weeks. It's quite runsy this lake and could throw up anything up to the high twenties for carp or 40lb cat, bit of fun and a bend in the rod this lake with lots of smaller fish..... It will give me a chance to put a little bait in the main lake and perhaps a little stalk around it the following morning with a single rod for a few hours to try and exact my revenge... lol. The kit will be put away for a few weeks after this, back to the old grind stone for me..... Hoping to hit the Syndicate through July as best I can, they are still spawning on and off on there. Once a few of the big girls have drooped a bit of weight, should see a drop in anglers.

I used to fish for Chub a lot in the past and found the best way to get the bigger ones was freelining bigger baits into likely looking spots.... Under trees and bushes and bridges mainly where they are waiting for food items to drop in and have some cover..Luncheon meat and especially cheese were good baits about an inch cubed would give enough weight to flick out on a waggler rod and 3-4lb line straight through..... If they were visible near the surface, plopping a bait a few feet behind them will usually see them turn and investigate the "plop".... Seen them follow my bait in when reeling in, like a pike chasing a spinner... About 15-20 mins each spot and you will either catch one, lose one, or realise that they aren't there and move on...… A day river roving for Chub was always a good day out and what you spot along the way may throw up a few carp spots too..... …. As for me, doubt I'll get time for any river fishing at all this season. I'd love a river carp of decent size, but feel that I'd need to put some time in to find and pre bait a likely stretch... Having said that , the 9ft Dwarfs look like they'd make great little lure rods, so a few hours walking and spinning for perch/chub/pike is an option, which I'm sure the dogs would agree with 😊