Angel Minkov

For sure, mate, but my net was small and I was in a hurry to take the fish out, didn't want to risk any damage were the fish to start kicking. I wanted to take a quick snap and then poured water on it, took another quick pic and in the water it went. I wanted to weigh it, but nobody had scales near me. I don't like keeping fish on the margins for too long, I'm scared of damaging them so I let it go asap. Thanks, guys! I thoroughly enjoyed this session, will go back for sure!

I have no idea why all activity stopped to be honest. The weather was superb - 22C, predominantly sunny with little to no wind. Loads of activity until around 11-12AM, then it slowed down a bit, but there were still splashes from fish. As soon as it hit 2 PM the lake died... I'll be visiting it again soon, either to try some pellet waggler fishing or some method feeder action... Decisions, decisions.

After visiting this venue on the third of march right after it had thawed, I decided its time for us to get even after the previous blank so I visited it yesterday again. I arrived at around 9AM on the venue and all the good spots were taken, so I had to make do with what I had available. I brought a can of sweetcorn with me, some maggots and 2 kilos of feeder mix. I decided to use up only a kilo of the mix to attract with its color and scent - it was a very bright green mix which contrasted with the sandy bottom perfectly. The water was still cold, even though the venue isn't particularly large, so I knew I had to do something to attract the fish. My approach consisted of 3 main points - the green mix for visual stimulation, mixed in with some maggots for movement around the bottom and additionally the sweet corn for splashes and further visual cues. As bait I used a grain of corn with 2 maggots on a size 10 Maver hook. My rig was actually very simple - I threaded a float stop on the main line, along with a shock bead over it, then the feeder, another shock bead and lastly a swivel, to which I attached a very short hook length, probably around 4'' at best. Loaded the feeder and fished at around 20 yards. With every cast I catapulted 1 or 2 pouch-fulls of corn to attract any nearby fish, because I cannot clip up on this venue and I'm not the most accurate caster either, so I usually cast and feed around a radius of 5-7 yards. It didn't take long for me to see some twitching of my tip, which I assume were line bites, so I knew I had fish in front of me. After about an hour and a few casts, I landed a beautiful common at around 12-13lb. A small common followed closely after and the immediate cast after I had landed it, followed the prize of the trip - a beautiful 20 pound mirror. Another small common at around 2 pm and all fishing stopped after that, no more splashes, no more ripples. Its like the fish disappeared from the venue. Didn't catch anything else for the next 4 hours. In total, there were 6 fish caught for the day from the venue, 4 from me. Below are pictures of the mirror and common.

Hey, guys. Has anyone tried out this line? At 0.20mm dia it has a breaking strain of 12.6 kilograms! That's insane if you compare it to other lines, like for example the Daiwa Sensor which has a breaking strain of 1.8 kg with the same diameter. It seems too good to be true. Any input? Is it worth the money? Does it last long, or does it lose its strength quickly?

Hey, guys. I absolutely love Drennan and came across this little reel while I was searching for a feeder reel. Have any of you tried them out? Are they appropriate to use when using the feeder? Any input would be appreciated!

Hello, guys. I'm researching rods and reels now, to get for the upcoming year and I was wondering if any of you have experience with the Nash H-Gun rods. I was thinking about Daiwa Emcast Carp rods, but when I was the H-Guns in a tackle shop I was thrilled, I'm a big fan of Nash, love their movies and Kevin seems like a genuine guy, though I mostly watch them because of Alan... Great guy! I know you can't choose the rods for me, so I'm just looking for opinions regarding quality. If you guys have good opinions about them, that's good enough for me

It's not hard parting with my money when I know I'll have a blast on the river, waiting for carp I don't have any particular taste, I just want to buy something and know I can rely on it and use it for a few seasons. I'll make a separate topic for the Nash H-Guns in a sec ^^

My profile picture is from about 2nd or 3rd grade lol! I'm 19 years old, I'm not bulky, but I can get big distances. The point is, I don't like distance fishing. Listening about people who fish 400 metres away makes me nauseous... I'm looking for around 70-80 metres at best ^^ I was also looking at the Nash H-Gun rods. Any opinions on them? Also, what length would you recommend - 3.60 or 3.96?

I'm not really a fan of fishing 300-400 metres away, distances will be maybe 100 or a tad more at best... They will be an all-purpose - fishing rivers with moderate flow, middle-sized lakes. I will be fishing snaggy waters on my favorite river and fairly clear waters everywhere else.

So I will be looking to fish with the standard 3 rods, as with my current 1 rod I'm not covering any distance and fishing where I do, I'd be lucky to catch a single carp in the next few years. I've stopped on Daiwa Black Widow for reels and Daiwa Emcast Carp for rods, but I was wondering if I should use the 3.25lb or 3.50lb. Can I get some opinions on this kit?

Yeah, well I was just wondering why they make 100m long mainlines when they can just make 100/150/200/250/300 etc and make it so much easier for us fishermen...

Okay so a lot of main lines I see, mainly those designated for floater fishing, come in lengths of 100m. Now, I know most people who practice this light type of fishing won't use 0.40 or 0.30 lines in diameter, I personally prefer 0.18 to 0.20 at most, but here comes the part that bugs me - my reel can hold around 280 metres of 0.20 line, and I've noticed most match reels are of sizes ranging from 150 metres/8 lb to 300 metres/8lb, so if I want to use the mainline of X firm which comes in rolls of 100 metres I'd need around 2-3 rolls and 2-3 knots on my lines, which I find unappealing... So, can anyone enlighten me? Am I missing something?

I was thinking about the Maver Genesis Pro Match 3 piece, Daiwa Harrier Match - HRM13W - AU and the Daiwa Carp match and feeder. These 3 rods fit into my budget and seem the best for this price range (from what I can choose at least, there isn't much variety here ).

Hello, guys. I am in need of a new match rod and I was wondering what the length should be for carp fishing using techniques such as the pellet waggler. Also, I'm eyeing Daiwa and Cormoran as brands - which one would you recommend? Thanks in advance

Well, this section was designated for posts about fishing outside of the UK, so I decided it was the most appropriate place to post my question in. I'll make a topic on the main forum as well

I'd buy the sensor in a heartbeat, but there aren't many good shops here, in Bulgaria, so I don't have that much variety to choose from. The shop I want to buy it from only has from 0.26 and above. I want to fish a river where nobody releases their fish, people use nets and the fish is very wary of everything, so I was planning on using a line which is as thin as possible - around 0.12-0.16 :/ Well, they have 0.16 in the form of Daiwa TD super soft, so I will be buying that, but when I start seriously fishing for carp with boilies and buy my new sets, I will definitely go with the Daiwa Sensor. Do you think it would make a big difference if the line is the "moss green" or transparent on the river? Its a river with a swampy bottom, so the waters are almost never clear and see-through. I want to learn as much as possible, so sorry for all the questions ^^

Thanks guys! I needed opinions on Daiwa, as I was thinking of changing the main line on my float reel. I was thinking of using Daiwa TD super soft, but I guess the sensor will do the job as well?

I meant main line,not braid. My fishing terminology in English still requires some work lol! For braid I'd buy around 50m, as I don't go carp fishing with my bottom rigs that often. I'm more of a float fisher, but on the river I'd like to catch a carp float fishing won't do it seems.

Hey, guys. I was thinking of changing my main line on one of my reels and was thinking of using Daiwa - what is your opinion on their lines? Have you tried them? Cheers

Thanks for all the information guys! I was looking up for new braid to change on one of my reels. I was thinking of using Daiwa - have you had experience with them? What is your opinion on them? Are they good?

Thanks for the discussion, guys! I was wondering - I have some Nash Instant Action Pineapple crush boilies and a dip from the same series, with the same scent. I've heard quick dips don't really do anything in particular, so I was wondering if I should add some of that dip to the jar with the boilies and let them sit and absorb as much as they can, thus increasing the attraction?

I've been fishing this river for very long, about 14 years, but I only recently got into contemporary fishing. Before that I was taught that a handful of maize or wheat where I want to fish and a worm on the hook is enough. I feel cheated haha! In Bulgaria up to 3 rods per person are allowed. I plan on fishing with all 3 on different places with PVA bags. I will be buying cheap boilies to try to get the fish feeding on them and perhaps trick some decently sized carp, but not before I try the classic corn set-up or critically-balanced corn set-up. The river is very weedy and I have problems with getting a picture of the terrain (I don't know how people do it - I've heard its via using a lead attached to the main line which you cast and slowly reel in?), and deciding on what rig to use to avoid bad presentation... I was thinking of a chod rig?

Its a beautiful place! I will try to take better pictures and maybe a video of different parts of the river with a normal camera. The pictures I posted yesterday were made with my phone's camera Now that its October and the temperatures are starting to go down, at what depths would you recommend I fish? Up to 1 meter, 2 meters, 3+? I presume some shallower waters near weeds where there is cover and the temps are warmer?

Okay, so my family had to take care of some business in our village, so I took the opportunity and went with them. I arrived at the river at around 8am. I was fishing with a waggler in a place I've always wanted to fish. I caught a few small fish using maggots as bait, but I noticed a lot of fish were jumping, which NEVER happened before on this particular river, and I mean NEVER. I've spent whole summers there and not seen a single fish jump. I take that as a good sign that perhaps poachers have piped down and the river is starting to recuperate and the fish are feeling less stress. I didn't see any big fish jump, though. Didn't notice ANY carp presence. http://tinypic.com/r/mh7ihz/9 http://tinypic.com/r/2hob40m/9 http://tinypic.com/r/9r6lnq/9 I heard some splashes of decent fish here. There are even ducks present in this area, which I saw dive in for prolonged periods of time, presumably to hunt for fish. This place used to look so different when I was a kid! People came here to bathe and enjoy the sun, but now its just so... wild! I have a good feeling for this river, I hope I'm not wrong. I was thinking of fishing near the areas with vegetation, which can be seen on the pics, but I have yet to measure their depth and check for underwater weeds.

I will definitely let you know how it all goes