Leaderboard

I fished a few hours today and opened the 2021 account with this 16lb pristine mirror, caught on a pop up over a bed of hemp and boilie.

The calm before the storm, a quick 4hr session produced 6 runs with 5 carp banked. First fish of 2021.

Carp no5 of 6 runs, that’s it I’m out of bait! Fished from 10-1, so well happy with that, no monsters but it’s broken the 2021 duck. this one beat me right up, had to chase it down the bank with a landing net and unhooking mat over my shoulder!

First blood! 7-9lb (ish) common, unhooked in the net.

Laughed me socks off at this...

Carp no3 7-9lb (ish) unhooked in the net. 3rd fish from 4 runs so far, bumped one fish off and found the hook point turned over. Was using trig-hammers, now switched to fox wide gapes as I’m having to hit and hold, fishing to reeds on the other side.

I’m on the bank, rods out, gentle warm breeze drifting into this bay, had a few liners... fingers crossed!

Carp no2 ripped off as I placed the bobbin, 6-7lbish. Unhooked in the net.

It’s not expensive, it’s peanuts really...

Well the day has started brighter, Cut down sugar in tea to 1/2 tsp, ready for none by the end of the week, the protein shakes I ordered arrived in time for breakfast so I've glugged one of those, haven't got a 6 pack yet 😭 but hopefully I'm on the road to a better future 😁

Carp no4, I’m popping the barbless hook out in the net and letting them go, rather than bank them as it’s pretty mucky and slippery in this swim. This one probably scraped double figures. I’m looking at having to pack up soon, I’ve done all my bait bar a handful, that’s about 2/3 of a Kg since 10am. It’s raining, (I haven’t got a brolly!) I’m soaked through but still!

Arriving Tuesday.... one is a very happy bunny😁🥰😍

9 pike today, 2 at 13lb, a 12, an 11, and the rest singles. One I estimated at 8 I decided to weigh, was actually 9lb. One feisty little jack caught me on the finger so didn't have his picture taken. Not the most comfortable swim, had to sit in chest waders all day

lol - that's made my week, what were you thinking? That's an expensive pack of hooks, and some other stuff that nobody ever wants lol Sorry mate but you've been had there 🤦‍♂️

The surprise is how bad it was

Well one of my local lakes has done 4x20's already.... I had one in January so you can catch them all year round, but as for targeting them, I'd start on mild, low pressure days preferably with a south-westerly wind about now...

That's good news mate, hope it stays that way for you 👍

Hope so, all good so far... 🤞🤞

Try the YouTube if you haven’t already lots of info there Very wise

Speero rig tray £10 ... it will pay for itself in a couple of trips with the swivels and hooks I normally drop and lose and not to mention the time I save looking for things that have dropped, it was either buy the tray or a metal detector 🙄

Aargh! Schoolboy error: Get a pike close to double figures in the landing net, as I released the tension the hooks fell out, dip landing net as I lifted and pike swims out....😳🙄 Who wants dirty wet smelly hands anyway? 😂😉 Ended up with 5 in the end, nothing massive. I might have to start comparing pics for more recaptures

Well I can tell you for a fact don’t expect a rod in a box 😉

Dunno if I've just had a wobble but, I've decided to maybe just try to use a multi rig for pop ups and wafters and bottom baits, it's a multi rig lol it was designed to do them all, I decided tonight to try a curve shank hook rather than the square ones, I could use the finer shrink tube and it looked like it had a little more finesse about it, I also decided I think I prefer pre sharpened hooks, I sharpened a few and was never totally happy with them,the pre done ones were better, I might order some J precision curves and maybe a pack of longshank curves to try also, a lot of people see

Last week I was standing in my garden thinking that with a raised lawn and a sunken path with a flower bed running parallel to the path, I thought, “that patch of raised lawn is wasting valuable space” 4 days later I’ve knocked down the lawn retaining wall, broken up all the rubble, spread this over the path. Broken up the low wall retaining the flower bed, then dug up all the lawn and earth, spreading it over the path and flower bed. So the whole garden is now level soil. Next job is to level the patio area that’s two levels, put sleepers down along the soil boarders, lay a load

Not carp gear, but a business I have been working for, for a few years now. Damp and waterproofing. I'm feeling quite happy about it. Hopefully a bit of security for my family and me for the foreseeable future. Best wishes to the regulars

Thinking of giving this a go ..

Lesson learned, but I've also made £150 after this today so I'm quite happy, the maggots I'll make up some Maggot balls, maybe give rest uncle.

That’s because now you will have to go out and buy what it is you actually use lol

Bit of a let down I think 🤔 2x Korda FREE DVD, 2x ESP XL method feeder, Fox Small Chod rigs, Fox Bait Floss, Korda Krank Chodddy Hooks, Fox Zig Hooks, Kake Maggots, ESP Lead Clip system x 3, ESP Controller Float, Fox Slow Melt PVA

He's a bit like Glenn hoddle this one Lots of ball control but a bit of a dribbler ⚽ 😂😂😂😂😂

It works if you pee on a jellyfish sting 😁 probably though it's ammonia innit, will probably do it by accident anyway the aim isn't what it used to be 😁😁😁

Yeh, pics soon

Pee on the bite .... or is it pee on a sting 🤔

Easier said than done! Lol! After bite is good, I tend to use piriton (chloremphenamine) if the topical stuff doesn’t calm it, it’s an antihistamine that can make you drowsy though at times.

"Afterbite" is the best I've used. It's an ammonia type dab on pen, the key is not to rub/ scratch the bite if you can help it

Gardner can’t go wrong.

Yes, I’m having some doubts myself having watched a few YouTube clips! Plus, I’d be a bit squeamish about chopping up my ‘pet’ worms!

My brother in law made one out of a tarpaulin years ago filled it with dirt and worms and used it for years assumed it worked because it was always moist

The metal detector could pay for itself... might find a Saxon hoard!

I was gonna pop in 2moz... BUT... Ordered 1 these

Brilliant thanks for that, I have read it a few times, I'm still only just getting comfortable paying over a fiver a pack of hooks I'm not ready for Jason Hayward prices yet 😁 otherwise I probably would use them, baby steps lol, I do think the ib hooks I've had so far have been pretty good tbh they are sharp, I don't like the coating on the hooks though, I dunno they feel cheap,I bought some unsharpened ones too and they don't sharpen very well, I've ordered some size 5 chods, size 5 curves x 2 and a pack of long shank curves in size 6, I am also not sure the longshank curves

Some of us have the 6 pack, and some of us have the keg. 😳

They're decent mate. Jason Haywards Muggas are better but also more expensive. No sure why Korda don't do a Kamakura version of their Kurv pattern. The Krank is the closest they currently do to a curve shank. Also decent. I used these extensively for a while. No good for a multi though imo. Handy for a ronnie/spinner type set up (replaces a 360 rig nicely). Have anther look at this if you're set on using pre-sharpened:

Many thanks all, just to recap the quick session, I got to the lake about 0920, had a quick mooch about, just had a really good feeling about the swim I chose, the wind was trickling into it and it was quite mild, there was some bubbling in the silt about 6-8ft off the reeds and you could see the reed stems knocking fairly regularly. The swim I chose gave me the best angle onto a snag tree buffered by large reed-beds. I used helicopter rigs made up of Nash heli kits to tungsten tubing. 3 oz leads with trig-hammers size 6 to 8” 20lb Esp striptease two tone in brown, fished as a blowback r

And My day today Kids home school,shout, cry, scream have a breakdown about now, currently vaping in garage before work Get to work, become depressed as I drive into the gates, chat to people who will moan about something work related, get into a discussion where someone says Boris is doing the best he can, I get annoyed and disagree heartily and will probably slag off matt Hancock quite a lot, and moan about people not respecting social distancing guidelines, usually I say something to them also, like are you all trying to beat the record for idiots that can fit in a 2m square? 😁

I found the best way to keep in shape was aquafit... when I retired I started eating properly not junk on shifts as I was before and I put on weight... I started going to aquafit as the low impact work was kind to my back and knees... its great... twice a week and I was toned and fit... then lockdown hit... I have an exercise bike but its not the same... sadly the pool is closed til further notice... I'll be glad to get back after all this is over... theres a social side too and as most of the folks in the class were ladies of a certain age, I was the eye candy🤣🤣🤣🤣 62 and a cobra-back stu