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On Thursday I popped over to the res on one of my weekly baiting trips, with a day sesh due on the Friday. As soon as I arrived I just knew I'd struggle to sleep that night (due to excitement for the next day). It looked absolutely BANGING, there is just no other word for it. I saw a couple of carp show, and there was fizzing on my spot. It was almost a shame to ruin it by chucking spombs all over the place but that's what I was there for so that's what I did. At home afterwards the Mrs got a right earful about how confident I was, what I was going to catch, etc etc. Poor girl lol. I did

14lb 8oz Shame about my face 🤣🤣

18lb on the nose.... PB too... This was not slipping away.

Another blank but still learned a few more bits of the puzzle

Not a carp but a nice fish all the same... Always nice to get a late season Tinca

Lol, the swear filter thought I was being racist 😂

Good decision to come this morning got a nice dark one in the retainer 😁 Not a massive one but pleasing on the eye 👁️

All coming together nicely, I like the sound of a REAL BIG ORIGINAL 😁 Well done Yonny 👍 I've often been tempted to try a water shot lol but I'm usually on my own, so don't bother, I would always get one on land first just incase, you will have to catch a bigger one mate keep your chin up there is still time for more 👍

Day sesh yesterday went brilliantly, 3 carp including one of the real big originals. And the baited area finally did me a bite! Will put some pics up when I get the time on Monday.

Just had 17lb Common... Weighed... wriggled off mat..Good job 2 mates here to witness it... 😭😭😭😭

Hopefully a good 12hrs day sesh...

I managed to nip down for a cheeky midweek day sesh yesterday. My pre-baited area is still not happening which is really disappointing but that didn't stop me doing whatever I could to catch one of those old originals. I managed to keep track of the fish as they clearly reacted to a brand new south westerly. A well placed pop up with about 30 freebies did the trick and I was very happy to land another old'n. Really nice long fish. A repeat, but I could never be disappointed with a carp that's older than me.

I’ve realise after reading this and looking at the great pics I need to go fishing... so just got off the phone to postpone a decorating job and me and a mate are off to Linear for a 48hr on the 28th of this month. .... Thanks Yonny

Imo pulling the lead back is the kiss of death. There is a significant chance you'll foul or even blunt the hook, regardless of what substrate you're fishing over. The obvious answer is to go to a heli set-up with the top bead set to cope with any of the substrates out there. You mentioned that everyone is doing this - there is a reason for that. By all means keep your options open in terms of differentiating yourself from others, but make sure you have the very basics (presentation of a bait to a carp) right first. You're over-thinking it imo mate. This water sounds tricky enough

1st 15lb one looked a lot darker in real life This one was a real scaly one, I had an occurance on my rods 😁 2 hook pulls though need some fine tuning I think this week, especially as I've had a few lately and lost a couple of real good uns 😢

Yay Congrats mate on the PB great stuff really chuffed for you 👍

Had one this morning just as I was about to pack up for work. Not massive, guess around 18lb. 1st one this year from this lake.

Slightly off topic but I gave some kids a night to remember. I was all night barbel fishing right out in the sticks when at 3 in the morning I heard some kids on the far bank coming down from half a mile away singing what could be described as "racist rugby songs". When they got opposite to where I was fishing, I dipped my isotope underwater and let out a piercing werewolf howl! They absolutely crapped their selves and and a few more howls had them running away. Well worth disturbing the swim I was fishing at the time and I dare say tales of the "Beast of Wiltshire" still get told!

I keep thinking this is the one this weekend, every weekend I think that lol, when is one of those bigguns going to get netted? . surely I havent used up all my lives and they have slipped my grasp, I'm getting proper addicted at the moment, I want to be there all the time, I am buzzing like an old fridge, because I am going today to try and tempt one, I have an overnighter locked and loaded, just the usual anxiety that the swim is available now, just need the green light from Mrs P and I'm away they saw bait Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday this week, cos I am letting my foot off the gas,

When I first started reading this I thought you Carpmaster are making it harder than it needs to be, I totally agree these days keeping it simple is the key to everything, I learnt the hard way last year 😁 Find the fish, Feed the fish, present a bait they can eat, and keep refining it until you think you understand what's going on, and stack all the little % in your favour, I bought a fishspy, I sold it after trying to use it once,was a right chore,didn't connect properly and didn't seem to help, I just needed to scratch that itch but it turns out I was better off before just using

I've found that finely crumbed boilie lightly wetted so it gets sticky can work on the method and if you are using a bait that Bream won't take, you could use something like an 18grm method feeder and not plug it into the silt... one thing the match world has taught me, is NEVER move the lead or feeder once it's landed, of course this method's not going to work if you need a long chuck, but 20 -30 yards and it can be a goer....

Do you move the hook bead at all elmo? I try to keep it at the end the shank, before the curve, so the bait screw (I use micro swivel with dental floss) only moves on the shank. Imo meaning more of the hook is in its mouth, always goes centre bottom lip. I use floss on the micro swivel as I think it allows the hook bait to move more naturally.

Ive put hydrotuff through its paces for 2 years and it hasn't let me down yet, great line Sounds like a challenge that place, I can't really advise much otherwise other than enjoy it 🤣

My first thought would be to take plenty of photo's and draw some maps showing where the snags are so you can avoid them when the level returns. A whole day spent doing that would probably pay off long term rather than sat behind the rods all day. That said, snags are fish magnets so fishing close to them could pay off but obviously wrapping up now would give a false reading when the levels increase and the bank retreats, so wrap to a fixed location like a boundary fence if possible. Plumbing should also be easier if it's 12 foot shallower and now is the time before the autumn rains come. Look

Nah, you'll only struggle when the yield strength is exceeded. Then the hook straightens. But that's almost impossible unless you have a dodgy hook hold (so force isn't loaded as intended) or if there is a quality problem with the hook (or more specifically the hardness of the steel). I work in this field (metal forming and treatment), trust me, they're fine mate.

Lads, a hook is essentially a very stiff spring (they're made from high carbon spring steel). They need to flex to absorb the forces loaded during the fight. If they didn't flex, they would snap. Flexing is absolutely critical to any hook. Without it they cannot absorb the load/force.

Under normal circumstances I'm not that fussy when it comes to bait size. Anything around the 14-18 mm will do me fine. I rarely use chops, and I rarely use crumb. I might use smaller baits on a very, very hard/clean substrate (spotless gravel) but tbh it's been years since I've fished spotless gravel. I might use bigger baits if bream become a major issue. Like I say, not fussy really. I think where you put it is what really counts.

Just to let you know I’ve had a reply off admin don’t know if anyone else has the update is to update the security measures of the site and they’re waiting on a new template to rectify the opening of reply’s just to let everyone know

The update had a lot a security fixes, they've rolled in some new features. With IPBoard you have to keep updating the 4.x to ensure you aren't compromised. Although you folks haven't heard from me much in recent years, i'm always applying security updates to the server and forum software. Just waiting on the template vendor to provide the update (Richard pays for the update service), which hopefully fixes the quirks. Release notes: https://invisioncommunity.com/release-notes/ Neil

Who designed this?? Well handy to open a notification😅

Well, look at what you're doing right first buddy,, You're getting a take, arguably the most important start to the puzzle! So, slowly tweak your rig until you bank every bite. Without telling you how to suck eggs, one by one one alter the hook link length, hook pattern, hair length, etc. Eventually it the puzzle will fit into place. It's all part of the adventure to your quest👍

Extatic...packed all gear in car n phone too, little en says can we go park dad, And I hidden fish came out on my way out... 24lb 3oz...no 1 had a clue it was in. Be on there more often now..

Well no fishing for me this weekend, going for a curry with the misses and my best mate and his wife, been a while so will be nice to catch up, I haven't told the Mrs yet but I've defrosted some bait and I am going to try and sneak off to bait up later, they've only had one bucket of pellets this week don't want them forgetting who I am 😁

A couple of my highlights from this weekend 😁

This is the 11lbers tail 20lb4oz both sides The 15lber I regret not getting a proper photo with And the stunning 17lb blank saver Not a bad weekends work, shame about the other 3 nil pointers though, but a lot happier than before the 17lber this morning, I am convinced that first one I lost last night was one of the bigger ones, we will never know though so I will just have to try and catch it again sometime 😉

I will use as many as I feel I can get away with up to a maximum of 3. So if I have a load of water in front of me and I feel my chosen spot(s) can accommodate 3 then I'll use 3. If the swim aint so big or the spots are small I might use 2. In a quiet corner I might use 1. All depends on the swim and the angling situation. Depends where the spots are in relation to the swim. Normally they'll be on the bars/sticks so right next to each other.

That’s interesting. I do like the look of the Trigs. The shape and shank look great for wafters/balanced bottom baits but I do have my reservations about their strength-they appear quite light gauge for size/gape. Not actually used them yet-been using pop ups on hinges with my favourite Conti size 4s. Wouldn’t be happy to risk a ‘flexi’ hook in demanding conditions/big fish.

I find fishing locked up leads to better hook holds tbh mate. Are you losing them in the weed? Or are they just dropping off? I have honestly never had an issue with hooks blunting on gravel (and I've been using sharpened hooks for many, many years. I would suspect your hooks are being damaged during the fight which is completely normal imo.

Sometimes they just happen, we can't land them all. That said, you do seem to be having an abnormal ratio of losses. Defo worth a try mate. What is key to you is what the hook holds were like on the fish you landed. they should be able to tell you a great deal. Did you have a look?

I'm waiting on the template update.

Very strange now,

i like a combination of hemp and maize for winter, i can't put my finger on why but they go very well together👍

Had a go at an arty rod shot with my camera the other day 😁

Few hrs with 2 mates, 8 fish between us (nothing massive)... I had 3 fish Mate 1-3 fish, Mate 2 - 2 fish.. I had the biggest 13lb 7oz.

WOW!

As Kev mentions, there can be a spot within a spot. I have had rods very close to each other, yet one rod produced all the action, again the left hand rod from 3. The left rod was cast to a showing fish, the middle around 2/3 metres away. It was only the left hand rod that produced 4 carp, nothing on the others. I've seen carp entering an area, always coming in from a particular direction. If you create a baited area it would be the first rod they come to that produced, take that away the next in the line would go as they worked along. Not every water, or even swim is the