salokcinnodrog

On furlough to the end of July, and hoping I have a job to go back to

I just got a message from a mate, we have been invited up to have a look around when we can fit in with the syndicate manager. Glad I have been holding back on money while I've not been working. Saved up in case the worst happened and the hotel didn't reopen.

I would say yes, because I often use the marker to bait up to with the Spomb or spod. A mate of mine uses the Sonik Vader Carp Marker/spod rod. I have used it with a Korda Marker and 3.5oz lead for feature finding on the reservoir.

Welcome to Carp.com. The most important thing on any water is finding the fish. It can be a lot easier on smaller waters than bigger waters to find them. On 8 acres I would imagine you can see most of the lake, if you see anything showing get on it. That may mean just casting to them, or it may mean moving swims and getting to the right spot. Don't confuse yourself over rigs. Get faith in one rig, put it in the right place. The same with bait. If you have faith in your bait, fish with it on the hook, and just a small bag, mesh or stringer. No need to pile it in. Make sure you get best indication, and be prepared to watch the water and line. With helicopter rigs, something I have found, you may need to hit single bleeps, you might not get proper runs. The carp can move the rig a long way with no movement on your indicator, and if you are fishing with roller wheel buzzers it might not make any noise at all!

It may be the best sleeping bag, but I'm not sure on your food bowls😖😆😉 Sky always gets fed outside the bivvy, and her water bowl stays out there. Big dogs are such messy drinkers...😉 Looks pretty tidy that Mate, mine always ends up looking like a bombsite

I don't think it is just carp either, especially in the warm and dry East Anglian region, although river anglers are few and far between. I have spent some time on local rivers recently, and even the rivers are low and chub and barbel are hanging back in more oxygenated water, non-fishing weirs, mills and the like. On some stretches of the Gipping it is rare to see fish in some shallow flowing stretches, but this year where it washes fast over gravel that is often where the fish are. We really need some low pressure and steady rain.

I am using the Wychwood Morpheus 4 sleeping bag, but I do find it a bit warm in summer, sleeping in t-shirt and combat trousers, so I often just end up sleeping under a bedchair cover. In winter though, it is good down to -5, so with the cover I stay warm. They now do a Morpheus 7 I think it is. Another couple of alternatives are the Gardner Crash bag or the Rod Hutchinson All Season, although you are looking at £60 vs £120 https://gardnertackle.co.uk/product/camo-crash-bag/ https://rodhutchinson.co.uk/product/all-season-sleeping-bag/

I would have said the Gardner Sticks as the best manufactured, but if they are not long enough, then how annoying. I use the original Cobra Ace I think it is, a properly curved plastic stick, by estimate I would say it is over a metre long. I can stick 20mm baits well over 100metres, although occasional mixes I do have to wet the stick as it will split them, even shelf lifes. I prefer frozen baits that are just thawed on the outside, but still hard in the middle. I was saddened when Cobra went under and Nash bought out the name as I simply don't like the Nash Cobra sticks, the quality and feel is totally different, and yuck!

Welcome to carp.com What you may find is that there is so much bait going into the waters right now the fish are not needing to feed heavily, can pick and choose, test every bait and avoid the hook. It may be better to keep your feed down, and just fish a single bait with a small PVA mesh or stringer.

Hmm! My local EA bailiff wears his EA jacket and hi-viz, so you can see he is EA when he walks up to you. He is also very polite and does chat and ask how things are going, he is into normal fishing conversation. It probably helps that I know who he is and he knows Sky. He has asked to see my licence once, then the next few times I have seen him he didn't bother, quite possibly because it is to hand. The EA can easily check on a hand reader if you have given your name and address, and have ID to hand, although I do not know how if there is no phone signal in the area. It may be that it is done afterwards, so any non licence holders get a letter through the post. My money is on someone trying it on. I bailiff a fishery and even when selling tickets or checking tickets I'm polite, albeit gruff as is my way normally. If I don't have my ticket book to hand I do have the owners number to hand so I can let him know that I have spoken to 'such and such', insert name and text him.

Most anglers put far too much bait out when they fish. The problem us that they turn up on a day ticket lake, even a club lake and immediately want to fish over 'their' own bait, without knowing what is there already, what other anglers have put in, so spod or Spomb in 5kilos of spod mix. The fish don't have to move far to feed, they are able to pick and choose. It doesn't help right now that the water is so warm, the air and water temperatures are high, the fish are just mooching because the weather is uncomfortable to feed heavily in. Best way to fish for most is just a hookbait with PVA bag or stringer. There are times when putting plenty of bait in us the right thing to do, but I don't think most anglers know the waters they fish well enough.

The other thing is, it may possibly be members or officials within the club doing it off their own backs, not necessarily with club approval.

Welcome to Carp.com We'll do our best to help

Get straight onto the EA. You ( as in the club) do not know if diseases or parasites are present, which is why they are so stringent on consent. It can only take one diseased fish to wipe out a water (I have seen it happen). The only exception is if a club/venue has multiple waters on one site and are already registered as a fish farm I believe.

Welcome to Carp.com Have fun finding your way around.