beanz

I do love your stories, Frank. that one had me laughing so hard the missus had to read it......She's now popped to the bathroom to dry herself!!

I wouldn't be here today, defying all odds, if nearly ten years ago they stopped my treatment after I was classed as terminal.

Nash done well rebranding them old arlesley bombs as "optics"

I'm unsure... I think it would be down to the land owner, as from what I was told from a EA officer , as long as the mouth is narrower than the depth(not how deep) of cut/backwater then its fine ...but he also told me that it couldnt be flowing......which contradicts the refuge at Stibbington as they dredged and redone the inlet ...which now means it flows in and out from the main river, and you can fish that all year.. like i said down to the owner as in theory it can be fished all year on EA rules.

I fished there loads back in 2004, I worked for one of the 3 guys that originally bought it to turn into a marina. Apparently Chris Tarrant was interested in buying but got out bid. It was and still is the best carp lake i'v fish...the fact I nearly all ways had the place to myself helped, but it was just an amazing lake. The swim which they cut the opening to river in was floater heaven,and had the most amazing climbing tree, the branches went up like a spiral staircase. The north end next to the reeds was a stalking heaven and to the left of that, the board swim was a summer holding area....Bars, gullies , islands........I miss fishing there!!! Stanwick netted a lot of the fish splitting them up into Roman ,Elsons and Mallard, but didnt get them all, and my last session there, after the netting there were still 20-30 carp. I think they cleared the woods up at the north end and now sell tickets for camping, might have to go back.

Where did you get the buoyant hook from??

P.S ....Who the hell is Yeats????

two things. firstly, Hutch ....why you drinking coffee at this time?? And secondly,CM you need to have a little faith, the Swedish flat pack furniture lake near me had a 50 something, that place see's more fly tipping than bait and only a few that brave to actually put the time in as its free and on the edge of town....................though if a natural 50 that just ate 20kg of your bait is a wrong'un i'l retract my post

I'v done well on long hairs over the years, even on pop ups, one of my best sessions came while using a 2inch gap between hook and bait with the hook 3inches of the deck, all were hooked solid and bang dead centre , and one had the bait cut off.....this I guessed was because the bait had been taken back into the teeth.............now a bit of a ramble as its hard to write what I think, but, the mass (?) of the bait is affected far greater when blown out then the mass of the hook ( or is it drag?? something anyway), so when the bait goes in further with the hook, the hook stays in longer(milliseconds) until the bait is ejected which I believe gives a better chance for the hook to turn and take a hold. One thing that I know for sure is that while using long hairs I hardly ever have hook pulls.

I think there is a big difference between a noob and and an instant angler, a noob is just that, new to the sport where as an instant angler imo is one that expects instant results, easy picking and ratio of hits to out number the blanks. To touch on Buzzs post, I feel that when I first got on a proper carp water I was better carp angler than I am today, since them days I'v read ,heard and experienced too much to go into battle with a clear mind , too much mind clutter these days to go purely on a hunters instinct, too many ifs and buts in the mind to feel the gut.

just hope it hasn't dropped down in weight past 60............85lb British record on the cards!!!

Thinking about it........I was an instant carper, although I'd fished for other species before even thinking about carp, the day I did go off to target them...........I caught a 16lb common within 20 minutes I was actually going to bait up( as I read carp were hard to catch) glad I took a telescopic rod.

I'm so up for this!!! I'm so keen and cant wait, to pass the time I'm now stripping the inner out all my old leadcore and stitching it into the bottom of my weigh sling.

lol that's deluded....get real!! I met a lad on Elsons that landed his pb of 14lb, this was his first lake he'd fish apart from his village pond, A few months later he'd paid a grand and joined Bluebell, the next year he was on Granvilles. One fish he had at Elson he let slip out his mat while putting it back. his skills didnt match the waters he joined...but he had mates that got him on them

I agree, it makes the bullying and threats rather lame without a good swear word for extra intimidation