yonny

Me too. Extremes of nature are some of my favourite times to fish, be that massive electrical thunderstorms, big autumn winds, cold spells in the depth of winter etc. I enjoy seeing the extent to which nature can take hold! Not sure about periods of extreme heat/cold but most others tend to be great for fishing.

Isotopes are only produced in a couple of factories worldwide so most are the same. I can vouch for the ones you found on the bay, I have some off him. Go for green mate. All isotopes are green, that's what colour the chemicals are. Any other colour is added to the green which makes it duller. By the time it's dark enough to see the isotopes you'll not be able to see your heads so I wouldn't worry about that.

Fantastic start mate.

I use them all the time.

Good tip that mate. Imo chods are miles more effective with a short boom.

Dunno @Tree123, I much rather watch them feeding over one of my rigs!!!

The places I fish/have fished in France aint runs waters and are pretty far to drive. Can't help you bud.

For me the carp themselves are the best feature finding tool. All the spots I fish are shown to me by fish exhibiting feeding behaviour. I'm not bothered where all the other features are tbh. That.

Lol

You're spot on with this approach mate, it's this you should be worrying about, not bait. I agree with @oscsha, pick a decent fishmeal and stick with it. Any proper lake takes time to suss out, and those waters you're fishing are defo what I consider to be proper. Take your time and enjoy it mate. In many ways the longer it takes to tune in, the bigger the buzz will be when you get there. As long as you're learning from any blanks it's all part of the journey. For what it's worth; decent, proven fishmeals at a good price include: Trent Baits Freshwater Shrimp Baitworks Atlantic Heat ABS Malarky Premier Aminos/Matrix All of these have been smashing up waters for years. All of them are 100% reliable. All of them are priced fairly.

Who is slating anyone dude?

It's a personal thing at the end of the day. For me it's all about the sense of achievement when you work it out and the journey that takes you there. Nature did not intend for us to see what's under the surface. That mystery of what lies beneath is a gift to us anglers imo. The unknown, the "what if's", is what keeps me going back for more. Catching fish is not the sole reason I am there. It is the act of trying to catch them, working out where they like to be, where they like to feed, what they like to feed on. Nature gives us a million clues and it is acting on those clues that I enjoy. There is no merit, for me personally, in ignoring those clues and instead using a camera or sonar to tell me what the score is. I'd sooner give up fishing tbh. Get rid of that journey of discovery and I'm not interested. All my biggest successes in angling have come from tuning into waters, following the clues that nature gives me, reading the signs. Nature will tell you how to catch them if you look hard and long enough and it's that bit that I enjoy. I get so enthralled by the journey, it's almost like becoming part of the lake itself. The journey ends when you have the fish you're after in the net, then it's time to move on to a new journey, to become part of some other lake. If I caught a fish I really wanted using a fish finder I would be absolutely GUTTED. It would steal that journey from me. Hence, I'll never, ever use one. I would add that in all my days, on all the waters I've fished, with all the anglers I've met, that I could count the number of what I consider to be good and successful anglers that use these things on one hand. The best anglers are so tuned into the waters they fish that they'll spot the tiny clues that really matter and be on them fishing for them before Mr. Bloggs has managed to switch his fish finder on.

Mapping a swim/lake is one thing. Using it to look for fish is another. Removes all elements of watercraft imo.

Not true my friend. I could go and buy one tomorrow. But I won't because I consider myself and angler😎

That shows you how important confidence is. The B+F Company went under after they were caught cutting recipes with breadcrumb! Yet you still smashed it up🐳