yonny

Imo lots of guys think they're doing something different when they're not. It's a fact that on most waters you have guys spombing, guys using sticks, and guys using cattys etc etc, every single day of the week. To be truly different you need to get funky, do something that genuinely isn't being done by anyone else. If you're lucky enough to figure something out and it works you need to keep it VERY quiet i.e. tell no-one. And certainly not post about it on an open forum lol. Exactly mate. Every man and his dog is using glugs and liquids, it's no edge. Imo there is almost nothing you can buy from a bait firm that can give you a genuine edge over most other anglers. You need to look past the bait firms, past the angling firms altogether - because there are things out there that will give you that edge. He's still my hero lol.

Yeah I recall that. Doing things differently is always good, no doubt, but doing it well is more important imo. An angler doing something very simple really well will out-fish an angler doing something very funky badly. If you keep an eye on the top rod on your water I can almost guarantee they're not doing anything ground breaking. Rather they're just doing what they do really well. If I'm fishing a pressured water i.e. a proper circuit water I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeve to keep things different but nine times out of 10 if you can get on the fish the simplest tactics will do the job imo.

I think North Face are overpriced. I had some of their lined trousers, they were decent but cost a fortune, more than $100 from the States (and this was several years ago when it was still cheap to buy in the US). I replaced them last year with some Craghopper Kiwi's which cost 25 quid and they're actually better imo. Smufter, the SJ3 will do everything you want and more. I see the Sleeka Elite is on sale at the moment if you want to save a few £££E£.

That's the key mate. Change when there is a need to change. A lot of anglers change for the sake of it, there's no point imo. When you observe something that indicates a need to change, that's when it's time to get funky. I don't use glugs when I'm pre-baiting. The beauty of pre-baiting is that you can condition the carp to eat whatever is easiest for you to use. Assuming you've found somewhere the carp are prepared to feed you can use whatever you want be that something that's easy (boilies) or something that's cheap (corn, pellet etc). I can see no point is conditioning them to eat something that's both expensive and more time consuming.

I don't think glugs have anything to do with whether a bait will be taken by a carp. For me the role of glugs is to boost attraction i.e. help the carp find your bait. A bait that is only taken once glugged is a bait that should be binned imo. I agree they're not essential and I don't use any of them as much as I used to. Any old half decent bait in the right place will catch miles more than the finest heavily glugged bait in the wrong place.

Don't rule out the original hydro - liquid liver. One of my faves.

I think some glugs are a complete waste of time i.e. glycerine with flavour added. Hydro's I rate big time. Oils I don't use. It's clear that carp like to eat food with oils applied but there is that school of thought that carp don't have the receptors to detect oil until it's literally being eaten. I already have confidence the carp will eat my bait once found with or without oil. My main concern is providing the attraction to help them find my bait in the first place. Some say that oils lift particles of your bait and chosen attractors up through the water column which provides that attraction but imo there is a risk that oils can potentially 'lock-up' a bait, preventing your attractors (e.g. hydro's) from being released, making your bait less effective. What I can say is this: since I stopped using oil a few years ago my results have not suffered.

I'm a fan of big hooks. For pop ups I'll often use a 2. On the deck I'll drop to 4 or 6. Size 6 for zigs too. For a small (10 mm) wafter I'd maybe go to an 8 which is what I consider a small hook. I couldn't get my head round using a 12 but I'm normally fishing for bigguns.

At least if you don't use a marker no-one can tell how bad your accuracy is 😂

What kind of net is it? It sounds like it's a problem with the mesh rather than the net itself so you might just be better off replacing that.

Likewise mate, I find with a bit of experience you can estimate the depth on the drop pretty accurately anyway. Only time I'll get the marker out is for zigs, to establish exact depth.

This varies from water to water I find. Sometimes you can get away with murder, other times just a couple of casts with a lead will see them disappear.

Lead size in particular imo. You can get a drop with a 4 oz lead in all sorts of chod/weed and rubbish. If you can get a drop with a 1 or 2 oz lead you know it's more than presentable.

No idea framey but I agree with you, QD is awful!

Depends on the rig/hookbait for me. For pop ups I agree with this school of thought, the rig is already cocked and prime ready for hooking, the imbalance of a small bait and big hook will improve mechanics. For bottom baits I think you need balance i.e. the hookbait needs to be matched to hook size.