Ben

My opinion is that boilies are just another tactic to be used where appropriate, but they shouldn't become the default option. Fishing for me currently is on a fairly low stock water (c.30 fish, 20 acres) and I have been pre-baiting 2-3 areas with 20mm baits and fishing them once a week which boilies are well suited for - I need the baits to be in the water long enough for the Carp to find and eat them. For short sessions on other waters I would use particles (mainly hemp and pellets) in PVA bags and agree you get a quicker response.

So I'm on the ferry over to Dieppe at the moment before starting a c.650km drive down to see my Uncle near Bergerac, then on to the venue from there on Saturday AM (which is near Limousine). Will be at the venue late afternoon Saturday and will start uploading some content and pics to the thread as I get setup and get rods in the water! Ben

I'm doing a week in France at the end of the month - I can document some of that if people would be interested. Ben

Will be doing some Piking and a bit of maggot drowning as well! Would like to improve on my PB Roach for last season which was 1lb 8oz.

I'm sure a lot of them probably already do whether it is legal or not.

I'm on a 20 acre Norfolk gravel pit with low stock but also relatively low angling pressure. Have managed approximately 15 sessions so far (overnighters) and had a couple of upper double Commons, speaking to other anglers it would seem this is not bad going. There are some bigger fish in the lake to over 30 including a Mirror which was caught last season nudging 40. Just lost my job unfortunately so will be putting in some more time over the next few weeks including more time fishing during the daylight hours. Have a trip to France lined up for later in the month, nothing special just a week at a runs water which I am tying in with a visit to my Uncle who lives near Bergerac. Ben

Second that - got one of these and well impressed with it.

Great line just spooled up with this a couple of weeks ago in 15lb - nice and limp, casts well, seems to sink quite nicely too for a mono.

I did well fishing for silvers at the end of last season in the River Yare/Yare Valley around Norwich which is known to have resident Otters - unfortunately what I have noticed there in the 20 years I have been fishing it is that Pike have declined both in terms of stock and specimen size however I'm not convinced this is Otter related but as a result of poaching.

I'm no expert on them to be fair but was looking at a set just recently, think the remote ones are £100+

There is a remote and non-remote version I think - how much did you pay?

Just bought one of these from eBay to use as a rig tying/bits storage board for the bivvy - was gonna get the Nash one but that's 15 quid http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35x25cm-Non-Slip-Black-Rectangular-Plastic-Tray-Restaurant-Pub-Catering-Bar-/401084913674?hash=item5d6286180a:g:uC8AAOSwbqpT0gqP

ESP spod and marker - i have been using it on my marker setup for 4 seasons so far without replacement.

The Palomar knot is really easy to tie so a good one to learn for use in low light conditions or bad weather. If you're not spodding too far you could just use your fishing rods for it and keep your marker rod/float in the water as a target. Tie a loop in the end of your main line so you can quickly switch between the spod and a leader (loop to loop connection) with your rig on it.

Get some of this - http://www.ccmoore.com/live-system-weedbeater-mix-p-1118.html