The_Viking_Angler

I can see the cheating argument and somewhat agree with it, however on the other hand, i have always believed in using the best kit and technology i can for the job at hand. Personally the way i would look at it is its just another tool which we could have at our disposable. Its a choice if we use it or not and i don't necessarily think it makes anyone a less of an angler for it as using one won't catch you more fish, you still have to angle correctly, it gives you an advantage sure but we would always take every advantage we can get? It's just an advanced version of going out in a boat with a bucket with a clear bottom and using that to look below the surface. And remember, predator and sea anglers have been using sonar for years and no one questions their ability! I do think everyone should learn the classic ways first, learn the vital skills of watercraft and feature finding with a lead/marker and then if you wanted to, use a deeper pro or a device similar, you'll understand a lot more of what your'e looking at if you learn the old way first imo.

Is not having the new on the jetty/boat really a big issue? It's not going to add any time onto getting to his rods at all. I can see the argument that he was too far away and yes maybe in some circumstances he would be but after watching the video a couple times, the time it took him is no difference to someone to waking up, getting out the sleeping bag, unzipping the bivvy(if its winter/cold/raining ect) then grabbing the rod. He wasn't snag fishing, he wasn't fishing in weed, So clearly he had no immediate concerns for the fish. Unfortunately you'll always have that risk of a fish weeding you up ect when there is weed in the lake, If it happens, you just have to take every step to help ensure the fish's welfare. Remember, whatever form of fishing we do, it is never risk free for the fish, there is always small amount of risk to the fish health/welfare, it's just our duty as anglers to ensure that risk is kept to a minimal as possible.

Lovely Fish mate, That isn't a small lake in Wyboston is it? Background looks very similar and the fish looks very similar to the fish i have in one of my target lakes.

Two Different fish...Both beautiful fish

They will dissolve in water mate as they are bio degradable however there is no time limit on that, just mean's it'll disappear over time. Best thing to do mate is to test them, grab a couple Gardner ones and a couple of your ones and thrown them in a tank/bucket of water and see how they compare. Remember it won't be 100% accurate as flow and currents in the lake/river your're fishing will affect the dissolve time a little bit however it'll give you a rough idea. Or another way to test it and it is a risky way is just go fish with them, put one on your hook and leave it in the water for an hour, reel in and see if it is still on, if it isn't, repeat the process but reel in at 30 mins instead and so on. If it is still on the hook, i'm gonna say they're not worth it. Personally i would be paranoid of them not dissolving and masking my hook point so i would stick with the ones i Gardner use, which i also use and they seem to last me a while if i'm honest, however i do sometimes cut them in either half's or even thirds so they do last a lot longer.

Yeah same here, i'd love to see a write up of your session mate.

Another vote for the Wychwood flat tactical bedchair, My dad got me one for my birthday a couple years ago and i love it. I have the wide boy version and even that is still incredibly light.

Welcome mate.

I do like using the booster sprays and i use the manila one quite a lot but i use them to spray/inject straight into solid bags, ejecting 5-10ml in each bag doesn't make it last long but it works a treat.

Check out Fox's channel mate, loads of good stuff on it. If you want some easy watching where you'll pick up the odd tip or two then check out The Challenge with Mark Pitchers, Essentially just two mates having a laugh while fishing but they are hilarious to watch and you do learn a thing or two at the same time.

try 2 bottom baits on the hair mate.

Thanks @greekskii for the nomination. I'm going to try and focus on more on how bite times can differ from water to water, even on the same complex and how some lakes will have the exact same bite times. And how we can actually influence times ourselves. On the majority of the lakes i fish, There are 3 bite times, First Light, Last Light and late afternoon. The first two have been covered in detail in above posts so i don't need to elaborate. The late afternoon time i feel can be explained in a few reasons and i believe it's actually a man induced feeding spell. From research of the waters i fish, i found that when the owners created the lakes, they would throw the feed in late afternoon and they find the fish learn to expect food at that particular time. Watching Mark Pitchers with his lake, you can see the fish ready and waiting for him when he brings the feed to the stock pond so it is likely cause of that the fish will feed late afternoon a bit more. Another reason it could be that on the lakes i fish, majority of day time anglers will pack up around 3pm and the night anglers don't usually turn up till about 5-6pm so they could of learnt that the late period of the afternoon is a "safer time" for them to feed. Majority of my fishing is days with an longer session maybe once a month so i'll always try and stay from first light to last light to try and maximize my chances. Something that really catches my imagination is when you have two lakes right next door to each other yet the feeding times are completely different. I think part of the different bite times between lakes must be of how the lake is under the surface, ie: how much weed, oxygen levels and possibly how much naturals are in the lake. Each water is like each house, similar yet decorated slightly different and it is the same for lakes. I know I've only really spoken about lakes, however i don't fish the river that much for carp so i'm probably not the best to speak about them. Moon phases is something I've known about since i started carping, however I've never taken much notice of it but after reading what Chill has said, i'm defiantly going to be researching it a bit more. I'll pass the baton over to @chillfactor as i'm interested in hearing more about moon phases in his experience.

I've had a few sets of rods but my currently carp rod arsenal is the following. Fladden Extra-Flex Carp Rods, 2.5lb TC 12ft. These are superb rods for the price and are Fladens Premium range of rods, They cast pretty well for what i need(i don't usually fish further than 60 yrds out). They are made from basalt fibers i believe which make them unbelievably strong and they are marketed as "unbreakable". I absolutely love them. If i had one gripe with them then it would the that the handles aren't slim and they're kinda heavy compared to other rods on the market. I use these for all my Carp fishing, as well as for Pike, Zander and Cats. I also have a custom 10ft 1.75 TC rod i use for Floater/Stalking, My favorite rod as it was my dads and he gave it to me this Christmas.

I do have an axe actually...

i use a few different baits, including particle/boilie/pellet and every single one i use, i have 100% confidence in. Brand wise, i use Nash/Crafty Catcher/Sticky/Marukyu/Richworth/Dynamite. I don't tend to stick with one brand as you can tell but all of those brands i know i can trust and have caught me fish from all types of waters. Way i see it, if i have a bait from one of these brands, i know it's decent and it'll catch fish so i can focus on other elements. Depends, i'll change it if the situation dictates it but if i see no reason to change then i won't. That can depend on what water i'm targeting at the time. Largely though i'm not against trying new things off the cuff. It affects it a fair bit if i'm honest, i don't see the point of spending loads of £££ if i know i can get a bait just as good quality at around 8/9 quid a kilo, a tenner is usually my max i'll spend on a kilo of boilies. The Crafty Catcher particle buckets are a good exampe, they are around 15 quid for 3kg and come in a number of different combinations and you get to keep the bucket it after. Much cheaper than some alternatives on the market. Probably around 70% of my fishing is with Boilies, the other 30% is corn/maggots/pellets ect.