kestrel

It is hard to cut down significantly, you can leave extra weights etc at home. I agree when I was younger I don't remember taking so much water with me and now you a need unhooking mat, large net , end tackle. I think we just use too many bags, I used to have one bag and that was it, not a seperate bag for each item of tackle.

I normally wait until October for any pike fishing, I agree its great to go out on a cold frosty morning , piking. Stove lit, boiling up for tea !

Just wondering do you deadbait or spin all year round for pike or do you wait for the traditional 1st October to fish for pike ?

I have dabbled with pole fishing , it just doesn't do it for me.

Its the number of amps of the battery inside that you need to check , the higher the better, normally the higher the heavier the pack ! I got mine from Costco a couple of years ago, it also has an inverter built in, nice and compact, half the size of the normal yellow or red ones. Those small 12v TV use so little power, any one will suffice, its the physical size and weight that you need to consider.

I am now with a pram style bivvy, that is easy to put up and pack away.

I do carry too much gear but that is the advantage of the car being close. I will cut down though, my car may need a trailer soon !

I reckon you'd have more chance of fish in shallow lakes rather than deep lakes.

I had one and the leg joints broke, it was replaced and one of the fibreglass legs splintered , in the end it was replaced with a Trakker A lite . It was a one man version, it was just right for me ,ideal for a quick one nighter , nice and cosy , however I was disappointed with the quality of the legs and joints, There is definately a knack to "getting it up " , I am on the short side and I struggled, maybe thats why they broke ?

I must admit I do not like fishing in blustery conditions , I would rather it rained . I realise that a lot of waters respond well to a strong breeze.

I am lucky at the moment because where I fish I can park directly behind most swims , It sometimes puts me off some of the swims which need a walk with all my gear . I seem to be getting lazier as I get older ! I was just wondering how much do you actually take with you for a day or 24 hr session ?

Tungsten putty is good , but its expensive and hard to use when cold.

How did you hold them on a hook ? Never caught a carp on cheese either !

I have never caught a carp on a worm. I have done ok, on sweetcorn but not brilliant.

Wow, thats incredible , I thought everyone had caught on meat , thats my favourite bait !

Now that was lucky , Landed a fish as well !

As carp seem to eat everything that goes into a lake/river, I was wondering whether there is a bait that you heard was really good , either natural or man made, that you never had a single bite when used ? Or is there something strange someone told you was good that did actually work ?

Luckily I have only had one rod dragged into the water from banksticks and alarm, that was a tench of around 5lb, it was my own fault as I forgot to put the bait runner on. I was close to the rods and it still went in ! I grabbed my net and managed to net the underside of the reel as it was on its way out into the lake. A lesson learnt.

I think I have cured it, sorry there is an earlier post on the same subject, I did not notice it.

Hi I could do with some help, when I try to view the last reply on a subject in the session carping section, the pages display , but do not scroll down to the bottom , I cannot get to see the last reply, Can any one help please ?

I have read all the replies and made the decision to stop using leadcore and I now use tubing for my rigs. I have bought some ESP anchor tubing. This is heavy enough for me. I have changed my view and think that tubing is far safer. Next time you go fishing check how easily your clip or swivel ejects your lead, you may be surprised just how much pressure it takes to release.

There is no way you rods will end up in the water unless you do not allow the fish to take line when it picks up the bait and runs, unless of course it gets tangled on something like the pod/ reel handle or tip of rod etc I do believe that if you fish too tight your alarm indication is reduced significantly.

Not too tight or you will get very little indication, allow the line to sink and then use a indicator/bobbin/swinger to ensure the line runs through the alarm properly.

Bring them over to my house and we'll check whether they work with my Fox TX system /

I am ok where I am , I was just wondering how many days/nights other carpers went without a fish on the mat . Carpers , how many fish in a season on your venue would it take for you to consider you had a good season ? What size lake are you fishing ?