rabster

And for some winter Carp Fisherman also.

quote: Originally posted by Common 40: Line twist is usually caused by use of clutch or baitrunner facility, if possible try to play your fish using backwind, and when setting up rods etc leave the bailarm open rather than the baitrunner. hope this helps. Well there's something I'm guilty of everytime I set up. That's got to be the tip of the day, well to be precise the tip of 29th Jan. Nice one, sorry for hoofing these old threads BTW - it's the 1st time since my return to this site I've had a look at the older threads, there's some great info tucked away down here. I shall have a peruse down here before posting a new topic in future.

Same here j_s, I've tried worms many times, but never caught a carp on one. I tend to get loads of knocks off smaller fish before either reeling in with no bait left or catching a Roach, but never a carp. I always wonder if I'm hooking them wrong or something, but worms are now a bait I lack confidence in when targeting carp. I've enjoyed reading this thread BTW, some interesting stuff. I'm a big advocate of fishing the margins myself, in fact my three biggest carp have all come from close range.

Rudd, I did much the same thing. I ordered two packs yesterday, along with a couple of other bits, so thought I would need to pay the £5.00 postage charge & was expecting some sort of Parcelforce type delivery. But they stuck the whole lot in a big envelope & they arrived this morning, how quick is that for service. I don't think i can be arsed phoning to query about the postage, though well done to you for getting some freebies. I loved this bit quote: The wife cannot understand why I have spent 25 quid on 192 bags that dissolve in waterI am probably being a bit thick here, but the ones that dont come with the ties, how do you seal them? Do you lightly moisten them and stick the opening down?? Cheers.

I've got on disc a recent fishing programme, not sure which, with Matt Hayes catching a Grass Carp. It was very disorientated when he returned it to the water & kept swimming back towards the bank. Matt Heyes got in the water trying to point it in the right direction when it suddenly set off & fair whacked into his shins, causing him to double over & curse! It can't be too often that you wished you'd put your shin pads on before going fishing. I can save the clip as an Mpeg if anyone wants to watch it, but I would have to e-mail it unless someone can host it for download?? [ 02. March 2005, 10:43 PM: Message edited by: rabster ]

Staking my house on you choosing assassin would've been safe Dazzler. As for the esterberry, damn fine bait I agree, but, was it the flavour, or would any small red boilies have achieved the same result fished under a bush shedding red berries?? On similar lines i've just bought some hemp boilies (I'm not too good on sizes, but the little ones) which I'm planning on fishing over some hemp this weekend - so fingers crossed. T_Bone, thanks for the feedback. But - Why do you pick them over all the others out there? I ask because I'm relatively new to fishing with boilies, so am trying to find out what works for others & why etc. When I ask my fishing pals what to use they just keep saying assassin, I think they must be hit men or something. :cool: I'm keeping my two choices up my sleeve for now.

Come on Dazzler, just two types of boilie, what's it to be, I think I could put my house on what would be first on your list.

So, as it says up there, if you could only use two varieties of boilies, say for the remainder of the year, what type/size would you choose & why??

That looks a good deal. I think I may be tempted to part with the necessary, now where did the wife put her switch card. Cheers.

Cheers for the link Steve & apologies for going over old ground. There's plenty to peruse there, I think I'll bookmark it to have a proper read later. Without wanting to sound too lightweight, I tend to check out the weather to see how cold/wet I'm going to get rather than the impact on the fishing. But I shall read the aforementioned thread to see if my approach is costing me bites.

Well I've had a peep re the weight of the fish, so as it is just a bit of fun, I'll guess Gerry's weight instead. 14st 2lbs??????

NO, but Costers is, he just gives the impression he's coasting.

Still smarting after that session at Knights Bottom are we?? Besides, I'm sure I've read on here somewhere that carp prefer baits that have been in the water for a while. As for buying new boilies, that's why I was hoping you could make it on Saturday, I was planning on scrounging some of yours. [ 01. March 2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: rabster ]

Just out of interest, how accurate do you find Metcheck? It certainly looks very good, easy to follow etc, but is it accurate? I've always tended to use the BBC site's 5 day forecast & from my experience the accuracy of it's forecasts are garbage. This has tended to lead me to make the assumption that 5 day forecasts, by whatever site, are largely based on having a wild stab in the dark. I'd appreciate any comments on the accuracy of Metcheck, or does anyone know of any other good UK based weather forecast site. Ta.

Great Scott, here's the other one. Did your key turn up & have you got a passout for Saturday?

Evening T-Bone, just to explain, Dazler is a pal of mine & he's a self confessed tackle tart. You name it, he's got it. As for me, I'm more of a Steptoe & Son type fisherman, you know, loads of cast-offs & hand-me-downs, nothing matching etc - but my fishing pals are trying to persuade me to part with my hard earned by spending it on all things Shimano, so far I'm putting up a good fight. No offence meant to those on here who splashout on quality merchandise, I'm just a cheapskate. Regards.

I know Dazler & believe me, he's a tackle tart. How's your bait boat Daz??

You're not one of them tackle tarts I've heard about are you?? 3 of them!! Are you mad, they're £100 a piece, just one would do for starters, or should I go for the Okuma with all them ball bearings?

There goes the neighbourhood, I was wondering when you'd turn up! & well you might recognise my avatar piccy, the chap in it looks a right Bobby Dazzler!! As for the Shimano's, we'll see, I like the look of the Aero 10000XRE, but it maybe a bit too big for my needs, I'd like to have a look at one in the flesh 1st.

Just going back to the TalkSport programme earlier, here’s a quick summary of what I heard. (I was in & out of the car for most of it so didn’t catch it all) The two presenters were Mike Parry & Ian Collins, both said they have never been fishing themselves, but were still firmly against the PETA campaign to ban the sport. They had a PETA spokeswoman on, I didn’t catch her name, who’s views were very much along the lines of the article Kleinboet has posted on his Anti-fishing Blow thread, claiming the fish feel pain and any sport that causes unnecessary suffering to animals is barbaric & should be banned. Parry & Collins politely listened to what she had to say, waited for her to go, then basically dismissed it as a load of rubbish, which was quite amusing if not very professional. The callers were mainly against any proposed ban, one guy, from Bolton I think, made some good points about the money raised from Rod Licences being put to good use by The Environment Agencies in maintaining the cleanliness of our lakes & Rivers, prosecuting those that pollute them etc. I missed most of what Keith Arthur had to say, mainly because I was typing on here & I can’t do two things at once. All I heard him discussing was some DVD that’s available that shows fish feeding underwater being cautious of what baits they take by nudging them away from the hookbait before they suck them up, which seemed to be a slightly counter productive thing to mention, highlighting that fish are maybe more intelligent than previously credited as being? Overall it was a fairly innocuous discussion that, if nothing else, seemed to suggest public support to be much more Pro-Fishing than Anti.

The phone in on TalkSport at the moment is referring to the fact the Ban Fox Hunting brigade have turned their attention to banning fishing & the show is debating the issue. Keith Arthur is on at the mo' giving his views. Tune in to 1053/1089 am or listen in online HERE

In that case I'll suggest you try the pop-up blocker that comes with Google Toolbar. Hang on, that's not what you meant, is it? I feel a right fool now.

Thanks for the feedback. I've just ordered one online from Carp.com for £59.57 plus £1.00 P&P.

I'd just like to provide a little feedback regarding Elton's sticky post at the top of this forum relating to Cottages4you/chooseacottage or whatever title they prefer to go by. I followed a link to the said site last year & booked a gite in France. It was the 1st time I had used the Co. I was very impressed with 1) The website 2) Their prices 3) The service provided by the Co. & that was just for starters. We we're hugely impressed by the quality of the gite we had booked, it was truly fantastic. We went on to enjoy one of the best holidays we've had in France. So much so that we have promised to return to the same gite at a later date. As for this year, we've again used the same Co & booked a 16 day break in May. This time all has not gone quite according to plan. I got a call off Cottages4you/chooseacottage to say the gite we had booked had been sold by the owner so was no longer available. The appropriate apologies for any inconvenience were made & I was then offered various alternatives in the same area, one of which we were happy to take, but it was more expensive, I requested a price match & they duly obliged. So everyone (ie the missus) is happy. The point of the post is, I've only used the Co. 1.5 times - but so far I've been massively impressed & would confidently recommend them.

Interesting, I tend to work on the basis that if I fish a water I know (which to be fair is the norm for me) then I bait up a few swims regarded as hot spots & fish to these, you know, a swim in the margins, one on an island & one on a silt bed or gravel bar. When it works, it usually works very well & I stick to that format even if I can see fish topping elsewhere, working on the basis that even if it's a slow start, the trap is set & the fish will come. But, when it doesn't work, it's a bit of a bugger that I've watched fish showing themselves elsewhere whilst I've sat blanking. I think the problem I have is convincing myself that it would be beneficial, after hours of putting bait into a selected few swims, that moving would be better. How/When do you make the decision to leave the baited swims you've set up & adopt a more roving approach? I always find it a toughy. By contrast, when carp are taking off the top, I'm quite happy to leave all my gear behind & stalk them with just my rod, a bag of chum mixers, catapault & landing net.