joso

In an attempt to try and avoid sounding like a noddy, I'm after a bit of advice on rod test curves. I've been carp fishing for a few years and up until about 18 months ago, I'd been using 3.25lb TC ESP Tracers for all my fishing but I was struggling with casting. I stepped up the size of the lead I was using to between 3-3.5 oz and managed to get a better compression but it just didn't feel right as I'm not much of a big caster. After a while, I had a scout around for something else and stumbled upon a couple of old 2.5lb TC Shimano Stradic's on ebay in mint condition. I managed to get them for a great price and have been using them for a good while now. They are an absolute joy to fish with as I'm able to cast with much lighter leads with far better accuracy and they just feel really comfortable. Playing fish on them is also superb as they have a lovely through action but my query is this, I'm off to France in the summer and the lake we are fishing is a runs water with fish up to 60lb. Something tells me the stradic's aren't going to be up to it. I've landed carp to upper twenties on them but I wonder whether this might be a step too far. The lake in question is relatively snag free with no weed so I wouldn't need to be applying large amounts of pressure on the fish to keep them away from anything. Am I right in thinking the bigger the fish you are targeting, the larger test curve you'll need? I always thought it was more about the style of fishing, i.e PVA bags and distance casting, but I'm not totally sure. Any advice, much appreciated Jeff

Hi, I'm no expert but I looked at eel fishing quite in depth after catching one just under 7lb from llandegfedd while trout fishing on worms. I tried for a season or two to better it but to no avail. Anyhow I found a few good articles stating the two different types of Eel (Round and Narrow Head I think?), can't remember which way round it is but one prefers lobs and the other prefers dead baits. Best baits are a nice big bunch of lob or a freshly caught head section of roach or rudd. I'm pretty sure the best rig I found to prevent deep hooking was a rig based on the withy pool carp rig concept, with a size 2 barbless hook and a hair with the korda maggot klip for worms or a hairless rig for the dead baits just hooking it straight through the eye socket. The best hooklink material is something like quiksilver although that depends on what other fish are present to some extent. Just attach that to a simple running rig, theres no need to over complicate things. Location is key in the day as they don't feed that frequently so it goes without saying that night fishing is usually far more productive as they become active searching for food, best time of year is around August to early October with quite humid conditions through the night. I also had a bit of success with getting a tub with a securely fitting lid, piercing lots of holes around it and filling it with the guts of an oily fish such as mackeral or sardines, although these could be harder for most people to get hold of than it was for me (I'm a Fishmonger ). Once you've got it filled, attach a length of string or something similar and then throw it out to the area you intend to fish and leave it for a good while. This is only really practical on a canal or similar type venue. Also works on a nice little margin spot though. As I said I'm no expert but hope that is of some use! Cheers, Jeff

Ended up fishing cheddar on Saturday after. Got there about 8AM, would have been a bit earlier but the Reception to the Caravan Park where you have to get the tickets from didn't open until 8. We went a fair way around and put four rods out between us, all at different distances and all with different baits on. I was slightly put off by the large amounts of weed so I put a Buoyant Bomb on both my rods in the hope that they would settle on the weed rather than sink straight into it. Got my first run about 10:30 on a popped up smelt but lost it in the weed. We then started to move gradually down the bank, leapfrogging in hope of finding the fish. As we came towards the tower the weed got much thicker and was practically unfishable in most places, the wind was blowing right into our faces and the water was extremely choppy, far too rough to send a bait boat out on so we had one cast out and it really was hard work trying to retrieve through the weed, the wind and chop on the water was very bad and made it difficult setting up a drop back indicator. The final straw was a wave of water knocking my mate's rods off his pod and soaking his alarms and with that we decided to call it a day at around 4PM. Not the best day I've had but I quite fancy fishing it later into the season when the weed has died back a bit. A plus from the day was me chasing along the bank after a run away crisp packet and sandwich wrapper and as I walked back to our swim, a couple walked past and commented that it was very good of me to do that and they too often see people leaving litter lying around. Sounds like we are off to the Gloucester Canal this weekend. Does anyone know of a good stretch or a local club I can contact? Cheers

Great Advice, Thanks Looks like we will be heading to Cheddar so i'll let you know how i get on. Luckily enough i'll be equipped with a bait boat so should be able to find the fish, having google imaged it I see what you mean about it being raised up somewhat with no shelter. Forecast isn't great either, nevermind, all adds to the fun! Anyone know what kinda depth it is? Was planning on using a drifter float on one rod so hopefully that will produce some results. Thanks

Hello There, Just wondering if anyone can recommend any good pike venue's in the Bristol/Swindon area or just across into south wales that are available on a day ticket. I'm new to the area and was hoping to get out this weekend and start off the piking season. Any tips or information would be great, thanks!

Thanks for that budgie, I'm a little worried about the last sentence though, as I believe it is the black stuff,. Am I right in thinking there will be patches around the lake that aren't silty that I can fish on or would it be best to avoid fishing bottom? It's a strange little venue and the carp have barely seen a hook but I do know of someone who caught one of the bigger fish on the bottom, can't get hold of the tactics he used though .

Hi All, I'm hoping to do a day on a pit which has some really nice carp pushing 25lb, it's pretty small in size and average depth is about 9ft. The bed is mostly covered in heavy silt and I was just wondering if anyone can give me some tips or recommend a rig that would present itself well in there. I've fished it in the past with good success for bream and tench but never really managed to crack it with the carp in there so any advice on fishing on silt would be great. Thanks

I've spent the past few sessions fishing on Llandegfedd Reservoir as it's open for course fishing until the end of the month and I have to say it's been some of the best fishing I've had in a long time with some big bags of bream. I can't comment on fishing it for other species but we have been using A LOT of bait as you say there are very few features and you really need to draw the fish to you. It all depends on what you are fishing them for really but for the bream once you get them in feeding its a bite a chuck with a decent size fish every time. On the larger one's such as Llandegfedd (some 430 acres) there's always a chance of catching something a bit special as I found when I caught an eel of just over 6lb a few years ago which is something I've tried to beat time and time again but struggled to come close. Jeff

Hi there, This is probably a bit of a shot in the dark but I was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of reel repairs or if someone can provide a website with some information on reel servicing. Basically, the problem is with a Shimano Super Aero 3000R (I've had it a while and I'm not sure the model is exactly that). It was fishing fine until the other day when I went to use it and found that the Backwind switch has become completely redundant and the handle just spins both ways, the switch still switches back and forth as it should but doesn't seem to do anything! The reel as a whole is still working perfectly, still as smooth as the day I bought it but its not ideal trying to fish with backwind on as I'm not used to using it when playing fish. I have stripped the reel down somewhat but I have no idea what I'm looking at. I'm a little reluctant to send it off for repair as it wasn't the most expensive of reels but it's a lovely little reel and I'd like to hold onto it. Any info anyone can supply would be great! Thanks, Jeff

Do you reckon? if not then all the better, as far as I'm aware there's one around 12lb and another pushing 19lb, or thats all thats been caught...Not sure what kinda weight the fish go up to, wouldn't of thought they go much over 20lb as its a small place. But yeah, thanks for all the tips and advice guys, i've only been up there twice since the start of october as it's been so cold around here. Just a quick one for you, do you guys tend to move to another swim if you catch from one spot or sit it out in that same swim? Only asking as I caught that one first cast from my chosen swim, and didn't get a touch for the rest of the session in and around the same area. I've found six or seven productive swims but have never caught more than once from the same place in any one session in the past, although saying that I rarely stay there for more than a couple of hours. Thanks again

Sorry to revive a potentially dead thread, but i figured its easier than starting a new one when this post is related Went back to the same place on Tuesday, I managed to catch this time (below) I'm pretty sure this is the same fish as the first one pictured but I can't really tell, what do you think?. It weighed in at 12lb 2oz, not the biggest but its in stunning condition, looks beautiful. I'm sure these fish have rarely been caught before. But yeah, this came from the same spot as the last catch but early morning. It Made the freezing cold hands worth while

I order a lot of stuff from Leslies of Lutons site and find them to be very reliable. I'd steer clear of Anging Direct, i made an order of about £40 and when it was delivered there wasn't one correct item in there, fair enough mistakes happen but when I gave them a call to sort it out the member of staff I spoke to was totally useless. then they sent out the "correct" parcel, which was wrong again. In the end I just got a refund. I guess its an isolated case but I'm never gonna use them again. Tackleshop.co.uk are very good aswell.

Think I will give that a shot then. Most of the ducks are fed along there as there is a little Picnic/Children's play area. The water under the bridge narrows to about 25ft wide, not sure of the depth though. Will give it a shot on the weekend and let you guys know. Thanks Everyone

Excellent Service, I ordered some Dead Bait last sunday night, they called me Monday morning to ask if I was available Tuesday to receive the parcel and it all arrived first thing Tuesday, packed well and all excellent quality, particularly the lamprey. I will definately be using them in the future for dead baits as they have a great selection.

I thought I would skip work tomorrow and have a pike session. So decided to go to a rather big lake, its 70 acres and has very few visible features. This is a map of it : The red bits are the places you can fish. I was planning on drifting a big roach from the top of Section 'C' or dropping a livebait and a deadbait in front of the dam but not too sure. Any tips for locating pike in such waters as this, any signs to look for, etc.. I usually fish small lakes, full of features but thought I would try somewhere new. Thanks