Dante

65lb 8oz

I would love to have the dedication, bottle and dam right stubborness to fish for a record carp but i dont(i like having the rod bent to much), i do however have a great deal of admiration for those that are dedicated (mad) enough to want to put themselves through the mill for an absolute lump of a fish be it a huge carp, pike, perch, cat or whatever. Now wether its a known fish or not should not take away anything from the person who caught it tbh its an amazing capture (fish of a lifetime perhaps? i would say so, if i caught it) and i for one congratulate the angler whole heartedly as i would any angler who caught a huge fish. Envious? you bet i am, but i am also a realist that i am not dedicated enought for that kinda fishing be it carp, pike or whatever the lump that lights your fire.

I dislike bait boats for one reason, on small waters they dont give the fish a safe area to hide from angling pressure as even under the overhanging trees then becomes accessable. Dammed unsporting if you ask me but also scary when you think about it, one carefully boated out bait among the tree roots and mr carper crashes out in his bivvy 10 yrds away from his rods till he gets a run at 3am a few seconds (maybe a minute +) to wake up, a few more to put on some shoes and get to the rods to find himself snagged up, he ends up pulling for a break and yet another carp is left towing a set of end tackle around. Now i hear you saying "but we wouldnt do that" and maybe you wouldnt but i have witnessed first hand this actual thing happening and frankly i would be happier seeing baitboats banned because even once is too often. Baitboats are not the problem its the idiots that sometimes use them that are.

Yes Steve they are, thats wicked news thanks for that information and you have just described exactly the pair i have, the blanks colour and ridges, whipping colour etc. Again thanks and yes i think i shall be using them in preferance to my balistas in future as they cast like a dream and feel lovely when playing fish (even bream lol).

Hi, I have picked up a couple of rods that are called "orbitals" i think (the markings are really faded) the rods are 13ft and ringed for distance does anyone know of these rods and possibly what blanks they were based on /tc etc.

Barbed for me too, not convinced barbless cause less damage to the fishs mouth as they could potentially shift and tear the mouth where as barbed once in stay in.

Ill be honest i didnt even think about it i was so in awe of the fish, this was the first time on this water i have had the oportunity of watching the carp at close range it was like being a kid all over again, totally spellbound at the sight of them.

Spot on, nothing like stalking one off the top when everyone else on the lake is sat behind motionless buzzers. Tried a bit of that today when all of a sudden a bay on my club water suddenly filled with approximately 30 carp up to 30lb, so it was a case of reel in the bottom rods and grab the stalker rod, landing net, bait and unhooking mat. Got em feeding ok but got so engrossed in just watching these carp (and a 20+ pike in the margins at my feet) that i didnt even bother casting out and before i knew it they all drifted away again as quick as they came. Truly one of those memorable moments i will never forget.

I use 3lb Harrison Ballistas and they cope admirably with bags but i dont tend to attempt more than about 40-60 yards with solid pva bags as i dont want to overload the rods, I prefer the stocking type bags for range work, in fact i use the stocking type for 99% of my pva work nowadays.

I soak mine in a bucket of warm water for about 15 minutes prior to loading on my reels, the theory being that as its warm its more pliable and loads on the spool better. I cant however say for sure that it makes any difference tbh however it does appear to load better for me and like most things in fishing its what you feel confident with.

I have had a shed load of fish this year on fake corn including Bream to 7lb 4oz and Tench to 7lb 8oz to the point i have stopped using it cos the carp aint getting a look in

Hiya Poacher and welcome

Love it Ken

My brother had the same problem with it and yet several mates that go piking wont use anything else they claim its bomb proof. Tbh you wont go far wrong with sensor great value and well respected line by a lot of good carpers.

charcoal perhaps would also have the same effect i am sure you can buy it in powder form somewhere maybe from art supplers.

blimey!!

Absolutely Edd thats my attitude now as well as long as i can catch something i am happy, if its a carp its a bonus, and if its a big carp i am over the moon for days You are right of course rules should be followed but with so many of the big names admitting to breaking the rules its no wonder other angler think its ok to do so. I hope i am wrong but i can see in the future loosing access to a load of waters as the owners get p****d off with rule breaking carp anglers on thier property.

Beautiful fish well done,

Yup no argument there at all, the whole carping scene is just to competitive today, but i will say one thing in defence of certain TV presenters ie Matt Hayes and Mick Brown they do seem to tell it as it is, warts 'n all, i was watching one of their episodes (they were persuing big carp) and Matt made a point in telling the viewer that the lake held a large stock of very big fish and that was why they were fishing it, but then he was still obviously chuffed to bits with (after 48 hours of blanking) a upper double. I did the big fish or bust thing back in the 80's and after making myself very ill (i still suffer the condition to this day) due to a marathon 8 week session (not looking after myself correctly food, drink etc) i realised after several weeks in hospital and a couple of years in burn out mode that fishing is just that "fishing", it should be a pleasure and not a test of endurance and that you dont need to prove anything to anyone other than yourself. We only have one life and it slips past rapidly enjoy it...

It Makes me laugh mate and cry a little too tbh, as a bailiff myself (10 yrs now) i have a lot of dealing with kids and when i tell them it took me 20 odd years to catch my first 20 they look at me like i am a total looser which tbh used to hurt a bit (for about 15 seconds lol) until i put it into perspective ie not many waters with 20's in back in the 80's and as for 30's, hell they were fish of dreams. I am afraid carp fishing has sadly become a victim of its own success and those that are new to the sport have it bombarded into thier heads about bigs fish being everything, how often do you see a mag with a 20 in it let alone on the front cover so its no wonder the new carpers think 30's are the norm and anything smaller is a trash fish. As for the suggestion of bailiffing the venue mate its a good one but tbh unless you have total support of the committee you are doomed to failure and as you say "cause waves" which will possibly ruin the hobby for you, as for the boilie ban as you rightly said "impossible to enforce" and there will always be some joker who will try to get round it by pulling strokes. The letter to the committee is a good idea and i hope they take some of it on board however i personally dont have much faith in committees as they seem to want the glory but not the hard work and anything that rocks the boat gets swept under the carpet. "Once more unto the breach dear friends" well mate if no-one says anything nothing will change and as for waffling on thats what forums are for so we can let off steam and have a chat and its nice to know there is a place to sound off and air ones views tbh i wish my own sites forum was as busy and fun

yeah, maybe time for me to chat up the missus and ask for some casting rods for my christmas pressy, trouble is though i absolutely love the ballastas they are wonderful to play a fish on and tbh i am bit loath to stop using them. hey ho what to do ah i know i have a pair of 13ft ballistas too ill try them

Wolf i feel for you mate and know exactly how frustrating it is. <rant mode on> On my club water they dont allow night fishing, so i like a good boy drive the 45 minutes to get there just before first light to find 5 or 6 bivvys set up and anglers that have obviously been there all night (snoring thier lil heads off). The last 12 sessions i have been on this water, 7 times at least 2 people have been nighting it which i find frustrating in the very least especially when they crawl out of ther bivvys at 10am and proceed to haul out the carp sacks and take thier trophy shots(so much for not keeping carp in sacks for long either)and yet, if you or i were seen not using an unhooking mat we would be hung from the nearest branch. Now i dont know about you guys but i feel that the carp angling fraternity are the biggest bunch of hypocrits around, when we are trying to teach the young carpers the right way of doing things and then you see in the mags "so an so has had the black mirror" from a no fishing venue, or read a book and read "i hopped over the fence and fished the nature reserve area where fishing is not allowed" or even see a photo of one of the "carp gods" holding a fish and right behind him is a no fishing sign. This to me reeks of fish at any cost and s*d the rules. So what is this showing the new anglers? that you do what you like to catch the fish you are after and s*d everyone else, surely these so called "carping superstars" should be whiter than white as they are, by being in the public eye ambassadors for the sport. <rant mode off> Sorry lads but like wolf i needed to get this off my chest and i appreciate not all carp anglers are the same but its the ones in the public eye that do most damage.

No mate. Its a bit perplexing tbh as i am having no problems compressing the rods (apart from maybe lack of bottle for fear of breaking them) and am not lacking in upper body strength also as far as i can tell i dont have a bad technique but i just dont seem to be able to put a bait over 110 yrds. I agree to a point with Rob about the ballistas being soft to a point (these ones are not floppy though) but they still feel like they have enough backbone to do the job. Thanks for the help though guys you have confirmed to me that i have checked all aspects of this issue and not missed anything silly, Back to the practice field methinks Anyone know a good tutor ?

Berkley Transition (flurocarbon), wicked stuff, bright gold in sunlight but changes colour and goes totally invisible in water, knots well, sinks like a stone and appears to be very resiliant to abrasion.

Diawa Emblems 5000T's