In reply to Post #1
One thing to be careful of when night fishing is visits from Roland Rat. I guess there are rats on every water nowadays. So I put my unhooking mat up high on a tree, and landing net in a position where they can't reach it (but close to your rods). Other than that, the advice already provided is fine.
One thing to be careful of when night fishing is visits from Roland Rat. I guess there are rats on every water nowadays. So I put my unhooking mat up high on a tree, and landing net in a position where they can't reach it (but close to your rods). Other than that, the advice already provided is fine.
In reply to Post #16
That's good advice, disgusting animals
Same as me, use the trees to hang stuff in, minimumal gear on the ground
Quick story....
One of my mates is frightened stiff of rats
We once went on a social and he favoured a swim, pushed everybody else out so jumped in it, turns out it was called, the rats....
Anyway, in a quick summary when the light dropped he was seeing all kinds of things happening outside his bivvy, around his net and rods, a few hours later he came running into my swim asking for shelter, a swarm of squealing rats had run all over his swim and over the roof of his fox 1 man easy dome with the sealed “rat proof” groundsheet! They were followed by something trying to eat them, suspect a mink
That's good advice, disgusting animals
Same as me, use the trees to hang stuff in, minimumal gear on the ground
Quick story....
One of my mates is frightened stiff of rats
We once went on a social and he favoured a swim, pushed everybody else out so jumped in it, turns out it was called, the rats....
Anyway, in a quick summary when the light dropped he was seeing all kinds of things happening outside his bivvy, around his net and rods, a few hours later he came running into my swim asking for shelter, a swarm of squealing rats had run all over his swim and over the roof of his fox 1 man easy dome with the sealed “rat proof” groundsheet! They were followed by something trying to eat them, suspect a mink
In reply to Post #1
Massive tip from me. Warm clothes
A decent tent, bed and a sleeping bag and you halfway there. Drop in the water or get wet with a fish and things can change rapidly. A change of clothes is essential for me, even if you keep them in the car, as is a puffa jacket nowadays for me, super warm when required
Massive tip from me. Warm clothes
A decent tent, bed and a sleeping bag and you halfway there. Drop in the water or get wet with a fish and things can change rapidly. A change of clothes is essential for me, even if you keep them in the car, as is a puffa jacket nowadays for me, super warm when required
In reply to Post #1
Some good advice already given, one tip that follows on from the last comment is rather than a spare set of clothes, I always pop on my chest waders after netting a fish if I'm lucky enough to catch. That way your are pretty well protected against getting wet. I learnt that one the hard way one very cold night had a good fish at 11pm got soaking doing self takes and then spent the rest of the night literally trying to survive 😀.
Some good advice already given, one tip that follows on from the last comment is rather than a spare set of clothes, I always pop on my chest waders after netting a fish if I'm lucky enough to catch. That way your are pretty well protected against getting wet. I learnt that one the hard way one very cold night had a good fish at 11pm got soaking doing self takes and then spent the rest of the night literally trying to survive 😀.
In reply to Post #12
I think they have Purple Ronnie in Swindon.
Much safer.
I think they have Purple Ronnie in Swindon.
Much safer.
I once had a 2 week carp trip going around various rivers in the south of France , i thought i had enough clothes , it was May bank holiday and unseasonably cold at night , went to freezing most nights , i had the huge carp suit everything , but , every night , my feet were like blocks of ice , luckily where i was i was able to make a small fire
Nice cup of coffee in the morning , as previously mentioned , essential , with a grapefruit for me !
Also , on trips i always take hand wipes to give my hands a clean before eating , weil's disease , a mate of mine was ill for months with it , never went fishing again after !
Oh yes , a head torch
Nice cup of coffee in the morning , as previously mentioned , essential , with a grapefruit for me !
Also , on trips i always take hand wipes to give my hands a clean before eating , weil's disease , a mate of mine was ill for months with it , never went fishing again after !
Oh yes , a head torch
In reply to Post #21
Yeah, I've always got little bottle of that antibacterial hand cleaner (not hand wash, but the stuff that evaporates) in my carryall for days or nights.
Another good tip which I've recently started doing is going to sleep in a pair of sliders, just taken them along just for sleeping in. If you wear them in the day, you'll get all mud and crap inside your sleeping bag. No faffing around trying to get boots or trainers on when you get a take in the night.
Yeah, I've always got little bottle of that antibacterial hand cleaner (not hand wash, but the stuff that evaporates) in my carryall for days or nights.
Another good tip which I've recently started doing is going to sleep in a pair of sliders, just taken them along just for sleeping in. If you wear them in the day, you'll get all mud and crap inside your sleeping bag. No faffing around trying to get boots or trainers on when you get a take in the night.
In reply to Post #7
I tend to agree with this one.
Playing and netting a fish in the dark on your own is a totally different ball game to daylight hours.
Not too bad on a wide open water, but throw in a few overhanging trees, a lily pad or three and some reed beds or other snags and it can be a recipe for disaster.
I love the seclusion of night fishing, but that's about it. I'm personally there for last knockings and first light so will bring my rods in when it's sleepy byes time and make sure I'm up at the crack of.
The Summer months are the times I go.
I personally would not get any pleasure from sitting in darkness, freezing my tits off from 4pm until 7.3am the next day.
But we're all different.
I tend to agree with this one.
Playing and netting a fish in the dark on your own is a totally different ball game to daylight hours.
Not too bad on a wide open water, but throw in a few overhanging trees, a lily pad or three and some reed beds or other snags and it can be a recipe for disaster.
I love the seclusion of night fishing, but that's about it. I'm personally there for last knockings and first light so will bring my rods in when it's sleepy byes time and make sure I'm up at the crack of.
The Summer months are the times I go.
I personally would not get any pleasure from sitting in darkness, freezing my tits off from 4pm until 7.3am the next day.
But we're all different.
In reply to Post #21
Amazing how many people get caught out with the cold weather, add water, accelerates the process of freezing
Mentioned it before on here a few years ago, on one water we had to pack a lad up once, brought virtually nothing with him, dropped in, in a sleeping bag shivering like mad! Packed all his gear away and loaded his car, off he went!
That's why now I always have a shelter with a front on too, done the hardcore brolly thing over the years, nothing like wind and hail blow under it in the middle of the night, everything piss wet through, not to mention getting up to turn it around and re-peg it in the middle of a force 10 with added water
To be fair, even though the carp tax really pisses me off there are some decent shelters around nowadays
Amazing how many people get caught out with the cold weather, add water, accelerates the process of freezing
Mentioned it before on here a few years ago, on one water we had to pack a lad up once, brought virtually nothing with him, dropped in, in a sleeping bag shivering like mad! Packed all his gear away and loaded his car, off he went!
That's why now I always have a shelter with a front on too, done the hardcore brolly thing over the years, nothing like wind and hail blow under it in the middle of the night, everything piss wet through, not to mention getting up to turn it around and re-peg it in the middle of a force 10 with added water
To be fair, even though the carp tax really pisses me off there are some decent shelters around nowadays
In reply to Post #24
Particularly true in spring/autumn, my first overnighter was late spring, daytime temps in high teens/low twenties, no rain forecast..
Couple of jumpers and a light sleeping bag will do
Couldn't sleep at all, shivering all night, heavy dew came down at sunset and a bit of a frost about 3. I had to wind in and go back to the car to warm up
Particularly true in spring/autumn, my first overnighter was late spring, daytime temps in high teens/low twenties, no rain forecast..
Couple of jumpers and a light sleeping bag will do
Couldn't sleep at all, shivering all night, heavy dew came down at sunset and a bit of a frost about 3. I had to wind in and go back to the car to warm up
In reply to Post #1
organization is king. keep your gear to hand, clear path out your bivvy to your rods and make sure your net is to hand.
keep yourself tidy to keep vermin to a minimum as the rustling noises are amplified by 100 at night
sort yourself a stove and take an empty flask, cant beat a brew fresh in the morning or night if you need a warm up after sorting your rods, i use the empty flask to store boiling water for a quick brew at night if you've got wet or cold, been a life saver.
my personal situation is different to most, im an amputee so ensuring my ''bite routine'' is sorted is key for me. leg ready to slide on if i have a fish, trainer or boot ready for my other leg to slip on and im ready to go.
you wont get it spot on first time, but carp fishing is just repetition at its core, youll get a routine and a specific way you set yourself up.
plenty hot drink, good food and a warm bed youll be well away.
cant beat that alarm going off at 5am and watching the sun come up.
tight lines.
organization is king. keep your gear to hand, clear path out your bivvy to your rods and make sure your net is to hand.
keep yourself tidy to keep vermin to a minimum as the rustling noises are amplified by 100 at night
sort yourself a stove and take an empty flask, cant beat a brew fresh in the morning or night if you need a warm up after sorting your rods, i use the empty flask to store boiling water for a quick brew at night if you've got wet or cold, been a life saver.
my personal situation is different to most, im an amputee so ensuring my ''bite routine'' is sorted is key for me. leg ready to slide on if i have a fish, trainer or boot ready for my other leg to slip on and im ready to go.
you wont get it spot on first time, but carp fishing is just repetition at its core, youll get a routine and a specific way you set yourself up.
plenty hot drink, good food and a warm bed youll be well away.
cant beat that alarm going off at 5am and watching the sun come up.
tight lines.
In reply to Post #26
Also fish safe.
A stove is for cooking or doing a brew - not for warming a bivvy. You will have a good chance of carbon monoxide poisoning if you use it aa heater and it's often fatal.
Bivvies or brollies are extremely flammable - remember that when cooking in the doorway - we all do it at sometime if we are honest.
BBQ's of any description are never to be brought inside a bivvy.
Freshwater only in your brew - never lake water.
Otherwise just be organised before dark, clothing warm enough for the conditions, and plenty of garlic, wooden stakes, silver bullets, crucifix and priest on speed dial for the night monsters
Also fish safe.
A stove is for cooking or doing a brew - not for warming a bivvy. You will have a good chance of carbon monoxide poisoning if you use it aa heater and it's often fatal.
Bivvies or brollies are extremely flammable - remember that when cooking in the doorway - we all do it at sometime if we are honest.
BBQ's of any description are never to be brought inside a bivvy.
Freshwater only in your brew - never lake water.
Otherwise just be organised before dark, clothing warm enough for the conditions, and plenty of garlic, wooden stakes, silver bullets, crucifix and priest on speed dial for the night monsters
Familiarize yourself with your swim, near and far away.
Check for trip hazards etc, know where the waters edge is and if possible mark it. I have a white 6' length of conduit that I lay across the front edge of the swim where I will stand when playing a fish and I know that I am safe from stepping into the lake or sliding in on the darkest of nights if I do not cross it, it is dual purpose as I use it for other things, ie prodding stick, flicking weed off my line at the rod tips etc. I also have white landing net handles which also do the same purpose and are easier to find in the dark and also to stop me standing or tripping over them.
Look around your swim close and far away and visualize what it will look like in the dark. Single bushes etc that are a distance away silhouetted against the sky on a night will turn into aliens, people, monsters etc as they seem to move and have you quivering in the back of your bivvy. Always remember, the monsters you see are only in your mind but dwell on it and they will become real.
Never watch horror films, they too will prey on your mind when the grass starts rustling after dark. I started night fishing when I was about 12 on my own and a fan of Doctor Who in the good old days, after dark, I would be convinced that there was "Cybermen" walking about all night. One pond I fished, every evening after dark and morning, there would be a loud metallic bang which petrified me and had me out from under the umbrella looking for the "Cybermen". It took me about 3 months to discover it was a 40 gallon steel drum about 100 yards away dumped in the bushes expanding and contracting with the heat. It is rare to find 40 gallon drums on lakes doing this, but plastic bottles discarded by anglers do the same and even air pressure rising or falling as well as heat will make them go "Pop". It took me almost a year to find a plastic bottle in one swim that would do this, I found it was lodged up a tree behind the swim hanging by a piece of string.
Always keep as much stuff packed away on a night, just to help having to pack up and go home in the dark.
Try and find out who else may be fishing on the lake, not only will it be useful to have someone to help if you need it, ie take pictures of a good fish etc but, it will be benificial after dark when the wind drops and sound travels better if you hear them start talking either to someone else or on their phone, or in the late evening if they are having a party and start making a racket or even start shining a torch and you then start wondering who it could be.
Don't know if it has been mentioned previously but have some insect repellent, Mosquito's come out at dusk, some waters may just have a few, some none, some like the lake I fish now, they flock out in droves and with the mosquito mesh across the doorway you can see them and look carefully you can see their probiscus pokeing through the mesh trying to get you, but it only takes one in your bivvy to make life hell as you hear it buzzing about, not knowing when and where it is going to strike. I liken them to the "Alien" in the first Alien film if you get one in your bivvy, its it or you and a case of who gets who first. In the process you can wreak havock in your bivvy trying to find the blighter. Also carry some antibite antihistamine cream for when you do get bit.
Rigs, to save messing about in the dark if you catch etc, have 3 or 4 identical rigs already made up and baited and with stick mixes on if you use them and have plenty of stick mixes premade. And keep them in a container with a lid on, otherwise they will attract mice or rats or even sweet fruity smelly baits will attract slugs into your bivvy and they will find them no matter how high off the ground they are and eat them.
Also complete rigs made up without the "Hook rig" itself. ie just leadcore and lead attached. I have a small box with 8 sections from a craft shop and it holds about 16 rigs of just leadcore and lead etc so that if I get snapped off, badly tangled because of an eel etc, damaged landing a fish, cracked of etc, I can just get a complete rig out of my box and tie it on, then just add my hook rig. Probably about 2 minutes to do and better than making another from scratch with swivels and bead etc. My box contains about 4 helicopter rigs, 4 inlines, 4 leadclip and 4 chod rigs all ready to go with leads on and just need a hook rig attaching.
To help find your marks if you have to recast in the dark, do a rough sketch drawing of the features etc on the opposite bank and mark it with arrows as to which feature you are casting too and the distance if you have not marked up or you suspect your mark has moved.
If I was fishing now, I would probably think of a lot more things that I do, but just get out and enjoy but do not let your mind ruin it. At times you can be your own worst enemy.
Check for trip hazards etc, know where the waters edge is and if possible mark it. I have a white 6' length of conduit that I lay across the front edge of the swim where I will stand when playing a fish and I know that I am safe from stepping into the lake or sliding in on the darkest of nights if I do not cross it, it is dual purpose as I use it for other things, ie prodding stick, flicking weed off my line at the rod tips etc. I also have white landing net handles which also do the same purpose and are easier to find in the dark and also to stop me standing or tripping over them.
Look around your swim close and far away and visualize what it will look like in the dark. Single bushes etc that are a distance away silhouetted against the sky on a night will turn into aliens, people, monsters etc as they seem to move and have you quivering in the back of your bivvy. Always remember, the monsters you see are only in your mind but dwell on it and they will become real.
Never watch horror films, they too will prey on your mind when the grass starts rustling after dark. I started night fishing when I was about 12 on my own and a fan of Doctor Who in the good old days, after dark, I would be convinced that there was "Cybermen" walking about all night. One pond I fished, every evening after dark and morning, there would be a loud metallic bang which petrified me and had me out from under the umbrella looking for the "Cybermen". It took me about 3 months to discover it was a 40 gallon steel drum about 100 yards away dumped in the bushes expanding and contracting with the heat. It is rare to find 40 gallon drums on lakes doing this, but plastic bottles discarded by anglers do the same and even air pressure rising or falling as well as heat will make them go "Pop". It took me almost a year to find a plastic bottle in one swim that would do this, I found it was lodged up a tree behind the swim hanging by a piece of string.
Always keep as much stuff packed away on a night, just to help having to pack up and go home in the dark.
Try and find out who else may be fishing on the lake, not only will it be useful to have someone to help if you need it, ie take pictures of a good fish etc but, it will be benificial after dark when the wind drops and sound travels better if you hear them start talking either to someone else or on their phone, or in the late evening if they are having a party and start making a racket or even start shining a torch and you then start wondering who it could be.
Don't know if it has been mentioned previously but have some insect repellent, Mosquito's come out at dusk, some waters may just have a few, some none, some like the lake I fish now, they flock out in droves and with the mosquito mesh across the doorway you can see them and look carefully you can see their probiscus pokeing through the mesh trying to get you, but it only takes one in your bivvy to make life hell as you hear it buzzing about, not knowing when and where it is going to strike. I liken them to the "Alien" in the first Alien film if you get one in your bivvy, its it or you and a case of who gets who first. In the process you can wreak havock in your bivvy trying to find the blighter. Also carry some antibite antihistamine cream for when you do get bit.
Rigs, to save messing about in the dark if you catch etc, have 3 or 4 identical rigs already made up and baited and with stick mixes on if you use them and have plenty of stick mixes premade. And keep them in a container with a lid on, otherwise they will attract mice or rats or even sweet fruity smelly baits will attract slugs into your bivvy and they will find them no matter how high off the ground they are and eat them.
Also complete rigs made up without the "Hook rig" itself. ie just leadcore and lead attached. I have a small box with 8 sections from a craft shop and it holds about 16 rigs of just leadcore and lead etc so that if I get snapped off, badly tangled because of an eel etc, damaged landing a fish, cracked of etc, I can just get a complete rig out of my box and tie it on, then just add my hook rig. Probably about 2 minutes to do and better than making another from scratch with swivels and bead etc. My box contains about 4 helicopter rigs, 4 inlines, 4 leadclip and 4 chod rigs all ready to go with leads on and just need a hook rig attaching.
To help find your marks if you have to recast in the dark, do a rough sketch drawing of the features etc on the opposite bank and mark it with arrows as to which feature you are casting too and the distance if you have not marked up or you suspect your mark has moved.
If I was fishing now, I would probably think of a lot more things that I do, but just get out and enjoy but do not let your mind ruin it. At times you can be your own worst enemy.
For an overnighter (24hours or so).
This is the UK, dress warmly, stay dry, take a shelter, a bed chair and warm sleeping bag, torch(with spare), and spare clothes(in vehicle). As far as gear goes that's it, although I wouldn't be without my brew kit.
Your food of choice, couple of litres of tap water and antibac hand gel. Forget the carpy, moss in your crack, garbage. There are rats on every fishery and Weills disease can ruin your life.
At first make sure you arrive with plenty of daylight left to get organised and set up.
You don't have to fish through the dark but if you do then a set of alarms will be needed. Don't miss the whole first light/last light thing. Magic.
Relax and enjoy the experience, don't over complicate your thinking.
This is the UK, dress warmly, stay dry, take a shelter, a bed chair and warm sleeping bag, torch(with spare), and spare clothes(in vehicle). As far as gear goes that's it, although I wouldn't be without my brew kit.
Your food of choice, couple of litres of tap water and antibac hand gel. Forget the carpy, moss in your crack, garbage. There are rats on every fishery and Weills disease can ruin your life.
At first make sure you arrive with plenty of daylight left to get organised and set up.
You don't have to fish through the dark but if you do then a set of alarms will be needed. Don't miss the whole first light/last light thing. Magic.
Relax and enjoy the experience, don't over complicate your thinking.
In reply to Post #29
cant stress enough the importance of a cup of tea/coffee
you cant beat a fresh brew in the morning rather than a flask, but if its all youve got go with it.
just enjoy it its great being outside.
cant stress enough the importance of a cup of tea/coffee
you cant beat a fresh brew in the morning rather than a flask, but if its all youve got go with it.
just enjoy it its great being outside.