In reply to Post #15
Some other things they can do you a favour.
I have numerous stories about the carp turning up and spooking the coots or tuffties.
Also how times have diving gulls put me onto feeding carp.

But then I'm hardly ever able to use a throwing stick these days.

We have to evolve and solve every problem we encounter.

In reply to Post #15
I agree with this. I joined a new syndicate last year which is very shallow and had never experienced so many tufties, coots and mallards diving and feeding on my spots.

I pulled my hair out trying to keep them away - tufty torches, green lasers and the occasional fit of rage waving my arms around and clapping like a mad man. Even shouting expletives or asking nicely didn't work.

But in October I caught one of the lake's biggest whilst 2 coots were diving onto a clear spot in the weed I was fishing. Resetting stiff rigs did the trick as they'd picked the bait up twice before the take.

Since then i've learned to ignore them as ive never actually hooked one, although they've picked the bait up and dropped it many times over and ive still caught.

What also bothers me is the fact that coots etc. can find bait in seconds or minutes even though they are on the surface and they cannot be able to see the bait in e.g. 4-8m of water in our gravel pits.

Sure they see the bait boat, spods etc. but even when I made sure that they were elsewhere when baiting up, a few minutes later they would stop on the spot and start diving.

So I really wonder why carp seemingly are unable to detect the bait when coots can find it (without seeing it) in a matter of seconds or minutes...
Carp should have a big advantage finding bait as they are underwater creatures and it should be easy to quickly catch them. But it is not.

In reply to Post #18
I'm sure they can detect and find it as easy as you imagine. Stopping and eating it, is a completely different story.

Birdlife can pick up just the hookbait without the hook going in their mouth, carp as we know can't. With everything else out of the equation, carp have learnt to proceed with caution but birdlife don't need to.

In reply to Post #18
Birds can smell the bait from above the water. They will circle an area and then approach from downwind.

Carp can 'smell' the bait underwater, but undertow means they will only get onto the scent trail from 'downstream'

I've had bites with literally fifty odd tufties going berserk over an area… They can be a pain but think outside the box a little more…

In reply to Post #1
Used to get the resident swans treading water all the time, doesn't really matter to them if they're syphoning crumb, stirring up particle or making saturated boilies bounce up off the bottom.

Ducks and coots can be a PITA but I learnt to watch their reactions as sometimes the birds would shy off because there would be carp on the baits.

Saying that i was out a last week, admittedly a shallow water but there were half a dozen ducks that would eat all of the freebies before taking multiple attempts at the cork ball pop-up.
I gave up and went stalking in a snaggy corner that I'd been baiting, once again the ducks wanted to get on the crumb but there were a few carp feeding and they weren't getting involved

A number of years ago while spombing at catch 22 spomb hits wind straight in black headed guls attack the spot taking bait. Leave the spomb on the spot and tey don't. So 10 seconds or so for boilies 15 to 20 secs for pellets then wind in, the baits gone and gulls don't attack the spot.

So setting up at linear St Johs watching other anglers spomb and the gulls hitting g the spot. I start spom ing and after about 10 casts the guy two pegs up comes walking down. "What bait you using as the gulls aren't attacking you"
Me " the usual hemp corn and a few boilies"

I could see her was confused. So told him to watch.

I cast n wound in the second the spomb hit and the gulls attacked.
Cast again and left the spomb on the spot and the gulls just hovver above it until the bait is out of sight then fly away.