Just bivvied up on Cromwell near Newark. Weather was glorious this morning then at 2pm it looked like the end of the world was coming. Dark black clouds in the distance and then it hit us. Torrential rain, thunder and lightning for about 2 hours. Now it's just cold and very windy.

I have the deeper quest and it is absolutely stunning. I have used it on big waters with quite a chop on and it has handled it fine. I would say it is probably the best bait on the market for general all round baitboat work. Yes others are more geared towards massive waters but they are way too big for smaller ones.

I have used bags extensively for the last 5 years. I started off using the most supple hooklengths available but I encountered bite offs and they are a definite no go near snags. As a result I swapped to Kryston quicksilver as a hooklength and it has been fantastic. I think the slightly stiffer braid makes it more difficult for the carp to eject and it's certainly something they have not seen before. Keep it short - 3 inch - and I always place the hook first and the lead last to keep the distance between the two. Also, look at PVA cable ties as a way of tying the bag off. I can get the bags so tight now that some makes pop under the pressure - ESP ones are by far the best I've found.

The DNA hydro crayfish is very good but don't open it indoors!!

Thanks everyone. Bought some iso propanol off eBay for a few quid and wiped the alarms and receiver down last night. Took a while to do but the result is amazing. No more sticky alarms and they look so much better!👍

Continental muggas for all my fishing and I've used these for the last 5 years.

I have had a set of new Shimano 14000 XTE reels for a couple of months. I recently went on holiday and used them quite extensively for 7 days. I caught a lot of fish and most of these came from 150-180 yards dropped with the boat. Towards the end of the holiday I noticed all of them starting to make noises and they certainly were not as smooth as when I bought them. One of them in particular is really bad and grinding when the spool is at its lowest position. It seems that these reels are probably fine if you only catch a fish once in a while but a heavy week of hauling and reeling from distance and they simply can't handle it? I am going back to AD this week for them to check them over. No idea what the outcome will be but I am not prepared to accept them as they are. Anybody else experienced this?

Sticky baits squid ink

In reply to Post #4
To be honest I've never needed to charge on the bank. My recent 10 day session I had a lodge so it was done in there off the electric. However if you do need to then you can use a power pack which makes it really easy.

I've just come across this material and wondered if anybody has had any carp rods made up using it? It appears to be a sticky carbon tape that is used by rod builders to hold guides to the blank. This replaces the need for thread but is still coated in epoxy resin in the same way. The advantages are a neater flatter finish, much quicker build time and keeps the weight of the rod down.