Sunday 20th

[drynetter]

Managed to sneek in a very quick session, all of an hour and a half!

Got down to the Reservoirs at 8(ish)pm and fished through to 9.30... Well I say fished, I'd just set up, when I heard the dulcid tones of a mate of mine. So I spent the first ten minutes chatting to him and trying to fish.

I'd set up the top five of my pole and started fishing meat on the hook close in. Target was the Skimmers in Sykes which are normally more than obliging to give themselves up. The 5's elastic would be about right for this I thought, until the first bite, the strike hitting into something a bit more solid and seeing my elastic bottom out almost straight away! No time to add more sections on, so i buried the top three as far under the water as possible. With some relief the elastic started to retract into the top three. A few minutes later the culprit was landed.



Some bloke passing even took one of me holding it...



So with the first fish on the bank, time to go back in an try again... Looked at the end of my pole and there was about a foot of elastic still hanging out, a couple of adjustments and we were back in business. I wasn't expecting too much after that, but what followed was a steady succession of bites and fish to the net. 11 Skimmers in total. All pretty much the same size.



In total I'd used 1/2 a small tin of spam and a handful of pellets. Not bad.
Fishing doesn't get much cheaper than this.

Thanks for reading.

[Blue]

Well done on the fish buddy......but.......

.....I'll let everyone else have their say first........

[drynetter]

Originally Posted by Blue

Well done on the fish buddy......but.......

.....I'll let everyone else have their say first........

Let me guess... no unhooking mat, good grief. If I was a carp angler I'd have one, as I'm not, I don't...

Kettle on...

[Blue]

Originally Posted by drynetter

If I was a carp angler I'd have one, as I'm not, I don't....

Not quite sure I understand the logic behind that one TBH.. You Don't need to be a carp angler to own an unhooking mat. A carp is a carp. You can buy smaller mats if it's only the smaller stamp of fish you regularly catch.

I'm not having a go, it's just simple fish care, regardless of size or whether your a carp angler or not, it would be nice to see them on a mat, or even some grass, anythings better than the metal rim of a landing net and hard soil

[drynetter]

Originally Posted by Blue

Not quite sure I understand the logic behind that one TBH.. You Don't need to be a carp angler to own an unhooking mat. A carp is a carp. You can buy smaller mats if it's only the smaller stamp of fish you regularly catch.

I'm not having a go, it's just simple fish care, regardless of size or whether your a carp angler or not, it would be nice to see them on a mat, or even some grass, anythings better than the metal rim of a landing net and hard soil

Accept my apologies, but it's hardly at the same level as what was televised at the weekend is it? I'll give you the metal rim bit, but unless you've been embedded in your bivvy all weekend you should have noticed what the weather has been like, hard soil... hardly...

I'll rush out and get one, can you recommend one? Obviously not one from Argos, must be branded...

[Blue]

Originally Posted by drynetter

I'll rush out and get one, can you recommend one? Obviously not one from Argos, must be branded...

Trust me, an Argos one will be fine for you....

[drynetter]

Originally Posted by Blue

Trust me, an Argos one will be fine for you....

Another internet warrior...

[ChrisKnapper]

Originally Posted by drynetter

Another internet warrior...

Drynetter...

Blue is only pointing out the obvious. Please take his comments onboard, he is basically giving you advice and is asking for nothing in return, thats what this forum is about.

If you are to stubborn to accept the facts of simple fishcare, then i would say your in the sport for the wrong reasons.. fishcare is and always should be the main priorty... im guessing you didnt sit on the floor all day did you?? Not that this is any comparison, carp and any other species should never be lay on 'hard soil', sorry... it wasnt hard as it had been raining, soft soil then.. or any other surface for that matter. You can purchase a cheap unhooking mat from most tackle shops, or if your an ebayer.. then buy one off there... it wont cost you much...

Well done on the captures anyway

Chris

[drynetter]

Right, I'll take it all on board and buy one...

But if we're talking about fishcare, I negated to tell you of the state of the fish's mouth. Not caused by a 16's, but something of a slightly bigger size. The tear being approx 1 inch in length. I can only think this was caused by "playing" the fish too hard.

I better get some antiseptic cream too.

[ChrisKnapper]

Originally Posted by drynetter

I better get some antiseptic cream too.

You can either buy Korda's fishcare kit or Kryston Clin-ik, both are used to help with the healing process of any damage done to the mouth or any part of the fish's body.

Chris

[drynetter]

It's on the shopping list.

[kermit]

Sounds like you had a good session Drynetter.

However, I would have to agree here that fish care is an issue, whether people class themselves as a 'carp angler' or not. I appreciate the carp was a bonus fish and not particularly expected, so taking an unhooking mat along may be considered overkill on such a session (when I'm 'bit-bashing' I don't take my mat).

Generally, unhooking fish with the landing net between your knees will mean the fish is well supported by the net and is not touching the floor. If a trophy shot is imperative please, as a bare minimum, at least find some soft grass to lay bigger fish down on (even if mud is wet, it still contains sharp stones etc.).

If you can't find grass I notice you seem to be wearing a nice big thick waterproof coat.... Not too far removed from an unhooking mat if you apply a bit of lateral thinking. If a trophy shot is that important to you then I don't imagine that sticking your coat through the washing machine is too much of an inconvenience!

Tight lines.

Mike.

[drynetter]

Originally Posted by kermit

Sounds like you had a good session Drynetter.

However, I would have to agree here that fish care is an issue, whether people class themselves as a 'carp angler' or not. I appreciate the carp was a bonus fish and not particularly expected, so taking an unhooking mat along may be considered overkill on such a session (when I'm 'bit-bashing' I don't take my mat).

Generally, unhooking fish with the landing net between your knees will mean the fish is well supported by the net and is not touching the floor. If a trophy shot is imperative please, as a bare minimum, at least find some soft grass to lay bigger fish down on (even if mud is wet, it still contains sharp stones etc.).

If you can't find grass I notice you seem to be wearing a nice big thick waterproof coat.... Not too far removed from an unhooking mat if you apply a bit of lateral thinking. If a trophy shot is that important to you then I don't imagine that sticking your coat through the washing machine is too much of an inconvenience!

Tight lines.

Mike.

Not really a trophy shot, I wouldn't have "posed" for it unless some bloke walking round almost insisted. They're not so much trophy shots anyway, they're more for a personal record and to put some pics up on catch reports. If you look back on any of my previous posts, I'm not declaring any of my fish as monsters.

As for my coat LOL, if I put that thing through the wash it'd fall to pieces.
Fish was unhooked in the landing net, it was on the floor for the length of time it took to take one shot. But point taken.

[bigted]

Originally Posted by drynetter

Right, I'll take it all on board and buy one...

But if we're talking about fishcare, I negated to tell you of the state of the fish's mouth. Not caused by a 16's, but something of a slightly bigger size. The tear being approx 1 inch in length. I can only think this was caused by "playing" the fish too hard.

I better get some antiseptic cream too.

Firstly, TOP result mate! well done on your catch, sounds like a mint session:-)

The mouth damage was prob caused by some young pup trying to pull it's head off! he was probably using 30lb mono in conjunction with a boat rod and shouting to his mate. . I'v hooked a thirty, give me a hand!

It's NOT always the case that carp angers cause massive mouth damage contrary to popular belief, I once witnessed a carp on the bank with around 5 size sixteen and 20's hooks pierced around it's body it was akin to carpking's ears!

It seems that the age old rift between the match and carp angler is still alive and kicking! I think we could all learn a bit from each other from time to time

cheers mate
mark

[drynetter]

Originally Posted by bigted

Firstly, TOP result mate! well done on your catch, sounds like a mint session:-)

The mouth damage was prob caused by some young pup trying to pull it's head off! he was probably using 30lb mono in conjunction with a boat rod and shouting to his mate. . I'v hooked a thirty, give me a hand!

It's NOT always the case that carp angers cause massive mouth damage contrary to popular belief, I once witnessed a carp on the bank with around 5 size sixteen and 20's hooks pierced around it's body it was akin to carpking's ears!

It seems that the age old rift between the match and carp angler is still alive and kicking! I think we could all learn a bit from each other from time to time

cheers mate
mark

I'm not a match angler, nor a carp angler. I go out to try and catch few. It doesn't matter to me what they are.

Carp fishing's a splinter group much the same as Fishing for Barbel, Catfish etc... It's far from the be all and end all. Admittedly they go big and I can see the attraction in that. But as I don't have the time for long sessions, I put my catch reports up on the coarse section.

To say I'm in the sport for the wrong reason is frankly laughable...

I'll hold my hands up (again) for mal treating a fish... But how many monkeys does it take to bang the drum???