Question of Distance

With no real prospect of fishing this week I took my beach rod down onto the beach (well where else would you take it) for a spot of casting practice. I only expected to be out for an hour but it turned into to 3 hours. I set up my Vercelli Besta with a Vega Squadra 75, 60lb braid attached directly to a 6oz plain lead.
After a few practice casts I was hitting 110 to 120yds on every cast using a simple off the ground cast. It would be interesting to see how much this would be reduced when a rig was attached.
I switched styles to an Easy Cast (starting on the ground), it takes some time to get used to the style but I was soon easily hitting 100yds. I think its worthy of extra practice but I'd need to be regularly reaching 150yds to make it a worthwhile proposition due to not being able to wade out those extra few yards and the the trickyness of keeping the bait in the clip.
Before I lost  the light I switched to my second option which is a shallower spool of 30lb braid with a 70lb shock leader. Straight away the casting felt smoother and longer although the the distances didn't improve dramatically. I was reaching 120 to 125yds on most casts and felt there was more to be gained.

Slow Start For Carp

I returned to my favourite local water for my first carp trip of the year, the weather was just about to break and rain was forecast.  I returned to the reliable tactics from last year and fished a rod down each margin. Reminiscent of last years start to the season I blanked while everyone else seemed to be catching.
Ah well its only the start.

First Perch Trip

I took my light lure rod to my favourite local water for a chuck about. I spent a bit of time talking to my mate Kev who I only ever see at the the reservoir. I tried jig heads and drop shoting but all to no avail. I had a couple of takes but these were from fish not much bigger tan the lures.
Despite my lack of success it was nice to be out on the bank again.