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The mists of time....	2,169 views
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silverfish

Posts: 2668

#12 12 Oct 2026 at 8.11pm

probably a bit later when I started carp fishing in the early 80s, I remember using in-line Zipp leads with rigid tubing, pretty sure I still have one in my lead bucket.,

RKB

Posts: 1757

#11 12 Oct 2026 at 7.32pm

In reply to Post #10
“Roll the ball in dog sh*t and get your friend to head it?” 😂

vossy1

Posts: 9176

MODERATOR

#10 12 Oct 2026 at 4.58pm

In reply to Post #7
Jumpers for goal posts....hmm wasn't it 😂
Even humour was better in the 'mists of time' 👍

carpchef

Posts: 321

#9 12 Oct 2026 at 4.51pm

In reply to Post #8
Interesting stuff, Zack,
particularly the flaked maize bait.
1970's bait for me was mainly Tudor Queen Luncheon meat, cut into chunks and held on for casting with a blade of grass or twig on the bend of the hook.
or kit-e-kat thickened with groundbait
or cheese paste flavoured with bovril
or sweetcorn if float fishing

Mostly I'd fish the arsley bomb straight on the line with a plastic leger stop or split shot pinched on the line..a link leger was a bit fancy for me early on but I did resort to using one in an attempt to combat twitchers..in hindsight I'd have done better keeping the bomb on the line and putting a backstop on and not burying the hook into the bait🙁 yer live and learn!

Zack

Posts: 3214

#8 12 Oct 2026 at 4.34pm

I still have my "45" nash nylon zig wrap", I looked at it about 3 years ago and was going to start using it again as its such a simple system and including the umbrella takes up little space, as it used leak like a sieve, I would have used "Fabsil Gold" on it or a 10% solution of clear silicon sealant and odour free white spirit.

Then I would have had to find a tennis ball to put on the umbrellas pole where it breaks to ease the pain of "Headbutting" it on a night.

I actually found my tacklebox from the 60's a while back, it was full of treasure, little short 3" lengths of line with 1/4 or 1/2 oz arsley bombs at one end and a split ring at the other to make running paternosters. If I fished with one of them, the ball of "KiteKat" paste would be far heavier and leave the lead behind when I cast out and p[robably land about 20' behind the bait......but I still caught.

I had loads of Sealy Octopus hooks all in size 2 and a lot of unknown brands as they was all loose, its the only size in those days that I used. I could get a big ball of paste on one or 60 maggots. I don't know why I used the Octopus hooks, worst hooks I have ever used in my life, you was always lucky to land a fish on them as invariably, they would snap, but they looked the part and had an agressive shape.

And one of the oddest thing back in those days, lack of information, no mobile phones, no internet etc, very few carp anglers to talk too or even see fishing, a lot of waters I would fish, looked very "carpy" and I would creep around looking for them and fish for them for days and months on end, and eventually find out......there is no carp in them. The only time you saw a carp, was if you was lucky to see one in a pond etc, catch one or see one in the angling papers or a book and where it was caught!!!!

One of my best baits was a mixture of Flaked Maize, some sugar, water and plain flour as a binder, I would have about a 3 hour span after mixing it before it started to go off, it would ferment like hell and "dome" the bait bucket lid as the gasses built up, leave it to long and it blew the lid off if there was no holes in it. By next morning it would be just a sticky mushy mess and unuseable.

Another of my best baits was bread paste made with Heinz salad cream, carp loved that.

I used to use "Spillers Shapes" as well on the hook, used them for a long time before I decided, "I don't think carp like them" so I stopped using them, but oddly enough, I could catch on them when I ground them up and made a paste out of them?

I used to do the " two cover trick" as well on my Woolworths Sun Lounger, not only did it hide the "Girly Flowery" cover by using a plin coloured cover over the top, but I could get a layer of foam between them.

I used to also survive 2 to 3 days at a time just eating "Orchard fruit pies" for breakfast, dinner and tea and a load of cans of Inde Coupe "Long Life" to drink

RKB

Posts: 1757

#7 12 Oct 2026 at 4.25pm

Jezpaul

Posts: 21

#6 12 Oct 2026 at 4.16pm

Stripping the copper out of cable to use the outer as anti tangle tubing. Fishing for churners on my 300s. Au lion dior that's a proper blast from the past 1534s about as sharp as s piece of toast lol

carpchef

Posts: 321

#5 12 Oct 2026 at 4.16pm

In reply to Post #4
Wow, a 20 in 1975 was a properly big fish….I think I’d only had a handful over 10lb by that time.

I recall the two cover trick for the bed chair for added strength…I must have got through countless covers and always dreaded going to buy a replacement and the shop only having the orange flowery ones left…my first choice was blue and, at a push the red one but I drew the line at the orange and brown flowery one and would have to arrange that as the inside cover and put an old blue one over it.

When I first started I was always fishing open bail and silver paper, for a “run” but progressed on to bottle tops and fishing for churners, particularly as most reels, even Mitchells were reluctant to close the bail arm when you needed them to. In retrospect a churner was a fish that had already hooked itself from the resistance of the reel and a strike was not needed.

I had herons for a number of years and had tinkered with the contacts, changed the sounder box to something a bit less squawky, wired an LED into the heads, hacksawed a bit off the top to change the shape slightly and painted them matt black (obvs!) I also changed the cables to those curly electric guitar to amp leads (don’t ask me why!)

mark1009

Posts: 4751

#4 12 Oct 2026 at 3.16pm

I caught my first 20 in 1975, 10ft fibreglass rods, herons, au lion d'or, hooks, partridge hooks, washing up liquid bottle tops for hangers, home made line clips, fishing for churners with mitchell 410s, 8lb maxima line, and hooklink. I also had a 45inch brolly with Nash canvas over wrap, argos sunlouger with two covers on. Bait was 11 grains of sweetcorn on a hand sharpened partridge size 2 hook, pre hair so on the hook. It's a lot easier nowadays.

carpchef

Posts: 321

#3 12 Oct 2026 at 1.56pm

Nice one Baitman,
is that a canvas bivvy? I had a canvas Send Brolly camp...toastie warm in the winter but if it got wet you needed a fork lift to get it back to the car (Wolesley 1500 with a roof rack and before that, getting picked up by my dad in his Mk1 Triumph 2000....."don't get bl**dy mud on the seats!")

I think Black spider would still have a use today...boom section or some such

LOVING the home made quality of the bait droppers..... a lot more home made tackle going on back then..which I miss, in a way.

Thanks for the glimpse of the past..fantastic👏

Baitman

Posts: 5274

#2 12 Oct 2026 at 1.33pm

45" nash nylon zig wrap, no taped seams so covered in linseed oil to waterproof, chucked over a 45" nubrolli.
Argos sun lounger squeezed in.

Deluxe hooklength material, but now lives in the sewing kit.

Home made spods from mastic tubes.

carpchef

Posts: 321

#1 12 Oct 2026 at 12.48pm

Ancient Terminology
Just a bit of a follow on from the post started last week…Fishing isn’t what it used to be…had me thinking about my earliest memories… I would be super-interested to know how many people would have any idea what I was talking about from the following;

Cloopers
Herons
Twitcher hitting
Arlsey bombs
Parallel bars
Solder blobbed low water salmons
Au lion D’ors
Phillips Hi-pro
Silver paper hissing in the butt ring

I am sure I’ve missed a load, too 🙁


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