WHEN the sun is shining and you’re fishing at Trow Pool the light reflecting off the water can make if difficult to see the fish or even your float.

 

The solution is to buy polarizing sunglasses as these will allow you to see through the glare and view objects near the surface of the water or beneath it. Unlike ordinary sunglasses, polarizing lenses eliminate 99.9% of glare from horizontal surfaces such as water, roads and snow. They are much better than ordinary sunglasses and prices start from about £22.00. You'll see more clearly and may catch more carp, sorted!

WHEN fishing with two rods at Trow Pool it can be difficult to keep watch on both of them at the same time. One solution is to use a bite alarm and rod rest. This is fine but may not always be possible if you're limited to what you can carry especially if you bike to Trow.

The solution is to use a bell as a bite alarm and this has many advantages (light, no batteries and cheap). You can buy a bell alarm (see figure 2) but it's just as easy and fun to make your own. Get a cat bell from a pet shop (about £0.50) and tie it on to a clothes peg (see fig 1). Then once you've cast out fix the peg on the tip of your rod being careful not to obstruct the line and wait..... strike when it rings. Sorted!

WHEN fishing at Trow you can sometimes get an edge on the carp by using binoculars. Trow is quite a small water and with low magnification binoculars you can watch your bait if it's on the surface and see any carp nearby. And perhaps when things are a bit quiet you can scan the water for a better location or see how the other anglers are doing!

Don't buy expensive binoculars as you'll often abuse them and may even drop them in the water. Instead go for a cheap, small, light set with magnification of about 10 x 25 - you don't want heavy ones as your arms will soon tire. I bought mine from a local garage for £4.99.