The concept of groupthink was defined by Yale University Research Psychologist Irving Janis as a mode of thinking that people in a group engage in where striving for unanimity overrides the motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. Let’s try to pop his findings into a Carp Angling situation. Carp Anglers that get stuck in groupthink may not adequately address questionable methods associated with a decision or seek expert advice or take any advice pre-fishing session. These Anglers may discard data that does not support the group's conclusion and discount dissenting opinions when offered. Simply put, succumbing to groupthink can lead to bad decisions, because the analysis that led to the decision is incomplete, because the data is ignored in favour of the loudest, most aggressive member of the group. Bad decisions can lead to mishaps, failed missions and total bedlam, especially if the leader of the group is, toxic, incompetent, a less than average angler with the technical skills of a chimpanzee and generally full of shit. I have identified 10 main symptoms of groupthink on my local waters: 1. Illusion of Invulnerability: Members of the group ignore obvious patterns, are overly optimistic and are willing to take the leader of the groups advice. Even when they know that it’s not working for them as an individual. 2. Collective Rationalization: Members of the group develop rationalizations to explain away any warning that is contrary to the group's thinking. 3. Illusion of Morality: Members of the group believe their toxic / aggressive behaviour & decisions are morally correct and ignore any ethical consequences of their decisions / behaviour. 4. Excessive Stereotyping: Members of the group construct negative stereotypes for rivals outside the group. Wow betide you if you’re anything other than white – working class on some the lakes which I fish.

5. Pressure for Conformity: Members of the group apply pressure to anyone in the group who expresses any doubt about the group's illusions, stereotypes, decisions or rationales. You WILL conform or else. 6. Self-Censorship: Members of the group withhold dissenting views, keep silent about their misgivings and minimize the importance of their doubts in order to stay a popular member of the group. 7. Illusion of Unanimity: Members of the group falsely perceive that everyone agrees with the gobby group leaders decisions; silence is seen as consent. 8. Midgard’s: Some members of the group appoint themselves to the role of group protector from adverse information that might threaten group complacency. In order to protect himself from his own inner voice. (Most of the toxic – gobby – aggressive - big talkers know they are full of shit. The chances of them admitting it to themselves is 0). 9. Limitations: There is no one more dangerous than someone who is not aware of their limitations. A person who needs help / an angling lesson or two / their skill set tweaking / a few water crafty lessons, but who denies this and lies to himself. This person is terrified of exposure, their Ego is weak, but they will fight to keep the mask on, rather than be discovered. This can make them very toxic indeed. 10. Rage: Stay away from any and all of The Drama Queens. Stirring the shit is the only thing they are any good at in life. Doing your own thing Go Carp Angling regularly and you will experience a time when you are the only one on the water who disagrees with the forced method. You will do your thing, going about your business very quietly being different. It takes courage to do this because it’s just a matter of time before one of The Group picks up on it, and the toxic morons start posturing and creating drama. However that initial discomfort is much better than a lifetime of Angling regret, never bow to the pressure of The Group. Do your own thing. Stay away from The Group. They are usually wrong. Tight lines. TT

Why do I fish “Rods” Up at distance with tight lines if I can? I can use a lighter lead which makes casting 100 + yards easier. The rod tips set the hook. I can then pick up the rod in a second or two and the Carp cannot spit, easily. Points to note • As a Match Angler of some pedigree myself back in the day. • We fished a lot of Tip Rods (Quiver Tips / Swing Tips) using Swim Feeders / Arlesey Bombs. • The line was always guitar string tight to the Quiver Tip, slightly less so the Swing Tip. • The Big Bream / Carp / Tench & all the usual suspects were simply not bothered by the angle of the line passing through the waters. • They are not bothered by it today. I do not know where Slack Lining came from but its ridiculous in my humble opinion. • You will Not find Steve Ringer fishing back leads on a Commercial Carp lake where you need 300 lb in 5 hours to win the match. • I doubt very much that any of the Top Boys are Slack Lining on the Big Carp waters either. • If you want to miss 90% of your pick – ups, slack line my friend. • Slack lining is total fucking nonsense, try not to do it.

Tight Lines • I fish tight lines. • Guitar string tight and lock the reel spool up to very near tight also. • The rod tips set the hook and keeps it set. • The chances of a Big Carp spitting my rig now, on the run is near 0, unless the Carp runs towards me and spits. • However I am never off my rods, I sit on my rods at all times. • I will lift on a couple of bleeps on The Delkims, or a small pull round on my Quiver Tips when fishing The Tips for Carp. • So it’s very rare that I ever get Spat Out after the pick up !!     Tight Lines. TT.

Its not just down to Luck or Chance. I have run the data for over 15 years now, to see what will happen with my bait on differing waters across the UK & Europe. Fact: Some programmes we cannot predict, we have to run them. We must test and run the data. So, I have turned up to waters across the UK / Europe to fish for a 1 day session / 7 days / 10 days / 2 weeks with nothing else to use on the hair / hook but my Weedy Green bait. Nothing else at all. Not a single thing. Which is scary because I love a Peanut / Tiger Nut so this scenario makes sweat on occasion. However. Weedy Green. Does the business 9 times out of 10. Yes I have been miles away from a tackle shop in the middle of nowhere in Germany & Holland on occasion wishing I had a single fucking Tiger Nut. But most of the time. The Weed takes care of business. Tight Lines. TT.

Wild Days (See file link below) Watch this space! Tight lines. TT.

A D.O.S.E. Of Carp Fishing The brain’s happy chemicals, explained D.O.S.E. is the acronym for the major chemicals in our brains that influence our happiness. The brain’s happy chemicals. These chemicals are Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. On both a biological and a mental level, the release of these chemicals makes us happy. This happiness leads us to want more happiness. These chemicals make us want more of the same chemicals.

Dopamine Dopamine commonly considered the ‘happiness chemical’, is often misunderstood. Dopamine is more involved in the anticipation of an event or feeling than in the actual feeling of happiness. For example, missing someone can give us an excited anticipation of when we are going to see that person again, which can be a stronger feeling than actually seeing the person. This is due to the rise in dopamine levels during the anticipation. Similarly, during sexual arousal, simply the anticipation of sex can sometimes be more arousing than the event itself. A further example is ordering food. Ordering a pizza, creates an anticipation and expectation, resulting in a dopamine release that lasts all the way up to the first bite. Dopamine levels have been found to be higher in people who live extroverted lives with less inhibitions, and lower in those living introverted lifestyles with more inhibitions. Dopamine is considered to be a ‘reward chemical’, as it its release is driven by reward seeking behaviour. Oxytocin Oxytocin is the neurochemical that has allowed humans to become social creatures. It is responsible for the feeling of empathy, which makes us feel closer to others by encouraging social bonding during its release. Oxytocin is found in high concentration in the brains of pregnant women during and post labour. Oxytocin levels are low during the teenage years, or in the brains of those living an introverted lifestyle. The results of oxytocin release are dependent on the environment, however, as the same chemical can produce memories of a negative bonding experience. In a study published by the PNAS in 2010, a sample of men were dosed with oxytocin and asked to write about their mothers. Those with a positive mother-son relationship came to consider their mothers as more caring, whereas those with troubled relationships came to describe their mothers as less caring. Oxytocin was found to potentially help in the formation of social memories, regardless of whether those memories are good or bad. Serotonin Serotonin is the neurochemical that regulates mood, good or bad. It is a regulator, meaning that it plays a role in the control and maintenance of homeostasis within the gut system, affecting physiological processes such as the absorption of

nutrients, blood flow, and the health of the immune system. 80% of the body’s serotonin can be found in the gut microbiome, and it is governed by hunger. This is why hunger is often associated with a bad mood. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, which means that it carries information along and between neurons. It functions as a mood stabiliser by helping to alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression. Serotonin is also known as the ‘confidence molecule’, as it is has been found that high levels of serotonin correlate with lower rejection sensitivity, enabling an individual to place themselves in situations that will increase self-esteem and feelings of worthiness. Endorphins Endorphins are hormones secreted by the brain and play a role in the masking of pain or discomfort. These hormones are strongly associated with the fight or flight response that we have carried throughout our evolution. The brain secretes endorphins as a response to pain or stress, but also during, exercise, eating, or sex. The word ‘endorphin’ comes from the combination of two words; ‘endogenous’, meaning ‘within the body, and ‘morphine’, and opiate pain reliever. Endorphins are the body’s natural pain relievers. They also play a role in the alleviation of depression, in that endorphins are released during exercise, and exercise has been shown time and time again to help those suffering from depression. DOSE The combination of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins creates different desirable states of mind. The DOSE chemicals can be manipulated by the use of recreational drugs, pharmaceuticals, long term meditation practices, or maintenance of good physical shape, but recent scientific breakthroughs allow us to further understand the mechanics of our neural machinery, and better understanding can lead us to find new, alternative ways to take control over our brain chemistry. Carp Fishing is my, alternative D.O.S.E. My Name is TT. And I’m An Addict. TT.

A hypothesis is the cornerstone of the scientific method. It is an educated guess about how the world works that integrates knowledge with observation. Everyone appreciates that a hypothesis must be testable to have any value, but there is a much stronger requirement that a hypothesis must meet. A hypothesis is considered scientific only if there is the possibility to disprove the hypothesis. A Hypothesis - Boilies Are the Best Carp Bait. So to prove this statement. The outcome of the designed experiment must prove this statement wrong. So we must test the hypothesis. Let’s test it. 1. OK. So let’s fish a Boiled Bait line & a Tiger Nut line on your local water. 2. You are going to fish them on the same lake. 3. You are going to fish them for 1 week every day. 4. So, if we catch more Carp on Tiger Nuts than we do on Boiled Bait then the hypostasis is proved wrong. However. 1. What flavour boiled bait did you use? 2. Would another flavour give you a different result? 3. Were the rigs all the same or did you pop one up etc? 4. Were the hook patterns the same? 5. Remember, boilie is the go to bait of 90% of everyone fishing for carp today, which will distort the test. There will be a load of the stuff in the lake already. 6. What bait did you use? Robin Red & Bird Seed / Peanuts & Liver / Monster Crab / Octopus & Squid / Pukka Salmon / Ice / Trigger / Scopex Squid / Nut Crunch / Bloodworm / Weedy Green in my case? By the time you have tested every flavour on the market. 1. You may have been added to the missing persons list down at your local Nick. 2. You may not come up with an actual answer anyhow. 3. So, even couching the hypothesis in the first place is really nonsense isn’t it. “That Boilie is the best Carp bait, is simply not disprovable”. Another good example of Unprovable / Untestable nonsense. Our daily horoscopes are good examples of something that isn’t falsifiable. A scientist cannot disprove that a Piscean may get a surprise phone call from someone he or she hasn’t heard from in a long time.

The statement is intentionally vague. Even if our Piscean didn’t get a phone call, the prediction cannot be false because he or she may get a phone call. They may not. “A good scientific hypothesis is the opposite of this. If there is no experimental test to disprove the hypothesis, then it lies outside the realm of science”. The Angling Industry so called Scientists all too often generate hypotheses that cannot be tested by experiments whose results have the potential to show that the idea is false. The bait Industry simply want you to follow their lead. That’s simply called, Group Think and its very unhealthy. Try having some fun instead of melting down. Switch On & Test Your Own Theories. (By the way, Industry Bait-testers are not a scientific method of testing boiled Bait… Its bullshit). Instead try this. Take 3 baits to your local water. Fish them side by side on a short line. (Single baits do not pollute the area with different loose offering. Or use a very small Solid Bag of say, Tigers with the Tiger. Corn with the Corn. Boilie with the Boilie). Simply note the results every time you go out. (Do this for several sessions over serval weeks in similar weather conditions. Make some notes of the results and then try 3 new ones & so on). This will increase the efficiency and impact of your angling by testing your favourite baits with a well-designed thought process. Its hardy scientific in the pure sense of the meaning, but it will help your confidence and understanding of your favourite baits. You can also test the different reactions by the Carp to different rigs / hook designs / bait presentations. This is a fun / cost effective / very healthy way to start figuring out your bait & rigs. The bye product to this method, is an automatic % + edge in your Carp sessions. Tight lines. TT.

The days of me crashing & banging around on waters is long gone. I was taught the importance of silence and the fundaments of watercraft many moons ago by some Top Anglers. Tip; Carp know you’re on the water / in a certain swim / setting up your tackle from the minute that you start to make noise or send vibrations into the water from the bank. Carp can feel you at distance. Touch at distance Fish have sensory organs known as neuromasts located both on their skin and in channels just beneath the skin. When water passes over the neuromast, it pushes hairlike cells that are surrounded by a gel called cupula. The cupula detects that the hair has been displaced and sends a signal to the brain to indicate that something is moving nearby. That may be in the water or the vibrations from the bank side. There are times when Carp appear telepathic. Consider the uncanny way the goldfish in their lighted bowl turn toward the glass when someone walks into the dark room. Fish moving out of the margins as you approach very quietly, even in the dark I have observed Carp moving out of a margin as I have approached the swim. Researchers often describe this ability as “touch-from-a-distance.” But fishy sixth sense is closer to hearing than touch. It’s what allows salmon to deftly ply the currents and eddies as they make their spawning runs upstream. They listen to / feel the vibrations in the flow. Carp have a Lateral Line It’s kind of a full-body flow antenna that is a much like the hair cells of our inner ear. Some of them are on the surface of the fish between the scales. Others are

embedded inside canal systems. The greatest density of sense cells is found precisely where pressure changes are felt the greatest. The distribution of neuromasts is not randomly evolved but designed in an optimal way. In conclusion Even before you give yourself away by smashing the place up with a NASA sized white Spomb. Or shouting and crashing about on the bank. Carp know that you have arrived just by you being on their water and in their environment. TT.