The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:13 pm Fennel's letter was answered with ink containing water that may have passed through the gills of a succession of monstrous Italian commons far larger than I could have dreamed of catching when I was a child, thinking that 44 lb was the limit.

Nice looking carp, what did you use for the ink colour, soot?

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Jardine wrote: ↑Tue Feb 07, 2017 6:16 pm Nice looking carp, what did you use for the ink colour, soot?

I also have some Redmire water and plan to make some ink once I get around to it. I was thinking of using the soot from my Kelly Kettle for the colour. Soot ink is meant to me easy to make.

Jardine wrote: ↑Tue Feb 07, 2017 6:16 pm

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:13 pm Fennel's letter was answered with ink containing water that may have passed through the gills of a succession of monstrous Italian commons far larger than I could have dreamed of catching when I was a child, thinking that 44 lb was the limit.

Nice looking carp, what did you use for the ink colour, soot?

No, I simply add water special to me to my blends of ink.

I always used to write with fountain pens, preferring them over biros back in the day when I was able to supply hand written magazine work. This continued in my angling diaries for years until an accident saw a diary take a dunk and most of what was written was washed away. I then reverted to using a biro. I got through quite a few before I found one I was actually happy using.

Around 3 years ago I was gifted the pen that had seen my father all the way through his school days, a lovely old fountain pen that still had it's original gold nib. I started to use it for my journals and have never picked up a biro again. To be fair I use modern fountain pens as my older ones tend to spit a bit of ink when I don't want them too. I don't think I even have a biro in my office, just fountain pens with different inks for different jobs. All have a little added extra though. Some are river inks and some are are favourite still waters and some are just one water dedicated. All very silly I know, but I like to know my favourite waters are alive and flowing when writing.

Soot ink is easy to make but you do need lots of soot, certainly not enough from a Kelly kettle unless you use the charcoal from inside. You could use charcoal made from Redmire twigs. And you need something to slightly thicken the ink. There's good recipes on the Internet.