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Just one more reason why the UK needs a DOGE. Plenty more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Non-departmental_public_bodies_of_the_United_Kingdom_government

Probably some wheeze by starmer offering free tickets to any Moslems joining up

So, What's that about then ?? The British Army, don't Have any money - It's Ours !! Sponsorship, means that the Sponsor is Paying for stuff ? (well, some of it anyway) ???

Bought some micro mepps-style metal lures. Hooks a bit tiddly so looked to replace with #14 > #7s (with maybe the odd mini plastic lure added). My existing "fishing" split-ring pliers just could not deal with their thin-wire micro split-rings so I ordered so-called jewellery makers' Speedwox s-r pliers (Amazon - under £7). Definitely the way to go for anyone else struggling with small split-rings. The pliers are not stainless steel, but who uses/needs split-ring pliers on the bank/beach anyway?

River Kennet - Brimpton 0430 - 0830 Warm & sultry. AT 15º-23ºC. River low - usual summer levels. 1 Bream (!): 5lb 2oz. 1 Chub 3lb 9oz. 6 Dace - all quite chunky, 1 Roach (diito). 1 Gudgeon. 5 Brownies; a couple 1-1¼lb the others half that. Great to be out in the relative cool of a June dawn - especially when it's forecast to be so hot later. A morning of firsts. As usual my banker chub swim produced a splashy trout first cast so I immediately rested it and went uspstream. 1st cast here produced the gudgeon - my first from here in a decade . Most of the dace and the roach soon followed and returning to my first swim quickly produced the chub - which set up the pattern for the morning alternating between the 2 spots giving each half an hour or so. The bream was the real surprise - my first EVER from the venue (and I've fished here every year since 1982). I hooked it in surprisingly fast water and it fought so tenaciously I thought I was connected to a ginormous chub! Brimpton Brace

Sounds like you still had a good days fishing even though you didn’t get placed in the match. Nice one Keith

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0430 - 1100 Hot and sunny (though quite nice in the shade under the trees!) AT 12º - 26ºC. River low. 2 Bream: 5lb & 3lb 10oz. 4 Chub: a brace of 2lb+ and a couple of smalluns. 14 Dace - all a good size. 2 Roach: small. 2 Gudgeon (!), 1 Brownie: a brute of a fish - over 4lb. 1 Rainbow: c2½lb. A favourite summer weirpool swim - and one I often start my season in. However it got off to a slow start - which was not surprising as I had a large dog otter for company on and off for the first hour! Didn't actually see it catch anything but I didn't get a bite until an hour after the last sighting - and that was the 5lb bream. They don't half fight well - both bream did good imitations of large chub! First gudgeon from here since 2018! First Gonk of the season!

Hi Keith, well fished, both of you. Btw, my club mate won our Match at Tollerton with 398Lb, Mugging 'em on the Top on Pole. 2nd got over 200Lb and Me (nearly last but not quite with 35Lb 6oz, but had a lovely days fishing with Barbel of a pound or so, Pastie size Carp & Bream.

Decided to give the rivers a miss last night as all of the best bits will be packed on the first day of the season; so instead my son and I decided to have a couple of hours fishing at our clubs local estate lake instead; after Stuart had finished work at around 5pm. When we got there we were the only people there and it was really hot, there was just a couple of Carp visible near the surface and they were not feeding so we didn’t expect them to start feeding in earnest till around 8 or 9pm and we were right; as around 8pm my son Stuart had a very nice Common Carp and at around 8:30 I had a nice Common Carp too. My swim Stuarts Carp My Carp It was still 20.5 degrees when we started to pack up after I caught the second Carp at around 8:45pm and it would have been a perfect night for an all nighter. Maybe next time Keith

No Gudgeon though .

Straight back in the groove, eh? Good to see the bleak make an appearance and get a namecheck

River Kennet - Hambridge 0430 - 1200 Warm and mainly sunny. AT 15º - 20ºC. River quite low - normal summer levels though a lot lower than this time last year. 12 Chub: 10 over a lb, best 3lb 6oz with one other over 3lb - all the others 1½-2½lbs. 4 doz (!) Dace & Roach. More dace than roach and whilst nothing particularly noteworthy all the dace were a nice size. All the roach were quite small save one that needed the net and may have pushed 8oz. 11 Brownies - 1 'pounder' and 10 small uns - probably multiple captures - I caught one with an identifiable scar on it three times! 1 Grayling - c6oz. 1 Bleak. Super start to the new season - great to see sooooo many silvers in the river. After last year's extravaganza here, this had to be the venue to kick off a new campaign and whilst no specimens were banked it was great to see so many fish in the river. Fished 4 swims and had chub from all of them while most of the dace and roach came from the road bridge swim - bite a chuck at times! First fish of the season...

Sorry Keith, Thought I'd put 'em in my bag, but they were still sitting on our worktop when I got home - Next Match in a fortnight - 29th !!

Seems the old timers are dead or half dead .I was very poorly on that damned Metformin and hardly left the house for a year (thinking about it was over two years) (yes if I went out I had plastic pants but found not eating the day before helped most) I got off those Then I had (or was happening all the time)problems with Warfarin ,they worked fine but you bruised so easily so they did thin the blood! But I couldnt go to the constant almost weekly tests at £30 guide a shot as for my early problem I could only go by taxi so I got prescribed a lesser drug rivaroxiban ,no idea if they work there's no tests to see if they are you just accept they are . Then to confuse the symptoms I had severe pain in my muscles and joints and thought about Sportman and his problems with Statins I asked the doc for alternatives and started to try every bloody statin out there rather than just except with me statin = pain (extreme pain like someone pushing their knuckles into you ) .must have been 5 or 6 types I started on it got pains ,came off them after a week they went away but to make sure it was them and not my head repeated it more than once so after a year then doc finally relented and prescribed something else and have almost been pain free since I get more aches than pains now due to laziness and occasional effort for a few hours at a time now the big shiny yellow ball is back. I will wander down the river to get my disappointment there's nothing but trout and streamer weed unfortunately My best stretch was sold and the old owner moved and I have no idea who owns it now ,not worth finding out even for the £7 or whatever it is to look it's so neglected there's hardly 10 yards of gap to chuck in a bread fly . The other stretches were decimated by cormerants I visited several times last year (with several bog rolls wet wipes and a change of dress)and only caught trout and saw crayfish so I guess my fishings days are over aswell . As cleverer people have said doctors don't prescribe 100% great drugs they simply treat the side effects of problems and introduce more ,and no-one ever mentions if that handful of drugs you just took are mixing up more drugs in your stomach making it all worse ,you just hope the drugs side effects are less than the medical problems side effects your taking them for . My biggest fear is prostrate cancer I had the high bps for years and am on two drugs to shrink the prostrate (they do little!) all the consultant wants to do is scrape the inside of my eurethra but I want the gland removed completely and he refuses scraping will never stop cancer he wants to fix the side effects not the potential problem .

Joined the forum in 2007 and although I haven’t posted for a while; as my old iPad stopped letting me; as it was getting a tad too old (aren’t we all?); I still look in now and then and have started post from my new IPad it’s a shame we have lost so many of our old contributors though. I also miss the Species hunts we used to have during the seasons on here. Keith

Stubborn aswell lol

25 years! I remember you contacting me about the fishing database before the site even started. Happy days Now, health problems mean I haven't been fishing for years, though I live in hope of visiting the local park pond sometime in the near future. I've been away from here for too long, but am back now

Hi Keith, I've poured, Near on Boiling water onto about a sessions worth of the dried Meal worms and they've "Softened" to nice & Bendy so can now get a hook in ! Also, more palatable for the Fish - Will deffo' let you know after Sunday buddy.

One does need to ask questions in a certain (clever) way and be ready to challenge. Unfortunately the bicarb' advice by-passed my quizzical attention. I once asked Perplexity AI whether it would remember a successful challenge/correction to its advice: the answer was "No".

Ey Up fellas, Here's a Hook Keeper I did on 4 of my Rods in about an Hour !! Photo' shows all stages in one Pic' - Ladies Hair Grip, then bent and cut, then Hot Glued to the blank. The wire leg, goes Flat when cut. You Could Whip it on of course, but It's going "Nowhere" with the hot glue And, a quick job !! Maybe a bit of black paint or "Sharpie" now ?? Like, the 2nd Pic' under this one.

Will Do mate, I was thinking on a QM1 hook length with 2mm bait band (ready tied) which I already have and use for Maggots/small pellets etc. Maybe a shot 2 or 3 inch from Hook ? Will also try a few in some water to see if they take any on ? "Live" ones stay as Mealworms for 8 -10 weeks, then Pupate for 1 -4 weeks Look Soft at that stage too, so could be Killed in Freezer as well ? Google their "Life Cycle" .

I feed the garden birds with them (dried mealworms) and I’ve had the occasional robin taking them from my outstretched hand. They are full of protein but are very brittle, although it might still be possible to mount them onto a hook. Ive often thought of using them as a surface floating bait or Pop-up but haven’t tried them yet. If it’s possible to get a hook into them then it will be well worth trying them either as a surface bait or a pop-up bait. Or maybe if they were sprayed with water and left to soak it in they might go a bit softer and be a brilliant bait to try. You can also buy live ones in some pet stores; to feed to pets like lizards and small snakes etc. and these may be really worth trying for fishing. If you do try them; then let us know how you get on with them Keith

Hi Keith, last Saturday I went into a local pet food/tackle/bait shop and saw some Freeze Dried, Meal worms and look to be a generous Pint at £4.95 a sealed plastic bag. I'll get some this week to try on the hook & feed. Are they "Bendy" to get a hook in ? And, do they Sink or Float ? I've a Match at Tollerton, Sunday coming and this Lake is full of small Barbel and Decent Carp. Can always feed the birds with them, but I feel sure, they'll Catch !!

In the past when I’ve run out of maggots; I’ve caught fish on Woodlice that I found underneath a log, and a few garden slugs (chub loved these) and also crane flies; but it’s lively worms that have been the best natural bait for me and they’re free and can be found almost everywhere. But as everyone has already said; artificial Maggots are not very good at all unless they’re used alongside real ones (alive or dead) Keith