Davor

Bit late on this thread but I've been using an MFA Thunderbolt for about 3 years now and I'd never go back. Charges off a car battery charger and although it's only meant to last 14 hours I've had it on much longer. Excellent ammount of light once the bulb warms up (it's one of those curly low energy things, only takes a few minutes). It is a little heavy but I think the newest version is lighter. For convenience it's unbeatable.

I'm just glad its not only me who suffers with this affliction. When it comes to rods n reels I always have an urge to buy two, there's something about the symmetry when they're in the rest. I'm not like it with anything else, well, maybe shoes and socks.

I live for the day that someone comes up with something that genuinely works as well as fresh. They actually look great, lets hope they do the business.

I'll be prefectly honest, I know very little about conservation measures or proposed conservation measures. What I don't understand is why us? If all 1,000,000 of us went fishing today and all had a reasonable days catch we'd barely scratch the surface of what the commercial fleet take on the same day. Imposing restrictions on us would seem to me like banning push-bikes to protect road surfaces but leaving cars and lorries alone. Am I missing something?

One thing I noticed recently is that I almost have the fishing equivalent of the dart players 'dartitis'. I'm so conscious of not striking too early that I find it difficult to actually pick a moment. However, the most horrifying thing about striking is trying to teach a child. I bet there's more than one dad on here that's been through this scenario.

Tough one because it's easy to see both sides of the argument. Glad it's not me that has to sort it out.

Three is probably enough for the fishing actually, my normal group is me and 2 mates. Having had a look around in the last hour these Merry Fishers look like nice little boats. One thing I don't really understand due to a lack of basic knowledge is the price differences between similar looking boats. The Arvor models that appear comparable seem much more expensive than the Jeanneaus.

That looks a nice boat. You never know, given the time of year it might still be around when I'm ready to buy. Do you think it comes with a Hazel though? Because if I 'encouraged' my missus to keep me and my mates fed and watered while we fished I suspect I might have a long swim home.

Apologies for jumping right in with questions without contributing anything but here goes. I live in Plymouth and have shore fished all my life but bizarrely, given my location, I've never fished from a boat, not once. Currently I'm having a mini mid-life crisis (rapidly approaching 40) and whilst looking for a cure to the boredom of day to day life suddenly hit upon the idea of buying a boat. Don't panic, I've already contacted the sailing school and got dates for the courses they suggest and I shall also be tracking down a copy of the book I see Neville Merritt has written. My question is more to do with the reality of combining what I want with what the woman wants. I want a boat that 4 can fish comfortably from and the good lady will require it to have certain comforts when it's used for leisure (somewhere to sit out of the weather, possibly sleep, toilet etc..). Is it a pipe dream to combine the two? Can a boat be kept clean if it's used for fishing (woman clean that is, not what I consider clean), are boats aimed at leisure just unsuitable for fishing and vice versa? I certainly can't stretch to a new boat but have a budget of maybe £20k with a bit of movement either way. Thanks in advance for any help.