Miggy

Ok mate, I must admit I used them on the pole and they were perfect, if you're casting with them I wouldnt let them get too soft before you take them out of the water. Good Luck. Mitch

I bought some Dynamite Bait Amino Acid pellets that were supposed to be hookable and they broke apart as soon as I hooked them. A mate recommended some pond pellets that he uses from the pet shop. I was a little sceptical at first, but he told me he had some success with them when match fishing as a kid. I used them and they were great...the fish went mad for them...So you may want to give them a whirl...plus, they were cheap aswell Mitch

I caught a couple of nice tench and bream on luncheon meat whilst night fishing. I cut a cube of roughly half an inch in size..and hair-rigged it on a size 10... It stayed on well for a couple of casts and probably would have stayed on all night...but I opted to change it quite often Mitch

32... not bad to say im only 15 pfft ..

Just wondering, can anyone help me out... I have a goldfish, who is about 10 years old. About 4 weeks ago he developed a large lump on his left hand side. He has lost some scales around this area and the lump is vivid orange in colour. He is not showing any signs of discomfort and is eating well...The condition of his water/tank is fine. Recently a small opening resembling a cut has appeared on the lump. Does anyone have an Idea what the problem is? Mitch

Very Nice

Cheers fellas thats cleared things up for me... I'll be making the mix tonight and didnt want it to go to waste so turned to AN Mitch

Ok thanks Worms. I think I will fish with it and argue that it is purely a mix of loose feed and if I am told that I am not able to fish it, then I will try something else

Tomorrow I plan to fish a lake close to me for the first time. I am planning to use the pole with a selection of hookbaits. However, the rules state that you are not allowed to use groundbait... I was planning to liquidise some hemp, and use it in conjunction with half a pint of pellets, some whole hemp and sweetcorn to create 'slop' type mixture. I was wondering whether if I cupped this in with the pole cup, whether or not it would be classed as a 'groundbait' so to speak. Cheers Mitch

I can't stand people like that...just smile and nod politely ... then embarass him where it counts most ...guarenteed you will still be 'lucky' in his eyes... Congrats on the nice haul btw and pb tench.. I caught my first tench at the weekend lovely fish

Can anyone give me an esimate on the weight of the tench -in their opinion- please

The bottom ones are with the same camera... and the pictures are clear, but when I enhanced them they became unclear, but they allow you to see the shape and size better than almost total darkness...

I got a phone call late Friday evening from my uncle asking whether I would like to fish an overnight session. Having only ever fished 2 previously -and thinking it would be rude to refuse... I jumped at the chance, but at 7 o'clock on a friday evening there are -of course- not many tackle shops open, and -barring a couple of bags of pellets in the shed I had no bait. So raiding my mums kitchen cupboards was in order... Having found half a loaf of bread, a tin of luncheon meat and some vanilla essence and red food colouring, I decided to fish the method feeder with a white crumb groudbait and a hair-rigged piece of luncheon meat. So after blitzing the loaf..and making a mess of the kitchen I grabbed a carp rod, and bite alarm with my chair and I was ready.. My Uncle and I arrived at the lake at roughly 9:45 and were setup just after 10, but, as ever, I had forgot something. The Day Shelter... so a phone call to mother again was in order and -very kindly- she nipped it through to the lake for me Mothers ey... I left my uncle with the gear at about 11:30 to get my shelter from the car park, on my way back i heard the sound of my bite alarm going off, again..., however, when I got there my rod was still in the water and everything was quiet, and my bite alarm didnt move. I decided to refill the method feeder and bring the rod in, but when I picked it up, it was heavier than usual and I could feel that a fish was most definitely on and after a stereotypical poor fight the first fish of the night was in the net - a nice bream. Here's the bream, I apologise for the quality of the photos as they were taken in the dark with my headtorch, and the first is quite blurry, I have tried my best to edit the photos to enchance the lighting, but anyways... A good bream by my standards and a good start... the next fish came at roughly 1:30, the bites were more confident and having taken my time to strike; I didnt want to have to re-cast without a fish, I struck on a confident bite and I was in again... however, this one was a little heavier and the fight was stronger, after a few minutes I had the fish wallowing on the surface and my uncle was ready to net it, at this point I thought it may be a carp which would have been great, but when I got it on the bank I was amazed...My First Tench!! and a decent size too.. For the record I have always wanted to catch a tench; they are -in my opinion- lovely fish. This one looked about 5 1/2 to 6lb in my opinon, but having left my phone in the shelter, after I got it I didnt want to keep the fish out of the water for too long so I didnt bother weighing it, I wish I had now, but it didn't matter... Here's the tench... Can you give me your opinions on an estimate of the weight please There is also a dark picture of me holding the tench to give you another Idea of the length... After calming down somewhat, about an hour later I received similar bites ad again struck into a fish, smaller this time, but what a fight, it ran straight for the weed and across my uncles line, sending his bite alarm into a frenzy, after a longer fight this time I had the fish in the shallows and eventually in the net... Another Tench!! Not one for a few years and 2 in one night!! One of roughly 4lb this time, but I dint get a good photo, I will put it up, but it's hard to see A little while later my uncle, after having no luck on pellets changed to luncheon meat and after a short while he landed a nice bream also... shortly followed by another nice bream from my rod, and as the sun rose the fishing grew quiet and we had only a few small bites. So I grabbed a few nice photos and we packed up about 6am. A great night for me and my first Tench...also, my first fish landed at night!! Mitch...

Hi Mate, usually I buy groundbait from the tackle shop, but on friday night i used blended white bread with vanilla essence and red food colouring. Obviosly its not the best, but it works, I had 2 tench and 2 bream all of good size. It is thought that adding spices can help and anything that would boost flavour. Sure there are better out there, but if you're stuck for ingredients -and time- it seems to work well for me. For the record I fished a hair-rigged cube of luncheon meat over the top. Mitch

Ok Budgie, no worries mate.

I don't claim to be a 'carper' and of course I understand that there is no set length which is why i stated; "I would advise.." a rig of such a length; it seems to work for me. Mugins clearly also doesnt claim to be a 'carper' and is why he asked for advice. I don't claim -either- to be 'qualified' in any way, but if I use a technique that works why shouldn't I share it? It is more -in my opinion- trial and error as to distinguishing which length works best, so, I have to ask...It is possible to be qualified to give a 'definitive' answer?

It Depends how big the bait you are using is. For example say you are using a 15mm boilie then I would advise roughly a 20mm Hair because you need to have enough room to insert a bait stop and leave a small gap between the hook and the bait if you so wish. Mitch

I know Matt Hayes uses a productive method for catching off the surface ... He loose feeds dog biscuits or floating pellets and then hair rigs a pop-up that he has cut down to the same shape as a dog biscuit -one that is similar in colour- and fishes this in conjuction with a controller float. You can get various diagrams if you look around. Another way is to use a pole and use the same bait without a float and just dangle the bait on the surface in among the dog biscuits. It is best to use a pop-up as the hookbait ; it doesnt take on water as easily and you can make numerous casts with it. Mitch

If its carp you're after ron thompson does an 11m pole called Gangster Carp for £89.99. I've never used it but it sounds ok, might be worth a look. It comes with 2x power kits and an elastic rating of 12-20 You can buy one from the fishtec website i believe www.fishtec.co.uk Mitch

Most Rigs I believe are 4 Metres long and the amount of line from float to pole tip can vary, but it is a good Idea to have enough line so that you can lift the pole tip ready to net the fish However, If possible it is better to have as little line touching the water as possible so as not to 'spook the fish' so, it varies from angler to angler. Mitch

Many Happy Returns

When i was younger, I got 2 of them up my shirt !! Was(p)'nt pleasant, but on a rule they dont bother me too much .. Mitch

Hi mate.. I havent been myself but maybe you should take a look at catmaster tours, they seem quite reliable and have a few magazine ads etc here and there Mitch

Stunning

Quality, Nice catch mate