grayson

Never heard of it- really? Not as in Teesside perhaps ? Southerners....... But it is a lovely river and its upper stretches are absolutely stunning scenically.Used to fish for trout and grayling there and it is beyond all doubt the most vicious bastard of a river to wade ! My one choice would be the Wye (the big one in Herefordshire).Never seen it let alone fished it but looks and sounds big enough and wild enough to keep me going for years.

Common sight in April in N Yorks- have seen on Swale (in big numbers- river lamprey) and brook lamprey on Cod Beck, Rye and Seph .Extraordinary spectacle to watch them spawning from a few inches away!

Sorry- no intention to be unkind to you but to a make a general point. And in your position of course I would do exactly the same by fishing whatever was available to me.

If an overstocked puddle is the only show in town I can of course fully understand your point.But please let us not see all fishing reduced to a risk assessed synthetic experience because some people have difficulty in accessing some waters. I couldn't climb a Munro in the highlands because I am an unfit 50 something- but I want other people to continue doing so whilst I stumble around on my tame little walks.

The real issue is that anyone who dares to utter a heartfelt view unqualified by a craven 'it's just my humble opinion' is so often termed a snob. I love fishing for wild fish of any species and I find overstocked commercial puddles an abomination and a denial of everything I hold dear about my sport .If that makes me a snob so be it.....

Not quite right-on nontidal rivers the adjoining landowner usually but not always owns the river bed up to the centre of the river and controls the fishing and other rights- boating, shooting etc.It is possible to sell or lease these rights to a third party or to reserve them for yourself even though you have sold the land over which the river runs. Some rivers are navigable- so the boat user has the right to sail along river but not necessarily to moor it.Tidal waters and fishing rights are usualy owned by the crown but are available free to all. Sorry to go on- but you can do a land registry search and this will usually show the details of land ownership.

Because I am dipping a toe into more coarse fishing than previous fly only seasons I have been buying some stuff to replace vintage gear- Mitchell 300s and other museum pieces.The good news- new Shimanoes(bait runners of various sizes) fantastic.New Fox Chub and Barbel rods- superb New barbel net - nice big circular job bought last Autumn.Appalling- had a flip up facility (which I didn't really need )which lasted 3 trips and a bit of mud.The arms have now pulled irretrievably out of the not so cheap but very nasty spreader block. New rod rests- nice funky design- shame the spikes pulled off when I removed them from ground .Shame the soft feel rubber heads' thread stripped because..ermm..I screwed them on- gently. Extendable specimen type carbon landing net pole- either won't lock at all at desired extension or locks solid and has to be taken home at full stretch as it were. All above items from well known quality firms. There is not the space to tell you just how crap my designed in Alnwick built in Christ knows where breathable water cooled £299 chest waders are ....

I used to believe in all that humourless guff about rod hours and putting your time in etc as if fishing were some type of job.Strange that when I woke up and decided to enjoy each and every trip as a treat , not a duty- which probably coincided with getting reasonably good at flyfishing- I have caught more and bigger than ever before .And if I had to endure 50 trips a year out of which only a handful were successful I would find another sport pretty damn quick. So I wouldn't make a very good session carp man then - tried that and when it sunk in that all the mindlessly tedious hours waiting for a run were not fishing in any meaningful sense to me- more like sensory deprivation- I decided that I needed something which involvd a little more activity than contemplating my navel!

It 's been a cracking winter for some of us in the North East- if North North Yorkshire counts.Lots of chub- big baits even in the cold - and good piking on the rivers.I hardly see a soul on the riverbank these days- God knows why as the fishing is superb as long as you adapt to the conditions, keep on the move and fish with confidence.

Chest waders - easy really , put them on , enter river ,catch fish , go home.Some care needed in deep/rocky water/fast water , doddle the rest of the time.Wading staff at all times ? Only if you want to clutter yourself up with stuff you dont need.Vital on some rivers - would not go near Upper Tees for example without them but unnecessary on many waters .

Always had a hankering to catch a big roach - but this wish has been on the back burner for a long time since I had some lovely roach from the Nidd - to just below the magic 2 - many years ago.Anyway, I was fishing for chub on the Swale yesterday and had a steady day in the cold- couple pf fish - one at 4-9 so good to be out.But the stretch I was fishing looked very roachy - first time I had fished it and I got to thinking I should give it a go.Anyone had recent encounters with big roach from this river ?

It is a stunning piece of work and the underwater scenes take one's breath away.The venues are - in the main- lovely ; but having never seen the Gt Ouse barbel water I was amazed how small it was and utterly unlike what a barbel river should look like. If I have a niggle it is the fact that the dvd is devoted only to the fish and the admirable Bernard Cribbins apart there is not a hint of personality from Martin Bowler.I am sure he is a lovely guy etc but he is not a natural in front of the camera and most of what he has to say is near inaudible.Maybe he is the Stig of the fishing world ? The Yates /James lovefest in Passion did get toe curling but you were aware of strong personalities and I am not here.But that is a minor thing- Hugh Miles is a bloody genius and Bowler is one hell of an angler.

Sorry to drone on but the line is just fine.Used same line as hooklength today- but with mono main line - and no problems.The weird thing on the braid breaks is that it isn't a case of whacking hard into the fish on the strike - when the breakages have happened there has been momentary resistance , not enough to even get the clutch going or the rod well bent over and then back comes broken hooklength.Will persevere with mono for time being but am missing the feel of braid already- the fight is just so much more 'real'.

To clarify - the braid has never broken and my knots haven't either,the break occurs in the hooklength.I am using a set up etc that is identical to one I have used for many seasons without this problem.The hooklength is 8 lbs bs.The chub I caught yesterday- when I didn't have the problem that is - ranged from 2 lbs to 5-4. I have caught many pike and some salmon and whilst most salmon and some pike certainly pull hard so does a good chub when bolting for a snag on its first run.Not getting into a mine pulls harder than yours discussion but I certainly do not take any chances in tackle on anything I fish for including the humble chub .The rod , BTW, is a 12' Avon- not particularly fast action.

Thanks for this; very helpful.Is there a knot you would recommend for braid/nylon join ? And do you think a braid hooklink is also worth exploring- bearing in mind that I do use v short leaders for some of my winter fishing ? Re strike- I do strike but not as hard as when I was using all nylon.But I amfishing up to 25yds range and 10' deep in a powerful river- have found barbel will hook themselves but not chub

I use braided line extensively for my winter chub fishing and am delighted with it, especially the feel when playing fish.But I have had a problem which reoccured twice today and would appreciate advice.I have had several breakages of the hook length - not against big pressure but on the strike.I feel a tiny resistance- not enough to break the line, the rod hardly bends but back comes the hooklength broken above hook.It's not biteoffs - am fishing the same river,same method , same hooklength as I have for seasons and never experienced with nylon.I am using 10bs braid and 8lb powerline hooklength.I suspect it is fact that no stretch in braid so all of the strike goes into the 8-10" 'point' and it just cannot absorb it.Most of time it doesnt happen but want to avoid a repetition for obvious reasons- help ? Want to keep using braid as I miss far fewer bites but what do I do- use braid hook length too ? Or what ? Have tried other nylon BTW and none has been 100%

Tench - Pontefract Park Lake circa 1962; I had caught lots of sticklebacks before but this was the real deal- it pulled back using all of its 10 oz weight.I knocked it on the head only to find it still alive when I got home and released it in local lake where I hope it had a long and happy life.First game fish a brown trout from a small stream in Aberdaron, Lleyn Peninsula circa 1963

It 's not fishing Janet- it's research.Or so I tell Mrs A anyway.

Hi Janet - sound like you had a good day.I have just had a good session on the Swale - five fit chub to around 4lbs.Hope to meet you again if I take up Martin's invitation on the Ribble.New book 20k words up and ...oh bugger..about 70k to do !

Ah..cheesepaste.A bait I have been using for chub since 1972 and it still outfishes anything else on my rivers (Yorkshire,especially Swale).Current evolution of definitive recipe is - a couple of packs of Danish Blue, put in large mixing bowl, add golden breadcrumbs, a good dunk of olive oil, a tablespoon of turmeric, a spalsh of Nam Pla(Thai fish sauce) and a half cup of water.Knead with hands to produce smoothish mixture.Store overnight and will be a lovely deep yellow.Attach size 4 hook, a pad of crust and a lump of the said cheese.Cast in and catch chub.QED

I have strongly held views on this subject and that is why I state them. Which is..um..sort of what forums are about really. Don't expect everyone to agree but wouldn't life be tedious if we all thought the same or had to qualify every view by some craven' it's just my humble opinion ' equivocation ? I don't really think I am guilty of a 'random attack' unless disagreement constitutes an attack.Still struggle to get the random bit though.Ho hum. The serious point I make is that fishing - to me- is the pursuit of wild creatures in their natural environment and whilst overstocked puddles are already way outside that definition to floodlight them just turns this manifestation of the sport into even more of a parody. Like many , I have seen much loved waters utterly destroyed in the interests of ensuring they are easy, predictable and tedious. Plenty of trees cut down because the poor loves can't cast properly , banks flattened to make every swim the same and so on.

If you think fishing under floodlights is acceptable then you practise a different sport to mine.Tell you what though- antis will love it.Just don't drag the rest of us down when commonsense kicks in and nasty little overstocked puddles are subject to some careful scrutiny by the mainstream press.Hear that noise- it's poor old Dick Walker revolving in his grave.Who's he then ?