Errrm

I keep thinking maybe I should actually try and apply my job (computer programming) skills to fishing some how and write a rig simulator which would allow you to design a rig and then run it over several thousand simulations of a fish picking the rig up with slightly different directions and swimming speeds etc to see how effective the rig is...... I don't think it would be that hard to write the simulation.... the editor to design the rigs might be the hardest part though...... maybe one for the winter :-).

No problem, possibly it will be best to do it after the BBQ on the way back to my swim. It is really easy though :-)

I have to agree with everything that's been said here. If you do order one and want someone to show you how to put it up then let me know and I'll come and show you. If it feels like you are putting too much force on the poles then it is usually because you are opening it up incorrectly in my mind.

I have one and have currently had any problems with the poles breaking, I'm really happy with it. I have the two man version because I have been told the 1 man is fairly small and only good for overnighters without much stuff to store. I've only had mine for a season but once I got used to setting it up it's been fine.

Thanks :-)

Are you fishing the carp lake for eels again?

That's great, thanks. If possible will there be another spare pair of long banksticks?

If possible I would need to borrow bank sticks, I can probably make do with the bobbins I have and tape them half way down the poles rather than screw them under the alarms to give them a much longer drop.

Thanks, I have some thin pike trace wire that I use to make traces for light lure fishing so I will give that a go.

Anderoo, how do you thread 3ft of it on to the line? I struggle to get a foot of it when I have tried it.

Only 1??? ;-)

Thanks Steve. It depends on the conditions and swim if I'll try float fishing. Will perch get hooked by bolt rigged maggots? I'm haven't watched perch feed much but they do tend to inhale baits so would bolt rigged red maggots on a shortish braid hook length work? Don't they move away quickly with the bait to stop other perch getting it? This might help set the hook? The idea for the ground was to just get worm juices, some form of attractant out into the swim possibly with a Spod, I would be doing the spodding earlier on in the day I think and fishing lob worms over the top until night. Going fishing tomorrow in the hope of trying some new rigs on an easy water....... Fingers crossed :-) Edit - I was thinking about using tinned tuna fish to get more fish flavour into the water would this help or hinder the perch fishing? I know they don't like sea baits so i'm guessing it wouldn't help and would only attract tench and eels?

I was thinking about fishing in such a way as to attract either of them but part of me says that would be cheating and another part suggests I would be compromising when fishing for a specific species would be better. At the moment I'm thinking that fishing specifically for tench i.e. pellets, fake baits would stop me catching perch but fishing specifically for Perch with lobs, chopped worms, lots of maggots, worm extract etc will quite likely catch my tench if they are in the area anyway so I that might be an option.... If only one species got big in the lake it would be a lot easier :-).

Keeping my fingers crossed at the moment :-). I bit of advice from the Wingham guys (especially Steve B if he has time). Everytime I go to Wingham I think about targetting the Perch but I always get distracted by the Tench..... now this might happen again but I thought I would get some advice :-). Do the perch feed that much in May at Wingham? My only attempts so far at Wingham to catch a perch was float fishing but I would most likely be ledgering/bobbins this time, would you suggest just a heavy lead and longish hook length 18 inches or longer, or is there something better I could try? Bait wist I would be guessing lob worms would be best but what about feed? I was thinking chopped worms and red maggot both alive and dead, I know you can get groundbait additives for predators, are these any good? What sort of groundbait if any would be useful? During the night I would be swicthing to probably fake maggots or something over the same spot for tench. Any advice would be great, although as soon as I read previous catch reports I'm sure I will be tempted by giant tench again :-). Edit - Would something like this with brown crumb work well.... http://www.ccmoore.com/worm-protein-extract-p-1288.html

I quite like it so far, my only problem is it's weight which if you are spodding for a long time then it can be quite tiring but how heavy it is compared to more expensive rods I'm not sure. Also I haven't had to cast that far with it, I've probably had to cast one of the larger korda spods maybe 60-70m max. I'm not sure how far I could cast if I really tried. Hopefully if you are still looking at Wingham I'll be there and you can do all my spodding for me to see if you like it ;-)

I use the TFG Banshee Spod Rod, my dad needed a cheap carp rod so I got this one free with his rod, it seems ok but I'm definately no expert on Spod rods. If they still have the deal you could get the Spod rod and a marker rod in the 2 for 1 deal. If I get a place at Wingham and you are there and wanted to see it I should be using it...... Although I'm guessing you would probably have bought one by then :-)

Congratulations Steve! You must be thrilled with the start to the season :-). I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys on the course fishing sydicate that it starts of like this when the fish wake up :-). Although these are hugh carp and it's looking like you have a good chance to breka the 50lb barrier this season, they are still a way off the british record, do you think any of the fish will get close to this? I know fish of this size are generally freak fish but do you have any thoughts about how big they will end up?

No Problem Budgie, I'll send you an email about the it at some point today. The question was really to anyone but Dales seems to just starting catfish fishing so I was interested how he found switching to fish for Catfish :-).

Dales, How did you find switching over to catfish fishing from say Carp/Tench style fishing? It's something I've thought about having a go at just for the experience but I'm not sure where to fish, how to fish etc at the moment :-)

I barely post anymore and only read just because of a lot of arguments which start up sometimes (not always though) due to something fairly innocuous

Lol I was carp fishing though although I was using a bait that I was aware that they would take just in case, if you are really interested then I can let you know the lake in Cambridgeshire, it's a fairly inexpensive carp syndicate which normally has spaces and there are loads of big eels, reports of 8-9lb eels from carp fisherman not sure if they are weighed though, but it wouldn't suppose me they were a nightmare on fishmeal baits :-)

When I look back on the season I feel I haven't had that great a season but when I actually look at it as how many PBs I got it probably wasn't bad.... I think it was mostly down to not catching that many fish and experimenting more and trying new stuff out which has been fun :-). Highlights.... New PB Carp - 25lb-11oz New Eel PB - 5lb 8oz New Tench - PB 8lb 9oz Last season my main goal was a 20lb carp which I achieved but I think if I do much carp fishing this year I will be aiming to consistently catch fish up to my PB, I'm beginning to think PBs are a bit more about getting lucky then consistantly catching good sized fish. Also I started lure fishing at the end of the season and caught my first river pike and had fun wondering about on a river bank. Main plans for this season, get better at catching with session style tactics (i.e. better rigs, baiting, position etc) and start lure fishing hopefully out in the Fens, light lures, roving and hoping for some chub, perch and pike :-). I've never fished in the Fens before, does anyone fish them at all?

Thanks for the advice, I was looking at something like the Abu Garcia Vendetta Cast (http://www.harrissportsmail.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19153) until I realised it it wasn't for use with a fixed spool reel (Is this correct?) so I'll have a look at the rod you mentioned.

Hi, I'm thinking about the coming year and what to do and I think I'm finally going to look at taking advantage of living in the fens area and try fishing them. I was hoping to be try light spinning for Perch/Chub/Pike and have been reading a bit about different rods etc. A lot of the threads seem to be quite old and the rods aren't available anymore so does anyone have any suggestions for light spinning rods to look at? Also what size rod would you go for? I'm really just looking to get out on to the fens and get used to fishing them and find out which areas contain fish. I was going to set whichever rod I buy up with a small fixed spool reel loaded with some form of braid (probably 15-20lb). So basically, what weight lures/spinners should I be looking at (I've been looking at mepps, what size mepp spinners should I be looking at?) to target a wide range of fish? I'm quite happy catching Pike so that's not an issue either. Any other advice would be great :-) Errrm

I think my point was probably more that if you are using a slack line with a running rig you would need to make sure that the weight was heavy enough to hold position as the fish picked up the bait, too light a weight and the weight would move instead of the line/bobbin and so indication would not be as good. Androo explains it better I think in an above post.