Spindle

And so your issue is what, exactly?

Ahem.... yeh he's a bully alright, for an 8 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Trying to work out if I can get away with walking him on a huge chain-lead and a studded collar

Weird things going on - one minute I can see my reply, the next I can't. Anyway, cleared my browser cache and now I'm back again. Yeh the CL1915 is definitely one that gets used (if only occasionally, like my fishing!). Out of all the pins I own or have owned, the 1915 and an old narrow-drum Speedia have given me the least problems. The 1915 is a beautifully made reel, ideal for everything from legering for barbel to trotting for smaller stuff. In my opinion you won't find a better made reel than Chris Lythe's. I've had others that haven't been so good. The one really disappointing one for me was the BJ2080 by Youngs. Such a lovely looking reel, nice build quality, but on numerous occasions it got pieces of grit under the mechanism and just ground to a halt! Maybe I was just unlucky with it. These days my money goes on the kids, the new puppy (!!), and photography - you thought fishing was expensive? I could have had three Chris Lythes for the amount I've spent of stuff for my photography this year. And even that isn't on the 'expensive' stuff!

Afternoon all Yeh, still about, just other things taking up my time now. Still love pins and fishing but don't fish nearly as much as I used to. Life gets in the way sometimes. Nice to see some old names on here that I recognise. Hope you are all well. Perhaps these may be of interest to you all: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JohnMilnerReels via a link off his main website: http://www.johnmilnerreels.com/ In addition, there is an American forum somewhere on t'net where guys make their own fly fishing reels, and some of those are just incredible. S-shaped handles (like the old Cascopedia), custom-designed/cut, things like that. Just incredible engineering. I so wish I had that talent. Glenn

RIP Fred. A great angler, a great author, a great inspiration. My condolences to his family, Ian. Glenn

Well, that's the last we'll hear from you Elton. It was fun knowing you...

Well done that man and yes I do know what it means to you. I always had a bit of a dream to be in Angling Times - I used to get AT when I was a lad. Thought I had the opportunity this year with my 13lb barbel - sent the pic off, "yes that'll be in next weeks", "sorry missed the deadline it'll be in the following week" etc. etc. Never went in. I was a bit gutted. Next time I won't bother trying.

I would try to aim for a decent centrepin that's £70 or less - anything above that and below £500, Okuma's got the market and it would be daft loyalty to buy anything else in my opinion (sorry!). Having seen one of the "sheffield"s the other day it's a bleedin' fine reel. Lack of line guard might put some off. So, either go for the "elite", or go for a reel that would be simple, cheap, but good quality, and minimal or no plastic parts! (urgh!!) Take the speedia - really really simple reel, probably could be knocked out for a fiver in china somewhere, yet it's a fantastic reel (nobody knows why, it just is!). Nothing fancy about it, it's just the right sort of size, spins really well, does the job.

RIP Gerry "argyll" - hope the fishing's good wherever you are now.

OK, so Lewtham Engineering then? Anyway, my list would be: - Either spokes or large finger-sized holes to assist retrieve - Solid drum but drilled for lightness (similar to the Youngs Bob James) - also a small hole drilled where the line can be poked through and tied to a bead on the other side - this is the best way to attach line to a pin, so no knot can get in the way when line is peeling off the reel during trotting. - PLAIN BEARING (ball bearing races just get grit under them!!!!!) - 4" diameter by 1" wide drum would be my preference - ideal size for most things, whether heavy barbel or light trotting - Handles that can be removed if preferred (I like them, others don't, give them the option) - Removable line-guard - some will want one, some won't. Preferably one that can be easily clipped on when required, or clipped off (rather than fiddling about with screws and so on). I rarely use a line guard but on a windy day I might just prefer one! - Not too garish colour - black, grey, purple - Button operated ratchet - a lever on the rim is popular but just gives something for the line to catch on There, do all that and you can have my order! Look, do what I did.... SELL THE BLOOMIN' THING!

On Radio 5-Live whenever they are talking about the Sports Personality Of The Year etc. they often talk about how there are probably many unsung heroes of the sportsworld, and then go on to joke about how many anglers write in trying to nominate Bob Nudd. Why is it a joke??? I see they've gone all out this year and included a gymnast called Beth Twaddle, and a horse called Zara or something...

No, it's a roach, fool!

Did anybody see anybody from the anti-brigade doing anything about the state of the rivers? No? Didn't think so. It was a great series - here's hoping for another! It's been the only TV show I've looked forward to watching in a long time.

What is it you want to know? You aren't going to get much "up to date" information about reels that haven't been in manufacturer for over 40 years!!!! Still, this forum has had plenty of discussion about pins in it's time - do some searches and you'll find plenty of info. If you're interested in the history of pins, there are a couple of books but nothing really special. Depends what you want to find out. JWYoungs who make a lot of the new pins available, also have some info on their older pins, available here: http://www.jwyoungs.co.uk/ And if you've got plenty of time, then there is this monster-thread on a forum across the pond with plenty of pics of old and new reels: http://www.questoutdoors.net/phpBB2/about172.html

In the past: Redmire for me - I wrote it up here: http://www.btinternet.com/~pickled.carp/redmireWriteUp.htm Now/future? Dunno - somewhere with barbel!

It's a show that's had good and bad feedback. Some expected a true out-and-out angling show I guess. For myself, let me take the opportunity to say I thought it was a fantastic show. And the Indian scenery was quite spectacular. You might be interested in what my friend wrote (in other forum): "Nice to see Mr Van Ingen is still alive. Wonderful old boy. I visited him at his home once and got a tour of his old taxidermy factory. He was one of the POW soldiers who built 'that' bridge over the river Kwai - loads of fascinating stories, he used to catch turtles in the river and smuggle them back into the POW camp under his shirt to feed the sick guys; death sentence if caught! He gave me a couple of scales from his brother's big mahseer which I treasure." Glenn

The thing is not to lose heart - keep at it, keep asking questions, keep learning, and eventually you'll improve your catch rate AND stand a better chance of catching what you aim for. When I was your age, all I ever usually caught were small fish. On the canal, this was likely because I wasn't feeding enough, wasn't groundbaiting, wasn't aware of the depth and so on. Now when I fish the canal (my parents house backs onto the GUC so I can fish off their back garden!) what I do is this - and bear in mind I'm no match angler, just a pleasure angler happy to catch a few fish: Approach your swim quietly, and sit well back from the edge. Don't ruin your chances before you start! Don't immediately throw a keepnet in and make a splash etc. Mix up a fairly dry groundbait - usually half standard breadcrumb, half "one of those van den eynde type bags" you can buy. You want a mix that will break up when it hits the bottom, creating a cloud. Throw three or four orange-sized balls in about four or five foot out (I usually fish the near shelf), plus one or two handfuls of maggot (I prefer red), and a few grains of sweetcorn. Use a plummet to measure the depth and get your hook hard on the bottom. I usually use a size 16 or 18 hook - the reason being I am going to use sweetcorn on the hook. Fish aren't always on the bottom, but it's a good place to start! And now start fishing! Feed regularly - about a dozen or so maggots every cast, the odd few grains of sweetcorn. Build up the swim gradually. This way, I tend to catch roach and bream, and the bream that I catch do fight, contrary to what you'll read! Also, consider putting out a "sleeper" rod on a bite-alarm, legering a larger bait - lobworm, meat, corn etc. hard against the far bank (carp often hug the sides of the canal). This seems to work for me. Maggots do catch the larger fish on canals, but they more often catch smaller fish. Put your faith in other baits such as corn, bread, cheese (small 5mm cubes on a small hook), lobworm etc. You won't necessarily get as many bites, but the fish you catch will likely be a better stamp of fish. The other thing to add is that it's colder weather now, so fishing can be harder than in summer. Have fun! And stick around on this forum or others - ask questions, plenty of people out there who can help!

I know, but nothing that couldn't be done with a fixed spool - a lot of the float control you do at long distance (and I say it this way cos Mr. P is a bit of a trotting master) is down to rod control (?). The centrepin does make it easier (you can adjust the line speed, retrieve a bit of line, let a bit of line out etc. all just by using your thumb). You could say long trotting is an art form, but that's not saying "using a centrepin" is an artform because of it. It's just a part of the bigger picture. It's too early for this...!

No, I agree there, they are not really that hard to use, but they take a little practice so as to reduce the chance of tangles, and improve their ability to cast when required. As for "the art", well there are a lot of aspects to using a pin. Simply trotting a float down letting line peel off the reel, well there isn't much to that really. The Wallis cast could be compared to a fly cast though - in that a well executed fly cast "feels right". Much the same as a well hit golf ball or snooker ball etc "feels right". A wallis cast gives me that same feel (when I get it right), and is a good feeling. I suppose wallis casting is one area of using a centrepin that could be considered an art form, but then a wallis cast isn't necessary to using a 'pin. So maybe it's the wallis cast that could be considered the art form, rather than the whole centrepin thing. Dunno. Don't really care, I just love 'em! And even if they are no better at catching fish than a closed face or whatever, I'd still use a pin.

There is never likely to be "the perfect line" - cos somebody will always want a line that stretches. You can't have it both ways. More information on "future lines" here: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpurefishin...inepreview.html

I've had two closed face reels in the past - a DAM CFM (?) [aka Coffee Grinder] and a Daiwa 125M. Sold 'em both. Awful things! Always quite fancied a 1044 though, my mate had one and it was a much nicer reel.

I sort of agree but it's difficult to define what would make a better angler than those you've named above. Take Bob Nudd... 4 times world champion??? That's something pretty special, and there aren't many anglers who could do that, in the limelight or otherwise...

The Adcock Stanton is very much like this, hence I don't use it much. For the same reason it doesn't wallis cast very well.

I borrowed a friend's and thought it a very nice lightweight reel. But that had been used a bit before so may have "run in". I believe they are made in the far east too... (?)

http://www.fishinggiftvouchers.co.uk/vouchers/bobjames.htm "The double whammy: the best river with the best fisherman" "See Bob in action & share the secrets of his success" "A day of your own with a man they call ‘Mr Fishing’ Mind you, I've heard him called other things to!