Frummo

I haven't yet read the thread but seeing its title I thought I'd add something. If it's off-topic, sorry. I'll wince when I've read it all through. I lived in Tasmania in the 70's, an amazingly beautiful island, covered in lakes and rivers, many of them very wild. Whether it's changed I don't know, but it was a DESERT where coarse fishing was concerned. There were quite few places with introduced Rainbows - including monsters in Lake Pedder. The native fish are restricted to the Blackfish - a small and unsporting species of which I have caught quite a few until I lost interest - particularly after eating a couple. There's also the Galaxias (sp? memory a bit dodgy here) which we always referred to as the Minnow. Which says it all really. This was slightly offset by the presence of the freshwater lobsters (which I believe may be the full-grown versions of the local "Yabbies" - a sort of Cray). Not exactly a "coarse fish" but to be recommended accompanied by brown bread and beer. One general comment about fish names in Oz is that they are, or at least were, very inconsistent leading to some amusement and confusion...

My favourite swim on a local river is far enough from any car parking to deter all but the most persistent and enthusiastic anglers (ie me) from using it. It's my reliable standby as it's comfortable, sheltered, deep, and has proved very productive if inconsistent. Anyway I like it; nobody about, the birds tweeting - and the bullocks groaning as they contemplate their future. Unfortunately this year's bullocks are a pest. On the 18th they followed me - about 50 of them - all the way from the first gate to the swim, which is near the next field gate. The area round the gates is always chewed up and sh1t-strewn, but this time it's spectacular. And they've chosen the swim as a drink so it's a crappy swamp. This I could almost handle if it weren't for the fact that they won't leave me alone. There's something disconcerting about trying to fish with a circle of cattle above head height behind you; they seem more interested in me fishing than in eating although previous years' batches usually wombled off after a while. I spoke to the farm manager to ask if he'd be offended if I shooed them off but he was right - they are very inquisitive and always come right back. I may have to abandon the swim this year which is a shame, even if it encourages me to experiment more. A bigger problem is that a club I belong to has a stretch of river which is very inacessible (actually it has quite a few and they are little fished) one of which I have been told frequently contains a bull, either with a herd or on its own. Now I grew up around farming and always treated bulls with caution although I know the theory is that they're supposed to be little risk when they're with a herd: I remember the feeling... If the route to the river was next to an ordinary fence I'd be less worried, however it's mostly by the fence of a waterworks which is pretty impenetrable. This is deterring me from trying what I believe to be a beautiful stretch of river. It's not even easy to detect whether there's a bull present until past the point of difficult return. What's the general opinion on the risks associated with cattle? Any advice? - like whether to clout with a bank stick or not in an otherwise impossible sitution; always fancied myself as a matador.

I'm fishing a deep and fast flowing river so using slider floats with small rod rings has always seemed very troublesome. Recently I looked at ads for 17ft and 18ft Maver rods - one's priced between £70 and £100, but I noticed that there's no mention of "carbon" in the spec. The other one (Reactorlite?) is priced at about £150-200. I seem to recall seeing a weight difference of about 100g between them. These are long enough to allow me to trot a fixed float in most locations without the constant hassle of float-round-the-tip or hook-in-the-grass. Anyone used them or have any useful comments? The price difference is 100%+ so I'd have to think hard about the choice.

Every fishmonger's shop I look at has tiny "Sea" Bass on sale - way undersize. Where do they come from? Are they farmed? I'd have thought that if they're being farmed the farms would bother to grow them to a decent size before selling them. If they're coming off the local boats (w. Sussex in my case) a few people need locking up.

Well, after tightening the grub-nut I thought that the problem had gone away entirely. It's better but it still takes a while before the full drag setting comes back - and it's a horrible sensation to wind against slippage - unnerving. Probably not a disaster waiting to happen, but.. In a nutshell, which is the overall favourite closed face float reel - assumng you can get a good example? 506? 507? Anyone tried the Daiwa 124M?

Chavender wrote: "check the little grubnut is tight (its under the z spring ,as its should be hand tight ) " Spot on Chavender - it was very loose. Bl00dy weird design these beasts - the arrangement looks distinctly under-engineered to me! Asking for trouble to poke about in there on the bank I can see bits dropping out instantly. It's maybe worth noting one gotcha: that the little brass grub-nut is actually left hand threaded (ie tightens anti-clockwise), to match the way the rotor's tightened no doubt! Bit of thread creep here, but those "Contact 400's" (easily confused with an antique cold remedy) are beauties. I wouldn't fancy trying to fish with them though. Good to hear that other people like these closed face reels, they really are great for float fishing, it's just a shame they are pretty crude - in my opinion. Anything better in the US? Thanks for the help folks.

It's tackle maintenance season again! I have one of the reels mentioned in the title of this thread. I must say that for light float fishing it's the dog's. I had it for about a year before I tried it, remembering what crap closed face reels were "when I were a lad" but having used it regularly I love the damned thing (must try a centrepin again one day: pity the prices are such a complete joke). The problem with the Abu is that it has a "half drag" position engaged (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say "disengaged") by back winding a bit - the anti reverse is on. The reel should return to the full drag setting when you wind normally again, but it takes its time to do this - sometimes numerous turns. This is a bit alarming if you have a decent fish on at the time. I haven't had the nerve to dismantle it, although I don't think it can be too complicated. I certainly isn't over supplied with ball bearings - the other obvious shortcoming of the reel. And yes, before someone says it, I agree that setting the drag correctly and leaving it that way would work around the problem but it's all too easy to accidentally back wind a bit - and anyway the half-drag principle is good if it worked consistently. Anyone had a similar problem who can suggest the remedy?

Budgie said: "I remember fishing most still waters in the 70's at the weekend and you would commonly fish more or less side by side." I first started fishing in about 1960, in local gravel pits, and a that time I would have fished an overcrowded swimming pool if it contained anything over about two ounces. At one point I fished a gravel pit for a few weeks whilst it was actually being filled in with garbage - transporting fish in a bucket across a busy bypass to transfer them into one of the club pits. I also used to fish for my local club team where nowadays the idea of match fishing gives me the willies (which is not to say that I don't understand why other people enjoy it). Odd how our perspectives change with time even more than conditions do. A stretch on one of the small local rivers has started to produce quite a few Barbel in the last couple of years and nowadays whenever there's been a bit of rain it looks as though there's a match on. Quite why I find this so depressing I'm not sure, but I do. Nice Gudgeon Janet!

Er, um, well if you don't think that you are never mind, but I am - far better probably. No doubt about it really... What I meant was that most people have to earn a living by doing something other than fishing - or making TV programmes. Which leaves most of us short of comparable opportunities. And there's the cost of travel, accommodation etc. Whether these guys are "better" or not doesn't really mean much unless you see angling as a competition, which, speaking only for myself, I don't.

What all these TV anglers offer is equivalent to fishing pornography. They can all be pretty annoying sometimes, particularly as most of us never get the oportunities that they do. The only TV angler I've seen who sems to be a really interesting person is the presenter of "Jungle Hooks". I loved the live plane crash to - you don't see Wilson or Hayes or the loathsome Paul Young offering anything that exciting.

Well, I thought that might wind a few people up, but it was meant half-seriously. Just to make it clear I do actually make the effort to fish parts of local rivers that are either difficult (like tidal stretches) or swims that require a long walk carrying too much gear. Despite the joke about bivvies and bed-chairs I too sometimes like to spend days fishing in comfort with a choice of tackle, enough to eat and drink - and in the shade... I just prefer it if there are no other human beings within sight or earshot. For perspective I just saw an episode of the horrible "Hooked on Fishing" with the abominable Paul "Bonnie Trrrout!" Whatsit - an episode appropriately called "Combat Fishing". Blimey, if it's bad here try those rivers in Canada full of Pacific Salmon and almost as many anglers elbow to elbow. Most of them seemed to be trying to lift double figure fish out of the water using the rod as a crane. Must try that. Horrifying - both banks solid with anglers of all varieties thrashing the water. Saw a nice technique though - using a float (sorry, make that a "Bobber" - aaaarrrgghhh!) with a fly rod..... Overall, if it was like that over here I'd rather take up golf, which has always struck me as redefining the word "boring" - or even weekly root-canal treatment for that matter.

I wish I'd read this thread before posting a new topic (too many anglers) on more or less the same lines. Moderators can amalgamate it if they see fit!

Last weekend I was horrified to see a supplement in one of the weekend "quality" papers devoted to the joys of angling. The contributors included a couple of minor celebs (mercifully my mind has blanked out the details) extolling the joys of angling, complete with tackle recommendations and costs. I'd prefer to have seen an article overstating its dangers, frustrations and ever-increasing expense. Call me a miserable old git, but there are already far too many anglers. As someone who started fishing nearly half a century ago I find it increasingly difficult to find places (and times) to fish that enable me to avoid the teeming multitudes that infest every corner of this horribly overcrowded island. Now, of course I live in the S.E. - by necessity rather than choice - so this is doubly true. A large element in the pleasure I get from angling is its separation from the stuff of daily life and exposure to the natural world (I try to ignore the Oilseed Rape). Nowadays I almost exclusively fish less accessible parts of rivers, even when I know they're liable to be less productive than more convenient spots. Fortunately most anglers are too lazy to lug their tackle (bivvies! bed-chairs! ho ho ho!) much further than 100 yds from the car park, which helps. Just about every bit of still water that I can easily get to these days seems to have been "managed" to the point where it resembles a boating pond or swimming pool. On reflection I suspect many anglers would be happy with tiled carp-puddles where their bloated over-fed quarry would be unlikely to encounter snags. Suffering from closed-season depression, I recently took a look at a few ponds controlled by a club that I'm a member of. I'd fished two of them (once) before - they're actually quite attractive and quiet on weekdays, being set amongst plentiful small trees and bushes. The club had made the decision to completely strip all the vegetation off the fishable bank of one of the ponds. It was pretty overgrown and removing say 50% of this stuff wouldn't actually have been a bad idea, but.... Last year I took a friend's 12-year old for his first fishing trip. I decided to take him to one of these managed commercial fisheries, just in order to make sure he actually caught first time out: on reflection I wish I hadn't. Before we went there I took him to the local river nearby so that I could show him what a nice place it is by comparison. It's a club controlled water, but not very expensive to join (equivalent to about 8 day tickets at the commercial fishery). It's quite hard to fish however, and unless you're happy with small roach and skimmers, quite possible to blank. It was a beautiful day (not the same as a good day for fishing I admit) but there was no-one there at all. At the commercial fishery, 3 miles down the road, there were at least 20 cars and a lot more than 20 anglers. The place is complete with automatic aerators, symmetrical groups of lily pads, and packed with suicidal fish (mostly small carp, naturally). Call me miserable, but what's the attraction of this kind of artificial pseudo-fishing? I suppose I should be grateful that it appeals to so many people, otherwise I'd have nowhere at all left to fish, but I don't think it has much to do with what I know as fishing. Let's discourage more people from taking up angling!