[Selling Vintage Fishing Tackle]

I guess these items have been owned for some time, it would be nice to maintain the provenance (no I don't fish in the sea).

[Selling Vintage Fishing Tackle]

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/p...p;iSaleNo=14775

 

Lot 112, if it's the same reel hammer price was £120

[Camping, Fishing & Eating Your Catch]

No its not a 'wind up', and I confirm timings, 18m, you might get away with 15 for a small bird.

I'm with Yorkio on this, nothing survives a twenty minute microwave session without having spent the previous five days in the freezer, at least nothing that'll fit in a microwave. Might have to give this a try but I'm pretty sure I'll be forwarding an organic paperweight to Emma soon after .

 

Back on topic, I doubt the OP will take a microwave

[Oxfordshire pike fishing]

Must be some other rivers up that way to fish

 

Yes I've got access to other stretches of the Kennet through TAA membership and a bit of the Thames local to Didcot. I've fished them a lot this season, mainly trotting, with not much joy. Need to get off my arse and research other options. Each time I drive up the A34 towards Oxford I drive over a couple of rivers which look fantastic but how to find out whether I can fish them?

[Oxfordshire pike fishing]

TBH can't wait to fish there, being mostly a river piker it just looks like my ideal venue

Won't be this weekend though, you're right about it being hard to get onto, fully booked Sat and Sun.

 

Oh well I'll start thinking about plan B . Was keen to give my new rod and 'pin an airing, haven't really caught anything reasonable on it yet.

[Oxfordshire pike fishing]

You could try here.

 

http://www.riverkennet.co.uk/index.html

 

Barton Court Estate has a lake and a good stretch of the River Kennet which winds around all over the place. From 1st October the Kenent is open for course fishing, it's a great place to fish, you can spend all day wandering about exploring the various streams.

 

The lake has a good mix of coarse fish, mainly carp but you can avoid them if you want to. It's popular with pike anglers and judging by the photo on the homepage it contains big fish.

 

Lake tickets are bought by popping your cash in an envelope and putting it through the letter box of the estate lodge at the entrance on arrival. Then drive ahead for about two hundred yards and take the first right turn, that'll take you to the car park. Prices are on the website and night fishing is ok (on the lake).

 

Fishing the river is by pre book only and has different parking area a bit further away so best to phone and make sure you know where to go.

 

I've fished the lake many times and the river once. It's a nice venue.

[Rabbit poo]

You could always use your own.........it would just look like Halibut paste.........problem is rolling it into balls or wrapping it round a pellet...........

And think of the intimate control you'd have over ground bait consistency. Fishing a fast flowing river the next day......All Bran for dinner. Perhaps carping on a still water with a bait boat......a Vindaloo maybe.

 

I've gone too far haven't I. Where's me coat.

[New fish-in idea]

What one like this one? - a Marsh Farm Crucian of 3lb 3oz - from June 07...

 

 

 

C.

 

Don't you just hate people who can do that, just rifle through the archives and come up with a previously caught specimen that we'd all give our non rod holding arm for . I'd be up for this, my local club pond holds a good stock of crucians but nothing very big, the ones I have caught do their utmost to stay in the water.

[My first day out fishing with feeder]

I don't think you're too far off with the setup, for general coarse fishing I've always found a feeder to be a pretty safe bet. My suggestion would be to use a lighter/thinner hooklength (say 4lb) and a size 14 or 16 hook, the one in the picture looks quite big.

 

If you're able to throw the groundbait to where you're fishing try filling the feeder with just maggots. The feeder in the picture isn't designed for use with non wriggly groundbait on still water (I stand to be corrected on that one).

[All-round float rod]

Hi everyone. I'm looking for an all-round float rod which is green or brown in colour, or any other colour so longe as it is not black . I'm not looking for anything multicoloured or gaudy but, somthing that will blend in with nature . I'm aware that Hardy have a new range of coarse rods which are moss green but, they are way beyond my budget. Any sugestios anyone?

 

Dom.

What's your budget and will the colour really rule out certain rods? Black is boring yes but it's the colour of my new Drennan 14ft Ultralight float rod and I'm very glad I bought it (£120).

[A New 'Pin......]

Noting that you have a Sheffield you already have a very fine reel for regular use so this purchase can be looked on as more of a pleasure to look at item!

The Youngs BJ reel is a fine item and will tend to hold its value well due to the classical styling.

You may also wish to consider one of the Lythe reels although they do cost a great deal more and there is a long wait for them

Perhaps when I reach forty years service I'll go for a Lythe. Spent a session using both reels today, both performed very well but I couldn't stop looking at the JW Young as line was being taken off the spool....I didn't catch anything. It is a fantastic reel and I'm very pleased with my purchase but I do marvel at how Okuma have managed to produce something representing such great value. In terms of simple trotting performance there wasn't much in it. A few technical differences, aesthetics and ownership 'feel good factor' separate the two.

[A New 'Pin......]

I've got he Bob James......

 

Me too now, my CP collection has started . Be interesting to compare it with my Sheffield.........I'll be doing that tomorrow.

[A New 'Pin......]

Without wishing to hijack tiddler’s thread I too will be adding to my CP collection very soon but I have an unusual problem.

 

The new reel will be funded by my generous employer’s long service award paid in capital bonds so that recipients avoid taxation.

 

I’ve found few tackle shops that take these bonds as payment and fewer still that keep a range of CP reels. One shop however has the JW Young Bob James model which looks very nice and retails at £250, they’ll do me a deal apparently

 

The question is do those in the know (Alan?) regard the Young range as overpriced classically styled reels or would my bonds be well spent? I don’t want to buy this reel just because it’s the only shop which accepts the payment mechanism.

 

I currently use an Okuma Sheffield

 

oops sorry for dodgy title spelling.

[Centrepin casting]

What is the best casting technique to adopt? The Wallis cast, the loop cast, the double loop cast, the side cast, the Nottingham cast or any other cast you may care to mention. What is your favourite centrepin cast everyone and why? Oh, and how do you actually do it!?

 

My favourite (because it's the only one I can do) is the side cast. It basically turns your CP into a fixed spool reel by taking the line off the side and I can get pretty good distance with it. My method is to draw line off the reel with my left hand and hook it round my thumb about two feet from the reel with the line at right angles to the rod. It's important that this angle is maintained through the cast. Stop the line coming off the reel by trapping it with your right thumb.

 

Then just cast as normal releasing the line from your right thumb as you would if using a FS reel.

 

It works quite well but there are some drawbacks. It can introduce line twist, not been a problem for me yet but if it becomes one I'll change the line as I only keep 50 yards or so on the reel. Secondly if your left hand is wet/covered in groundbait the line can stick.

[Pike unhooking]

The problem in giving advice on how to kill a pike 'if necessary' is that if an angler approaches his fishing with the frame of mind 'if I can't get the hooks out I can always kill it', that will lead to the completely unnecessary deaths of many pike.

 

I agree but would suggest that not many anglers would take that decision lightly. I bet most of us at some point have returned fish (other than pike) knowing that they're unlikely to survive.

 

Anyhow a good starting point for those wishing to learn is here http://www.pacgb.co.uk/index.html

[Pike unhooking]

I'm going to ask the same question as Markco in a slightly different way.

 

I'm an inexperienced pike angler but want to learn so if Budgie's teach in comes off I'll be first in the queue. I'll buy all the right equipment and be watching very closely the practical demonstrations whether they be on dead or live pike, I won't fish for them until I'm confident I can deal with them correctly and I'm sure that I will be at the end of the teach in.

 

Fast forward to the next weekend and I'll be fishing for pike, Budgie won't be there and I'll still be an inexperienced pike angler probably on my own. I know the theory and will have put it into practice but I'll still be nervous about unhooking a large pike without help.

 

If I make a complete mess of it (god forbid) and for whatever reason I'm unable to remove a hook what is the best thing to do?

 

Despatch the fish.

Get as much out as I can and then release.

Don't even think about fishing for pike if there's the remotest possibility that I might have to leave a hook in at some point.

[When to abandon maggots]

I'm not sure that I've experienced bigger fish moving in and tiddler activity ceasing altogether when using maggots. Agree that smaller fish feeding can attract bigger specimins but I tend to regard these as a bonus rather than a step change in the size of fish I'll be catching. For that reason if I'm using maggots and only catching small fish I'll probably carry on but perhaps with a different method.

 

Yesterday on the Kennet ledgering maggot with a feeder produced constant tiddlers with the odd bigger chub (but only one worthy of the landing net) so I switched to trotting maggot. It sort of worked...I didn't get a bite for the rest of the day but my thinking was that a dipping float would mean a better fish so it kept me interested. Strange logic I agree.

[Barbel, Crayfish and the Kennet]

Sorry Rusty want making myself very clear,yes it is the third bridge as pointed out by Chris.BTW have arrived at Padwoth early twice this season only to find several cars already there.But on walking the stretch i found myself to be the first arrival.

No CALPAC guys on the other bank so can only assume that RDAA anglers are using it to access the south bank of Upper Benyons!....naughty naughty

Thank you gents, maggots are wriggling in the car boot as I speak. Morning earlyness will largely depend on beer consumed tonight.

[AN Pike teach in 2008/9]

I'd be very interested in that Budgie. I've never fished for Pike because I don't have the correct gear and I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one.

 

Buying the gear's not a problem and I can read up on how to handle them but I'd be a more comfortable with somebody showing me.

 

The recent posts on this forum have stopped one person at least from popping a spinner on the float gear for the last 1/2 hour of the day "just in case"

[Barbel, Crayfish and the Kennet]

re parking at Padworth, you just park just off the road after crossing the bridge coming from the A4 end.

Is that parking for the RDAA stretch though Stretpegger? From the A4 there are three bridges, railway, swing and a normal river one further down. I parked up just after the swingbridge and asked a few RDAA members about the TAA stretch but they couldn't help. I did see an entrance to somewhere on the right just after the third bridge signposted Fisherman's Lodge but no mention of TAA so I didn't venture down what may have been a drive to somebody's quaintly named house.

 

I think that TAA could do more to help new members to be honest, a one off blitz of the website so that people know where they can and can't fish would be really useful (and not too difficult with google map surely). I've found out a lot more about the location of their venues by talking to the ever stressed proprietor of Thatcham Angling (bless 'im).

[Barbel, Crayfish and the Kennet]

I've heard that the fishing on the Kennet (TAA) is tough this year is that true?

 

Has been for me so far, I've fished Rainsford a few times this season and had no luck at all trotting maggot. Had more luck with ledgered baits, a 6lb bream being the best (and a PB) amongst mainly small trout and chub but that was all on the same day. I've blanked mostly.

 

I'm trying Padworth this weekend if I can find the entrance to the car park, I think the directions on TAA website are wrong. Back to trotting with my Okuma CP newly equipped with high performance ceramic bearings (yes I fell for the sales pitch ).

[What makes a water hard]

All I have to do is turn up at a venue and I know it'll be tough day, my season is not going well

[Barbel, Crayfish and the Kennet]

Morning all,

 

I managed a trip to the Kennet the other day trying for Barbel with ledgered 10mm halibut pellet. I was getting frequent bites, not rod benders but constant nibbles which would persist for a couple of minutes and then stop, I’d reel in to find bait gone.

 

At first it was quite encouraging but after two hours it got very frustrating (when the “crayfish” penny finally dropped) and I had no other bait so called it a day.

 

On the way back to the car I was talking to some experienced Barbelers who suggested that a bigger pellet would help with the crayfish problem. Apparently the Kennet is infested with the blighters.

 

What I’m not sure about is why that should be. Surely a 20mm pellet will be just as attractive to crayfish as a 10mm, does a bigger bait buy you more time and for that matter would Barbel muscle in to grab it or do the crayfish put them off?

 

And what about groundbait, doesn’t that just attract more pincer wielding pests?

 

I’m keen to try again because on my second cast of the day I hooked something which took off downstream never to be seen again.

[Aldi's are at it again]

I've never fished with a pole. Would the £20 cheapie be worth a look do you think or does the price suggest that would it be heavy and un-usable?

[pellet sizes]

On many lakes and even some rivers the fish are getting turned onto halibut pellets and they will often score when other baits won't.

Couldn't agree more, most species seem to like halibut pellets now, it's getting daft. As regards size I've used 14mm hair rigged to a size 8 hook when carp fishing and caught well. Tomorrow I'll try 10mm pellets banded to a size 12 to try and broaden the appeal (14mm is quite big). I've never used the smaller sizes but they are very popular for groundbaiting in a PVA mesh bag.