Rusty

Thanks Tigger, the one I had my eye on doesn't have the central grub screw. The revised model is still available from Canada but BIN is now 200 squids, starting bid is £120 so might be worth a punt. Did you get your collar felt buy HM Customs & Excise or did the Puerto Rican delivery man manage to hide it somewhere?

I've only found one review, a few mentions on here but they were a while ago and a bit mixed (maybe that's my answer). They look good value @ £135, I'm quite tempted.

Don't worry about it Boldbear, it's a Christmas pressie. The times I've winced at my wife's buying habits when I've sneakily left my Crimbo list in an obvious place (she's organised so I have to do a list). Wrap it up and put it under the tree, then look forward to acting like a big kid come Christmas day...well worth £30 I'd say.

A lost cause already...and you haven't used it yet . We'll save you a chair in the circle and introduce you to the counsellor on your first session.

It is interesting though, I hadn't appreciated the virtues of the centrepin action until I bought a Fred Crouch reel (no ballraces fitted), slow it down by turning the reel from the horizontal. Alan what do you make of the Youngs range? They have a 'traditional' central adjusting screw which I guess is the main bearing surface and yet they also have two ballraces fitted. Is that to reduce the differential between horizontal and vertical friction do you think? Sorry for being geeky.

I'd say that's very good performance. My Okuma Sheffield and Youngs Bob James won't budge without 0.6g and 0.4g respectively and they both start up very well in slow flow (that was without being fitted to a rod too, line just dangling over a table edge). You'll need more weight than a No.6 when trotting so I can't imagine that you'd have any problems with it in use. Don't forget to take some lube with you just in case it needs a squirt during the day.

A great day well done. That sums up mobile river fishing for me. You can go for a relatively short session and yet still cover a lot of water (and stay warm), even if you don't catch you feel that you've given it a good try. Once you get to know the good swims short sessions can be very productive. Winter stillwater fishing doesn't appeal to me as much.

Now why don't I ever think of simple solutions like that . A bum-bag would be great and could be hung round the neck for ambitious wading sessions.

Ah yes I've seen a few of those, mainly on woooden or bakelite reels though. I guess the starback was originally functional bracing for the backplate and has been carried over as a design feature on this reel? Certainly a nice one for the collector but it'll be too much for me I'm sure. Mind you if the next AN fish-in is going to be attended by vampires I might just bid

Not really sure about that one, it looks a bit fat and gothic to me. If I'm spending a wad on a new reel it's got to look nice as well as perform. I don't doubt its quality and collectability though, be interesting to see what it makes.

How do all you river fishermen loosefeed when floatfishing worms? I've used worms on the hook occasionally but the "little and often" approach to loosefeeding would get through a fair number of worms in a session. I've always fed with whatever's on the hook so on stillwater I'll chop a few up and mix into a groundbait, but on a river I generally feed with maggots. Are worms such a juicy prospect of dinner that it doesn't really matter if there isn't a constant trickle of them flowing downstream? What do you do?

Anderoo have you tried RDAA Wileys lake behind Newbury Bowling Centre? Supposed to be good for Tench, day tickets are available in the bowling centre for about 6 quid (one rod). Gets weedy in the summer so take a rake.

Hmmm that's a shame. Top of the range (in finish only) will cost £360 whereas a Lythe costs £425 at the moment, if I was in that market I'd pay the extra £65.

Simple, here's how 1. Go to AN fish-in at Timsbury 2. Peer into river and decide that water's not deep enough to flood wellies. 3. Step in with left wellie 4. Quickly realise that you've miscalculated the refraction/reflection properties of water 5. Dump rod/reel in quagmire whilst trying to lever yourself out with dry right wellie

Stretpegger, the only one I could find in local shops and flea-bay was the Daiwa one, all logo'd up and with a re-inforcing bar around the pocket lip. It's on my Christmas list but not sure how good it'll be, I can imaging bait falling out if you lean over too far. Essential bit of kit though, can't wade without one and if it's got a covering flap maybe maggots will stay dry and not escape.

I'm not sure whether WD40 or any other lubricant would damage line as such but I did manage to coat a braid loaded reel with GT85 and couldn't get rid of the smell, had to lose the line and refill. It's difficult to avoid coating line using a spray lubricant so just in case there are any adverse effects I clean in a different way. If the CP reel isn't fitted with ballraces I dunk in warm soapy water and rinse under a warm tap, the rinsing gets in all the nooks and crannies and gets rid of soapy residue. Then I just lube with WD40 squirted into a container and applied with a toothpick. Ballraced reels get dismantled, wiped over with a damp cloth and lubed in the same way. Water won't do any harm provided the reel is dried out properly.

I'd like to echo others comments and say a big thanks to Tony U for organising the event. Lots of firsts for me, a good look at Witcher, Carter and AN centrepins, filling a left wellie when I misjudged the fast carrier depth and discovering that my 20 year old ski jacket is no longer waterproof. I roamed all day and managed to fish most stretches but was forced to the carriers when the wind got up. Catches included brown and rainbow trout, tiny salmon par, dace, roach and a pleasing perch (photo to follow). It was nice to meet you all and I hope to meet some of the more local forum members again soon. My journey home was reasonable but the A34 was very busy in foul weather conditions so I'm not surprised there was an incident. All the best.

Only if he's remembered to attach them to the line

Morning all, Tony U pm'd me yesterday with the possibility of a space on this fish in. If it comes off does anyone fancy car/petrol sharing? I'd be travelling from Wantage Oxfordshire on the Sunday morning (bloody early I expect).

Not sure, I booked on the basis of the weather forecast for Hungerford being quite dry from Tuesday...but I don't think it has been . I was told the water was high but not in flood so it may have got worse by now. I'll give them a call tomorrow and may cancel if it's not good news. From Bath would be a fair journey so you've probably made the right decision.

First braid session went quite well really. Tried initially to match the hooklength to the 8lb braid with 1.5 lb mono and a size 18 hook. The braid really keeps you in touch with a trotting float and feels far less remote than mono, I found that I didn't have to strike at bites because I could feel every pluck, just gently lift in to the fish. A few small grayling came to the net (each one feeling a lot bigger than it was) before an energetic leaping trout snapped the hooklength. I only had 6lb mono in the bag so I used that, it didn't seem right somehow but I still caught fish. I'll stick with it on one reel for a light setup but buy some 20lb clear braid for the others. Moss Green 8lb power pro is great to use but still quite hard to see.

If anyone does fancy a short notice advance reccie of this venue there are 9 places available for this Saturday the 15th November as at 5 minutes ago. It was empty until I nabbed one.

If I'm already out roving a river and it starts to rain then provided my waterproofs are doing their job then I'll carry on (helps if the wind/rain is at my back), it can be very pleasant. If it was raining before I'd set off I wouldn't go because I hate unloading and tackling up in the rain, it's always a recipe for loosing things and hooking myself. I don't have a brolly so still water fishing in rain is not for me waterproofs or not.

Worth a look, Christmas promotion. Not sure if it applies to all products but it does to the Young range of centrepins so if you're going to do the fishing equivalent of taking up smoking you can now have a Bob James model or the Purist 2 delivered to your door for £180, a steal at that price. I'm very sorry it's another CP thread but I can't help it. My name's Rusty and I have a problem .

No I'm reluctant to fiddle too much, it's new and shouldn't need adjusting until it's got some hours rotation under its belt. Might just be the way they are so I'll see how things develop.