Rusty

Of course....good point! Probably the only fishery where you could turn with nothing and buy everything you need on the day.

Heavy rain forecast for the afternoon where I'll be. I'm only fishing the day so won't have the bivvy and I haven't got a brolly, wonder how long I'll last

Them's barbel pellets.

Just two and a bit weeks to go before proper fishing can start again, what will you be up to? A change for me this year, usually I take the first week off work full of anticipation and enthusiasm only to find the fish are less enthusiastic and the glorious 16th turns out to be an anti-climax on flowing water. This year I only have the first two days off and will be at Marsh Farm tenching with bamboo rods on the first day. It’s an IAC event and the second in memory of Paul Goulbourn, really looking forward to a change and a new venue though my target species might not stand me in good stead for the largest crucian trophy. I’ll then have a relaxed meander along the Kennet over the weekend with no expectations. It’s very full of water for this time of year and looks in perfect condition but I’ve fallen for that one before, whatever happens happens.

Chris Evans brings on nausea and an American presenter on Top Gear is just not right. I lasted half an hour.

Congratulations Tony, being paid to not be part of the rat race must be a wonderful feeling.

To save anyone else Googling, this means 'growing old'

So where did we get to with the bolt rigs discussion?

I've put the telly internet connection on hold for the moment, from what I've seen the hassle outweighs the benefits of extra channels (they're mostly rubbish). My fibre optic internet connection went live today and what a revelation, 41 Mb/s down and 9 Mb/s up (compared to the old 7 down and 0.3 up) which is way more than advertised and I managed to get the wireless router going. New PC is next on the list, I quite like the idea of an iMac and bent the Apple man's ear in PC world for a couple of hours over the weekend. I came out really impressed.

That was a few years ago Chris. I've decided that there's no point in me keeping all of these reels when my favourite two will do all I want.

So am I Dave, I meant that putting them back was against the rules. I'd squash the barb and do my best to lose them at the net.

Certainly trout have been reared on pellets for years. I was into fly fishing during the 'triploid era' and never used to take any fish home (usually against the rules) because they always tasted of pellet. If they were used for rearing other species too I don't believe they were widely in use as a hookbait at that time, mid eighties I think.

I'm going to be putting some reels up for sale on e-bay shortly but thought I'd see if there was any interest on here first. If there is then I'l upload pics. 1. Dave Swallow centrepin, boxed and in as new condition - £200 2. Allcocks Match Aerial, boxed and in fantastic condition with minimal paint loss on the edges of the backplate, runs perfectly true and beautifully - £160 3. Chris Lythe Scotton Long Trotter, pewter grey with 'ivory' handles, 4" diameter 1" wide, lever check, left hand wind. Used once - £800 - SOLD

And floating line with a bite indicator attached to the leader for trout.. the bounder I'm a more traditional type so probably would forsake a few fish for a quill float but part of angling is to figure out the best method for detecting bites and then converting that to fish landed, sometimes you have to move away from tradition to do that. It can be very rewarding aspect in itself.

Hamilton takes the blame in my book. He was so frustrated at being passed by Rosberg at the start that when he got the much better drive out of the third corner he saw that as his chance to re-take the lead. Rosberg knew he'd be passed so he covered the inside line to the next corner quite legitimately with one continuous move to his right. Hamilton should've backed off as soon as he saw Rosberg moving over but then he would have lost momentum. Had Hamilton not passed then he wouldn't have had another chance

Looks like I've been stiffed then. I’ve never really had a problem with funding those who regularly use two rods, I always viewed it as me choosing not to fully benefit from my license fee but to swallow an increase so that three rod users get a much better deal does irk me a bit.

After more years than is healthy with a wired internet connection in my house on a very old ADSL tariff (costing me £25 a month for broadband only) I’ve decided to ditch the BT line and upgrade the connection with my current ISP (Zen). First part is done, fibre optics will be switched on, BT line will be moved to Zen and a wireless router is on its way all for less monthly cost than I used to pay. The next phase is to get the Smart telly connected to the internet wirelessly and therein lies the problem. It’s a Panasonic TX-L442E5B about 4 years old and I thought it would have wireless capability built in, but it doesn’t, I need an adaptor TY-WL20E at about £75. I don’t want to pay that much, friends suggest I can get a much cheaper universal USB dongle (it has two ports) and I’ve Googled but nothing conclusive comes up. What are my options do you think? I can run a cable to the telly or stump up for Pansonic’s adaptor but neither of those really appeal. Is there anything else I can do? Thanks in advance.

I’m poorly. I’m sitting at home with a blocked nose, blocked ears, a sore throat and I can’t sleep. This morning my GP prescribed antibiotics, decongestants and warned me of the snotfest which will take place in the not too distant future. So what to do? I know I’ll tell people about a new cordless vacuum cleaner I recently bought. I’ve always dismissed these as a gimmick not thinking that they’d have anywhere near the capability of a mains powered vacuum cleaner. I’ve also thought of Dyson’s products as brilliantly quirky designs which look interesting but don’t offer much over the competition and certainly don’t justify the high price. I was wrong on both counts. The introduction of a new Dyson model has consigned the usurped cordless king to the discount bin so I took a punt on the older model, and what a revelation it is. Hoovering the house is the bane of my life, I detest it with a vengeance (rivalled only by catching bream) but this thing has made it almost bearable. Highly recommended; http://www.dyson.co.uk/vacuum-cleaners/cordless/dyson-v6/dyson-v6-absolute.aspx

Ok, I admit it…I’m a lightweight fair weather angler, sorry, I bailed. Having spent a totally sleepness night in a rain battered bivvy with the local wildlife providing backing vocals (all night!) I couldn’t face the thought of doing that again. This morning the sound of Terry’s tractor was music to my ears. The auction look like it might raise a good sum, I hope it does, the bailiffs deserve it. Thank you. My single day was very enjoyable though. Tactics were one rod with corn on the hook and a cage feeder stuffed with bread, corn and hemp, the other rod used lobs on a size 14 hook and a 3lb hooklength with a maggot feeder. I thought that scaling down might give me a better chance of perch. Huge thanks to Anderoo for spending a lot of time with me marking and spodding two swims, for once I was confident of repeatedly casting to the same spot. The corn rod generated zero interest, all action was on the lobworms usually when cloud cover arrived. At first the bites were very picky and if I’d been on stillwater in Oxfordshire I would’ve sworn signals crayfish were present. The perch then gained confidence, the first un-missable bite occurred while I was cooking a burger talking to Steve, I missed it. The second bite came in the time it took Steve to drive round to the other side of the lake, he saw me landing something and called to find out what it was. It was a perch of 3lbs exactly (yes really), the forceps are 8 inches long including the finger loops; Having put the fish back I was on the phone to Steve when the baitrunner screamed off again but I was too slow. Thank you very much Steve for allowing us to descend on your fishery again, it’s a real privilege and although the weather didn’t help us this year Wingham still provides magical moments….particularly Second Platform; Good luck to those fishing tonight, I really hope you’re rewarded for your efforts.

This display of generosity by AN contributors is incredible. I'm sorry I can't donate anything this year but will happily kick off the bidding for Rich's lure lot with thirty quid.

"Rule 22c.....unless the individual concerned shows sufficient initiative to bribe the Spod God who might be fishing in the next swim. Under such circumstances all tench caught by said individual will be reported as double their actual weight (the Yorkshire way) without question by the Wingham Management."

I've not been out apart from offering moral support and the aforementioned bacon butties to JV44 & Steve W. Wingham will be my closed season adventure but I do want to get to Marsh Farm before the 16th June. I'm fishing a very informal 'crucian match' with the IAC on opening day and although I visited the venue a couple of weeks ago I've never fished it (it's a pig to get to). The fact that I'll be fishing for tench will, I suspect, affect my chances of winning.

I’ve been in a bit of a quandary with the predicted cold & wet conditions. It’s the tench which attract me to Wingham so previously I’ve gone all out for them with both rods. I’ve done ok in terms of size but not in terms of numbers so this year during daylight hours just one rod will be out with the corn/bread/hemp and the other baited with lobs and a maggot feeder. During the night both will targeting tench. If I read that back often enough I’ll convince myself it’s sensible a plan.

Not much information around on these rods but I did find something that suggests 4/5 would be a good starting point. Thinking of venturing into the world of cane Steve? Look here, some cane rods available for immediate collection. http://www.barder-rod.co.uk/news/news%20intro.aspx I'm not able to donate to the auction this year but there's some interesting stuff being put in so I certainly hope to contribute as a buyer.

I did a similar thing the first time I fished Wingham, it was my first ever proper overnight fishing session. Thank goodness I kept the list on my PC, I'm about to start getting stuff together. There's only one thing worse than packing up to leave Wingham and that's packing up to go there.