happypiker

My all time favourite loch and still ranks along with Awe as one of the most dangerous inland waters to be caught out on in bad weather. I have to wonder though about having 5 onboard, did i read that right? What size boat were they on? I had an Alaska 500 when i stayed in Scotland and only ever took 4 out when it was really good weather and never strayed from the shore line any more than 150/200 yards. Such a tragedy and waste of life.

Just a thought, chuck fresh water on the spool, it stops the burning on your thumb. It also helps give a good grip if your thumb is already shiny from a previous burn

Hi, i've got maize growing here by the fieldfull right at the back of my house, should i presume to boil for two to three hours ?? Any additives i should try to add and if so when....at the boiling stage of as a pre bait soak

Hi, guys a while back i asked for info on catching Barbel, got plenty and today after work i bagged my first ever, not massive, bout 3.5 lbs but well worth the wait. Fished the canal at St Astier for 2 hrs and got zilch, packed up and walked 200 mtrs to river, lobbed in method feeder with sweetcorn tipped with maggot and wahoo time 10 mins later. Guys many thanks for your help, now that i have broke my duck perhaps i can concentrate on refining my tackle/attitude to these demons and give them a real going over.............BARBEL BEWARE.....

Hi guys, any of you ever been fishing in India for Mahseer ? been talking to a tour guide to see about arranging a trip there and wondered if anyone can help out with info, best in the North or South etc, any info appreciated.

I don't know about the proper pattern, but I could still see him.... Yeah but did you see his two mates

Hi, seem to remember a letter in a magazine about fishing off the old pier in Lochaline, the problem about casting was the main issue but needed about 40 yards to hit deep water. Maybe try drifting with a balloon and then pulling it off allowing the bait to drop to the bottom??? Not many tope around mull unless you go the west side of the island or north of Tobermory.

Hi, first time trying to post photo with any hope of success, here goes. nope, i give up.

there is a nice wreck north of Oban in a sheltered bay, maybe 10 mins in a rib, used as 1st dive for many scuba guys. Lots of nice conger later on, some pollack there too, i can't remember the name of it but have fished it a few times. Instead of heading in to Loch Etive just go further north and into the bay in front of the caravan park and look for the buoys. Also the rock marks close to the entry to Etive itself good for pollack, happypiker.

Right, ok then, so you know a little about cat fishing budgie? Will take some time to go thru what you have posted and will give you a pm soon if thats ok?

Yeah, my wife says it works on me too followed by a quick rattle round the ear

Hi folks, was wondering if any of you all had been cat fishing in Spain and could throw some light on the how's and where's to go alone and have a go. Would like to know about the licenses needed and if anyone on the forum had been there before doing it their way. I fancy a trip there and as i live in France its just a drive down in to Spain to the Ebro river system. Look forward to your replies, happypiker.

Thats a belter of a perch. Well done you and your brother for the trying to eke out something on a slow day, most give up but it's when you go the extra 9 yards that you get paid out in a result like this. I'm surethe big bream will show up for you some day soon, happypiker.

Too true my friend, its certainly deep water around there and a bit vicious when it blows up between Arran and the Mull of Kintyre. Your mate should have told him it's not always deep cos you eventually do come ashore and even 20 mtrs of rope and anchor will stop you smashing up on the rocks, still if the owner is ok with that then you could always shout ' abandon ship ' and swim for it.

On a similar vein but still diabolical, i once heard, not many years ago, about a Scottish pike fisherman who accidentally hooked into a Ferox trout, these are brown trout that have turned cannibal. This particular fish was in excess of 22 lb's maybe even more, now that is a leviathan, a fish worthy of any fisherman's hard graft to track and catch but worth a lot more photographed and returned to enable some other fisherman to try to tempt. He should have been strung up and bull whipped and then bled into the sea for all of us shark hunters to get the benefit of

When i pike fished back in Scotland i quite often put out ground bait when pike fishing to see if the roach coming in to feed were being stalked and then i would lob out a roach on a float to see if there was any extra action to be had. Never really tried often enough to give any real thoughts but i certainly caught a few when employing this method, but i also caught other fish using normal pike tactics on the day, nothing conclusive but worth a go. I seem to remember this tactic working reasonably well on my trips to the broads but that was back in the day when livebaiting was not frowned upon. happypiker.

What type/size engine do you have on her, can't make it out due to white paint, also why have you painted the engine ?? Looks like it should give many hours fishing, remember to be safe and carry plenty of spare rope and a spare anchor, dont want to drift onto rocks should engine fail. I think the rule of thumb is two and a half times the depth you want to fish. I once fished a world war 2 sub of off plada, south of arran that lay in over 200 metres, thats a lot of rope and a lot of hauling at the end of the day, which turned out quite a short day due to the arrival of a boat from Ireland with divers upon it. but its necessary to carry spare rope as much as flares etc. Anyway good luck with her, happypiker.

Hi there , whats the state of cairnryan pier now, i used to fish it many moons ago, eventually being removed by the police due to it being unsafe, what a conger haven but being a crafty so and so and working for Barr construction i got access to it free gratis. Well, i had the security key and a barr work jacket so when the cops called in i was there on an official capacity Had some belting pollack off of it but mainly a conger mark with the odd huss thrown in. Last time i fished it i caught two lobster on mackeral baits lobbed out looking for anything with a gob on it, the first one dropped of as i winched it up, the second was whipped out faster than a flasher in the high street. The middle section of the pier collapsed a while back and i thought that it would have been demolished by now, man i miss fishing back in Scotland, i even sold my boat this year cos i'm not coming back. Have to make do with the odd trip back now for skate and a wee bit of shooting. Here's one for you, any of you know of my old mate Stevie Donnachie from Ayrshire ?? been a long time since i heard from him, happypiker.

Hi guys, sound advice one and all. I live in the Dordogne and although i haven't fished the dordogne itself i have fished the l'isle, slightly north and the Dronne again further north. The l'isle i fished on Sunday with limited success, caught 10 bream the biggest going from my elbow to the tips of my fingers using ' the method' least thats what i call it. I thought that i was doing well for someone who fishes for Shark and Skate with little or no finesse required. Regards to the pre baiting, as mentioned previously, the river is fished regularly but for trout but still suffers disturbance and any pre baiting i was to do would be wasted. I have used sweetcorn and maggot but with no success for barbel and reading all the comments i think that fishing into the dark or close to it is the way forward. I have thought to use particle baits with a method feeder groundbait laced with sweetcorn and maggots, is this any good or do you think that i should ball it in earlier and use split shot with sweetcorn and keep it light. I am sure that with a bit more confidence and advice from the forum members on basic rigs then i will capture one or even two !!! I shall make inroads to find a spot that is off the beaten track and perhaps pre bait during the day to return later in the evening. Thanks so far for all your help and i will keep you posted on my successes or failures, happypiker. PS tried to post a picture but have been informed that i can't till i have reached a certain amount of postings.

Hi guys, thanks for getting in touch, was a bit worried that i would be overlooked being a newbie. The river is very clean, long flowing weed beds gliding into deep pools preceded by fast flowing rapids, i would imagine similar to the chalk streams you have down south. The water is usually gin clear and the fish are easily visible, normally standing on top of the bridges spanning the river they are seen cruising between the beds and taking refuge in the shade of the bridge. We cannot get hemp here in in any quantity, i believe there is some kind of law about using uncooked hemp and luncheon meat is a no go here, closest we have is sausage that comes in a roll like some brands of dog food. There is a big carping contingent here and the tackle shops seem to be well stocked with carp baits and groundbaits etc. Is there anything in that area that i can use, not necessary to give specific tastes or brands etc just a rough guide. I have fished some of the bigger rivers and had some success with brown crumb and sweetcorn/maggot catching bream and roach,whilst this is enjoyable the thought of hooking into one of these express trains and trying to derail it is taking up every moment of my working day, the river is 50 metres away and lunch time on the bank sounds the very ticket. I hope this description is whetting your appetite, cos its sure getting me edgy to get going, will give em a go tomorrow. I will post my hopeful results after my trip, happypiker. Will try uploading a photo of one of my catches, again.

Gee whizz guys and gals, thanks for all the info

Hi, i live in France and often see these torpedoes when i look over bridges in and around where i live, problem is i can't get them to take !!!!! In saying that i have not really fished for them cos i don't really know whats what for barbel. Tried sweetcorn hand fed into river and they take a few bits, slip on a hook ???????? same results with maggot I am sure there is a lot more to it eg hook length, hook size, floats etc. Can someone give me a basic rig set up and bait to use and then at least i know its all down to my own amateurish actions. I am by nature an ex salmon fisher who turned to pike fishing due to working saturdays back home in Scotland and latterly got into sea fishing, problem here is i'm miles from the sea. Many thanks in advance for all if any info, happypiker. Will try to post a picture of my last great capture.