Adam S

at least they have protected and looked after their aquatic environment which is more then we can say, so they still have these fish at all. i am sure if was killed for food rather then for fun.

hi the frozen gutted lug worked quite well, plenty of wrasse,gurnard and flatties liked them. however i have been having better results with liquid preserved/refrigerated worms, kind of on the same track lazy baits are on. i have found that using a mix of 65-70% ethanol, 5% glycerol, 1% nacl and water (so for 100ml, 65-70ml ethanol, 5ml glycerol, 1g nacl, topped up to 100ml with distilled water) has preserved both rag and lug (the rag seem to do better, slightly, then the lug so am still refining the lug mix) excellently over months. its also possible that the mix acts as an emulsifier for certain biomolecules in the worms and this helps their efficacy, allowing scent triggers to seep into the water. i have found the alcohol helps prevent, pretty much totally, any bacterial degredation but i have found refrigeration helps long term storage, maybe by preveting any sort of heat associated protein degredation or maybe preventing membrane damage, not sure yet so far have had (either on their own or in cockail with suid, sandeel or mack, ballans to over 5lbs,all the mini wrasse, pollock, dabs,flounder,plaice, two bass, dogs, whiting, pouting and gurnard. they seem to compare pretty well (not quite on par) with fresh worms the worms dont need to be preconditioned just dropped straight in so all the natural juices are retained they will never replace fresh for me but they are a handy way to long term store leftovers, from times when worms are in plenty {November 2008 Editor's Note - to buy lugworm online, please click here}

for a hundred quid you cant really go wrong. seems a decent little boat, even though i already have two boats if i was offered that one i would jump at it. take the risk would be my advice. if it does turn out to be a piece of rubbish then you would easily be able to sell it on for a hundred to someone who could ressurect it. a hundred quid is a snip.

"I noticed this story on the same page. Nice to see a fish getting a bit of revenge, huh :~)" what a cold and ridiculous comment to make.

Hi one last thing it might be worth directly ringing one of the local guest house owners or anyone renting a house in the area. They should be able to put you in touch with someone who has a small house to rent for a week. Or else they will have a brother,sister or cousin etc who has something to rent. you wont find the links on any websites so ringing direct would be the best bet. This is what we do when going to kerry and it has always worked out. in july we got a three bedroom chalet with all mod cons and nice big fire, big freezer and radiant heater etc for $300 euro for the week. There was three of us so that worked out at less than £70 each for the week. and as we were self catering the food was cheap too. might be a good option for you.

i have done this kind of thing before, and while it does save money it can be a real trial if the weather is bad. if it rains you will have to spend a damp few days in the back of a transit, would you be abel to dry two full sets of rain gear in the cab. what if temps go sub zero with no insulation in the van? will you be able to carry enough freah water and will you have anywhere to keep your deadbaits fresh, if you find a frozen or very cold lake can you catch any and will you be able to keep yours frozen? for a few days i might do it, but is it worth risking the enjoyment to save the money. what we normally do is to rent a small house or shalet, b and bs do not give value for money IMO

Superflous or not seabass or bass are both acceptable IMO. also are there not some largemouth black bass stocked into some fisheries, at least i thhought there were? we also only have one type of salmon, do you take the same offence to it being called atlantic salmon in the shops?

Hi Why does the naming of bass as "seabass" irritate some people so much. As far as i can tell "bass" is just a local name for the full name "european seabass" (see fishbase link below) so surely the name seabass is applicable, in the same way as "brown trout" could be called trout or "bronze bream" called bream, why does the seabass thing get peopls backs up?? http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=63

Its not the swim bladder that comes out the vent it is the lower portion of the digestive tract. (the rectum and some of the lower intestines) dont worry about it, its a physiological adaptation that the wrasse have developed as a response to eating a lot of shellfish, and hence a lot ot sharp shells in their diet. I suspect the fact that it inverts when you catch them has less to do with water pressure and more to do with the stress of being caught. a wrasses swim bladder should not blow when they are caught from less than 40 feet of water (and can proabably deal witha good bit more), wrasse are opporunistic feeders and will feed shallow and deep, and move between searching for food. the reason they invert their rectum is so that sharp mussle, whelk, limpet shells etc will not rip the area around the vent. if the shells were to be squeezed out in the normal way they could give some nasty cuts. think about it this way if someone hands you a big long sock with a handful of shells in the bottom what do you think will do the most damage getting them out. pulling them up along the lenght of the sock or turning the sock inside out. turing the sock inside out will obviously do less damage, the wrasse digestive system works the same way. i have caught wrasse in over 50 foot of water and they go right back. just unhook them as quick as you can dont mess about with them and as suggested spear them back in to get them going in the right direction. dont worry they are tough

hi I can very much recommend Gary Sheridan from carpdreamfishing.com i have been with him a few times and was very very satisifed with the service. He supplies all the rods,bait and also the boats and also you can bivvy up and fish all night for the carp/cats as he has legal night fishing and its very safe. The last time i was there i had cats to 154lbs carp to 21lbs and barbel to 8lbs (this was in july) and also mullet, eels, roach etc while messing about on a light rod during lunch. He can also pick you up at reus and will drive you righ to the swims. He is located near amposta and has a good record of catching big fish.

Most in one session was 45 from the royal canal, all small though. best was only 2lbs ish

Hi can throughly recommend Gary Sheridan at www.carpdreamfishing.com have been a few times and have never left dissapointed. Good for a mix of carp and cat fishing,and legal night fishing too. I have a few reports written from previous trips, that are on other web sites. I will send you the links if you want to e mail me. adamshannon@hotmail.com

hi all I have used wax moth larvae ( Galleria melionella ) with some success. On their own they are very slightly bouyant, almost neutrally bouyant. Have used them for rudd and trout and caught both on them. Adam

hi all no results to report yet as the worms are still in the freezer, but some good suggestions there. I have two batches frozen and hopefully will try them out in the summer. cheers all adam

Hello I have a map concept 18/20 and am very happy with it, its better at 18feet but still usable at 20 . I have had carp to 10lbs on it and it handled them easily. Its also crisp enough at 18 feet to take roach on the stick. Has a lot of power in the mid region of the blank. good luck ADAM