BoldBear

It was usually in the Autumn, and we usually fished for the Chub, Roach, Perch and Dace during the mornings and afternoons using breadflake, lively redworm, Maggots and casters; we also took peeled prawns and Luncheonmeat specifically for use on larger hooks for both the Chub and the Barbel. Most of our larger Chub (over 4 and 5lb-plus) were usually caught on large pieces of breadflake or pieces of sunken crust, and peeled Prawn also caught us a few cracking sized Chub too. The Barbel were usually caught in the late afternoons and into dusk and we usually stuck to Luncheonmeat when they came on the feed. The decent sized Roach were not always caught on the smaller baits either. We occasionally had decent sized Roach on Luncheonmeat and a size 6 hook while we were targeting Barbel. Keith

I can’t remember the guest house we used but I got the address from ads in the Anglers Mail. We caught some cracking Chub up to just over 5lb and a few Barbel and quality Roach and the guest house used to do us a hearty breakfast, packed lunches and an evening meal if we wanted one and it had refrigerators to keep all our bait in and decent rod storage in the garage. My biggest Barbel from Throop was just over 11lb and my biggest Chub was 5lb 6oz but there are bigger fish in there. We always had a great time and it was great being just across the road from the river. Keith

Or closer to home you could also spend a few days staying at a guest house alongside the river Stour at Throop mill (near Bournemouth in Dorset). I used to regularly do this with a couple of friends staying at a guest house next to the river, but haven’t done this for years. Keith

Nice shot Phone. Heres a shot I took with a small compact canon camera at a fishery In north Dartmoor in Devon on an early September morning just before a storm arrived. Keith

Rods made from Carrot nano fibres? This was being discussed in its early stages by engineers back in 2007 and it was not an April fools joke either, here’s an article of news referring to this in the Herald newspaper:Why your next fishing rod could be made of carrots | HeraldScotlandIt certainly doesn’t appear to have progressed a lot although I have read elsewhere about a couple of fly rods that were made out of carrot fibre.Does anyone have any more info regards Carrot fibre fishing rods? or was it (as I suspect) not such a breakthrough as it was first thought? Keith

Here’s a few of the reels that I used to use back in the 1970s and 1980s which I still keep in the back of a drawer (although the Intrepid envoy was from back in the early 1960s) I still very occasionally use my Abu Cardinal 55 when surface fishing for Carp and my Abu506 closed face reel for silvers occasionally, and my blackCat Centrepin when lift bite fishing for Tench; but the rest of them have been consigned to the back of a drawer where they belong since the 1980s and haven’t seen daylight as there are far better reels about today in my view. I moved on to using Diawa and Shimano fixed spool reels after this period. Keith

Hi Yosser, welcome to the forum. Are there any rivers and streams that hold coarse fish near you? or is it mainly stillwaters that you fish? Look forward to reading your posts Keith

Hi Phone The only rods of 7ft or less that I have ever owned (and still do) are a couple of very light spinning rods plus a light dropshotting rod; but I would find it almost impossible to use any of these rods to trot a light float straight along a glide or gully 15ft or more away from my bank and downstream in a straight line, let alone striking cleanly through a float as it journeyed downstream with the line lying on the surface behind it. I have several different length and different strength float rods which I use when trotting for various fish species; 11ft, 12ft, 13ft, 14ft 6in, 15ft and for the very occasional time when I need to trot very tight along the far bank below the rod tip for big roach on a local stream or I’m float fishing in a deepish swim; an older 17ft/20ft float rod, but unless I were trotting in an exceptionally narrow and/or exceptionally overgrown brook I wouldn’t even consider using anything shorter than my 11ft rod when I’m trotting; and a 7 footer would definately not be my choice if I’m trotting. The rod length that I find the most useful on my local stream when I’m trotting is 13ft. That 15ft 6in Sphere rod that Ian used looks just the ticket. Keith

Nice to see someone still out there wetting a line Ian. What browning rod was it that you used ? Keith

Mine doesn’t look like it’s Asbestos material that’s being used. It looks like it is a softish woollen material. When I first joined the Fleet Air Arm branch of the Royal Navy many years ago and worked in Aircrew Fire Rescue; we had to Fire proof our thick woollen body suits by soaking them in a chemical solution to allow us to be able to walk through the flames when rescuing the pilot and observer; although our suits were only fully fire proof for a few minutes so we had to be fast. Maybe the hand warmers use a similarlarly proofed woollen material in them. I would still much rather use one of the modern battery Hand warmers though. NB: I ended up serving in three different branches during my service career also including the Photographic branch and the Meteorological branch) Keith.

I still have two of the Shakespeare hand warmers which you put lighted charcoal blocks into which still work, plus a few charcoal refills. The ones that Martin showed us do look good though. Keith

I’m in agreement with you Ian, when tied correctly spades are secure and give a much better presentation than eyed hooks; especially when using smaller hooks and baits. I do used eyed hooks in the larger sizes for burying into luncheonmeat, or when using heavier lines, or when using a hair rig, but most of my hooks have spade ends and I can’t remember ever having a spade cut through my line (famous last words ). I think that the guys on the other forum that are insisting that spades cannot be as secure as eyed hooks; and that spades don’t give a superior presentation compared to eyed hooks; couldn’t have won or been placed in many matches (other than the odd Carp match), or maybe they just don’t seem to care as much about their bait presentation. Keith

Great result Ian Was the river still up and coloured or was it fining down a bit after the floodwaters? Very colourful Okuma you have there. Keith

I usually try to find large boils on the surface usually indicating underwater obstructions which have often caught me a Barbel in flood conditions, and creases In the flow which have also caught me a few bonus fish as the fish often seem to hold out in the slightly slacker side of the crease darting in and out of the faster water to pick up food as it washes past; and also in backwaters or slacks, but you have to expect It to be a lot harder until the colour has started to drop out of the water. Keith