BoldBear

I didn't think DavyR was talking about using the clutch as a bite alarm, or the reel making a noise when in normal use, but I think he was talking about the noise made by the slipping clutch when a large fish strips line off the reel during the fight. If so; When I am playing a largish fish using a fixed spool reel, I usually have the clutch wound down fairly tight with the anti reverse off and give line when needed through backwinding; however I usually loosen the clutch slightly and play the fish through the clutch when it gets nearer to the bank; just before I pickup the landing net with my winding hand; just incase the fish makes a last minute dash for freedom. If someone else is netting the fish for me I sometimes still loosen the clutch slightly once it gets close to the bank; it usually depends on the swim (and fish) and whether or not there are snags. but I like the clutch to give a quiet clicking noise if the fish is stripping line from the reel. Its just a personal preference, probably because I'm used to it making an audble sound when the clutch is slipping.

Yes I prefer them to give me some sort of audible indication as well; so that I can get a reasonable indication of how much line the fish is taking plus I dont want to be winding in while the fish is taking line as it would only increase the chance line twist.

Great account Dant, Like Janet I could almost be there with you when I read it. Round 1 may have been won by the 'Denizen of the deep' but round 2 will be different I hope. BB

Can't wait to see the pin, I am looking to buy a new one but will hold off till I hear what its like. Hope it has a spare spool facility so I can use it for roach as well as Barbel without having to use different c/pins.

As chavender said : Spools should have a solid base (reduces line bedding) and have an anchor point in it to tie your line to. And have a reel foot that is thin enough to fit todays thinner rod reel fittings/handles or as chavender said a universal reel foot or changable (via screws) feet to suite all rod fittings Also a thing that most c/pin reels dont have a SPARE SPOOL to allow for different lines. And very important the spool should be lightweight as well as free running. Plus the other attributes that have already been mentioned.

What about the Greys Prodigy rods?. The Greys Prodigy Barbel rods are 12', come with a standard top and a quivertip top with 3 long quivers (2, 3 & 4 oz). They are superb rods for Tench, Crucians, Bream, Chub, Carp and Barbel and come in 1.5lb tc 1.75lb tc or 2lb tc. Greys Prodigy Rods They are a dream to use and have loads of power in the lower section together with sensitive tips. I have even cast 6oz with no problem (with PVA bag full of particles). BB

I use cheese/bread paste for Chub but I add liquidised raw onion, and the stronger the onion flavour is and the more it makes your eyes weep the more effective it is for Chub; especially in winter. Also make sure that the bread is not too sticky ie. a day or two old before you mix it. Also the paste gets even more effective when it has been in and out of the freezer a few times and you get a cooling feeling on your skin when it starts to go off slightly. Try it, it really works for us on the Geat Ouse.

I also have a Greys 1.75lb Prodigy Barbel rod and coupled with a small baitrunner ( I use a Shimano 5000 GTE B ) occasionaly use it for Floater fishing for Carp. I have also cast 6oz with it (including PVA Bag full of particles) without any problems although I would not try to do this at long range. I also use it for Tench fishing with a smaller Shimano 4000 reel (using either leger or float) and have found that it's a very nice all-round specimen fish rod. The 'J W Youngs barbel travel rod' sounds very much like the same type of rod.

Yes I fish an estate lake that has some nice Rudd in it; and I love the days when you can cast to the surface feeding shoals of big rudd right out in the middle of the lake and gradually try to get them feedng closer by slowly introducing the feed a bit closer each time. Sometimes you can't get them to move closer but it doesn't matter as you can just chase the shoal wherever it goes. I use a 4BB or 5BB onion waggler float and cast over the shoal and slowly wind the float back into the shoal. A few years ago before the 'Carp Poles' became available on the market; I always thought the Pole was for small fish only and that a decent fish would wrap a light pole around your neck; and when I reluctantly bought one I was surprised how easily I could handle 3lb to 4lb Tench when using a light pole by fighting it below the pole tip while it was out in clear water; instead of trying to fight it on a waggler which kited everywhere through weed as I got it in (or didn't).

We used to fish the Kennet in the winter with breadpaste mixed with liquidised onions for chub and the stronger the smell of onion the better the chub liked it. Havent used it for a while now though.

If I had to choose one bait I would have to choose maggots. as long as I could add colouring and flavouring to them.

I have several old mitchel reels in the shed from many years ago including an old 300 with the older anti reverse lever and an old Mitchell Prince but I dont remember any of them which have a line clip on the spools (see piccy which shows my old mitchel reels and some old ABU reels and a Black Cat centrepin from the 1970s) (the 300 is just above the centrepin) which 300s had the line clip? they must be one of the relatively newer skirted spool ones??

Nice smuggling poem Jim. who wrote it?

I'm glad that I don't have to go with just one rod but If I had no choice and had to pick just one rod/reel it would either be a Harrisons '12’ Chimera Specialist No 2' rod or a Greys Prodigy Barbel rod and a Shimano 5000 class reel.

I was bought up reading FJ Taylors books and writings along with Walker, Stone, Gibbinson, Buller, Rickards, Webb, etc. etc. FJT always gave me and thousands of other anglers thought provoking and enjoyable readings. By the sounds of it he's also lived an eventful life. I would recomend any new anglers to read his books as; like Walker; he talks a lot of sense and writes in a way that encourages the angler to think about their angling. I would like to congratulate him on this well deserved award for services towards angling.

Adam, I'm afraid Terry is correct. to fish with a rod and line in any fresh water (even your garden pond) requires that you buy a licence. So be careful; as you will be fined if you get caught without one. As for your question on whether Pike are good for eating; Dont kill any Pike for the table unless you have permission from the fishery owner or club. some trout lakes specify that all Pike are to be removed when caught; however most fisheries do not have this rule so check first. Pike can be very tasty if cooked correctly, they sell pike balls in french restuarants (not Pike testicles but pike flesh); however don't eat the larger pike as I have heard that they don't taste so good. In the 16th & 17th centuries the pike was more expensive to buy than the Salmon but this seems quite hard for us to believe because the Salmon is far tastier but it shows how tastes change over the ages. I think I remember reading a recipe for cooking a pike in Isaac Waltons book The Complete Angler (written in the 1600's). (No Im not quite that old, I have a couple of reprints of the book )

Pelzer Chunks? Ive never used them. What are they? I've not heard of them in our tackle shops in the UK. Perhaps we use it under a different name in the UK?

I have often thought that I would love to go back in time and spend a days fishing with Isaac Walton on his beloved river Lea showing him the tackle and methods that we use today. but I would probably be hung as a witch. It seems strange that in his time they thought that eels were born of the muck and filth of the earth and that Pike where born of Pickerel weed. otherwise I would love to go fishing with Walker and Stone on the Gt. Ouse.

I heard the same version of events as Gus. Anyway; keeping their private lives out of it; I think they both deserve respect as far as their fishing exploits are concerned. and I would love to spend a days fishing with either of them.

Like most people; I started with a cane, cotton and a bent pin after the huge minnows in my local brook, However; my earliest memories of real fishing were when my dad and his mate used to take me fishing on the canal at Croxley Green near Watford when I was about 10 (or less). I used to use a heavy Tonkin cane rod which was huge both in length and width together with a tiny wooden reel. I was shown how to tackle up with a large porqupine quill float and a 16 hook to 'Cat Gut'. Hooks were ‘GoldStrikes’ and were litterally like gold as my dad usually only had one packet of ten and I would get the customary moan "and don’t lose this one, as it will be your last!!". I used to catch gudgeon and the occasional stunted roach using ‘Gentles’ (maggots) as bait, in tin bait boxes. When I got into my early teens; I had a 9ft solid fibreglass Abu spinning rod and an ‘Intrepid Extra’ reel and some cork bodied Thames floats bought for one of my birthdays; and I used to float fish with my father and his mate on the Thames & Great Ouse. My father used to leger with a Mitchell reel with a ‘half bail arm’ that swung outwards for casting and a spit cane rod with a swing tip, and his mate used to float fish with a ‘hollow Steel Match rod’. I will always remember those Sunday mornings on the Thames when the mist was on the water and the church bells rang out with the sound of woodpidgeons in the distance, and there was never any sound of traffic. Nowerdays we are lucky with the excellent tackle that’s available today and most anglers start out either with a good float and/or leger rod and reel or with a Carp rod, reel, bite alarm, chair and a landing net. And a book on Carp fishing. But I look back to my earlier years with great fondness. As I now enter my ‘Old Moaning Codger’ years. And I'm looking forward to my next years assault on the Ouse wth my brand new Barbel rod and reel. BB

I have collected over 26 rods plus a few whips and poles over the years and have never seen any of them looking anything like as bad as the one in your photo. I only give my rods/poles a wipe down if they look dirty or after a particularly wet day. I would also be very angry if I saw that degree of flaking on a rod or pole; especially on one that cost me over a grand. and would expect much better; as long as it wasn't treated badly.

As poldark said Say no more. as the saying goes.

A friend of mine was fishing on a misty morning and had a slow run on his Carp rod and Struck into it and hooked a Carp of around 10lb which had been dead for a while; and it was hooked right in the corner of its mouth. Especially chilling on an old estate lake with a history of strange ghostly happenings.

I; like Tigger; would recomend the Greys Prodigy rods which are excellent rods which come with a lifetime warranty, (unless I win the lottery and then I would probably try Harrisons). Greys Avon/Specialist Rods

I am also getting a couple of new Baitrunners this Xmas for my Barbeling on the Great Ouse and I asked on the clubs forum for advice from our clubs top barbel specialists who have caught Barbel up to 19lb on our stretches and they all seem to use SHIMANO BAITRUNNER AERO 5000 GTE-B 's. so they must be well trusted reels for Barbel fishing. I know the newer Baitrunners are supposed to be good as well however as a few of our better club Barbel specialists have said that they are going to replace them with the same (5000 GTE-B's) then I feel they must trust them. BB