tiddlertamer

Wise and witty words my good fellow. I shall seeketh out a small stream and then there will be much merriment...

Thank you. That description has been extremely helpful. It's all starting to make sense. One final question and I guess it concerns the holy grail of centrepin casting. Yup. That's right. The wallis cast. Quite how is it done?

If your pinky is holding the loop nearest the rod tip, does this mean that as you look at your hand, it is in fact the back of the hand you see rather than the palm. If so, not only was I releasing the line in the wrong order, the hand that holds the line was in fact the wrong way round! More d'ohs...

Hard to believe because I can be particularly cack handed at times but, I think I was near to mastering the art of the staggered release... Back to the drawing board though... Unfortunately, I hadn't thought it through properly and released the loop nearest the centrepin first. D'oh!

When undertaking a loop cast with my centrepin, I take two/three loops of line and then sweep the rod forward releasing the loops at about 45 degrees. Should I be releasing all the loops simultaneously? Or should the loops nearest the rod tip or alternatively the loops nearest the centrepin be released fractionally before the other loops. Thank you.

Noble sentiments. I for one agree with Steve.

quote name='Anderoo' date='Mar 8 2010, 01:40 PM' post='3120496'] Throughout the warmer months I am really just killing time waiting for autumn... You guys are playing a different game to the one I'm involved in. The last couple of months for me have been a real grueler, culminating in a terrible last week In my last three fishing trips with nearly 20 hours of fishing, the biggest fish I've snaffled is a 2oz chublet... The temperatures have been a touch artic and the rivers flooded. I've tried a variety of tactics but nothing has worked. I've fished alongside friends who have caught so it might just be an unlucky run. But my personal best barbel of 12lb 2 oz came out one lovely warm June day. I'll be out fishing this Friday hoping for a turn in my fortunes. But I share the sentiments of the late great Fred J Taylor who was once asked what he thought about winter fishing, and said 'I'll be glad when I've had enough of this!'. Roll on summer!

I normally put my line on a centrepin such that the end goes clockwise and off the bottom of the drum before going through the line guard and on to the first rod ring. This means when I retrieve line I wind anti-clockwise. Today I put on some new line and it goes off the top of the reel and through the line guard before reaching the first rod ring. This means that I’ll wind clockwise to retrieve line which somehow seems more intuitive. Are there restrictions to this type of set-up though such as restricting certain types of cast? At present I just take a couple of loops of line in-between the first and second and second and third rod rings before releasing them consecutively as I cast.

I’ve just been out fishing with a friend and watched at first hand how devastating cheesepaste is as a bait as he caught some lovely chub as darkness fell. I now have some of this wonderful bait and plan to fish a fairly small river and drop the cheesepaste out into some snaggy spots and under rafts of weed in pursuit of chub. Do you use a bank stick to keep the line clear of the water and settle down behind your rod or do you keep a bit more mobile, keep disturbance to a minimum and just drop the bait in and keep the rod in your hand?

I'm about to fish a water I've never explored before and I hope to trot a float down sections of it. It's a shallow, narrow river/brook with a bit of flow this time of year. A local tackle shop owner says it can be trotted but recommends using very light tackle and a loafer float which only takes 3bb split shot. A trawl through my tackle box revealed the closest match was a single swan shot loafer of diminutive size. I normally bulk shot when trotting but I have a couple of questions for the forum. Would I be better off using a single swan shot, two AA shoot or 4bb shot on the line? I have read that by using smaller shot in higher quantity makes less of a disturbing splash for any fish near to all the action. Secondly, I intend to use a centrepin. Would I be better off using a float that takes more shot? Would this not give me more control over the path of the float without the risk of jerking it unnaturally when trying to ensure the line stays behind the hook bait? Would not extra weight help the centrepin to gain momentum at the start of the trot? All answers gratefully received.

Do you know of any day ticket or free stretches that are worth fishing? Thanks.

I’m going to go for the 4lb perch. I’ve only ever caught two over a pound but I have had the heartbreak of losing a two pounder at the net. So I’m keen to catch a larger perch. Other angling greats may agree. The Anglers Net forum ran a wonderful article by the much missed late great angler Peter Stone about 'the most spectacular' fish. It dates back to 1999. See: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/coarse-fishing...eter_stone.html And the wonderful Chris Yates wrote his wonderful ‘How to Fish’ all about his hunt for the river perch: “All perch look impressive and on an otherwise dull winter’s day a fish of a pound with its vivid colours, its striking markings and its superbly bristling demeanour, can send an otherwise dull angler into raptures.” Just imagine what a four pounder would do...

I'm a useless predator angler spending most of my time long trotting for silver fish. But both perch and pike fascinate me. I love catching 'stripeys'. I step back in awe when a big pike lunges at my long trotted prize of roach, dace or chub. Which fish would you most like to catch and why? The 4lb river perch or 30lb river pike?

A river keeper on a stretch of the Avon where I do much of my fishing swears by size 18 hooks paired up with double maggot. I've tried various brands and had a few straighten out on me. Never had a probem with Drennan barbless Super Specialists though. The same applies to a friend who uses the same hooks but barbed. They're an eyed hook and tough.

Can I also add some congratulations regarding the quality of your writing. I've just read 'Chalk Stream Roach The Ultimate Challenge' and enjoyed (if somewhat enviously! )your chapter on the Dorset Frome. You'll no doubt run into quite a few centrepin afficianados here who'll run down the humble fixed spool reel for trotting but other than that, it's a (normally!) friendly if lively forum. Though I'll admit their constant whining about centrepins has made me invest in one too. I look forward to more contributions on this forum from you Mark.

You have me bang to rites! Gentles somehow transmorgified into gentiles. Homygod - I've transformed an old fashioned term for maggots (gentles) into a non Israeli tribe. They're still in the £2.50 to £3.50 mark though...

I'm in London and pay £2.50 at one shop and £3.50 at another. I suspect I pay a lot more than other Anglers Net members in other areas of the country. I shall spare the blushes of the shop charging £3.50 as in other ways, they have been incredibly helpful. And their maggots are damn fine specimen too. Gentiles of the finest order.

I don't like bleak much but they're an important part of the food chain so hands off. One thing I wouldn't get in the way of culling though - racism...

The Hardys conquest reel has its critics on this board. These critics are often very experienced anglers who have tried many reels. I'm a relative novice and own just one pin - the Hardys Conquest. I'm using it more and more, having taken a bit of time to get used to casting and fishing with the pin. And I find it absolutely delightful when trotting. The ratchet is not something that has bothered me. I personally think the reel looks great too but its performance is what really attracts me to it. Others may disagree but I've found the reel to be worth every penny.

Tip top thread essox lucius. My own greatest catch was a 12lb 2oz barbel caught whilst trotting double maggot on a size 18 hook on the river Lea. I'd actually switched up from three/four pound line to six pound line for the first time that day as I'd been told by a local tackle shop owner (sadly no longer there...) that there were barbel in the river. I know many far better anglers than me who have struggled to catch a double figure barbel, despite rolling meats, feeder fishing and all the popular barbel tactics. So to catch a double figure barbel whilst trotting was quite magical. Actually, just catching a double figure barbel was magical - what a fight!

4.13 and 3.4 small! They're giants compared with my recent catches only going up to 12 ounces! Congratulations though - I'll have to give the tip a go myself methinks. Its snowing here in London though so it won't be today!

I checked out a stretch of the upper Lea. It's a bit of river I've been exploring recently. And it's tough... The only fish I've been catching are chub and though I've now caught over 25 of them in four sessions, none was over 12 oz. Only one other species has shown up. Barbel! But it weighed 5. 5 ounces that is! And today I had another five chub - the biggest only 11 ounces. One day I may post a picture here of a tip top fish but it won't be from the stretch of river I fished today! My only consolation is that it's very quiet where I fished. I've never seen another angler until today. He left early complaining that he had blanked...

Any photo of a 5lb plus chub will beat any photo I can boast from the Upper Lea!

A splendid bit of fishing gentlemen. More quivertipping with cheesepaste or the noble art of trotting with gentiles? Any pictures of those wonderful fish? I'm off out myself on Sunday to a stretch of the upper Lea where the biggest chub I've had so far is only 12 ounces... there must be a bigger one in there somewhere!

There's good news and bad... It feels really mild today in London. I'm sure some weather buff would prove me wrong but I can't remember the weather being so mild since the very start of December. The rain has stopped too so the rivers should have a bit of water and a bit of colour but be fining down by the weekend. Perfect conditions... That was the good news. The bad news is, according to the front cover of today’s Daily Express that another another cold spell is to descend on the country next week. 'Arctic Chaos' is predicted with temperatures plummeting and more snow on the way with the cold spell predicted to last for ten days. Let’s hope this prediction is as good as the predictions about a bbq summer we had last year... Anyway, at the risk of encouraging too many people down to the riverbank and finding my favourite swim taken, it looks like this weekend will be a good time to get out!