Darren T

Some of you may remember me from just before xmas. i had asked my uncle if i could come along with him some time when he went out fishing and today was that day! we headed out to a lake that is part of the Dorking & District Angling Society and i needed to get a day ticket (£6), having already got my rod licence online (£3.50). We arrived at the small lake for around 10:45 after a refreshing walk from the car. With only 20 pegs its a bit easier to pick a spot and we caught one of the bailiffs in the tackle shop who helpfully noted that 15 and 16 had been good in the last few days, 17 as well. so we walked around to the pegs and my uncle started to set up while i just enjoyed the scenery and the peace and quiet. birds twittering, the odd pheasant and a few deer running about. tranquility at its best. He set me up with a 13ft match rod and a puddle chucker with (i think) an 18 hook. first cast in he pulled out a small silverfish (i cant remember the type) and then handed it over to me while he set up his ledger outfit on the next peg. With the entire lake deserted apart from us he was shooting for the centre on luncheon meat while i was happily casting maggot after maggot into the margins near my peg. the two pegs we were on were located just out of the wind but nicly in the sun so we started to warm up pretty fast, that stayed with us until about 2:30 when the sun dipped behind the fauna and the temperature dropped rapidly. All in all i caught maybe 15 fish, about 8 that could be classed as tiddlers which seemed intent on digesting the bait making hook removal a pain. a few larger roach and perch also graced my bank at maybe 5 inches long. then, just before the sun dipped i hit the big one! after pulling small fish out all afternoon, and loving every second, when my float dipped again in the margins by some reeds i struck and expected the fish to come with. but no! in a few seconds i realised i had finally hooked something that might play a little more. with a visible depth of about 3 inches, even with my polarisers on, i had no idea what was on the other end. after what seemed a lifetime (probably 7 seconds in reality!) the head of the fish crept up into the top layer of the water and i knew at least that it was a carp. my first ever. i called over to my uncle who had noticed my plight who commented "ah, a bit of a bend in your rod at last!". as he arrived at my peg the fish was just ready to bring out and he handled the net to bring the wee beastie home. totaly excited that i had caught something big i whipped out the camera and took pics while my uncle was unhooking the fish. maybe next time i'll be calm enough to pose for a pic myself! and so here she is, jaws eat your heart out. I used maggots and casters all day but soon realised that the casters were not getting any attention at all. i even tried steipping up form one maggot to two or three to stop some of the tiddlers but they wre still sucking them down! As soon as the sun dipped all the bites dried up. there were some encouraging nibbles and the float would dip only to find there was nothing on the end. regardless it was a great day out and i really enjoyed myself. My uncle managed to land a common carp a little smaller than my new personal best fish ever. he also managed to fall over in the scramble to get to his beeping tackle! i turned around to see a 6ft frown man on his back waving his arms and legs in the air like an upturned tortoise! Can't wait to go out again!

you dont need a sunny day to play with the filter dude, you can have a look to see what it does by just looking at things that are lit from a few different places. My Mobile on my desk for example is lit by the main lights, my desk light and my monitors. using the filter the face of the phone changes quite dramaticaly as certain reflections are obscured depending on the angle of the filter. also just a day when the roads are wet and the sun is coming up/going down will be a great test. i am sure you know the days, when you are dricing along and because of the road and the sun the road is nearly white with reflection. The filter sohuld get rid of that.

easy as pie to use les, and very easy to see when it is working because the difference can be startling. if i point mine at my monitor and rotate it about 45 degrees it goes from being clear to completly blacking out my computer monitor. An easy way to test is to have lots of things with reflections and a few different lights in front of you. you will see by rotating the filter that the glare off your desk will go at one point and then maybe the glare from your mobile phone will go at another. its just about playing with it until you get exactly the view you want.

you can get linear or circular polarizers. the best explanation i can find of the difference is in the link http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/l...-polarizer.html

i dont follow boxing much but i have to hope Hatton can do the business. will be interesting to see.

i picked up a Hoya 67mm cir-polarizer off of ebay for about 18 quid posted. here is one i just found which is exactly the same as the one i got http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hoya-Cir-Polarizing-...1QQcmdZViewItem Jessops at the time were selling exactly the same filter for about £35!! one thing i would suggest is getting one that is as large or larger than your largest lens. then just use step rings to use it on each lens you have. if you buy it too small and then get a lens that is larger you wont be able to use it properly. and it is definatly the real deal as i have tested it in numerous circumstances.

this is one my mate showed me just the other day. classic stuff.

i tihnk i could pick a top 3, after that though it would be very difficult to decide. i think i may have to have a go next month.

i just hope they work!

ha i'd rather burn than crask that glass!! i know you you mean about the price though, my last fillup cost me 52 notes. the only saving grace is that i probably wont need to fill up for 3 weeks and that because of the tescos points (52 for that lot) and the tesco credit card (an extra 4 points for every 5 quid you spend at tescos on their CC) that i will get nearly £4 is deals vouchers for filling up. it all adds up!!

thats quite incredible. i was about 300 short of 500000 when i signed up an hour before you paul! certianly getting the numbers

signed up without hesitation. i was always facinated with whales as a child and its a terrible shame that whaling is still occuring at all, regardless of the reasons.

the thing is even if you dont want them all i am sure you can find someone who wants a couple of 2.2pint tubs for a fiver!

i did find these on ebay janet. i dont know if you want 4 but for 6 quid its a good deal regardless. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-X-NO-ESCAPE-MAGGOT...1QQcmdZViewItem

i was going to until my brain kicked in and i realised the picture needed to be taken that month! yes im an idiot so i put mine in the critique post. one of a racing car and one of some daffs.

another good read Janet. though if you keep releasing maggots into the wild like tht your redundancy will be gone before you know it!

thanks agian for the input guys, i am continuing to read as many thoiughts on everything i can at the moment! After another chat with my uncle last night it seems that the shop we would have to go to to get a day ticket for the place he is going to take me is Jack Frost Tackle, which is where i was looking to get my toys from anyway as they look to have a massive stock. so what we are going to do is lend me some of his extensive collection for the day and then pop into the shop in the evening with some wonga With my Uncle there he can guide me away form dodgy gear and gimmicks which will be very useful. hopefuly it'll be sooner rather than later. i have to say it was quite mild this morning as i left for work at 5:30. pitch black but not freezing biting cold like it has been recently. could we yet have a 30C christmas?

Cheers Paul. The thing is i enjoy my job, its just things that keep niggling away at me. The rest of the team for the most part arent up to scratch, my boss is so full of ridiculous ideas that it hurts, doing the same job elsewhere could net me 4k a year extra and i have to work with Perma Freelancers who take home 36k a year (thats 10k more than me) for being no where near as competant/experienced at the job as me and a couple of my colleagues are. Kinda just gets on yer tits a little. I am waiting until the new year comes to pass before i start looking seriously elsewhere. we have a whole new suite coming in which will need planning and testing before it is finally ready to go on air. one it is (probably last January) then i'll start packing my bag i think. I like to see projects through to the end so that i get to play with all the new toys and flashy buttons lol. the other thing is that i dont honestly mind what i do. as long as it can support me and my soon to be wife then i'll do it. Its just finding a job that will give you a chance with no exp in that field and not expect you to work 5 years on crappy pay before they pay you something to can live on.

i have to say that it is heartening to see so many people having so many jobs in completly non related areas. I'm only 22 but the feeling is starting to set in after 4 and a half years with the same company that i need to get out soon (boss does my head in) and while at the moment i only have the skills for one job its nice to think that in 30 years i could be doing something completly different.

deacster, i was going to PM you but i dont know if you can get it being a new member. but have you used Caterham angling before?

i had some in a plastic bag ten years ago that i put in the frige. only to open the door an find 2 or 3 had escaped!! the bag was tight shut too. i ws only 11 at the time

i am the same, unless i know the number i never call back!

http://www.offshore247.com/news/article.asp?Id=8779 apparently we went from being an importer of oil to an exporter of oil early this year so our money isnt going to the so called at all.

http://www.andiplaster.utvinternet.com/maggots.htm - how to make your own maggots

no idea s i have yet to venture to a tackle shop. but the thought appeals to chuck a chicken breast into a baitbox and let the flys do their thang.