rourke7719

Okuma's have a good rep as quality reels, I would go for the epix over the nexave but some other shimano reels are really good. Depends on how much you want to spend. Daiwa reels are good as well. If you want to use a reel for float and feeder then I wouldn't go too big, a 2500 shimano or '30' sized reel would be ideal. Any bigger and I think it would be a chore for general float work. Look for a reel with at least 2 spools, you will normally get a shallow spool and a deep spool, use the shallow one for float and the deep one for feeder fishing.

Like the previous reply, I would probably opt for a polaris float in this situation but as an alternative, depending on how far out and how uneven the lake bed is you could try lifting the tip of your rod high - similar to beachcaster style, this will lift your line in the water and it will not be hugging the contours of the lake bed. If you're a really long way out or the lake bed is extremely uneven this may not work but I've used this technique in the lake district to help with bite indication and it has made a difference.

its a metal body, I actually got it with a subscription offer on angling times advanced about 3 or 4 years ago.

This reel is actually one of about 8 or 9 in my collection that I use. I was only a bit disappointed as it was one of my favorites and would have liked to continue using it. A new one identical to it would only be about 20 - 25 quid and thats not an issue for me and I have plenty others to keep me going. Its a MAP CFS reel, not sure of the model number as I don't have it with me at the moment. Like I said its only a cheap one. Is it actually a good reel, the reason it broke was because I was carrying my rod along a dam wall and it had the old style reel seat that was just 2 rings you slide along the handle to lock the reel, anyway the rings had worked loose and the reel fell about 8 feet onto solid concrete, I would expect even a £100 plus reel to break after that.

Yeah, it was the rear arm of the reel seat. Probably could have worded that better. I've been on to the manufacturer and they said they would look into it for me but I'm not really expecting anything. I was thinking it might end up being a right off but I did like the reel - even though it was a cheap one - and I was just hoping there might be a simple solution that I may not of thought about.

I've only gone and dropped my reel One of the arms the fixes it to the rod has broke off. I am going to try get hold of a new part but just in case I can't has anyone got any good repair solutions for it?

Any tips on getting a decent photo of me and my prize catches when I'm fishing on my own. I have a mini tripod for my digi camera but I can never seen to frame the shot very well.

Anyone recommend a budget Barbel rod. I'm looking for around1 1/4 to 1 3/4 T.C. As well as barbel use I will be using it for heavy float work on commercials and for big tench. It is not something I would use every session, probably only a dozen times a year really. Although its mainly a barbel rod I'm after I would consider a twin tip rod. Looking at 30 - 60 quid. Any suggestions?

I used to live in Wokingham which isn't to far from Basingstoke. There are a few waters in the area for day ticket fishing but it depends on what you want to do. If you want to sit behind buzzers and are after carp try California country park, its not a prolific fishery but IIRC it is cheap enough and there are a few big carp in there, although you'll probabl;y need someone to drop you off. If you are after commercial fisheries then head to your tackle shop, there are a lot in the area to look at so ask them and find out which is fishing well.

For me you can't beat catching a net full of quality roach! But I do like to catch big Tench as well. Grayling on the rivers though!

A lot of it does come down to personal preference but besides the obvious differences I find that the drag adjustment on a front drag reel is far more precise than on a rear drag and I have found the drag to be more reliable on front drag models. Rear drag models big advantage IMO is the fact that the spools can be changed far more easily and you can change them without having to alter your drag settings. I like rear drag reels for big fish because I have shimano reels with the fighting drag system which is handy if you need to quickly alter your drag setting whilst playing a fish. However I do have front drag reels, which I actually prefer to use for general fishing where I don't expect any monsters.

I sea fish every now and again but due to other commitments its been about 2 years since I last fished in the sea. I have been going through my tackle recently and have noticed that my reels are starting to look like they have been sat at the bottom of the ocean for the 2 years they haven't been used. Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to clean these reels up or have I left them to long and they are now beyond repair.

If you are new to fishing I would say that one of the best ways to learn things is to do them. Try groundbaiting the areas you fish and see what your results are, compare them to your results when you don't groundbait. There are lots of variables that can affest it but thats all part of the fun of fishing in my eyes, sometimes you get it right sometimes it goes horribly wrong. Another option is next time you go fish 2 swims, one slightly to your left one slightly to your right. Groundbait one and just loosefeed the other, over a day see which swim produces more. When I fish canals I always take groundbait with me but I don't always use it, I just try to guage how the fish are feeding first and go on from there. I'm no expert on canals though and my results can be erratic at best. Just try it, if it works - great - if it doesn't then leave it

Sold!

Lets be honest here, GCSE's really don't help kids in later life apart from maths, english and science. What they do is give a potential employer or further education provider an indication as to how the student can apply themselves. If the kids can prove that then it makes them worth while taking on for further training and employment gaining degrees or apprenticeships and the like. Not many job adverts quote GCSE's as a requirement.

I'm not that bothered about getting a fish a chuck and when I fished island dam I didn't do to bad, my pb tench is actually from there. It's not so much the fishing that I didn't rate but its hard to say exactly what it was, there was just something about it. Sounds weird I know but I can't help that. About the Wigan card - This is what I'm trying to figure out, whether the stillwaters are any good. I'm a bit cautious because I've joined clubs in the past that have had really poor waters on them that are just not worth the money - even if it is cheap. If the Wigan waters are worth fishing then its something I will definitly look into joining

Sounds like quite a hot topic, obviously I haven't read a lot because it seems there is far more to this than I was aware of. Didn't realise they were fighting to access private stretches of river, not sure if I would like that or not. More thought required I think

This is going to make me sound really tight giving the previous posts but I remember fishing Island Dam as day ticket water, now its been a while since I have been but it was a place I would only visit once or twice a year because I didn't really rate it that highly. So to pay 35 notes a year to fish it doesn't seem that good of a deal to be honest - unless they have improved it since I last went down there (about 4 years ago maybe)

I've just been reading about this, canoe/kayak users are wanting unrestricted access to waterways in England and Wales like they do in Scotland. Also read that Anglers are protesting against it. Now there are obviously going to be arguements for and against this but does anyone else wish that we could just get on with enjoying our sport - whatever it may be - and learn to respect that other people should be able to use the countryside as much as we do. I would be quite happy to see canoes on the rivers and canals. What are your opininons on this?

My apologies for going off on one there. Can I say though you have no need to be envious of the price we pay up here. Except for commercial fisheries which we seem to have a lot of, I have found that there are better quality "natural" fishing in the south and quite often it is worth the extra money to join the clubs. On the other hand though, I don't want to anger any Northern anglers here, I do not have the most extensive knowledge of Northern fisheries or how much it costs to join any other clubs in the region. I'm sure there are some absolutely fantastic clubs and fisheries here as well, I just need to find them. Anyway, going back to my original post. Does anyone know who controls, if anybody, the stretch of canal running from the old girobank building up through Ince to Wigan Top Lock. I would like info on prices and any tactical info would be helpful

No one is complaining about the price of the tickets, all I'm saying is if the waters are not worth it then I'll look alse where. I spent 10 years living down south in various places and I'm well aware of how much the clubs cost and had no worries paying it because the waters controlled buy those clubs are worth it. I don't know if you have seen the state of some of the canals in the Wigan area but believe me when I say that they are not at all as pleasant as some of the rivers I have fished down south, add to that the amount of people that walk the canals, a lot of which are not at all considerate of other canal users and you'll realise why someone wouldn't want to pay £24 a year just to use the canals. So in response to your statement, having lived and fished in many parts of this country, I am well aware that "I am born" and maybe you should look deeper into the subject before you raise a such a point.

I agree with the guys previously but would like to add one thing. I always used to use anti tangle tubing but one day whilst fishing at linear fisheries I was educated by a guy who is sponsored by Nash. He pointed out that rig tubing makes your rig much more obvious in the water than it would be if you were not using it. So I stopped putting it on my rigs, it made a difference especially on clear water venues. I know this is probably more carp angling orientated but I followed the same principle in my general coarse fishing and match fishing. Also when I thought about it the tubing didn't really reduce the number of tangles I got myself into anyway! If you are fishing for carp and you find yourself striking early then sit on your hands until you really have to grab the rod.

Cheers, that helps a bit but I can't find mention of the stretches around Ince. Anyone have any ideas? Are the still waters on the Wigan AA card any good, I wouldn't join on the back of the canal stretches but if the still waters are anygood I may consider it

Been considering fishing the canals in Wigan as I only live a couple of mins from them. Anyone know who controls the fishing on them, are they free/day ticket/club ticket? I'm looking at the lengths from the alliance & leicester/girobank building up towards ince and on to top lock but info on any of the other lengths would be appreciated as well. Any hot spots or not spots and methods would be handy to. Cheers

Sorry, thought I'd put it in there, My local area is Wigan I'll edit the original post