Gary B

You are assuming it was not reported...it was

Last night I took the lad night fishing for the first time on the Thames at Bourne End, Bucks (Spade Oak stretch over the railway crossing). We arrived at 8.30 to find some swims taken all Eastern Europeans, one older guy in particular fishing with what can only be described as shark tackle blind drunk, swinging an axe in one hand and a 10" blade in the other, no one said a word despite the number of dog walkers and other anglers. We settled down a short distance away and got chatting to 2 other anglers who were again Polish but passionate about the hobby, both holding the necessarry licences and to be honest true gentlemen, one told me he had recently been mugged by Bulgarians for his rods on the riverbank. After dark just before 10pm a large gang walked behind us all Eastern European carrying cheap fishing rods and cooking gear we counted 21 people walking towards Marlow. Add the other 15 people already there thats a lot of fish being taken from a small stretch of river. We had seen enough and decided to leave... walking back I genuinely feared for me and my 12 year old lad's safety, if the EA really want to catch these fish thieves they will need the help of the police and adress the problem mob handed. Sorry guys for the long rant but this has been a real eye opener for me, not all European visitors are fish thieves, from what I have experienced after dark on the river is a different world.

Hi We have a match at Manor farm soon and would like to know if anyone fishes the match canal, any advice would be appreciated. Gary

I agree a whip is great fun for any age and it's a great way of teaching youngsters about watercraft and wildlife...especially these days when computer games take priority. My lad Dan who is now 11 has only been fishing just over a year. He asked me out of the blue could he go fishing one day, up until then my tackle had been in the shed for 15 years feeding the mice. I took him to the Thames at Marlow and couldn't believe how a lad with the attention span of a goldfish could sit there and watch a rod tip for 5 hours at a time in the freezing cold..., now he lives for fishing. He appears to have a natural talent along with the usual 11 year old cockyness. His you tube name is minnowmaster209.

The Bream and Barbel are a little further down, Marlow angling club own quite a large stretch past the rugby club. I dont think we have ever had a good quality roach there, mostly up to 1/2 pound mark, but I guess it's all on the day. Best bream was 8lb.10 past the motorway bridge. Hope this helps Gaz

Hi Barney My lad Dan fishes there on quite a regular basis, the water level drops and rises quite a lot depending on floods etc, on average it is about 6 ft with an undertow from the lock. Just recently it has not been fishing well, probably due to our foreign friends with spinners on nearly every swim. I have noticed that perticular area is very easily spooked Last winter we had some nice Chub on free lined meat, bread flake is also good all just as evening set in. Dont leave anything valuable in your motor if fishing at night. Hope this helps Gary

How much does it cost to keep a shop running these days ? these guys need to make a profit to keep going. I will gladly pay a little extra at my local tackle shop rather than e bay, if something is faulty you can simply take it back for an exchange, plus the good advice they give is excellent. Last month I visited a tackle shop in west London with a work mate who wanted to start fishing, he had £250 to spend. We ended up walking out without spending a penny he flatly refused to part with any cash because the guy in the shop's attitude was so bad, how they keep two branches going begs belief.

I recently approached a group of eastern europeans at our local lake, when I asked them if they had a licence or a ticket they got nasty. When I called the Environment agency Incident Hotline - 0800 80 70 60 to report them the recorded message told me to wait as there was a que of callers...then five minutes later there was a message saying please call back later as all the operators were busy.

I would have imagined the hooklink should break before the pole, I have also heard that if you knock a section it can cause a weakness in the construction. Sorry to hear about that perhaps it was a cat not a carp, do you think the pole was an E Bay special

This was the first time we used it, to be honest no there was no difference, no feeding frenzy just red stains. Perhaps the manufacturer can give me some advice on cleaning hands and clothes, I ended up using Loctite painters hand cleaner. The instructions on the bag are very limited "mix to slop or add to meat pellets or groundbait". Do you think these explosive type ground baits will spook shy fish.

We have just returned home from a short session at a local lake having tried out the new Atomic Cloud ground bait / bait additive. One point users should be aware of is the red dye will not come off your hands or clothes despite several scrubbing attempts, I would suggest using latex gloves when preparing the mix.

Interesting points lads thanks for the info, the pellets only sink to the bottom of the pump when I let the pressure out so perhaps they need longer. Also when trying to hook they just fall apart. I will try some ready made ones this weekend. Once again thanks for your help. Gaz

Hi all Just recently I have been fishing a local carp pool where red maggot's work well there is a good selection of Carp, Roach, Rudd , Skimmers etc. Expander pellets are very popular and apparently one of the best baits to use on the pole. So far we have not had a bite on pellet even when the fish are feeding, we have tried different makes from 4mm to 8mm, even tried soaking them in strawbery flavours etc. Is there any special way to prepare them...for example do you leave them under pressure for a while when pumped. Also they can be difficult to hook...should we be using bands ? Thanks in advance Gaz

On the subject of second hand poles and equipment. has anyone got a cheap pole for sale, my lad is looking to start, he's only 10 so I would think an 8m would do fine. I am in the Buckinghamshire area. Cheers Gaz

I got a cheapie pole a few months ago as I wanted to try pole fishing without spending a fortune, my first couple of outings were hard work the pole was heavy and unbalanced ( you get what you pay for), the more you get out the easier it gets, now I use the pole all the time with a fair amount of confidence. My advice would be to try a few short sessions and build up from there, the guys on this forum will give you all the help and advice you need, also take a look at some you tube vids. Good luck Gaz