fruitloopy

Thanks chuby. I went to that website and found a place not too far away from me called Earith Trout Fishery. Its less expensive than I imagined it to be, although I was looking at the 2004 prices its only £20 for a full day 4 trout limit + catch and release. I assume this means you are allowed to keep 4 trout for the full day and any others you catch you have to put back? I think I might enjoy this! Cheers

I dont really use much braid but I understand its thinner than the equivelent strength mono so it wouldnt be seen so easily. I'm probably wrong though

If only my garden pond was big enough!!

I am interested in trying out fly fishing and wondered if you could help. Is it expensive? I have heard if you want to go to places to catch salmon, trout, etc you have to pay quite a bit more than if you were coarse fishing. Where can I go thats close to Peterborough? I dont necessarily need or want to go to somewhere commercial. What equipment do I need? Understandably a fly rod and reel but what about line, flies, etc? Many many thanks in advance.

I think it will really depend on exactly what you want to catch. If you want to target the large carp then you will more than likely want to use large baits. For this you could use a 15lb mono mainline or if there are no snags around a braid line for neater presentation. When fishing for smaller fish such as roach use the lightest line you can get away with, 2-3lb at most. If there are lots of snags around then by all means step up the BS but on a typical commercial water you shouldnt need to. I have brought in an 8lb mirror on a 2.5lb mainline and 2lb hooklength. Its all about balancing the test curve of the rod with the bs of the line, you can use a lighter line with a light test curve and still bring in heavier fish than the bs because the rod is absorbing most of the thrusts and dives. On the negative side you shouldnt use a light line with a heavy rod because there is no give in the rod to absord the pressure from the fighting fish so the line will easily snap. I cant think of a reason why you shouldnt use a heavy line with a light rod though. Anyone? A heavy line could spook the fish so using this as your only mainline could make you lose out but this could be countered by presentation such as ledgering so the line is on the bottom. A heavier line also means drastically reduced casting ability, especially if your only float fishing. Perhaps a happy alternative is to take two rods, one for float fishing using a light line and another heavier rod for the bigger boys. You could fish both by using the heavier as a sleeper rod with a bite alarm and continue to fish the float rod for everything else. If a big carp takes the small bait and snap the line then, as MAXALDO would say "Gutted"

I just read this (after my post above, obviously) and could see that this Julian fella uses a bait band as well. The difference is that he makes sure the hooklink floats! I'm sure I have read and seen videos that suggest your mainline is greased to make sure it floats but the hooklink should sink because when you line is on the surface the fish can easily see it, when underneath the surface they cant. Can anyone else offer some advice on this?

Just to add a slightly different tactic. When I freeline dog biscuits I make sure I use a small swivel to connect the mainline to the hooklength because I find it sinks the hooklength. This means the mainline floats but the hooklength is underwater and invisible to your surface munching quarry. If hooklink doesnt sink then rub a bit of washing up liquid on it. I also use a pellet band to attach my dog biscuit to the hook. When the biscuit expands in the water it stays even more firmly on the band and because the hook is free it makes hooking the fish much easier. I think you have to strike quite quickly though as they may feel the hook.

I wanted to try some spinning and/or lures last night based on This Post by ModelCitizen. I went to a little fished spot where I am sure there are plenty of Perch and cast in. As soon as it hit the water I had an immediate savage take on it. I struck but no connection. Cast again, immediate take, a few seconds of connection and then it came off. Cast again, immediate take and thought I had hooked it this time. Reeled it in and it came off. I must have spooked them because they all buggered off! Damn!

I dont mind the stink either and it is usually dry by the time it gets in the car. The problem is that I leave it in the car and I had to give someone a lift yesterday. It was quite embarrassing but at least they wont ask for a lift again! The landing net is the 32" specimen from Fox HERE Maybe I will go to QD or similar later and see what they have.

There's a couple of questions here: 1. I have a 32" oval shape landing net which when not in use barely fits in a black bin bag. I would really like to put this in a proper sealable bag which stops it stinking out my car. Any suggestions? 2. How do you clean landing nets and should you clean them? I assume you should to prevent disease, etc. And also 'cos it bloody stinks! Thanks. Edit: I should mention that it doesnt fold up

What the hell is that?!? Thanks BB, that makes sense. I'll give it a try on Sat...if the bloody weather improves!

I went to a spot on the River Nene early on Sat morning to get what seems to be the only peg to fish on Orton Weir. It seems I didnt get there early enough (5:45am) as someone seemed to have beaten me to it by only a few minutes! I headed upstream a bit and cast a ledger in but got continously caught up on streamer weed. I walked around for a bit but all I could see on the bottom along this stretch was a carpet of this weed. The question is, is it worth trying to fish it and if so what is the best method or tactic? Is it better to give it up as a bad job and go elsewhere to find a clear spot? Thanks.

Same thing as me on Saturday. The carp were feeding of the surface and I had already landed a lovely 13lb mirror with a floating dog biscuit freelined. When I hooked another using the same method 10 minutes later in the margins I got very excited, especially as the massive burst of spped and power made me think "Wow, this must be a biggy!" Snap! 8lb Mainline and 6lb hooklength, he took my hooklength of into the rushes with him. I tied on another 6lb hooklength, blaming the fact that my line had been weakened already by the 13lb. I was doubting my chances of getting him again as he must be spooked by the biscuits now. I was wrong, this carp was hungry! He took my biscuit and steamed off for the reeds again. Snap! I've learnt my lesson. Out comes the stalker rod, 15lb mainline, 12lb hooklength...its the strongest I have with me. I really did think that there was no way this carp, hungry or not, was gonna grab a biscuit again but I gave it a try. I had to be extra patient but after about 20 minutes I could see and hear the reeds in front of me bashing about. He suddenly came out and grabbed the biscuit. I managed to yank him out of the reeds and landed him after a couple of minutes. He was only 9lb! I'll always remember the ghost carp I hooked under a tree while stalking earlier this year. He snapped me off after a few seconds and I still dream about it. Have faith mate, go and look for him and throw him a worm!

It is not against the law to take pictures of children. There is a big enough debate raging about this with photographers at the moment as many of them are being stopped by the police and having their films, memory cards, etc confiscated. As long as you are not harassing a subject, trespassing or taking pictures of military installations you are entirely within the law if you want to take pictures. The major problem is the publics perception, if you take a picture of a building they think you are a terrorist. If you take a picture of someones happy child with a colourful balloon then your a pedo. If the Polish accuse you of being a pedo because you took a pic of them spit roasting a 20lb pike then anyone mature enough would be able to walk away laughing. And no I am not a photographer, amatuer or otherwise. I just find the gradual lack of civil liberties that are disappearing in the country upsetting.

I was concerned when I first started fishing where I did, I was wondering if I was breaking the law but then I thought 'There's no signs from angling associations, clubs, farmers, land owners, etc so...what the hell.' If the owner asks you to move on then apologise and walk away. I think there are loads of these little places around and its a sign of the increasing lack of freedom we have in this country as we always think it belongs to someone or the police will tell us to leave. We are always worried that we are in the wrong. As long as it is not dangerous, your not harming anyone or obviously fishing where your not supposed to then go for it. I like to roam around and crash through a few bushes and as long as I dont damage anything or hurt anyone then I cant see the problem. Go for it badboybubbie, start searching areas around you on google maps and just go and have a look. I think if you see a spot that looks great but is obviously on someones land then go and ask as they will almost certainly say yes.

Yes, any of the other bivvies will be fine. No need to ask as they use it to mix their groundbait.

If you could emigrate somewhere in the world for a better fishing experience where would you go? Or is the UK the best?

All comes down to making money at the end of the day. Bas*ards! This is why I try to seek out these unfished, out of the way spots because I dont want to sit on the same wodden pallet for 8 hours wedged inbetween "I've got a line in that spot, mate" and the "swish...swish...swish" noise of the underweighted float rod casting out every 10 seconds next to me. I've got a real chip on my shoulder today! It must be because I've seen the bloody weather report for the weekend.

Oops I did think it was wrong, I'm sure our entire UK worth is less than 275 billion!

I would be in heaven if I caught those barbel, they look great! I find it much more fun because you just dont know what your going to find in there.

I find the swims at rivers to be excellent places to dump all that left over rubbish that my local council will charge me for. Its not fly tipping, surely all that plastic and battery acid will feed the fish?

I know, seems a lot doesnt it and I thought it was a typo but its all on the Environment Agencies "Fishing for the future" PDF document. EA - Fishing for the future Maybe it includes money spent by our licenses, fishery owners on stock, tackle shops, tacklefests, etc.

Have you seen the comments section of Martin James site? Martin James There's a great one there by a police constable who has used fishing to combat under age drinking, anti social behaviour, etc with the kids. And it has worked brilliantly! I have sent another email now with lots of these comments, and this time I copied in Rosie Cooper and Ben Wallace, MP's for Lancashire West and Wyre. Hopefully we can get thier support, especially on the sensitive and highly political subject of anti social behaviour from youths. This touched a nerve with me...can you tell? There's bugger all on the BBC about fishing and it seems to be getting worse.

Thanks for bringing this to everyones attention Janet. The BBC has been giving less air time to fishing becuase it doesnt seem to be cool or as widely watched as footbal and cricket. I have just sent the email below to lancashire@bbc.co.uk and a post to the link pointed out by Martin Salisbury. Fishing is one of Britain’s most popular sports…not only is it popular but it’s the most participated sport in this country. We aren’t couch potatoes who sit around cheering on a team based 300 miles away, we get out there and do it. So why has this been removed from your site? Using the “About the BBC” link from your own site I was easily able to find the following information. Under your Public Purposes section: In informal learning and knowledge-building • Covering a wide range of factual subjects, helping audiences to build their knowledge. • Looking for ways of making factual programming enjoyable for diverse audiences, both mainstream and niche. It would seem that our so called niche sport has been removed and only the mainstream allowed to remain. Martin James and his “At the Waters Edge” was a very enjoyable read and the help and advice it gave has been invaluable to me and to the others I have passed this on to. The Environment Agency has been charged to get thousands more people fishing this year as it is a healthy and fun sport and also great for the environment. We are the first to spot anything wrong with the waters we visit. Many of us pick up the litter thrown away by less responsible people to safeguard our own environment. The EA reported that 4 million people went fishing last year with a estimated total of £275 Billion pounds spent on the sport. I would like to think we are not a niche sport at all and I would be very happy to see Martin James return to his home on your website. Thank you for your attention,

I took a drive over to a place called Werrington in Peterborough last night to check out a small brook that runs through it. Its not all that wide and in some parts down to just 8 foot across. I started underneath a foot bridge across the brook where I could see fish feeding. While I was there I was watching a police helicopter hovering over my head watching me, I had driven past a police van on my way here so I was expecting some running footsteps and police helmets heading towards me at any moment. After 5 minutes the helicopter left, maybe he was interested in whether I was catching anything! I caught nothing under that bridge so I went to another bridge a bit further upstream. As soon as I cast my worm/float it went under and I reeled in a lovely, energetic young Perch of about half a pound. 30 minutes later I had another 5. I moved along the path of the brook to where it meets a small wier that comes from a lake called Cuckoo's Hollow, I had seen a barbel languishing in the current below the wier a couple of weeks back so I was hoping he might still be around. The water was quite cloudy, maybe the sudden downpour earlier had caused that. I cast the worm in freeline this time to let it drift with the current and within seconds I felt a sharp, heavy tug. I struck and felt some nice resistance but lost it. After a few more casts I caught another 2 Perch and a 1 pound chub. This could be an incentive to river anglers out there not to neglect these small brooks, streams, etc as they still hold a good head of fish and good fun. If you can see moorhens, ducks, swans and other wildlife on the water then you can bet there will be fish. Anyone in Peterborough can visit this place, I could not see any signs to indicate fishing was not allowed and in fact this brook, Cuckoo's Hollow and some of the land surrounding it is owned by the Environment Agency. Google Maps location of Werrington Brook Google Maps location of the wier at Cuckoo's Hollow, Werrington Just so you are aware the lake at Cuckoo's Hollow was found with a small Blue-Green Algae outbreak in May. The Environment Agency retested in June and gave the all clear but signs are still up warning dog walkers, etc. I have no idea of fishing is available here, I do know it is not very deep and quite thick with mud and silt in many places.