fruitloopy

Now that is a great idea for a birthday present!

I have heard one theory and it is that because the lateral line of a fish is obviously sensative to sound and vibrations the rain creates a whole mess of noise and vibrations that they dont enjoy. Maybe during this time they are unable to sense a predator? Could be a load of rubbish but it sounds reasonable.

Of course you can Elton. Although my father has built this up to an art form now. I spoke to him last night and he had lost 2 floats, 1 method feeder and some more of the hair on his head! He even told me he was now forgetting about fishing lakes with lots of lovely features such as trees, islands, reeds, etc because most of the local tackle shops inventory is stuck somewhere amongst them. He now wants a lovely carp-like hole in the ground to fish in. Not that I am much better of course.

I wish I could handle one that big... ....and so does the wife!

I like the full house idea but this would be difficult for the non experienced to acheive. How do you "Blank in style", does this involve the most complete use of profanity and tantrums when you catch absolutely nothing?

I am back from holiday now and I had a good think about this while I was there. I just wanted to share what I have put together in case anyone else wants to have a go: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each participant puts in £10 to the kitty There are six daily categories and points are awarded and taken away. 1. Heaviest fish caught - 1 point per pound in weight 2. Number of fish caught - 1 point per fish 3. Number of individual species caught - 1 point for each species 4. Have you caught a unique species - 5 bonus points if no-one else has caught one of the species you have caught 5. Lost tackle - 3 points deducted for every incident of lost tackle - up a tree, in reeds, runaway carp, etc 6. Talking bo***cks - 5 points deducted for talking utter crap which will be voted by all participants There will also be a 7th secret category which someone who isnt taking part decides upon, you could even put this into an sealed envelope to be opened when adding up the points. I have asked the wives & girlfriends to come up with these secret categories and I have directed them to this webpage for ideas! We will be having 5 participants so the top 3 scorers of the day can sit back and relax while the bottom two become servants, they will be cooking the BBQ and washing up, or waiting on us at the pub. On Sunday night all the points will be totalled and the winner receives the kitty. Total loser can get a booby prize. Rules - All claims MUST be verifiable by either a witness and/or a camera. If you have a witness to vouch for the weight then just take a picture of the fish, if you don’t have a witness for the weight then the picture will have to include the weight shown on the scales, so in other words take the picture of the fish while you are weighing it. - If your line snaps then you have lost tackle, end of story. You will lose 3 points for every time this happens and not for every item lost. - Any fish under a pound does not need weight recording or verified, just a record kept of the catch Requirements - £10 from each person for the kitty - Keep a diary/record of each fish you catch and every incidence of tackle you lose. - Make a note of anything specific or unusual such as how you caught a fish, an usual bait or tactic or anything else out of the ordinary as this may contribute to a secret category. As we have two inexperienced anglers I was considering starting them off with 5 points per day extra. Have a look at the chart I put together and copy it if you like. This was done in Excel so I can email a copy to you if you wish. Chart I also made up some data to give the chart a test: Example data Any other suggestions are welcome and many thanks for the ones I already have.

The only I know of that you are describing is "Mr Crabtree goes fishing" by Bernard Venables. Its a comic strip that used to be in the Daily Mirror. It was the pipe smoking Mr Crabtree who used to take his young son Peter fishing at various times of the year and using various techniques. Cover A page inside the book: You can buy it from Amazon here: Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing - £9.45

I did read in Anglers mail letters page that its the fish that matters and not the angler, so if the fish weighs the amount claimed then that should be the record. The other side of this is why should someone who was fishing illegally get to be in the record books?

Just had a thought: In Top Gear they have a board with maybe 5 categories and each one scores points with a total at the end. The one with the most points wins. So what categories? A couple of sensible ones but fair to experienced and non experienced so I quite like the "Most species caught". As we could be separated by swims or even fishing on different lakes we cant allow some categories such as ones that are easy to cheat with. So as a communal effort I'll start of the first category and we'll grow it from there: 1. Most species caught But I also like "Best fish caught on a wacky bait" and could be set as a challenge with a short list of what qualifies as a wacky bait. I suppose I could even leave the final category up to a poll

Possibly off topic but a little bit of friday fun anyway. There is a group of us going on a long fishing weekend soon and I would like to make it even more interesting for all of us. I think some sort of betting or challenge for each day and/or over the whole weekend would make it fun but I am not sure what to suggest. There are 5 of us in total, one of us has very little fishing experience or knowledge, another one has a bit more and the other three are moderately experienced. 1 of us is only sixteen and doesnt have much money so I was thinking of taking a kitty of £5 or £10 at the most. So how shall we do this...daily challenges such as the first to catch over a 1lb? First to catch certain species? First to fall in? Its got to be fair to the inexperienced anglers and not open to cheating.

I caught my first eel last week and I NEVER want another one! In answer to Terry T Shirt I was near Wansford along the A47 very close to the petrol station there. I was told by the tackle shop that an angling club has the rights to that stretch and its a day ticket but no bailiff came round.

After reading some books and articles on quiver tip fishing in rivers I realise I may have missed out on several fish when I went to the River Nene on June the 16th. Like many people I took a couple of days off to head to the river. In my case I was a river virgin, having only got back into fishing from a small 22 year break I was desperate to give the rivers a try and when the 16th came I was on the bank at 5am, earlier than I had ever awoken for many, many years! I had decided to use a swimfeeder filled with maggots, with 3 or 4 maggots on a size 12 hook. With a light quiver on the end I thought I would do well but I had only been used to stillwaters before so couldnt recognise bites so well. Only once did I get what I would have known as a recognisable bite...when the tip bent double and stayed there. I struck but didnt connect. Curses!! However, as I had a slight bend in the tip I did keep seeing the bend go straight as if the line went slack (which it did). I had guessed it was because the swimfeeder had become dislodged from whatever snag it was embedded in and come back towards me. From what I have read this was probably because a fish had picked up the bait and moved towards me or picked up the swimfeeder as well. If only I had struck!! This happened at least ten times! I gave up in the afternoon and tried spinning for the first time. On my third cast I hooked and landed a 3lb pike, also my first...so I cant be unhappy about that. The Nene river isnt fast flowing but there are some weirs on its length close to me so I'll give them a try soon. I am off to Malta next week so the rivers will have to wait. If I catch over there I will let you know.

I've been browsing around on Google Maps near Peterborough looking for some other rivers to go fishing on when I spotted this Willow Brook in Blatherwycke. This is near Kings Cliffe which is off the A43 so sort of inbetween Corby and Peterborough. It looks like a really nice area but I know nothing about it. Does anyone know who controls this area? Day ticket, membership, etc? Is it any good? There a Google Maps link HERE

Great advice, thanks very much. I also joined the Fishing Malta forum and there's some helpful people on there as well. I was actually almost dreading having to go away on holiday, especially as I have just got to grips with the freshly opened river season but I am now looking forward to it!

I know its a long shot but I thought I may as well try... I'll be on holiday in Malta next week and I am trying to find out about any fishing opportunities while I am there. It seems there are lots of people who go out on a boat for sea fishing and I may try this (expense permitting) but I was looking for more "Sitting in the harbour with a beer and a rod" style. I've been on the official fishing website for Malta and cannot find anything about having a license so I assume you dont need one!? I'll be taking my 6 foot telescopic rod and a small non-expensive reel with 6lb line. That should do shouldnt it? Any advice on fishing in Malta? Any advice on taking tackle and gear abroad, apart from the obvious of sticking it in your hold bag and not carrying knives, etc? Cheers.

I would be interested to know what these differences are, are we more complicated over here? As far as advice goes, pop to your local tackle shop and ask about local waters where you can get some practise in, a well stocked commercial might be a good idea as you'll be able to get used to your tackle, etc. After that you could move on to the rivers. There's some good articles in the magazine called "Improve Your Coarse Fishing" on Breem in the latest issue and this is also a magazine thats holds all the basic's as well as developing on more tech stuff. Is there anyone you could go with in your local area?

I've seen these before on Anglers Net but couldnt fiond out where to get them from. How do I get one?

I'm in agreement with Anderoo, dont tell anyone about it or it'll be bivvy city! I have been fishing a similar water with a good head of carp but because its a free to fish park/nature reserve you get the occasional kids and other anglers there. The general mistake with the place is to fish it like a commercial, i.e sit there with all your gear out, throw in loads of groundbait and expect the fish to come to you. These carp have got to be fed lightly and stalked for because if they know you are there they will just disappear up the other end of the lake. Try keeping things simple and natural, lightly bait a few areas as Anderoo suggested and maybe try dropping a lobworm in on a freeline in the margins. I use a size 6 hook, 15lb mainline & a 12lb braid hooklength for extra 'invisibility', 15lb because I know there are snags which they will bolt for when hooked. I bought myself a Greys Stalker 9ft-12ft rod and this is excellent for bullying them quickly away from the snags and reeds when hooked and into open water. I have found freelining to be a fantastic way of fishing and I have also found the carp dont shy away from the line either. Take the minimum amount of equipment with you and go get 'em! Have fun.

I successfully used prawns in a non commercial water recently and they seemed to go down well. I bought a big bag of cooked and peeled king prawns from Aldi and used a blender on a bunch of them to mash them up. When I threw this in it created a lovely cloud of smelly goodness that seemed to attract them. One freelined king prawn on a size 6 hook caught me a 12lb common carp quite quickly. A 5lb tench came next but I think they wised up to them and stopped biting. The only other problem is stopping yourself from eating them while your fishing!

Great advice from both and I will put it into practise. Your right about the margin fishing for carp, I put my old centrepin on a short stalking rod while I was fishing on Saturday and dropped a lobworm on a size 6 hook down into the margin where I could see the reeds knocking about. Tightened up to it and just held the line between my finger and thumb. Within seconds the line went tight and I struck. Once I coaxed him out of the reeds I landed this lovely 7lb mirror, lovely colour as well. I've always been much more interested in the 'natural' ways of fishing, standing back from a lake and just watching for a while to locate the fish and then creeping up to them with nothing but a worm on the hook. I have always wanted a nice size Perch, anything over a 1lb would be great so I will certainly try Norfolkfisher's tips. Cheers

Nothing wrong with old equipment. A previous record holder Chris Yates caught his 51lb carp on an old cane rod. Watch "A Passion For Angling" and you'll see him bring in 20+lb'rs with a split can rod and 50 year old reel.

Essentially yes as it involves either a weight or a container of food + weight on your line and then your hook bait. Al of this also means you watch your quivertip at the end of your rod for bite detection. You can just use a lead weight, swimfeeder, block end feeder, method feeder, and more to provide the weight behind your cast and there are many different ways of attaching this to your mainline. You can also use PVA bags or string, boilies, hairigs, etc. As per my previous post, start simple and move up from there. The suggestion from Rarepleasures about the Improve your course fishing magazine is a very good one as it keeps the basic skills but also introduces new ones as well.

I think the first suggestion is to see if you can go with someone a bit more experienced. I recently got back into it after a 21 year break (bloody women!) and was quite unsure, especially as some things have changed. However, some have not and there's a fair few people on here who would agree that the old ways re the best! At the very least a good reel as ColinW has said, some decent line and start from the basics. I would suggest a 3lb line and some 2.4lb hooklink or hooklength line, size 16 or 18 hook, waggler float and some shot and get some maggots. Go to a commercial lake, take a chair and a couple of rod rests and start fishing. I think a book is in order and Aldi are doing a good freshwater fishing at the moment for £4. There's a Bob Nudd DVD on Waggler float fishing that I found very useful. There's many different methods and disciplines of fishing but I think going back to your roots (if float fishing was your root, I'm only guessing) is the best way then you can decide if you want to learn other methods and build up your skills. Let me know if your ever in the Peterborough area, I could try and pass on whatever I have learnt. Have fun and enjoy being away from work and out of the house.

Used it last night and it did the job perfectly, enough light to sort out the massive tangle in my reel line but not enough to frighten the fish away from where they were feeding.

Stram´ash v. t. 1. To strike, beat, or bang; to break; to destroy. n. 1. A turmoil; a broil; a fray; a fight an uproar; a state of noise and confusion Must be a Scottish word. Are rod rests really banned or is it simply because it was obvious he left them propped up an a branch unnattended?