wellyphant

Can anyone beat this as an example of OTT fishing tackle? What you're seeing here are a set of distance sticks which in themselves can be very handy but these ones come with spirit levels built into the end so that you can make them perfectly vertical. They'll cost you over fifty quid too

Hi all, looking for some advice. . About six years ago, I was given custody of my son after the social services and subsequently the judge, deemed his mother not fit to care for him, he was two years old. I had not been in a relationship with his mother since she was pregnant with him. His three siblings were also removed from his mother and placed in to care. His mother was a neglectful and sometimes abusive parent who's actions were reported to the social services on several occasions. His mother was someone who made friends very easily and would leave her children with people she hardly knew while she did things like escorting work. On sex sites, she openly invited strange men to her house where her children were present. A psychological assessment concluded that my son's mother had a personality disorder and she was unlikely to change, even if undergoing therapy. Since then, until recently, my son's mother has had contact once per week, for two hours, supervised by myself. I, along with my parents have provided my son with a decent upbringing since the early court order. My parents have had to put their retirement on hold to care for him whilst I had to work. They have also played a massive part in his education. I couldn't have done it without them. Earlier this summer, my son's mother applied to the court for more contact including unsupervised contact and overnight stays. During the last four or five years, she has taken part in therapy and passed a few parenting courses. Recently, the social services and the judge have deemed these qualifications good enough for her to have the contact which she has asked for and concluded that she is a changed person. I however, know that she is the same person. Since my son has had more contact with his mother, he has become more cheeky and argumentative. A couple of weeks ago, my parents were taking my son to get some new school shoes and when my father asked him to get in his booster seat, my son started shouting at my father in the street, saying that he didn't need a booster seat. My son heard this off his mother when she took him somewhere in a friends car without one. Whilst my father was being shouted at by my son, he momentarily lost his temper and brushed my son's chin with his finger. Although the contact was only very slight, my son lost his balance and fell over, grazing his elbow. On the day this happened, I dropped my son off with his mother and I went away for the weekend. When I returned, I had the social services and the police at my door, making enquiries as to the cause of my son's 'injury' after my son's mother had reported it to them. They then went to see my father and although the police decided they were no longer going to pursue the investigation, the social worker said she needs to do a further assessment which she hopes to conclude quickly, however, she has now taken annual leave so the matter is still unresolved and my son isn't allowed to stay at my parents house without me there. About a month ago, my son's mother asked of it would be ok for her to go on holiday to Poland at the beginning of September, I assumed that this would be ok as my parents hadn't made any plans and they would have been able to look after my son whilst I was working. Recent events have obviously changed this and my parents will no longer be able to do this. I have told my son's mother that she will no longer be able to go to Poland as I have no alternative carers. She has told me that she will be going on holiday, she will leave my son with her partner and as she has parental responsibility, she can leave my son with whoever she likes. I have told her that this is unacceptable and that she does not have my consent to leave my son with a third party. There is nothing on the court order that says her partner can look after my son whilst she goes on holiday. I have concerns that this is not good for my son who needs routine. Can she do this? Thanks.

I've had my best results when float fishing for Tench using expanders on the hook when nothing else seemed to work. Saying that, most of my Tench fishing is on a deep pond where only an underarm swing is required, the pellets can easily come off the hook and can split easily when applying them to the hook.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home from Cheshire after enjoying a bank holiday weekend in Nantwich with some friends. I was travelling Northbound on the M6 with my young son in my father's Campervan. I noticed a police car following me but was not worried as I thought everything was in order and I'd not been speeding. You can imagine my surprise when the officer switched on his blues to pull me over. The officer asked me to sit in his car where he would explain to me why he'd pulled me over, to my horror, he informed me that my dad's vehicle was showing as having no insurance. I explained that I was convinced the van was insured as I'd checked with my father a few weeks previously before another trip. The police officer did some more checks and it was confirmed that the van was uninsured. He then allowed me to contact my father to try and get an explanation and to see if my dad could get the vehicle insured immediately. When I rang him, my father was equally shocked and after ringing his insurance company he discovered that his insurance had lapsed at the end of January this year. My father managed to get insurance there and then and the Police officer sent us on our way after issuing me with a traffic offence report. When I got home, my father explained to me that the reason he wasn't insured was that he had recently changed his current account from a bank to a building and he was under the impression that his Direct Debit for the Insurance would automatically be transferred over. My father had been insured with the Camping and Caravan club and his policy had been renewed automatically every year since 2008 but was discontinued when he'd switched accounts. As far as my dad was concerned, he'd had no notifications from his insurance company to inform him that his insurance had expired but after speaking to them, they informed him that he'd by notified via email. My dad checked through his emails and found that a renewal notification had indeed been sent but as it had gone straight to Junk, he'd missed it. I have since received a CONDITIONAL OFFER OF A FIXED PENALTY. For my 'sins', I'm looking at a fine of £300 and 6 penalty points. As a working single father, I cannot afford this fine nor the points on my licence, nor can I afford the inevitable increased insurance payments for my own vehicle. I thing this a harsh penalty for someone who believed everything was in order and wasn't driving a vehicle in the knowledge that it wasn't insured. My father has drafted a letter accepting full responsibility should I contest the allegation in court. My father's insurers have also made a note against his policy that will confirm that his policy had been renewed automatically every year for the last ten years. Should I fight this in court and risk further court costs or take it on the chin?

It's easy to measure eg. 10 rod lengths out by using distance sticks, eg. ten wraps around two distance sticks set a rod length apart. Rod tip would typically be close to water's surface, no more than 3ft. I agree that to drop on a slack line would be better for accuracy, the problems there however are, having to release the line form line clip immediately after cast and dropping on a slack like increases the chance of tangles.

I'm wondering if there is a simple mathematical formula for the following problem. Using my Deeper fish finder, I find a likely looking underwater feature in eg. 30 ft of water where I'd like to cast a bait to. Using my spool clip and distance sticks, I measure the distance of this feature from my casting point at eg. 10 rod lengths out. As I prefer to feel my lead and bait down on a tight line, what would I need to add on to the distance to allow for swing back?

Some cracking fish there mate, three doubles in a night from the Dribble is a good result. I can't believe you've had so little feedback on this post, you should've said you caught them on a vintage centrepin and everyone would've lost their minds.. I'll let you PM me the details of the bait you were using in exchange for the info I gave you on the Tench pond

The Korum Latex folding spoon nets are pretty good, I use one myself.

Alright ATS, I can recommend a cracking little Tarn but you'll have to cross the Border to Cumbria to get to it. It's called Skelsmergh Tarn near Kendal. A club called Kendal and district angling club have it. You can get day tickets but if you can make it there a good few times, it'd be worth buying the £40 annual permit. They also have another couple of waters that contain Tench, the newly acquired Atkinsons Tarn and a Stretch of canal. Getting back to Skelsmergh. This is a stunning natural tarn set in a SSSI, it's circular in shape and quite deep. It holds Tench and Perch, both of which grow to good sizes, I've been told the Tench go over 10lb and I've had them myself to over 8lb. It fishes best in May and June when the the thick lillies which surround the tarn start emerging. The tarn has a real Mr. Crabtree feel about it, especially when you see the tip of your float sat amongst the most ridiculous amount of fizzing you are ever likely to see. Don't be fooled by these bubbles though, they're not a guarantee you will get a bite. If you are lucky enough to hook one, you've then got to land it. These fish give a brutal fight and often stitch you up in the lillies, I even had my Mk IV Drennan Tench Float rod snapped by one of these fish The best day I had was six fish landed, three lost and countless missed bites, that was an exceptional day though. The tarn is best fished from first light in warm, muggy, dull, damp conditions. I rarely fish past 9am as the bites become so few and far between you really have to keep your concentration up to hit them. I guess from that time you could target the Perch with worm if you want a full day's fishing, you'll still have the chance of hooking a tinca that way too. Setting your float to the correct depth is also a dark art, it's very silty with lots of water cabbagy type weeds on the bottom, your float can be sat amongst a jaccuzzi of bubbles and not move, then it can slide under once the bubbles have gone and catch you out unawares. Get it right though and the rewards are great, the fish are a beautiful deep dark green and in great condition. Can't say any more than that really.

You man like this? I can see in some situations, the rule is a good one, especially on rivers. When I'm pike fishing, I like to have my line and rod directly in a straight line, there are some places where I fish where the set up pictured above isn't possible due to things like bankside vegetation. There are times when I have to spread my rods out a little bit. I don't think it's the distance between rods (within reason) which is the main concern but how you react when you get a bite. When I'm fishing for pike and one of my alarms sound, I strike immediately. I invite you and everyone else in this thread to have a look at the following video, especially between 20:20 and 23:00. I can guarantee that if I left it as long as this idiot before I struck at a take from a pike, especially decent sized fish, It would result in a deep hooked fish. The buffoon in this video is very lucky that that didn't happen to his fish. His nice pretty little battery of parallel rods didn't make any difference at all

I know this and I only ever fish for Barbel with this ticket, any more than two rods would be just silly.

And that is when I'll start using three rods only.

Here's a scenario, I'm Pike fishing one of my usual swims in the lake district. My baits are on the other side of a steep rocky drop off and I've set my 4 rods up with a maximum of 3m between the outermost rod butts, (instead of 3m between EACH butt which up until yesterday, I thought was the rule). I get a run on the 2nd or 3rd rod and whilst playing the fish in, it becomes entangled with one of my other lines, out of netting reach. I have no option but to drag the fish to the net pulling my other rig with it. Now, not only do I have the difficulty of unhooking the fish amongst a tangle of line, causing it more distress but whilst dragging it in, I have also snagged up my other rig. I try to retrieve it but the lead is stuck and my line snaps, leaving a baited trace in the water and therefore, potentially, a dead pike. There is much less chance of any of this happening if my rods are spread out more and I can safely play a fish away from the other lines but potentially, I could face prosecution for being set up that way, depending on which bailiff comes by or what side of the bed he got out of.

I've just been going through some EA rules and realised I've been breaking one of them when I've been Pike fishing in the lake district. The rule I've been breaking is the middle part of the following regarding distance between the outermost rod butts. The number of rods you can use at the same time depends on the water you’re fishing in and the fish you’re trying to catch. You must make sure that the distance between the butts of the outermost rods isn’t more than 3 metres when fishing with multiple rods and lines. It’s illegal to leave a rod and line in the water unattended or over which you don’t have sufficient control. I know I'm not the only one who doesn't fish with their rods this close to each other. Is it just me that thinks this a impractical rule for certain types of fishing? What is the reason for this rule? Does anyone know of anyone who has been prosecuted for breaking this rule?

I do most of my pike fishing in the Lake district where it can get pretty cold, I'll be deadbaiting for them tomorrow in temperatures between 0 and -2 degrees with a south easterly breeze, feeling quietly confident.

Phone, Yes some of my kit has been worth the money. For example, I have a profile brollie made by Aqua Products which I bought about twenty years ago, still going strong and will probably still have a few more years left in it. I wasn't thinking of buying a bait boat to add to the excitement or enjoyment, it was just to improve my chances of catching a fish by getting my bait beyond casting range, allow me to use large (uncastable) baits, fish where casting isn't possible (beneath overhanging trees) , allowing me drop some extra attraction like chopped up sardines along with by deadbait and enabling me to lightly hook my deadbaits so that the hooks come away easily on the strike. I know one would definitely give me an advantage, I'm just not sure I want to pay so much money for what is basically a plastic box containing some basic electronics.

My daughter on Farleton knott, Cumbria [/url]

Being more of a traditional angler, ie. one that thinks casting is an essential part of a days fishing, I've always thought that the use of bait boats is tantamount to cheating and have therefore resisted the temptation to buy one. After quite a lot of blanks whilst Pike fishing in the lake district however, I've been tempted to give myself a better chance of putting fish on the bank by getting one. A couple of days ago, I was very close to clicking 'buy' on a bait boat called the Lake Reaper but just before I did, I decided to have a quick look on youtube where I found a couple of interesting videos. The boat seemed decent enough but a comment under one of the videos stopped me from going ahead with a purchase. The comment was as follows, "Not knocking the boat in any way but where the hell do they get their prices from? This is very low technology equipment compared to that of radio controlled aircraft. Model fliers went over to using brushless motors and lithium polymer batteries twelve years ago. For this sort of money i can buy a very sophisticated radio controlled helicopter, built and ready to fly all made from carbon fiber and fitted with a three axis stabilizing gyro. All with a level of technology that makes even 600 quid bait boats look stone-age" Does this guy have a point? I suspect that bait boat manufactures charge as much as they do simply because anglers are prepared to pay that much and if flying model choppers was as popular as fishing, their hobby would cost them considerably more. Should I part with the cash or carry on blanking on principal?

Barbel on the Ribble

I have fished on some lakes where it is almost pointless fishing anywhere other than in the teeth of a strong wind, on one lake that comes to mind, you'd be as well going home if you weren't in the spot where the waves from the wind were exactly parallel to the bank, this was the case whichever direction the wind blew.. I've experienced this with both Pike Tench and Carp. My theories are that the fish feed more confidently as the sound of waves splashing will mask anglers noises and the water is warmer and more oxygenated.

The new prices for EA rod licences have been revealed.. £30 for two rods, an increase of 11%, concessionary to rise to £20, and a new three rod licence costing £45? A one day licence will rise 60% to £6, an eight day pass rises to £12 Junior licence fees will be scrapped. Suits me but I don't think it'll suit others.

I should have also said, I was looking for a cheap option, there are no carp in the lake ;-)

Both Steve

I was wondering if whole cooked Maize kernels would be a viable bait for Tench. I'm asking this as there's a water I've started fishing that contains Tench but also thousands and thousands of small Rudd which mop up any small food items including sweetcorn in no time. I was looking for a larger food item that the Rudd might struggle with and thought of maize, has anyone used this bait for tench?

Just wondering what are peoples thoughts on the new look, I used the old page a lot, not sure if I like this one but I'll get used to it. https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/river-and-sea-levels