Maggie

My fishing companions (including the wife) and I are just about to formulate our attack on some nice Tench that have never seen an anglers bait before and which occupy a previous Fly-only ex trout fishery in Hertfordshire; and I can't wait to get started. That will be occupying most of our time until around the end of June. In a weeks time I will be retiring early to concentrate on Angling and my other interests, and this year I will be spending more of my time on the river Wye and other rivers which I have previously had to forego due to work commitments. It will be nice to be able to spend a few hours at day break trying to catch the occasional Tench and Carp (and Rudd) on a local estate lake then maybe a quick lunch followed by quick pint and maybe a few holes on the Golf course and then wander down to my local stream for an evening after a couple of Barbel, Chub etc. Well thats the plan anyway; and we all know that the best laid plans can often come undone especially if the wife wants the house redecorating or something LOL. Keith (BoldBear) NB. I have just noticed that the wife has used the PC as this post was in her name (Maggie), nevermind LOL...

Hi Sheila, Most men think that we are only happy doing girlie things, and perceive angling as a male domain, but that is not always true; there are lots of woman like myself who get a great deal of pleasure from being in the countryside and getting immersed in it’s wildlife; and some of us love nothing better than to catch a few fish on a warm muggy summers evening . But; a lot of us have young families to look after and feed while our other halves are off having fun with their mates and their fishing rods. Also the call of nature often presents a problem as we can’t just pop behind a tree like the male of our species can. Welcome to the forum, I don't often login as myself as I am usually reading the forum over my husbands shoulder, I just wanted to let you know that there are other females here as well. Maggie

The only thing I have against funding it via the public purse is that I would be worried that the office that dealt with fish and wildlife would be constantly fighting the Canoeeing, boating and other sporting fraternities for a share of the funds, it already has problems with the department that deals with water extraction etc. and most of the public who know nothing about the fish and other wildlife would be putting forward other ideas for the funds and fishing may take a much lower priotity when it comes to their finances. Why don't they add the money to the Fishing permits (Day tickets, club tickets etc.) or the tackle outlets? or get everyone to buy a rod licence like they do already; I dont ever have any problems when buying one so I can't see the problem that people have in buying them anyway. I fish a couple of very private estate lakes but we have still needed them in the odd emergency and for their free (not really free as it is paid out of our rod licence money) advice and free usage of air pumps etc. and for the occasional unforseen emergency. Perhaps they are not so forthcoming in different geographic areas and we have just been lucky? I also fish rivers which have had a lot of surveys and stockings in the past so maybe I'm a bit biased

Last season I had my licence checked on the bank twice. I would welcome it if you had to show that you held a rod licence before you could buy a day ticket or club permit, at least it is showing that they care for fish welfare as much as they care about the cash they are taking. So you havent had any help from the NRA? - maybe you havent told them you need help?. or Maybe you dont need any help? - but if there was a problem and you did need their help then they are just a phone call away. I'm probably wrong but I cant help wondering if most people who can't be bothered to buy a fishing licence are the same people who wouldn't even be bothered to look after their fish if it meant putting themselves out too much. Here is something that you might be interested in YOUR Questions Answered by the Environment Agency

When we used to have a touring caravan we used to stay and fish at a caravan site about half a mile from Sywell which had 2 lakes on site plus a clubhouse & some statics, but Sywell was then a club water I think; so unfortunately we couldn't fish it then.

Thanks Andrew, The feet are ok its just the plastic bits at the top of the legs which I presume have broken because the plastic went a bit brittle after a few years. I think the chair is around 10 yrs old but is in great condition apart from where the front legs attach to the frame. Thanks for the email address and URL Andrew I'll send them an email and will post their response.

I have been given a nice padded JRC Cocoon fishing chair but the plastic bits that join the front legs to the frame are broken. Can anyone help me by giving me an address or web site URL where I may be able to get replacements?

Great write-up Janet

I have just realised that maggie last logged on to this machine so I used her loggin above. At least she wont have to wait as long before she sees what she's posted BB

I only buy a magazine if it has stuff that I am intertested in. If it has an article about so-called modern Carp angling then I put it straight back on the shelf as I find it boring the same goes for fishing on commercial waters. Bu if it looks like it has a good selection of interesting articles then I will buy it. I never even look at IYCF , The wife used to buy it every month for years and there was never anything new or interesting in it. only regurgitated stuff.

My husbands uncle used to be a head curator at the Natural History Museum before he retired about 15 years ago, his name was Bill Manger, I expect it was before your time. Thanks again for your help re the Filmoplast 90.

That web site looks very useful john and that Filmoplast 90 sounds perfect for what I want Nick. Thanks for your help. Maggie

I have been looking through some old angling books we have, and there are a couple which have clean tears or splits in one or two of their pages. I know from previous experience that if I used ordinary adhesive tape then after a few years the adhesive will turn yellow and ruin the page. Can someone advise me as to a type of tape that I should use for such a task and where I can buy it from?

Thanks guys, I think I will be using popped up deadbaits when I deadbait in the future and I will only be using the minimum weight needed to cast to the spot with ease. Another method I want to try is surface lures as I was talking to a guy on our club lake who does this a couple of evenings each week in the autumn and uses 'soft toy mice' bought from a pet store with a large single hook attatched to their backs, retrieved along the surface and I witnessed him catch one smallish pike and miss another which attacked his mouse. Thanks again

Great sugggestion Emma BoldBear keeps saying that the only reason that I sometimes catch more than him is because hes always freeing my tackle from bushes instead of getting on with his own fishing, but I know different. She deserves congratulating, what a fabulous Perch.