Mick

Agreed .... I am the "Mick" on the thread posted earlier and I did eventually get my money back. Pathetic service ... wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now.

Yes ... (when I can bo bothered to actually put it on ... naughty I know). I tried it once just to see what would happen and it all blew up beautifully.

Also try the Glasgow Angling Centre ... the Parmaris range of life jackets is worth looking at. http://tinyurl.com/3bhs4

Thanks Tyke ..... Now how real is this going to be .... if I catch its fantasy land as a blanks the norm ATM! 8-)

Well explain this then .... as the author cannot. I have emailed him but received no reply. http://freespace.virgin.net/xscape.uk/nofish1.jpg http://freespace.virgin.net/xscape.uk/nofish2.jpg This is from the demo downloaded today.

Well thats where I downloaded the demo from. Installed it and went fishing. There I was on the River Lot with the message in the middle of the screen "This is a demo version only and contains no catchable fish" I think that is very poor.

quote: Originally posted by Blackpool: the guy trading as price right computers is being investigated for selling second hand parts as new There is a shop near me that sells "cheap" gear. I bought a mouse from him a while ago which had clearly been heavily used (scratched bottom and fluff and mank on the pads). T returned it. Worse was the Enermax 350w PSU I bought off him for £30 ... halfprice on a normal Enermax. Took it home, fitted it, stuck in the powerlead and turned it on. It promptly went bang. Despite him telling me I had fitted it incorrectly (eh? ... nothing in the PC was damaged) he gave me my money back rather than replace it with the other one on the shelf which had disappeared 5 minutes later (I checked). I believe they were 110v PSU's and not 240 ... he had probably been done himself. I know he buys from Fairs himself and would never buy from him again.

I have just tried the FishSim demo. It contains no fish it tells me. Now what sort of demo is that? No sale!

Hmm .... I used to have an Apollo Taperflash in the early 70's. It's a steel rod you know and they had a habit of corroding under the handle and the ferrules were swines in cold weather. If it hasn't been used then it is likely it is OK. How long is it and how many sections? (they made them in 12, 13 and 14 foot I believe. The 14 foot was a 4 section rod. They aren't worth alot these days it seems. If you mate wants to flog it then I would be interested (aah the memories) but he would have to determine a fair price for it for himself.

Correction ..... my Grandfather used to be the BAA bailiff on the Birmingham/Worcester at Alvechurch (to the mid 60's) .... his name was Fred Hunt ... I used to stay with him every year for 2 or 3 weeks. Then, the canal was not in decline. There was boat traffic and the fish were definitely not diseased. I certainly don't remember the water being filthy green although it has to be said it never looked really clean. Pike I don't remember (we never fished for them) but eels were plentiful. My GF used to fish for them for the pot then. The roach fishing was tremendous at Alvechurch then also.

Hah! I have seen John Holden, on grass, using a Winfield "Bass" rod and narrowspool Winfield multiplier ... (black thing) put a 3 ounce lead off the ground the length of a football pitch and over a rather large oak tree beyond said football pitch. Holding the rod up in the air he just let all of the line run off the reel. Blooming amazing! This was in the 70's at a country house at Burley in the New Forest on a Winfield Sponsored Beach fishing weekend. I was a teenager at the time and couldn't cast for toffees despite having decent gear. It just goes to show that it ain't the tools but the hands that are holding them. My biggest waste of money ... possibly the ABU484 and Mitchell 600AP I was trying to use at that time .... far too good for me. 8-)

Fair comment Elton .... and I can understand a delay in the mail and yes, this may be an unfortunate incident amongst loads of happy transactions. But to ignore all requests for information regarding the status of an order except in one instance where a flippant one (more like half) liner is the only comment hardly instills confidence in any supplier. Obviously the customer is not deemed that important to warrant an informative reply. There are many great online traders out there that are the epitomy of honesty and decency ... but then there are those that just say sod it.

Not good are they? My update is that I have recived notification that the order has been cancelled and my card refunded. What an utter waste of time. Were the floats actually sent? Who knows? Would I use Floats Direct again? Go figure. (Good luck Nick)

I psoted a follow on to the previous Floats Direct post but thought I would start a new one on it aswell just to illustrate how good a company this is. They want facts apparently, do Floats Direct. These are all facts.... Order placed by me online 19/01/04. Delivery quoted at about 5 days. NB: There are no postal disputes on. (Order Ref MH_9JL20001270) I emailed them on 26th Jan ... "Regarding order refererence MH_9JL20001270 placed on the 19th January 2004. Could you please let me know when I can expect delivery please?" *************************** ... and again on the 28th Jan ... "Regarding order refererence MH_9JL20001270 placed on the 19th January 2004. Could you please let me know when I can expect delivery please? This is the second time I have emailed you asking this question" *************************** I recieved a reply on the 28th Jan ... "Hi should be with you, we have sent the order with no problems regards roger" *************************** I emailed them again on the 30th Jan ... "Re MH_9JL20001270 It has still not arrived. How did you send it and when?" *************************** I mailed them again on the 31st Jan ... "Re MH_9JL20001270 It is now Saturday 31st .... the order was placed 11 days ago and I still have not received it so it is becoming a problem at this end although you don't see it as one. Can you please reply to my emails and let me know when you sent it and by what means please?" *************************** I emailed them yet again on the 2nd Feb ... "Regarding the above email I sent you on 31-1-04. It is now 02-02-04 and the items have still not arrived. Please answer my queries." *************************** I emailed them on the 3rd Feb ... "Due to non delivery and your total lack of response to my queries regarding this order, I would like this order cancelled and my card reimbursed whatever you charged it. Please confirm you have done this at the earliest opportunity." *************************** I emailed them on the 4th Feb ... "As previously requested please cancel this order and refund the amount charged to my Credit Card. Please advise at the earliest opportunity when this has been done please." *************************** As you can see I have has only one very non-committal reply. The amount of money in question is not large but that is by the by. Customer service is dreadful. I advise anyone thinking of using this company NOT to. I will extend this thread until a conclusion is reached.

However I feel it is humanly possible for someone prepared to make open forum comments concerning my company to tell it how it is, with all the facts laid bear, and not to omit some of the information like a full refund and an apology Facts ..... OK ... Where is my order (MH_9JL20001270)? I have been waiting two weeks now ... have emailed you six times to which you have replied only once saying "should be with you, we have sent the order with no problems". Helpful eh? Just in case you don't read your emails I have asked for this order to be cancelled and my CC to be credited. I will post on here whether this occurs or not. Fact.

Was this Parcel post or normal post via Royal Mail? There is a difference! Who do you think delivers rods sent from the likes of Bennetts or other mail order spots? Go back to your PO and say you wish to send it Parcel Post. -- Mick

A bit OT but I have always wondered why on playing fields theay have a little area fenced off for kids to play in while dogs can run and crap all over the rest? Seems the priority is a bit awry.

</font> <font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Newt: [QB]I like the idea of almost any rig that uses single hooks. Don't have a picture but will try to describe it. Take two large snap swivels and sharpen the end of the snap section. On your hook length, affix a snap swivel and just below it a hook tied so it points the opposite direction to the snap swivel. You will put the sharp end of the snap into the bait and want the hook pointing up after that is done. For a larger bait, put a second swivel/hook pair lower down so you will have one near an end of the bait and the other at the opposite end. </font><hr /> <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">We call them VB's here in the UK Newt ... Picture here .. cumbrian-angler.freeservers.com/tac...s/hooktypes.jpg

I find it stunning that it has taken so long for Brunos comment to appear .... not the fact that a prat with a bucket is the cause but that the policing needed to catch said prat is part of the reason. Facts ... The Freshwater bait ban is on waters that contain either Vendace or Charr. If disease introduction was the worry here than whole systems would have bans on them. For example, Windermere contains Charr ... ban on .... Grasmere, Rydal and Esthwaite do not contain Charr and despite them being in the Windermere catchment system they have no ban on. (That said Esthwaite has its own strict rules which may have come into play and WADAA also have their own rules). It does appear that disease isn't seen as the threat but non indigenous species are. However, dead non-indigenous species pose no threat if disease introduction is discounted and live non indigenous species if caught from that water also present no problem. Trouble is, how do you tell what comes from where. This is where the problem lies ... there have been many prats with buckets apprehended on the shores of a NW lake but how do you prove where those fish came from. The NRA/EA couldn't. For years anglers have been getting off because the case could not be proven. The EA/NRA **knew** the fish were coming in but as most of the lakes contain the species already in the bucket what proof could they find. Just over ten years ago there was an attempt to ban livebaiting in the Lakes which failed. (I had a small hand in fighting that action). The situation was to be monitored however. Today the numbers of pike anglers has increased greatly from the early 90's and consequently the threat of introduced fish has spiralled. All this time anglers have been bringing their own bait in buckets .. there is no point in denying it ... it happens. In all this time the NRA has become the EA. They have had their Government funding reduced and have had to make cutbacks. Now the old Close Season in the NW was abolished because it could not be policed. The EA cannot stop anglers bringing in live baits ... there are not enough bailiffs IMO to do this job. Even if there were, they would still struggle for decent proof. So ... banning livebaits would seem to be the obvious thing to do but that would still require extensive policing and remember, the EA is strapped for cash. So the next best thing is to draw a line. Anything marine is OK, anything freshwater is illegal. This leaves the rather obvious bit regarding dead non indigenous fish not being a problem. In which case they should be fine to use as bait. Well that's as maybe unless you wish to cut costs. To cut costs you need to shed jobs. Apparently, I have bben informed, the number of EA bailiffs in the NW is to be halved. So you make clear cut rules, assume the anglers are law abiding and get rid of the bailffs. Costs cut ..... problem solved. Its somewhat devious and terribly political. What it doesn't do however is take the angling stance and ask how do you now fish for Perch or Eels? It also takes no account of the fact that there have been cyprinids in many of the lakes for many, many years ... Roach were caught in the Perch nettings in the 40's in Windermere. It takes no account of the fact that water quality has changed, very rapidly over the past few years, and allowed cyprinids to thrive in waters where, in reality they should not. The Vendace in Bassenthwaite is threatened far more by the shortcomings over the past ten years in the overworked Keswick sewerage treatment works than by the introduction of non indigenous species. It is the deterioration of water quality linked to increasing water temperatures that have allowed small pockets of cyprinids to explode in numbers over the past ten years ... of course then you have to add all those fish brought in buckets aswell. So ... in a drive to "clean up" the "contaminated" lakes now all those horrible coarse fish won't keep on being added. Are the sewerage treatment works to be upgraded? Will we still see evidence of sewerage overflow on Grasmere? (Don't drink the water). Probably, as it all costs money. What about all those non indigenous fish already setting up home in various parts of Cumbria ... whts to be dome with them? Well, nothing really as you can't get them out and it would cost money anyway. What about the endangered Charr? Will anglers have to stop catching them? No ... there are plenty of Charr .... the EA have made sure of that haven't they? (Do you know I used to use them exclusively for bait once ... if only I had realised the damage I was doing) So ... there is my 2c worth. Yes, its a prat with a bucket. Its water quality. Its cost cutting. Its a way of making the rules very, very simple so we don't need bailiffs to police them .... ... possibly. Its also possibly the only way the EA have got to stop anglers transferring live baits without actually banning baits altogether. I don't agree with it and have protested .... but I can see their point of view. Flame away .... -- Mick

Its a Sea Scorpion .... either a Long Spined or a Short Spined ...can't tell which. Its a good one though

Livebaits are generally extremely good but do have a habit of attracting smaller fish. Deads however do tend to pull the larger specimens. They are also easier to fish with ... that is they stay where you put them unlike lives that want to bury themselves in the nearest snag/weedbed. You also have to catch lives wheras deads like to live in chest freezers.Ppersonally I use nothing but deads ... that is not to say that I disapprove of lives but I find them a right pain to catch and use. Go and buy a back of frozen sardines for a few quid ... more than enough for a days fishing. keep them frozen by keeping them in a cool box and they will cast fine.

Livebaits are generally extremely good but do have a habit of attracting smaller fish. Deads however do tend to pull the larger specimens. They are also easier to fish with ... that is they stay where you put them unlike lives that want to bury themselves in the nearest snag/weedbed. You also have to catch lives wheras deads like to live in chest freezers.Ppersonally I use nothing but deads ... that is not to say that I disapprove of lives but I find them a right pain to catch and use. Go and buy a back of frozen sardines for a few quid ... more than enough for a days fishing. keep them frozen by keeping them in a cool box and they will cast fine.

I have a Fuji 2800z .... excellent camera. I did have to make a bracket though so I could fit an air release for taking pics of me plus fish. I don't know if any digi camera has an attachment for a remote. Mine tends to stay on AUTO except that I do like to have the flash off if at all possible.

I have a Fuji 2800z .... excellent camera. I did have to make a bracket though so I could fit an air release for taking pics of me plus fish. I don't know if any digi camera has an attachment for a remote. Mine tends to stay on AUTO except that I do like to have the flash off if at all possible.