John Weddup

Thats the title on the opening page of anglersnet from elton. Its a great shame then that the environment agency have decided ( due to health and safety reasons) they cannot any longer open or close manual mill gates or weirs. This in suffolk has resulted in large area,s of river being reduced to a stream with fish deaths. I beleive this is a nationwide policy so if you have a river that depends on management to keep levels up, or down when rain comes watch out. john

still reading reports so please keep doing them best regards john

I would concentrate on the thurne mouth and river Bure for a few miles either side or go to hickling broad and dykes. The bream fishing is improving year on year with this year I have been catching lots of small skimmer bream in the 4 to 10oz class with many 1 to 2 lb fish. This is a very good sign. There are plenty of larger fish that generally show after dark. If you want a sociable daytime session the roach fishing is fantastic. Most of the time now my decision is not how to catch roach but how to catch the better ones. To this end I have found sweetcorn to be the best bait along with bread crust. Feeding depends on methods. Obviously feeder fishing is easy and productive with normal groundbaiting. I have concentrated lately on finding area's where it is deep close in so you can fish only 5 metres out and therefore have a better control in the heavy tidal conditions. You can poefish these or feeder but can also introduce bait directly. A bait dropper works well for me as getting hemp caster and corn to bottom is not easy in fast current and knowing where it ends up. Heavy grounbaiting is very good for long sessions. You can still kill a swim on these big rivers by piling it in as you do not always sit on a ton of fish but piling it in works as the shoals do move around and if theres enough bait there you will hold them and catch a big bag. Don't forget in the words of an old mate of mine a large shoal of bream cannot sit on a sixpence. so if they turn up and you are catching well its very hard to keep feeding as you want to get out and catch another but the secret, with so many fish in the braods, is once found feed and feed to keep them there. On some waters this time of year with clear water no flow the last thing you want to do is pile it in on top of their heads. Thats not true on the yare or bure where colour and depth are good. good luck john

thanks for keeping us posted and green with envy. Glad to see fellow committe member Glen Carter is doing well and also Ward Smith. john

I would recomend anyone to do so. The yare has had the limelight for the last few years but the bure and thurne have improved year on year. I have been espescially pleased by the amount of small skimmers up to 1.5lbs and more so the tiny 8oz ones i have been catching. I lve 80 miles away in Suffolk and struggle to get there as much as i like. john

[i fish regularly at this time of year around the thurne mouth on the bure and the quality of roach has improved to the point of 12 to 14oz fish being the norm with the odd bigger fish. The whole system is really good at moment john

[i have been using wheat for a couple of years now as feeder mix along with sweetcorn and hemp. Its a great particle to add to grounbait. Its a cheap and easy too look after in hot weather compared with worm and caster that i use in the colder months. Recently I ran out of wheat and used the wifes chicken feed which was mixed corn. It had kibbled maize in it which is dried broken up sweetcorn. It boiled up lovely with corn, nice and soft. I then found you can buy kibbled maize in a big sack on its own. I know use this as my no 1 feed for summer roach and bream. The particles are small so don,t overfill fish and work so well when using sweetcorn as hookbait. I have not yet needed to add colours or flavourings but feel I have lots of experimentation to do. john

well I have just sat and read all the posts in this thread and am amazed at the difference in opinions brought about by the various types of angling they participate in. Of course its fine to catch photo and release if you are after specimen fish. But if you are out for a bag of roach on a winters day catching 4 to 10oz fish you are after a bag of fish and not an individual so a keepnet is the only way. I fish for all sorts of species and methods and sometimes use a net and sometimes not. But what concerns me most about this topic is we all call for a national body to further the interests of angling yet we have such self interest shown through this post. I,m a carp angler only go for the odd big fish so don,t need a keepnet ban them i dont care. I,m a predator angler never use a keepnet so its fine to ban them. I,m a match angler always use a net but hate pike and livebaiting as it kills all my roach so ban livebaiting and destroy all pike caught. I,m a pleasure angler and like catching my roach and see,ing what I,ve caught at the end of the session(as a noddy angler i don,t catch much) but why can match anglers cram loads in their net and I can,t use one. Can you not see that every time we accept a ban for the reason that its to protect fish we leave ourselves open to non anglers to think there must be something in peta,s rubbish about fishing being cruel. Its a shame that angling has fragmented into specialist groups. I consider myself a better angler being able to catch all species on all methods. My carp angling improved a lot after several years stalking chubb and so on. We all need to support all forms of angling john

the important thing is if its for feed or hookbait. For feed I use a slow cooker. The electric sort that use about the same power as a light bulb and can be left for days cooking away. Forhookbait yopu need to be on the ball. john

one of myalltime favourite methods. You can couple it to avon style rods (1.25lb test curve) and fish for tench and carp or go lighter and fish for bream or roach. You can fish to the left right or straight out without moving rodrests and really fish the margins well. Its so sensitive fish feel nothing and in windy conditions superglue a large shot to the end and hold it under water. In stillwaters it is the dogs wotsits. john

I use a kids wax crayon so you can wipe it off easily. The reason you mark the pole is so you can move your depth around and experiment but always return to same depth easily without re plumming. When fishing, depending on depth of water you will probably be using top 3 or 4. You hook your hook into bottom of top four which should have stretched your elastic a bit and holds it all tight to pole. You can then mark where your float is along pole and then very easy to recheck. The other time to check your depth is after fighting bigger fish your float can move espescialy if it runs through weed. john

I have been told to improve my pole fishing I must start using a seatbox. For some time I have managed off a chair but must admit I am mainly a rod and reel man. I do want to improve my pole fishing for roach etc so should I buy a cheaper box and try or save for a good one. They tell me my feeding will improve when on a box. What advice can anyone give. thanks john

you will know the time you are annoying members because no one will reply. New anglers/members are always welcome because the new threads are what we all look for. Without you there would be less threads to respond too. We all like to hear the sound of our own voices and give what we think to be the best advice. In internet terms thats a chatroom so ask away. john

As Peter well knows its the characteristics of a rod that count. How far it can cast is it forgiving for light lines the action etc.All these things are different depending on how you want to fish. Manufacturers love to class there rods at the general angler so he knows what to buy. I se so many 3lb test curve rods used on small stillwaters completely out of place. The venue, the quarry, the distance, how fussy the fish are, what baits and hooks you need to use and what depth the water is all have an affect on the rod needed as well as the time of year. The most important thing is balanced tackle from hook through to rod and reel. I have many rods and they are all needed. And I cannot stop buying more. The tench rods were about 1.25lb to 1.5 lb test curve very similar to avon rods so the avon rods are very good for tench fishing. john

ordered tuesday pm arrived today if you paid for next day delivery I am sure they would arrive. They tell me they are biggest UK stockist and I beleive them. best of luck john

spent £99.45 on tubertini hooks with benwicks. Have an assortment of series 2 for my roach and dace fishing. Although they are as slim as 511's but stronger and will stand chubb if handled carefully. Then the series 18's. They are brilliant. Have used them for feeder chopped worm tench chubb and carp. Have also had some 801's. they are barbless and a really wide gape beutifull looking hook. Apparently very strong for wire size. The thing I like about these hooks are they are very sharp and very strong for wire size. I think wire size is so important too presentation especialy in colder weather. As you may gather they are now my favourite hooks john

I have just ordered loads from benwick sports who seem to have huge stocks of all tubertini hooks. I have done them mailorder by phone but they have a website. www.benwick-sports.co.uk. very helpfull john

Hi Wayno the tench are about to wake. I have not tried yet but they are catcheable from early march onwards if the weather is kind. This year its been cold for a lot longer so they are just stirring. Of course in some waters they are caught all year. In my local old natural gravelpits they start about now and can be easier to catch as natural food is short. You do have to fish fine and with small baits generally. I favour caster chopped worm or pinkie. good luck john

Got boring towards the end but filled in several pages. john

I have drennan series 7 carp feeder and a lighter one wich I cannot remember name of but it is series 7. They are both very good rods at about £80 each. The best bit is though that a whole host of drennan tips are availeable, that fit, from any tackle shops. I have several good tip rods that I have broken tips for and not been able to find replacements. john

Faith restored in angling mailorder companies. Friend suggested looking at Fox Mark Pollard 9ft 6 light bomb rod on fox website.Looks a great rod. Did google search and found bennets have cut price from £150 to £96. Phoned and spoke to Gavin who checked stock and was very helpfull. Ordered two there and then delivery should be tommorrow. An excited John

Thanks for all replys and help. Much appreciated. I am going to look at the new drennan matchpro as suggested in post above. A local shop has them on order to arrive shortly. Having given up with mailorder what with yes we are the cheapest but we haven't got it, or no we've got it but you can't order by phone,or you want a shakespeare sigma wand big pause is that a seat box. I mailorder lots of other products with no trouble. thanks again john

thought about the normark as I have been very pleased with other rods I have. Can't see line or tip specs for the crusader. I see Fishermans friend are doing them cheap. Also thought about going really light such as shakespeare sigma wand. Phoned NWAC who advertise on website at £39.99. Phoned to order a pair and was told this is web price only. Ok, dont understand, as same rod same card payment but there we have it so I asked what phone mailorder price was. After much deliberation and them phoning me back they tell me its not availeable over the phone only on webb. Thats the last time I will phone NWAC after several previous purchases from them I was most disapointed. Who are the biggest shakespeare stockists? I have tried their website and its being rebuilt. Several other calls made to unhelpfull mailorder staff. I would order 2 shakespeare rods now if only I could find stockist who made sense wanted to do business and price was reasonable. john

Hi I am enjoying catching skimmers and roach at the moment on light quivertip tactics. I thought I might treat myself to a new rod. Trying to find one that is light and suited to 2 to 4lb lines seems a bit difficult. They all seem to be aimed at stillwater carping. Anyone any suggestions as to best rod. Thanks john

Keepnets depend on the fishing you are involved in Specimen fishing is about the individual fish. No net required. Silver fish, generally small roach and skimmer bream is about the bag of fish. Keepnet required john