Tigger

I got the TFG force 8 last year and it's a pretty comfy bed at a reasnable price. It's a light bed so better for transporting.

I'm amazed how badly finnished off those Gary Mills reels look. The handles overlap the drum and even the holes.......terrible mess!

Yes but it's gone from front to back and looks like it's being held back

They're infront arn't they

Jeff the lack of chub to entertain you is most likely due to the time of year and not to tropical weather to boot. Maybe you should get the stick float out and do some trotting for the ladys ? Another school of thought is that the grayling does out compete the chub in rivers and may have caused a decline in the number of chevins.

What a great idea !

If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, why not take a look at the new Adcock Stanton ? There not cheap but they do look very nice!

That's why run off from agriculture is so haxardous to the rivers etc.....nitrates...better than nitrites though. At the end of the day any bloom of algea is hazardous as it will pop it's cloggs and start to decompose causing a problem, especially in still waters. In fact any form of waste such as leaves etc will deoxgenate the water.

I've just watched the first three episodes and I can honestly say "I'm glad I never bought it" ! A m8 of mine lent it to me after he down loaded it off the net. It seems it's readily available on numerous sites to download free of charge ! I thought it was ok viewing but to me it was very much a let down after all the hype and most certainly not worth it's hight price tag of close on 30 notes a disc ! Unlike Passion which I can watch over and over and never seem to tire of watching it I don't think I'm in a hurry to watch the first three episodes of catching the impossible again....Sorry Hugh.

I always thought the algea wasn't a problem while it was alive. But when it dies off it rots and pollutes the water depleating it of oxygen.

I've never used bottoms over 3/4ft myself and nowadays seem to find myself using between 3 and 10 inch bottoms nearly all the time. Those people who used to use those long bottoms for the bream mostly still do (the people I know) but maybe it's just set in their heads and they just can't get on with short bottoms. I'm gonna have a little test maybe trial next time I go after the barbel and use one rod with a 3/4ft running bottom and the other with a 3/4inch bottom combined with a semi bolt rig and see if they both work as well as one another or if one appears to come out on top. I'm supposed to be havin a day on the severn next week, weather permitting, so I'll test it then.

It's funny how all the anglers(the ones I know and have spoken to) who travel to Ireland religiously every year targeting bream all swear by a 6ft or longer hooklength on a running set up.

Bloody hell !.....27 notes for a rake head.......your avin a larrrrrf Mr lol.

Yeah I know what you mean Brian but the thing is the float fishing line is slack and if a fish bumps it it will just slide past , where as a tight line going vertical inches from the heavy lead and bait may spook the fish (not the colour) if it bumps into it. I honestly don't know how true any of it is or if it has any relevance at all but the mind keeps coming up with these questions . I think i'll get some 10lb sensor in clear for my barbel sessions this coming summer and see if it works. Years ago I swore by using clear line but I tried dull coloured lines and it seemed to work exactly the same.

I reckon backleads (pinning the line down behind the feeder)are better being used when using a short hooklength like that then your line isn't sticking straight up next to the feeder/bait and maybe spookin the fish. If you use a long hooklength I don't think backleads are quite so important. Brian, did you use back leads when you used to get those huge bags of bream or didn't you need them ?

Full of yesterdays snow fall at the moment round these ere parts.

I suppose if you could only really use a short rod, one which would most likely be suitable would be the greys G-lite spin. I use one for perch and have had pike just under double figures on it. It's a nice soft action and is great for playing fish under the tip.

One problem I would imagine you would have using a short rod for chub would be keeping them away from the nearside bank to stop them getting to snaggs. I've foung the extra lengh of a rod even on small rivers is more of an advantage than disadvantage. I'd try and stick to 11ft or over.

I just got that offer also.....a bit of a crappy offer it is n'all.

Great stuff, I'm a bit annoyed about the reel though....I want it even more now LOL. Regarding the wallise cast, you can wallise cast in tight situations with your rod pointing straight out infront of you. I was kindly shown the technique by Alan when he gave me a lesson in wallise casting some time ago. It's well worth knowing how to do it and it really is very simple. Oh forgot..... Lovely grayling !

double post

I use several differant lines but my favourite one is Sensor. It's funny really as it looks brown in the daylight but at nigh in torch light it looks green...ask Lutra/Brian one night while we where Tench fishing we noticed it. Even though it's brown it's only a shade and in water it's even less brown. You can get clear sensor but I think it's only in 8lb upwards. line test chart As you can see sensor is pretty good. The 4lb is good enough to use as a hooklenght as it's true to it's stated diameter and breaks well above it.

A couple of years back I spotted some barbel in the process of spawning. A hen fish accompanied by one or two others (I would imagine males) where wriggling into the gravel alongside one another spawning and as they did so some of their eggs/roe along with some silt etc where floating away in the pretty strong current. As the eggs floated off other barbel kept on shooting past from the sidelines and nabbing them. Occassionally the fish actually spawning would spin round and start to eat the eggs also ! They must have tasted ok to them. It is funny as all fish seem to love eating the roe of other fish or even their own. Just think how well you'd do using it as bait.

I reckon the fish farmers should be strapped to a ducking stool and treated like Witches Scary fact is these people have no interest in the fish or wildlife, it's just money to them and bugger the wildlife so long as they make their cash without haveing to spend on fences etc. I can't weigh up how people can have the front to moan about a true native creature eating a few fish when half the population have cats and let them run riot all over the country and kill as much precious wildlife as they want without batting an eye. It was bloody cats that robbed a neighbours pet fish in their garden pond !!

The grass carp was introduced to try and munch the weed down a bit in certain waters...lancaster canal for one, but they stop eating weed when they get a bit bigger anyhow so there not really much good at the job. I haven't ever seen a problem with carp eating all the weed in a pond/water. I think carp actually lay their eggs in weed so they'd be shootin themselves in the foot if they munched out all the weed