Tigger

John, a bobbin is way less sensitive compared to a delicate quiver tip, or if possible, a swing tip. Even better a float, fished by laying on in a river, or float legerring in still water, both the same method really. The closer to your indicator is to your bait the more sensitive it will be. I remember doing a little experiment whilst fishing for tench using two rods. . It was broad daylight on a lovely summers evening with not a hint of any wind, because of this everything was emphised and very easy to see, even hear the rod tip twitches! Both rods were set up with bobbins, one rod had a small bolt rig set up, the other was a running line and both baits were cast out a few feet from oneanother on a bed of brown crumb, mixed with sweetcorn and maggots. I wound down tight, so no slack line and pointed the rod tips as near as I could get them to being direct to my bait. Anyhow, the rod tips would often twitch or bounce a little as I imagine fish caught the line, but the bobbins would show no sign of movement at all. Since they were tench I was targetting the bobbins shot up when a fish hooked itself, but I saw a distinct rattle on thw rod tip before the bobbin moved. At the finnish of the session I think I had one more fish on the free running rig, purely luck, but it did prove to me that both set ups worked and also just how much of a time lapse there was between the tip showing an indication and the bobbin down at the bottom of the rod.

I don't

I had the last hour of day light out this afternoon, used a rod I haven't use for about 3yrs. Anyhow, the fishing was average, just a few, but very welcome chub to bend the rod round....

I forgot to post this on wednesday....... Man was it cold in the wind today! Ok, the temp was only 3.5 degrees when I got there, but it was the wind chill which was the problem. I had a 15 minuite walk to my first port of call, caught a tiddler first trott, nothing more after another three trotts through, so I had another 10 minuite walk to my next stop. I had several very decent chub quite quickly before i'd just had enough as my hands were literally aching painfully with cold! Te walk back was worse as the wind was in my face. All in all, i'd been out of the house for less than 2hrs but was very happy to get back and thaw out with a cup of tea and some little m8's of mine infront of a woodburner....

I think they have used free burgers, holidays and travel, eating out, pubs etc etc to lead the sheeple. It's worked n'all, they will be queing up for the 4th jab in march!

Be a good lad and keep taking the medicine .

https://www.facebook.com/100004250652958/posts/2224127701072230/?sfnsn=scwspmo

I don't think i've had a sea trout for a couple of months John, don't take pics of them usually. I very rarely take any pics of grayling either, but with grayling it's because they never keep still and are fickle things and very easily pop their cloggs. The float is a Dave Harrell no3 bolo. They have a shorter fatter body than the others, but do have very good sight tip, quite thick and hollow so it stands out nicely. I think those floats start at 4grm and go to 8grm, maybe more. I often use a 4grm but the one in the picture said 6grm on it and yet a 3.5grm olivette and a no1 dropper cocked it just right, all the tip showing with a bit of shoulder. That gives you plenty of scope to read a bite when dragging bottom, and when holding back helps to stop it being dragged under.

The car temp gauge said 2 degrees as I pulled into the farm yard neaxt to the river. A nasty northerly wind made it feel seriously cold! Anyhow, I won't go on about the weather etc, i'll just say I finished up having a decent little session with 6 grayling, a sea trout and 4 chub.....

They called the people "the sheeple" because they are so easy to lead !

Clipping up isn't something I ever do unless fishing on a large water where long casts are required. I haven't fished a situation like that in years. I never felt comfortable clipping up, but those reels would make clipping up a bearable practice. I have a number of FS reels and baitrunners which I just don't use so, as handy as they looked, I couldn't justify getting one of those reels. If you get one Martin you'll have to let us know how you go on with it .

Due to high levels, nasty weather and the usual mundane kinda stuff, today is the first time out trotting for a spell. I won't harp on about the levels, temps etc but just say I caught a few chub, nothing big, but they all put a bend in the rod. A couple of pics from the day...

I echo others posts, so sorry to hear that Owen, hope your all coping with it. I lost my dad many years ago, but I recently lost my mum so I know how devastating it is. Loosing my mum is worse for me as now it is very empty with both gone.

Not a lot more I can say on the subject, so, good luck with your dead maggs Peterjg, i'll stick to lives .

But they arn't dead and decaying. As soon as something dies it starts to decay, and maggots decay very quickly.

Appart from having a load of maggots left which will not be used before they all change into casters I can't see any sense in freezing them/killing them. The tackle shops go out of their way to sell fresh lively maggots for a reason. Fish know when something is dead, and unless they are very hungry they will leave them. Same thing happens woth worms. Only recently i've been going out in the garden after dark with the red head torch on collecting large worms for my piranha fish. Once the worms have died the piranhas will not eat them. Infact, if I just fed dead worms the piranhas would canabalise before going for old nackered worms!

Yeaph, I get all that chesters . The problems on top of all that are the idiotic people are blaming the non vaccinated for spreading the virus, how stupid is that! Even though they have been told you can catch and spread covid just the same if you have been injected. Infact, your more of a risk of spreading it if you have been jabbed since they say your less likely to be ill with the virus if jabbed, and so won't know your dumping it on everyone else. Strange how there are lots of vaccinated people being infected with covid, and being seriously ill? Also, people who are vaccine intolerant and are likely to die from having the jab are still being told to have it ! Then there are people who have had and recovered from covid and have their own "better" immunity against it, who are also being bullied into having it. What they are doing it Greece to over 60's (which is the tip of the ice berg) is outrageous, to make the vaccine mandatory is imo totalitarian! Things do not add up, I smell a rat!

To be honest John, I can't remember. Caster can be a excellent bait, but, in the right circumstances. Maggot will be taken almost anytime by one species of fish or another. I like to put both on the hook as a cocktail, same as I do with sweetcorn.

Strange how only recently when this "so called" new varient was identified by a african doctor, and she said it was weak and that it had probably been in the uk for ages already, but because you would most likely not even know you had had it, it hadn't been noticed! Now, they are saying it might be lethal, even faster spreading that the super fast indian strain. The jab may not be so good against it, but, get your jabs, booster jabs anyhow...why? None of this makes the slightest bit of sense? People are being radicalised as if it is some kind of religious cult, and if you post anything to go against the grain on a forum, facebook etc it's removed asap? I posted on a thread about anti vaxers on another forum recently. I posted this..... "they said the people are sheeple, because they are so easily lead".....it was removed for being inappropriate. If you say anything slightly against the vaccine you are shut down, gagged, that is not normal surely?

I don't like saying it, infact, i'm not gonn'a say it. I hope he is just busy.

For many years, since being a kid at infant school i've kept aquarium fish and over my lifetime i've kept all kinds from coral reef fish to our coarse fish. I also went fishing from a very early age (got my first perch when 5yrs) and so I often had magggots. I would feed my fish with the white untreated maggs and they would readily eat wriggling live ones. The maggots they didn't eat straight away would just roll around helplessley on the bottom, and could not crawl anywhere! They would sort of roll about helplessley and if there was a hollow/scrape on the deck they would just roll into it until they died or were eaten. Once they died the fish simply weren't interested in them! The maggots cannot burrow into the substrate as people believe. They push down and simply push themselves away. The only time they can get into or under something is if they can get purchase and sort of sprize their way into or under it. Obviously, they will sink into silt. When trotting, I check my maggots regularly to see how they look. Once they stretch out and resemble limp fingers they are removed and replaced with wriggly ones. Often, the freshly hooked maggs induces an instant bite. The only time I would use dead maggots would be if I had absolutly nothing else to use, imo they are not a good bait. I think people use them to half decent effect on commercial waters where the fish are forever hungry and competing for any food available....poor sods! I have found maggots that have been inn and out of the fridge a few times and so got hardened off at bit are better than the super fresh ones, especially in the colder months as they stay alive that bit longer on the hook. Fresh ones just stretch out after a trott or maybe two in cold water. So John, I would stick to live maggs if I was you bud .

Drenan wide gape specialists are eyed microbarbed hooks, they would work fine.

Has anyone heard anything about Phone, how he is, is he ok?

I haven't posted on this thread even though I had seen it. Just felt to sad to post on it, poor Chris, doesn't seem like 5 min's since he came grayling fishing with me and a friend up in the lakedistrict.

It always looks like a bluey grey shade to me when it been cold for a spell. I've found it can often be blanking conditions when the water takes on this colour, maybe due to the low temp's.