davedave

Ok thanks, i might have a go but its a barbless hooks water and if the bailiff came round i'd probably get in trouble, worth thinking about though. thanks

14 barbless

ok thanks for your help, well i guess the end bit, the net, so then i could screw it to a bankstick? Thanks

I had a pretty crap days fishing today, only caught 2 small skimmers while my friend next to me caught an 8 and 10 pound carp and some bream. To top it off i have broken my landing net and i dont have much money to replace one. Could anybody please recommend somewhere cheap to get one on the internet, preferably about 5 quid but i think i might be asking a bit much there as the cheapest i have found was 7 pounds on amazon. Any info would be great, thanks

Thankyou for your advice everyone, its very useful

Bream up to about 5lb but normally they are about 3lb, and carp go up to 25lb but the majority of them are about 7lb, 8lb. Very little weeds or snags but i fish close to an island so probably greater chance of snags because of roots etc. I got some 8lb line today from the anglers mail magazine and ive fitted that on my reel so im thinking 8lb mainline with a 6lb hooklength?? Thanks for any advice

Bream up to about 5lb but normally they are about 3lb, and carp go up to 25lb but the majority of them are about 7lb, 8lb. Very little weeds or snags but i fish close to an island so probably greater chance of snags because of roots etc. I got some 8lb line today from the anglers mail magazine and ive fitted that on my reel so im thinking 8lb mainline with a 6lb hooklength?? Thanks for any advice

There are tench in my local canal (Ilminster, Somerset) and would like to try and catch my first tench. Any tips on baits, line strength, tips etc. I was thinking of a couple of pieces of sweetcorn ledgered over casters or something? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Would an 8lb mainline to a 6lb hook length be ok for basic ledgering, catching a lot of bream and some smaller carp? Or do you think i should upgrade to maybe a 10lb mainline to an 8lb hook length, but i do catch a lot of bream and i think that would be too bulky... Any thoughts would be appreciated

thanks for your help everyone, very useful

I was fishing a local estate pond this afternoon on the quivertip with maggots, i caught about 15-20 perch over a few hours but i kept deep-hooking them. About half of the perch i caught were deep-hooked and although most i managed to unhook and return most of them ok im sure one or two of the smaller ones wont make it because they really were hooked deep. I used barbless hooks, i striked quite quickly with the bites and i used a disgorger, is there anything else i can do to prevent deephooking these fish because it really makes me feel awful when it happens and although i dont, but if it kept happening on a regular basis i think it would be enough to stop me fishing altogether, or at least stop me fishing for perch. So any tips or advice would be appreciated, thankyou

The other day i was legering close to an island on a local lake. I was aiming more for bream with the hope of some smallish carp, i had pellets in the feeder on a 6lb mainline with a 4lb hook length with a piece of corn and a couple of maggots on the hook. After fishing for about an hour the bite alarm screamed off and i struck into a carp, long story short it raced straight from the island, back towards the bank, went straight into some reeds and the line snapped. Im sure it was pretty big, possibly 10lb im guessing. Anyway as i obviously dont want this to happen again i think maybe i should buy some 9lb line and use some of my 6lb stuff as hook-lengths? What do people think, should i just stick with what i've got as i dont catch a great deal of carp and its pretty unlikely for me to catch one over 10lb to be honest. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

It is a really good book, if you can get it cheap i would buy it, especially useful if you are starting out fishing but even if your not its still handy to refer to and look things up in. dd

As Elton asked, i am recommending a fishing book of mine. Its by Tony Whieldon and is simply called coarse fishing, its a bit old fashioned and slightly basic but after fishing for 6 years i still come back to if i want to look something up. It really is a good book with simple diagrams and illustrations. In my opinion a must have for anyone starting out fishing as it really does have everything in it. He has a few other books, including roach, carp and pike fishing. I couldn't find his coarse fishing book but if you look around im sure you can find it. Here is his carp fishing book: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fishing-Skills-Carp-...RL#ht_960wt_981

Ok i'll give it a go at answering some of your questions from my point of view: 1-He probably had a float called a loaded waggler, a float with a weight at the base of it which can give you the weight to cast it very far, they are normally slightly bigger and more buoyant and you can tell it is a loaded waggler by the weight or bulge at its base, just ask someone at your local tackle shop for one. They are useful at casting further out and can be very effective. 2-Buy yourself a copy of Tony Whieldon-Coarse fishing(fishing skills) Its available on amazon for about 3 quid, its a brilliant book that will get you all the relevant information on float fishing and the basics of coarse fishing in general. That is what i would recommend but there are hundreds of fishing books so find one that suits you. 3-Its just for attraction, carp, bream and even roach love a fruity bait and its just something to leak off and attract the fish. Its not just fruity flavours, there's hundreds and there all pretty effective. 4-When loose-feeding it is important to use the theory of little and often, dont throw in loads of loose-feed at once, just small amounts about every 5 minutes. Depending on what you are using id catapult out about 10-20 maggots every five minutes or so, but its different with whatever bait you use, sweetcorn and pellets can be more filling and you dont want to fill up the fish so id use less of these baits. Only use the catapult if you cant throw it accurately. 5-Sorry i dont know the area, im sure someone on here will help you though. 6-Id go with the rat, they have bigger claws Just my advice but id start off with a light float set-up of about 3 lb line all the way through to the hook to start with, fish close to features like lilies, reeds and overhanging trees. Use maggots or sweetcorn as bait, you will catch roach and perch and the odd bream, start with that then when you get the hang of it go up to bigger stuff like carp. You will get the hang of it, just keep practising. And definitely buy a book on how to start fishing as its a good way to show you the ropes. I hope this helps

Can artificial sweetcorn be hooked like regular sweetcorn, im guessing its more of a hair-rig type thing but does anybody else hook it as im thinking of trying it. Thanks

Ive heard somewhere that the slime of a fish is what protects them from parasites and disease etc, and that if a fish loses some of it, it is in serious danger of dying. Thats why you dampen carp mats and stuff right, to stop the slime and scales coming off. But when you catch bream, slime goes all over your hands, landing net and anything it touches, does this mean that a lot of bream consequently die? Just something i was wondering the other day after i got a bream, it dropped off the hook, onto my chair and instantly covered it in slime. Any thoughts? Cheers

Thanks for that everyone, how much difference does it actually make in the catches you get, does it mean you'll get just a couple more fish or does it really matter? Im thinking of using them but i like using simple free running ledger rigs on the quiver-tip and don't know if i can be bothered with the hassle and complication of it all. cheers

Im curious, i can see the principal in a hair rig, that the carp will feel the bait in its mouth before taking it and it will reject it if it feels a hook, but surely when the fish feels the bait in its lips that is enough to hook it and....voila? It just seems odd to me, im probably wrong so just wondering...? Thanks

Thanks for your help everyone, i use spicy meats like peperami in winter but i used luncheon meat today and it pulled straight through, even with the blade of grass in the bend of the hook, and after a few casts it clearly wouldn't work so i went on to maggot and sweetcorn, had 9 bream up to 4lb, not huge but still good fun Thanks again

Im going to fish a nearby commercial tomorrow on the quiver-tip with meat and i wanted to flavour it for extra attraction. I can't be bothered with liquid flavours at the moment so im going to dust it in powder, i normally use spicy stuff in winter so im thinking of something different for summer like oxo cubes rubbed on, any ideas or other good powdery attractants? Thanks >>>>Also im going to be using a 6 pound mainline to a 4 pound hooklength with probably a size 14 hook (depending on the size of meat i use) and just hook the meat straight on (i dont bother with hair rigs) , please say if you think i could improve on this or its not good enough or whatever.<<<< Cheers

I have a leeda carp match rod, it has three sections. Its a great little rod and really light but i want to use it for a spot of ledgering and it doesnt have a quiver tip section, would my local tackle shop have one of these? I looked on ebay and just found this: (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/universal-push-carbon-quiver-tip-t-c-1-5oz-/250352101396?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_SportingGoods_Fishing_FishingRods_EH&hash=item3a4a25e814#ht_500wt_770) but im not really sure about it. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

thanks both for your help

Ive recently started fishing a local canal and found it to be full of big perch, good sized roach and average bream. As im new to canal fishing im wondering.... rod or pole? Bread punch or maggot? What strength line? Any advice and tips really please, thanks.

ok thanks everyone, i only have 6lb or 15lb so will have to go with the 15lb