lozza

Just having a chat with a guy in the local tackle shop when he informed me that he had just caught a terrapin barbell fishing. I’ve seen some odd things caught before from great crested grebes to cormorants (some bloke long range dead baiting at chew valley lake very odd to watch) any body else had any weird catches?

When setting up I a swim look for obvious fish holding features lily’s reeds and over hanging bushes. These would be the place to start. It is very important when selecting the right type of float to use on the day by knowing how deep the water is you intend to fish. the different depths of water in front of you and the distance you intend to cast will determine what type of float to use. Firstly you need to identify depth; you do this with a plummet which is a weight that you attach to your hook and sits on the bottom of the lake. Start with a distance of about 4 feet between your hook and your float if the float sinks than you need to increase the distance between hook and float. (good tip for pluming up is only use very light anchoring shot like a number 4 ether side of the float enough to hold the float in position but not to effect it). If the float lies flat on the water than you need to decrease the distance between hook and float. You no when you have the right depth when the float sits up in the water like a missile. Once you have found the right depth adjust the shot around your float until it sinks down leaving the tip exposed enough for you to see a bite, but not enough for the fish to notice the buoyancy of the float when it takes the bait. Add some very small shot (dropper) say a number 8 about 10 inch’s from the hook to help sink the line. Don’t try and cast too far. Casting comes with experience start close in (the fish will still be their) and when you become more confident move out further if needed. When your float lands put the tip of your rod in the water give a sharp flick to sink the line and reel the float into position. Tip put bank sticks in position before you rest your rod. Feeding is all important start of buy a little and often basis say 10 to 15 maggots every couple of minutes this should bring fish around your bait. Maggots may not catch you the biggest fish but they should get you bites and hopefully fish when you are a little more rehearsed in your technique you might try for larger fish. You need to learn the basic first. When casting it should be in one smooth motion with not much effort involved ( I see a lot of people thinking they are sword fighting, Zorro was not a fisherman) don’t try to cast to the horizon. the rat should Prevail. hope this helps

After a good 10 weeks of use it time to reline and oil up my reels. What is the best product to use when greasing them up. The lube in my fixed spool reels seems to be different to my closed face and my mate pins are there different products for different jobs?. And does any body know what G&Y pins are made from?

Makes some fair points but who uses the word gaylord anymore i thought everybody hated otters and polish people? and i have learnt to taske the missis fishing with me not the best solution but stops the ear ach.

try hemp and tears never hand an eel on hemp.

The hair does not weigh as mush as a hook and presents it self more naturally. Have you ever tried to hook a boile or pellet and the connect with takes.

I am not the most computer literate person and I am struggling to upload some jpgs how do I do this?

Did not mean like that, I am in the market for a pin at the mo just lots of options out there and not sure what to go for.

I noticed that you do not show any options in your centre pin list for any young’s pins? When buying a pin say for light stick float fishing is it a question of what you pay what you get as in are the better pins more expensive or would I just be buying the name? I am a little of a tackle tart and like my brands never used a Okuma product are they quality products or just cheaper alternatives. Go for the waders access is everything makes fishing the stick so much easier.

i would stay away from floating casters if there is a lot of flow on the river as these tend to pull the fish down river. Mashed bread is always a winner. I always thread bread on with a baiting needle to cast futher than i can free line go with a sliced loaf and thread through the crust side spin the hook so piont is resting on the crust side with white fluffy bits runing up the shank. try useing a lighter hook as this does not sink the bread

try reduceing the ammount of line you have on the reel this used to happen to me alot o when i use my 501 but a little less line seemed to help but it still happens

Can anybody recommend good strong light hooks? Most of the patterns that I have used have been too heavy and this is causing problems with my presentation.

I used to do a lot of fishing in French version of commercial fisheries their idea is stock a lake 4 times a year with carp, trout, sturgeon and catfish then you can take home and eat what you catch so I did this with a few small carp that I caught to my surprise they weren’t that bad but not that good either couldn’t see it taking the place of other fish in the restaurant. I do hear good things about zander and perch any one tried one?

That should bring the roach on. Is it a very clear river? could be why the fish is very bronze in coluor.

People use lots of different names for the same thing not sure what a bread ball is? If it is a just the white of the bread I find the best way to hook it is having the hook over your finger with the flake in between the shank and your finger then folding the bread away from your finger leaving the hook point exposed and some nice fluffy bits.

Yea that looks like a very nice roach haven’t seen one of those out in a while, did you catch it on barbell gear?

Such a shame that you are being pestered by 2lb perch and theirs me thinking bleak and sticklebacks are annoying. Perch on cheese paste they must be really hungry. Must have a really health stretch of river are there many pike around?

Fishing at that depth should not present any problems with a 13' rod, you can easily fish up to 16' deep with a 13'.?? Apart from the float slider rig what other rigs will let me fish comfortable in 14ft of water with a thirteen foot rod?

I too have had a lot more success with worm in conjunction with the maggot feeder but I am limited on time at the moment so need to get takes as soon as possible. I’ve also had some good fish using prawn in conjunction with the feeder but live baiting seems to produce faster results rather then wading trough the masses of smaller perch who also love worms.

I have a 501 close face real which is an absolute dream to use when you get used to them. I have found that the line gets caught underneath the spool when there is too much line on the reel or it is nut kept under tension when retrieving. What do you mean buy back wind drag? The only drag facility on mine is a small control on the reel handle that allows you to control the drag it’s pretty effective but sometimes if you get an unexpected lunge from a decent fish can be a bit tricky to adjust. Have had some good fish on closed face reels and soft action rods to help absorb those last lunges. have you used one before you had the 706 iam thinking of getting a second are they worth it?

what a fantastic specimen. The fish ive been catching dont have the depth in the belly that your fish did my mates back from france now with the rest of the gear so hopefully will get a few more with pics. i have had quite a few smaller pike take my live baits but becuase i hit the take very fast i just seemed to be lip hooking them has anybody tried braid as a hook length?

I’ve have had some very odd takes some very gentle and slow movements of the float right down to it totally despairing and the rod bending over(and still nothing on the end). The bites I find the hardest to hit (mainly because I get too excited) are the takes when the live bait gets chased to the surface and you can see the fish trying to eat the bait. I have been using some quite hefty baits for these perch with some good results unfortunately I don’t have a camera or a set of scale (my mate took them to France) but I have taken some measurements of one of the bigger fish that I have caught it was about 17inch long buy 8.5inch from belly to bottom of the dorsal fin buy approximately 4inch in girth I could almost fit my fist in its mouth would any body have a guesstermation of the weight? Looking trough angler’s mail this week and to my surprise they have a section on live baiting on commercials the guy catches some good fish says there all over the 2lb mark but they don’t look it. Still have not tried circle hooks yet but will be out on Sunday to see if they are more effective. Does any body know were to source very supple wire for trace making the stuff I have at the moment seems a bit to rigid and is some what messing with my presentation?

Dales are you new to course fishing? Looking at your catch report it seems that way always wanted to catch an alligator gar and most of the other species on your list were the freshwater fish wild or from purpose built lakes?

Been watching the new catching the impossible recently I happened to see the episode were bowler targets his impossible tench I was amazed when he was given a map and free run of the lake were is the skill in catching a fish when you have done none of the work to achieve this just followed some body else work were to cast what bait to use. Bring back passion for angling.

Cheers for the advice will try circle hooks next time. Have been striking all my bites and have seen the fish pulled from right out of the perches mouth so next time will just wind down to connect. Have had some pretty small perch attack about a 4oz dace like a shoal of mini piranha. When I am getting bites from smaller perch I am not seeming to connect with any of the bigger specimens do they shoal up with the smaller fish? Is it worth moving to find the better fish or will they home in on the bait like the smaller fish do?