PeterNE1

Apologies for being a bad influence Nice to see that it went to a good home - and you're absolutely correct about it being a bargain, too - I know some people whinge on about the star drag, but personally I find it very useful ... and if I want or need a reel without the drag facility, I just use another reel!

Use your TFG 13' Big Pit setup: it's apparently giving you more like the distance you seem to feel is necessary, and cut down on the number of feathers if you need to, after all, how many mackeral do you need to take each session ? ... you talk of struggling (and being dissatisfied) with taking ten in a session of just a couple of hours, even with your current under - par (to you) performance. Putting aside the issue of how many fish you may be able to take, I'd hazard a guess and say that the repeated casting with a rod with which you can actually handle is far more likely to benefit your shoulder, too, no?

All good stuff ... looks as though mine is an early Mark 1 too ... nice clean face and a good straight undamaged foot .. rear is about 95% too, and spins like a dream Very understated reel to actually look at though ... not much there for the tackle tart, apart from the Hardy name!

Best advice I can give is that you actually call them direct on 01665 602771 - choose the option that puts you through to the shop. There is a VERY helpful guy works in there whose knowledge about older Hardy gear in encyclopedic, and he has always been (to me) very chatty and informative, providing the shop is not too busy - a lot of what he knows is based on personal experience, and likely not actually written down anywhere!Unfortunately, his name escapes me at the moment, but the guy is a gem! The down side is that some time quite recently, a new younger guy has started working there who knows two thirds of nowt about anything ... so it's a bit of a lottery whether you get knowledge or numpty ... if a younger voice answers the phone, hang up! That said, I'll be interested to hear whatever you find out, as I've got one of these reels too!

Read on another forum that the (local) rumour mill has it that it was the intentional action of a couple or 3 local guys, miffed at being unable to fish any longer for free ... after a charge was brought in of just £10 a year!

I'm amazed it's still there ... I'm almost tempted to buy it, simply to put it straight back on at auction, and no doubt make a decent, easy profit! Knowing me, I'd find a reason to keep it though.....

Just spotted this on Ebay, if anyone is interested? ... a 'Mint' Okuma Trent with a Buy-It-Now price of just £65! ... they're crackin' reels --- already have a couple, or I'd be severely tempted! OKUMA TRENT for £65!

When this is such a specific problem, i.e the toxic impact of contraceptive pill manufacture, and the issue is actually proven rather than just a theory, surely it would be simple enough to point the finger of guilt / culpability, and most important liability, at those concerned: the manufacturers of the pills? Without digging into Google, I would imagine that collective profits can be counted in billions over the years, so would it be too much to expect that they fund their own clean-up ... or is that too straight-forward, logical and simple for the bureaucrats to get their heads around?

Bureaucracy gone daft, as usual ... bit that IS the weirdest looking rainbow trout I've ever seen ... thought I was looking at some sort of exotic / tropical species, before I read the article!

Century Composites, up in Washington, Tyne & Wear, make some brilliant rods, though they are usually recognised more for sea fishing / distance casting, and top-end carp rods. Some of their blanks are still made in Washington, and thier lighter carp offerings would make a spectacular barbel rod - some of the blanks are slim beyong belief!

The auto-edit / word count may have been at fault here perhaps? ... original may have read: This river on Vancouver Island is not only great for fishing but is also one of the most beautiful, tranquil places you’ll ever visit.

SORTED!!!! ... new baby is already on the way, though not expected until late October!

I think I'm prepared for the pong ... main curiosity at this stage is a / whether anyone has used the product to good effect, and b/ is the reultant cheese paste so bloody toxic that you can't safely use it with bare hands!

Tinkering about trying various cheese paste recipes, trying to settle on a 'standard' Something I've read about but not yet tried is the addition of small amounts of Butyric acid, which several well-known anglers swear by ... but it's not exactly 'user friendly' Apparently it REALLY stinks - general advice is do not spill it, and consider using it outdoors ... as cheese paste invariably involves large degrees of 'hands on' contact, whilst both making the stuff and using it, I'm wondering whether this stuff is going to cause seriously stinky hands, or does it wash off quite easily after making up the paste? I realise at the making stage that I could likely get away with using latex gloves or something if neccesary, but I'm wondering how much of a problem it's likely to be during use too, bankside? Has anyone any actual experience with using this stuff? Any good? ... and are there any handling problems etc? As the first sentence says ... I'm tinkering about with recipes ... anyone have any good 'uns for cheese paste, that they would be happy to share?

Saw a pair the other day under the Tyne Bridge, in the centre of Newcastle!

Might it simply boil down to nothing more than the fact that most, or all anglers will have shot: conversely few will have tungsten putty to hand?

Hiya - if you're happy with the Korum jobbies and will PM me your address, I've an unopened pack of 2 that I'll happily mail to you FOC!

That's the weird bit - he's not actually winning anything, just being bloody disruptive for everyone else! Can't even say that any one individual buyer is benfitting from what he's doing either - I'm seriously wondering whether he's simply getting his jollies from placing high bids, then retracting when he get cold feet ... or the meds start wearing off?

I've had exactly the same scenario, repeatedly It was the automated emails from Ebay, notifying me of retracted bids, that alerted me to them all being down to the same (two) accounts.

No, that's just the point, this doesn't seem to be shill bidding at all. The person concerned is placing and retracting bids across a lot of auctions, all from different sellers. The only purpose seems to be to disrupt the auctions as much as possible, and the only link I can establish is that this behaviour is occuring on many auctions that are selling centre pin reels in the upper price brackets. I managed to talk to Ebay a few minutes ago on the telephone: it may (or may not!) be instructive to see what happens next!

Like a few on here, I keep an eye on Ebay. Specifically, I'm talking here about auctions for the better quality centre pins. Over the past couple of weeks or so, someone (or perhaps a couple of idiots) seem Hell-bent on disrupting these specific auctions, bidding high, then retracting bids days later, then re-bidding etc - repeatedly, on multiple auctions. I've seen several sellers pull some very nice kit off sale because of their behaviour. Unfortunately, Ebay allows these idiots to remain anonymous, BUT these 'buyers' seem well established, with quite high feedback numbers: I'm guessing that they may well be known and identifiable to others on here, perhaps? There have been several more, but three current examples are here: Hardy Conquest Dave Swallow Arnold Kingpin To say they are making a habit of it is a massive understatement: 56 bid retractions in the last 30 days alone, yet they have 100% positive feedback on over 750 transactions, apparently! Bidding details Does anyone have any thoughts about what this guy is actually trying to achieve here? Can we name and shame him?

Picked this one up back at the start of November: still can't make my mind up What muddies the waters a little for me is that whenever I get tempted (again!), I invariably have a looky see at what else I can have for similar money ... a new Match Aerial or Trotter from Fred Crouch is always an option, and if you are happy to run with Ebay, the choice can be quite vast. Recently I've seen the Fox BJ AND various reels from the Youngs stable all sell at this sort of price - not to mention various offerings from the US. The original post is here, if you want to have a look at the comments from that time? OKUMA Raw

Crackin' rods, though a few years old now. They were originally made on the Armalite(?) blank, and cost, back then, somewhere approaching £200. The Armalite range is still available, costing closer to £300, but I don't know whether or not the blank has changed. My advice would be that if you are offered a rod and are considering purchase, grab it with both hands, as long as you are happy with the price!

Ahhhh ... if you're REALLY, absolutely, hell-bent on finding FS porn, seek out the Van Staals and ZeeBaas Van Staal ZeeBaas

Be interesting to see how it pans out - there was an unused one about 3 weeks ago that went unsold with a BIN of £300