PeterNE1

BillysBackBiters, every time. Had some for years without problems. They look a bit 'industrial' compared to some others, but they do exactly what they are supposed to do, and more to the point, they do it extremely well ... never heard a negative comment about them, ever!

I often get the impression, particularly in the Angling press, that where a photograph is credited with the weight of a fish, said fish has never been anywhere near any scales other than its own, and the weight is nothing more than the figment of a wishful imagination!

Unfortunately a little late in the day to act on the find, but I came across this reel on Ebay, and it's got me curious. It's a centrepin by Adcock Stanton, but very different to the ones normally seen - yet apparently quite a recent reel. Evidently, it's smaller than their more frequent offerings, at only 10cms across the drum, and the front face is not one I've seen before either. I realise it's easy enough to contact Stantons and ask, but I was just wondering if anyone on here knows much about this particular model - date of production etc? Thanks! Unusual Adcock Stanton Centrepin

'Otters'!, as in a device that is used to assist with freeing snagged lures!

Chris Yates for therapy, Mike Iaconelli for fun

You raise a very good point Rudd: I suspect that a very large part of it will revolve around the fact that a fixed spool is a very simple beasty to cast with compared to a multiplier. I confess ... I've way too many pins but on occasion WILL use a very small (old!) Ambassadeur for trotting, just 'because'! FWIW, John Wilson is a great fan / exponent of what you propose

Yeah ... been using these for quite a while now, they were raised in a topic some months back on dropshotting..... Dropshotting Still trying to find a UK supplier though

Never - not even once, in almost 40 years as an angler! That said, I've never fished a 'commercial' in my life either ... maybe that tells it's own story?

If you want to see the most obvious 'improvements' available in modern rods, I think you have to look at stuff away from the routine 'everyday' rods that sell in their thousands ... consider the power and strength now available in an ultra light lure rod, for example, or a modern 3 or 4 weight fly rod ... or the massive distance casting capacity of the top-end sea rods now available ... maybe we just have access now to technology that offers improvements at the extremes of performance, with the main benefits of lower price / better quality in the range of say the £40 - £90 price bracket?

Hi Phone - I couldn't, categorically, to be honest: if it was something upon which I needed an absolutely correct ruling, I'd contact the Environmental Agency (probably via email so that I have a 'written' response), and ask them a very carefully worded question!

I asked a few specific questions about this a while ago, with a local river in mind. Seems that the point deemed to be the 'official' tidal limit is actually marked quite precisely on a typical OS map (though I suspect this will be more applicable to larger rivers rather than smaller streams, which could also be tidal): below this point is classed as tidal, above it is deemed not, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT IT ACTUALLY IS! On the river I had in mind there is a weir, and it's very obvious that the water level below rises and falls by several feet, with the tides ... yet it is classed as non-tidal, the 'official' limit being a mile or so downstream!

If you're into your chub fishing, you're seriously missing out if you don't try them. I've yet to find anyone who has used them who would honestly disagree The problem is that they can on occasion be so effective that if you are then unable to obtain them for a future trip, confidence can take a major nose-dive! Have to confess though, I've never really used them for any other species, so could not really comment furher.

A looong time ago, as a teenager, I used to dig up wasps nests with my dad, following the liberal application of a product called Cy-Mag ... banned now for many years, though strangely to still be found occasionally in the depths of sheds where there is an angler in the house! Supremely effective, though in hindsight, not exactly 'user friendly' ... I once saw the aftermath from another dig, where a guy had been stung just once by a treated wasp ... his arm was bigger than his leg! Best alternative today is likely as someone else suggested - get friendly with your local pest controller, and even offer to pay a bounty on the nests if you find someone amenable ... they are an absolutely deadly bait for chub!

Never good news when something like this happens, but something springs immediately to mind: to break in, then steal / remove '75%' of the stock from a tackle shop must have taken many hands / much time and sizeable transport - it was hardly a ram-raiding type affair. I know Barnoldswick is a relatively sleepy place (I've a friend lives there), but in this age of security cameras hidden everywhere, how was this not seen as it happened, and acted upon?

Thanks guys - your time in replying is appreciated! Sharp eyes ... must do well with long trotting? Have to confess to having more pins than any sane man can use or justify, but if I'm honest I tend to buy newer, quality reels if they appear on the market at the right price, rather than the older models. That said, I've a couple of original Match reels, one of which is new and unused, ditto the Speedia's: again, a new boxed one and the other (that I use) courtesy of my dear old dad I've sort of convinced myself that it's OK to buy more: I have 'users' and others that are simply an investment for my little lad. I KNOW it's almost sacreligious to admit, but Witchers etc do bugger-all for me aesthetically, but make a superb investment if I can buy well, on a couple of occasions for far less than I'd pay for a new Lythe! The 'users' vary greatly: I was very lucky to get my hands on TWO Revolvers, unused, at a tackle shop in Krakow, of all places, about 2 years ago - The guy was very keen to get his hands on Euro's or £££'s rather than zloty for whatever reason: he was the owner of an established tackle shop, still trading there today, so I had no issues at all about a dodgy deal etc - they came straight out of the reel cabinet in the shop, and I got them BOTH for the equivalent of just 700zl - excahnge rate at that time was s bit less than 5 to the £GB, so £140 / £150 quid, give or take. It's absolutely correct what people say about these reels - they ARE very, very nice (assuming that you can live with the Browning livery ) ... but I would not pay £400 for one,even if it is number 3! I also use a couple of their Rotators, various Kingpins, a tiny black Stanton, Youngs and Okumas ... total tackle tart, I know, but the prices I buy at mean I'll never lose money - I think I even bought a pin from Alan, the instigator of this topic, no more than a few weeks ago.courtesy of Ebay! ... and NO, I cannot Wallis cast, though in fairness, I've never tried! Here's the rub though ... 'favourite' reels? A couple that were handmade in Poland, and a MAHOOSIVE 'Rolls Royce' special that could probably stop the forward motion of a respectable barge! .... bought at different times / places for the sum total of just £72!

Just my two-penn'orth, but I use frozen baits almost exclusively - have done for years, and see no real reason to change, unless catches start to decline: the kicker here is that because of this (and the fact I don't use 'fresh'), I've no real yardstick by which to make a comparison. Just my humble opinion, but it often feels to me that if I have confidence in a location / bait combination, that's 90% of the battle. Initially, the reason I chose to go the frozen route was simply that I acquired masses of freshly dead, (otherwise healthy) fish about 7 years ago, during the initial stocking of a new fishery that went 'wrong' ... I was picking up casualties for almost 5 weeks on a daily basis (before anglers were allowed access each day), and ultimately bought a large chest freezer that went into the garage and was literally filled with washed, individually wrapped dead freshwater baits, packed then according to size and species into airtight plastic boxes. Testing on water and fish was performed by both the EA and the fishery owners, and the likely cause of death was established - it also identified that there was no reason why these fish could not be used in other waters, though there are some I visit that mandate sea baits only, in which case I comply. The only minor 'downside' I've experienced is that I sometimes get sniffy looks / questions on the bankside (which led to me carrying a letter of provenance for a while) ... I could fully understand why, as apart from the typical silver fish candidates, It's not unusuall to see a carp on the end tackle (one of three 'flavours!), golden rudd, or even a golden tench ... though these are now getting very sparse in the freezer, usually kept for a visit to a venue with exceptionally good known (or suspected) potential.

Hi Chavender NOT having a 'go' at you in any way shape or form - I mostly agree with your sentiments about the reels in question, but I'm genuinely curious t0 know what makes you believe that the reel has been repainted, particularly when the seller says not? ... I'm wondering whether you spotted something I have not (didn't bid, I hasten to add!), or is it just simple speculation / suspicion? Part of the reason I ask is that although I've never met this guy, I HAVE bought reels from him in the past, both on and off Ebay, and things have always been 100% legit, and as described, and on occasion he's gone well out of his way to offer assistance on a couple of things.

Hi Phone - that may well be attributable to the fact that (certainly in the UK) carp mags deal pretty much exclusively for and with carp anglers to the exclusion of all others, likewise the predator mags.

I'd personally be tempted to push for much tighter controlo over the levels of stocking that are allowed in commercials: in many paces it is tantamount to animal cruely, and would be prosecuted if the animals in question were of the fluffy variety. I've no problems whatsoever with night fishing - but you are EITHER fishing, OR tucked up asleep, NOT both!

Substitute the word 'pike' with specimen carp / barbel / whatever ... would you still insist on the same level of proof (of fish care and ability), or is this just squarely aimed at pike and pike anglers?

OK, I confess: I voted 'Yes' : I've caught pike for the neck-end of 40 years and over that period of time my own method(s) of unhooking have gone through quite an evolution, though I was first taught a 'safe' way to unhook pike (for me AND the fish!) by my father when I was a boy. At that point, if I was pike fishing at all (intentionally), I was with my father, and therefore supervised and encouraged, to the point where I became competent to safely handle pike alone. Over the years, I've had the cuts and damage caused by teeth, and an occasional hook in me - show me a pike angler who hasn't - but over ALL of that time, I've NEVER knowingly lost a pike to bad handling. That said, a single comment in this entire thrread caught my eye, made by Poledark towards the top of page 5: That statement would seem to imply that EVERYONE (else) encountered over the years of pike fishing was wrong - which I find extremely hard to believe: I'm more inclined to think that they were all judged as inept simply because their method was different to the one used by Poledark ... though I have no doubt at all that he WILL have come across numpties over the years I'm aware that there ARE several trains of thought about the appropriate methods to use, and each will have their advocates, so how about a costructive suggestion here, bearing in mind that the aim of the topic appears to be to promote the welfare of the pike? If you (Poledark, and anyone else too) know of a link to an article, or (preferably) a video clip that YOU personally will happily endorse, how about you post them on here for critique / acceptance / ridicule(! ), and therefore maybe produce a topic worth referring to on this subject, for future readers? SLIGHTLY lateral, but IF this type of course was to become more widely expected / acceptable, with fish welfare the main objective, how about we have something similar for the 'instant carp expert' that we've no doubt all encountered? Fish welfare would obviously be high on the list, but could also cover such simple topics which seem alien to them, such as bankside ettiquette (noise and rubbish), simple good manners (not hogging the entire lake with multiple rods fan-cast) and basic Health and Safety (i.e the implications - to them - of launching a large lead towards the horizon, straight at another angler - often ME - on the opposite bank!)

Hi Budgie: just tried the link - leads to the correct Youtube page / file, but then returns an error. Any thoughts?

Phone: FYI, in the UK, trout are very frequently used as deadbaits, primarily for pike in waters that are artificially stocked with trout, usually for the benefit of those who enjoy fly-fishing. On occasion, these waters are made accessible to pike anglers, and trout are the logical deadbait of choice. With respect to using them for Perch, my first thought is that you need to get clarification that using them would be accepted on this water: they may not appreciate dead trout from another source being introduced to the water, even if that other source is a fishmongers slab! My secong thought is that (unless you know different?) any trout that you are likely to buy commercially are likely to be way too big for use as perch deadbaits ... but if this ain't the case, and the rulers say 'yes', then I'd go ahead and try it ... after all what have you to lose apart from a little time. That said, under the circumstances, I think I'd be taking along the biggest lobs I could find as insurance, and maybe a few king prawns too! Or try sprats or similar maybe In any event, I'd consider very carefully the issue of traces, as any passing pike will also happily take any of these offerings, and I've yet to find a water that had no pike at all in there, even the ones that apparently 'don't contain any'!

Cool! ... Would've made my day!

Oh! So, any thoughts / ideas / advice on propogating lobworms ... or at least, keeping them healthy, long term, after gathering them?