RobStubbs

My longest was 2 weeks (south africa) but I regularly used to do week sessions as holidays, always abroad and mainly in France. In the UK I have done a week but 2 or 3 nights would be my prefered duration. That said I haven't down a single night since 2010 Rob.

I've had eels, tench, bream, rudd, roach and pike on boilies, oh and a trout on corn whilst fishing for carp in the UK. I've also had both sturgeon and catfish on boilies in France, although my largest cat was caught in Spain using a modest sized live bait. Rob.

Yes indeed, I can't see how that will give you a health benefit. Why not just be honest and tell the Dr like it is - or if you really can't be bothered then don't go and see him / her ? Rob.

Lovely picture, and I've not seen one of those before, just the 'normal' oystercatcher. Rob.

Photoshop might help but it works wonders if you shoot in RAW. You can easily rescue very dark or over exposed shots, with no loss of image quality. Rob.

I haven't been as frequent a visitor as in the past, and only just heard the news via a comment on facebook. It is very sad news and my thoughts are with Newt and his family at this very sad time. Rob.

That's correct but you can easily freeze it. If you're just using for hookbaits then you won't need tons - depending on the fish activity. If you're unsure how much you'll need then take spare paste frozen in a flask and use it or return it to the freezer at the end of the session. Rob.

You could but it's cheaper just to make the paste direct. To make from boilies grind them down in a liquidiser and mix with egg. I have always made paste just from the base mix etc - i.e. a normal boilie mix, just don't boil it. Rob.

As mentioned it could be an allergy. If it's bad now with a new bivvy it suggests it could be that. Try not using a bivvy or keeping it as open as possible. All I can suggest is some tests to see what you may be allergic to. Rob.

I did better in 1 than two, but I don't really mind. It's good to see though that the site is a little better, but our work league suffered big time, just 1/3 as many entries as last season. Rob.

Can't help you directly I'm afraid, but try popping into the local fishing shops for advice. If you buy something and they are friendly / helpful then they will be a good source of info. Rob.

It's one option. I prefer to pick a boilie that works and stick with it. I used one flavour for 6 years (and then changed to one that caught me less fish.... ) Rob.

Yep done that, quite funny I've heard of people turning mates bivvies around in the night - before sewn in groundsheets. Rob.

I think those of us that played last year are automatically re-enrolled. It certainly looks like I am. Rob.

I too think it's wrong to have to opt out, but more importantly most transplant doctors also don't like the opt out idea. It leads to far fewer problems at the end if the family can be told 'he/she opted in' - and unless things have changed the family have the final say anyway. Rob.

Be wary if you decide to go down the urban route as people have been prosecuted for hiding 'suspicious packages' in town centres. It sounds harmless enough until someone spots you placing a box under a rubbish bin for example, and mr plod is called in. Rob.

You need to experiment with making the mix wetter / or dryer. Also some mixes need to be made wet and left to set a little, before rolling. Practice is about all I can suggest, it's an art more than a science ! As for the softness, you need to experiment with boiling times. Boil just a few baits to start with for something like 2, 3 and 4 mins (depending on the mix). If you put too may in in too small a pot then the water comes off the boil and they won't cook hot enough. All the above is for 16mm bolies as size also makes a big difference to the amount of time needed. HTH, Rob.

300 knifes worth 12000 pounds - me thinks someones having a laugh ! Rob.

I bought myself one of these; CBA digital solutions portable HD Very easy to use. Rob.

The best advice I can come up with is get one that's comfortable for you and supports your build. Weight is possibly a minor issue unless you're carrying the bedchair long distances by hand. I have always (where possible) used a carp porter type to cart my gear around, and to be frank, the bedchair was the least of my problems. My chair is a JRC cocoon II I think, and I don't even know if they make that model anymore. What I liked was it was comfortable and wider than some, but not overly wide - it's equally comfortable as a chair sitting on it sideways during the day. Rob.

That's just an age thing Rob.

For a kilo of base mix, you end up with roughly 2 kilos of boilies, I seem to recall. The benefit is that you can tweak them very slightly if you wish and make your own hookbaits. For example some mixes come out quite soft, so adding a small amount of egg albumin or other hardener can make the hookbaits last much longer. Rob.

We costed it a couple of years back when we got married and it would have been far more expensive, especially adding in fuel and ferry costs, never mind the limitations on what you can bring back. We did the rounds of the supermarkets doing deals and got most cases of beer for about a tenner each - I think we bought 30-40 cases in total and we had about 10 left over at the end (for 200 people). Some stores have limits on the number of cases you can buy at a time but morrisons didn't so we only needed a few extra trips. Rob.

Very emotive photographs of an obviously devastating scene. It's another stark reminder of the power of nature. Rob.

Sorry mate, you obviously got out of the bed the wrong side, and I bow to your expertise. Maybe you need to open your eyes and look around you. It's very common to fish over Kg of hemp here and abroad - last I heard a UK carp was the same fish as a French carp. And no I've never heard of people rolling hemp in icing sugar and putting them in PVA bags. But hey I don't pretend to be up with the new ideas in carp expert monthly - I just prefer simple, easy and cheap methods like using a spod. Rob.