wunnus

Hayes and Wilson are supreme at presenting fishing. They bring characters and locations to a wider audience but they play safe, known and tested tends to be 98+% of the material. They fearlessly have a go at any fishing situation, Matt Hayes with a flyrod comes to mind, but they show enjoyment throughout. That is what keeps me going to a river. Dick Walker was a revelation! Along with Buller and Falkus they took the mysticism (not the romance) out of fishing. Their books are less easy to read than Wilson but they contain so much food for thought. They never claimed to have known it all but they put up every known fact as being up for grabs. Nothing was sacrosanct (Walker's view on fly fishing etc challenged the established idea). Dick' made me try to think out what was going on under my float. I do not claim to be as successful as others but it has added a whole new area of interest for me. The real importance of such surveys is that it makes us think. As stated earlier "what did they do", what did they bring to the table? Happy Christmas One n all

liquidised for a cloud to get em darting about, then bait on the drop mash straight to the bottom and the bait is laid on

I agree Tight up against the bank. Or look for a slack where the flow slows down. Another tip is to wear waders and go for worm. Oddly you can catch fish right by your feet.

I regularly fish a free bit of water. No shortage of kids. Some ask for help and some show me what to do. Near me is a low priced lake, no shortage of kids, families etc. Room for one on top syndrome on a sunny day. Adjacent to the free stretch is a club controlled stretch of river. Rarely a soul on it!(usually me) So cost does appear to be a factor. With redundency looming I can assure you that you really do wonder if the extra is worth it. As a dad I resented paying for my son fishing for a few hours and then losing concentration. On the free stretch kids (and adults) come and go. When I actually think back I rarely went for the whole day. I would fish for a bit, clack about for a bit, creep up on unsuspecting wildlife etc. Yep the clubs and fish-ins will hone the skills. Well done to Lidl and Argos for providing a cheap opening into fishing. Of course we need to all provide a helping hand. But it will be only a few who will dedicate their existence to it. There is a far larger army who only have time for a Quick Un, well away from it all. I for one would not like to be without my spells by the river. Perhaps a more important factor will be the accessibility to a good tackle shop, they are fading fast round here. Still the supermarket can provide many of the best baits and perhaps we should get back more to making our own.

Stuff the big whatever! Just creeping along the bank until I think there is a good spot. Watch, wait, pop a couple of loose offerings to see what happens. Lower the float into the water over a screen of nettles or reeds, pop the button on the closed face reel,watch the current take it down to the spot. Hold back the float.... Then the float goes under..... The reel backwinds. It does not matter what size of fish, this always grabs me. I cannot get enough of this. I really do not care if it is a tiny chub or a stuffing great pike. It really tastes so much sweeter when someone has said that this spot has no fish. Oh God do I really have to wait until tomorrow morning for this? Can you fish all day in heaven? Not come back for food or more bait etc.......

I dont see Grayling here in my bit of Suffolk. But in the deeper slow flowing bits of river that used to be canal I rig up a sort of laid on paternoster. I really only use quills but I think any float style will do. It arose from me being lazy when changing from rolling shot ledger to trotting a float on the same rod. I left the ledger connection on the line to act as a weight below the float. Add float with two bands to line above ledger bead connector and stop. Add weight at the join of the hooklength or on the hooklength, just enough to trundle along the bottom. Alter the position of the final shot so that the line does not keep catching the bottom and snagging. We are now effectively laying on and letting the current move the bait along the bottom. In the middle of an imaginary ideal river the flow is fastest at the surface in the middle. So at a depth to suit this point attach your next hooklength. Coat with floatant. I bait it but it could be fly I suppose. I just used the ledger stop and running bead (the tiny light plastic stuff) connection to join the hooklength to the line. To recap Going down the line, Float Running bead& ledgers stop. & hooklength. weight final hooklength. The final bait is usually a meaty bit of lob. The upper is often bread. The weights I need to use are normally only No 8 (the ledger bit bob the float.) When working at its best I can bump it along. At worst I get 2 tangles in the weed instead of 1. I cast with a gentle sideways flick so that it lands horizontal on the water. Every now and then it pulls in a chub. Best Wishes

Here are a few observations from my fly fishing attempts, I am really good at the "Sorta Cast". Don't tell the Dace that to catch them on the dry fly in a stream is far more demanding than trout on a still water. Othertwise they will charge me more for it and they will make me pay to eat the little devils. But it is so absorbing It is really hard to beat the excitement from dropping a wet fly off a floating line, you cannot see the fish just the twitch of the line. Unlike carp fishing you cannot tell initially that you have hooked it then the line straightens. Unfortunately there is no audible alarm, unless you attach a fine line to a sensitive bit of the anatomy, preferably someoneelse's SSSHHH I always keep the travel rod in the car with a minimum setup. Say no more! Gov! Chub are so considerate. Chub will sometimes study the dry fly for ages before having a go (trout rarely do it like this). Plenty of time to get the bank ready with mat, aftercatch ciggy and coffee, camera, tape recorder for post catch interview etc. But often I screw it up by losing concentration and striking too early etc Rudd really go for any castor type shapes just as the sun comes up/down. Try chucking a few casters on the local carp lake and whip out a few decent rudd. But you will need an olympic qualifying time in the 100m sprint to avoid the grumpy ole' carp fisherman Red worm flies can really get you into the larger roach and perch. Carp are hilarious. They may need several goes at it before they are on target. No wonder rudd and dace out pace them Nice pull when they are on. Carp fisherman do not like to see you play the fish though (insted of skiing the fish out on 40lb+ line), so give it plenty of the "I didn't know there were carp in here" or "just my luck" or "on the wrong rod again!" Then on other days I need to sit on the mat and trot a float. While I have reasonable (but failing slowly) eyesight and can react in time I think I can stave off the need for a rod rest & alarms. AND a chair AND a trolley. There are some excellent fly tyers on ebay if you just dont have the time to tie your own. It is obviously the highest accolade to catch the fish with an imitation of the hatch. But the fish dont know this yet so please dont tell them. Best Wishes

I presume that you will be staying in Bury'. Around Bury we have a couple of lakes run by Bury Angling club. Water Lane would be best for you and your son. In Bury there is a pond on Hardwick Heath that is great fun (local council permit needed.) To the south we have the Stour Valley, great Perch and Pike river. A number of lakes (Glemsford Pits, Foxearth, Clare, Flood Park Haverhill) but mainly it is the river we fish here. Sudbury & Melford club rule, but the day ticket is incredible value. To the West and North of Bury you are in the fens so it is drains and the Cam that attract the anglers (zander are a local fav'. To the west Bury Club have a lake at Barrow. A hotchpotch of clubs here. To the East there are lakes at Woolpit (seek out Grange Farm) and then you drift to Stowmarket and the Gipping (glorious chub river). GAPS and GVAC are the local clubs for the river. Lakes around Stowmarket are great for kids (esp' Onehouse, Lakeside) Seek out Tackle Up in St John's St., there they will have the current form for each of these and sell the tickets. Good Luck

Try giving the line a good clean/ replacement.

Baiting is the only real answer for a shop. Cats will be fascinated by the baits as much at the mice, especially the fishy and meaty ones. We use up turned ice cream tubs to put the bait in, just cut a whole for the entrance. The problem at this time of year will be that the mice will start to hoard the bait, but it does get them. If you suspect that they are building up the immunity then change the bait type. Start on warfarin and then move to the more deadly, but wash hands etc and no kids near it. Look for where they get in and seal up. Look for big tubs of bait, try the local garden centres and any places that supply horse stuff. Good Luck

Step 1 Get the tel no of your local anti angling activist Step 2 Find the oddbods taking fish Step 3 Call the local anti angling activist,or go and get them Step 4 Set up chair to watch the fireworks.

Yep I would go with the tackle shop as the first stop. Adding floats to your collection is an essential pastime. You will soon loose a few in the trees. I would suggest going to a commercial water first off, at least you can be sure that there are fish in there, get to meet other anglers and get the gossip about good places to go. The tackle shop can also be a good source of advice. Dont go wild on crazy baits, not yet. Worm, maggot and bread are good starters, then progress to the meat and luncheon meat. Be sure to try out all kit in the shop. Dont worry about reels and rods. When you have a 20lb fish on the end you can then say which is best. Start off with a simple Shimano, net, 13ft rod should do, 3lb line and some hooks already tied (ask for details about connecting them). Bingo you are away. A seat, and an umbrella can all be picked up at car boots if you are lucky, otherwise an old builders bucket and sturdy waterproof cape will make do while you wait for them to come up. Bait tubs are nice but old plastic tubs with holes punched in them are OK to start with. Always assume that you will lose that item sometime in the future and then you will spend what you can really afford. Dont worry about lost kit, it is a good chance to get new. Always see what other people are doing. Yep I would go with the tackle shop as the first stop. Adding floats to your collection is an essential pastime. You will soon loose a few in the trees. I would suggest going to a commercial water first off, at least you can be sure that there are fish in there, get to meet other anglers and get the gossip about good places to go. The tackle shop can also be a good source of advice. Dont go wild on crazy baits, not yet. Worm, maggot and bread are good starters, then progress to the meat and luncheon meat. Be sure to try out all kit in the shop. Dont worry about reels and rods. When you have a 20lb fish on the end you can then say which is best. Start off with a simple Shimano, net, 13ft rod should do, 3lb line and some hooks already tied (ask for details about connecting them). Bingo you are away. A seat, and an umbrella can all be picked up at car boots if you are lucky, otherwise an old builders bucket and sturdy waterproof cape will make do while you wait for them to come up. Bait tubs are nice but old plastic tubs with holes punched in them are OK to start with. Always assume that you will lose that item sometime in the future and then you will spend what you can really afford. Dont worry about lost kit, it is a good chance to get new. Always see what other people are doing, especially the kids! Above all enjoy the moment. Dont worry if you have a blank day, we all get them.

You will need to lookup german and italian sites and put the translate on them. Basically you wang out the sbiro with two double swivels on the lower end to act as your stopper and connect up the lure to this. You can just use them as an in line weight. Generally I find that they crash on the surface quite a bit. In the askari catalogue in the same section you can find a weight on a tube to a swivel that allows you to hold the bait off the river bed, that is kinda useful. Good luck

Yep I have the same problems. Maps are obscure, you need detailed local knowledge to find some spots. or the map is out of date and the river has redrawn the map. Another one I like advises parking in the passing places on a single track. Must be drawn for Reliant Robin drivers Another club does a natty job of drawing lines and placing crosses but you need the web site to find the key. The best yet is where you pay extra to get a book of maps that are drawn with only a ruler and bear no relation to any known topography. Sorta go as you please idea

I was given some incredibly bad smelling gunk that stuck like siht to a blanket on the lure. It was american and evidently intended for use on catfish. I had to throw it away due to petitions from neighbours, snooping health officials and unhealthy interest from the local cat and rodent populations. Maybe Newt can advise where you would get this type of stuff but I have never seen it here. I suspect you might need to inform Porton Down if you are stocking such chemicals.

Avon is great but you need to like being pestered for all the other cosmetice The one that works for me is SHOO....odour free and the little buggers avoid it It also lasts well. Make sure you dab it on all the anti mozzie gear. Dress up like nanook of the north and then wade well out to keep cool. I usually wrap up well but the eyes are a bit tricky... so just dab it on the glasses. Alternatively just avoid the summer in the highlands or go to an island and fish on the windward side.

Canada goose, bloody thing made a beeline for the bait and shot off with it, and the hook an intercity bus, fishing over a bridge and made a cast and "wheres it gone now?", ping shopping trolleys plastic bags reel for a browning something or rather reel

Would you need a medical as well as the exam to get the licence?

Wow now there is a real dream Why stop at GCSE? Thesis to discover if colour prejudice is evident in the treatment of multi coloured maggots. Quantitative analysis of the dynamics associated with carbon fibre and glass fibre rods. Socio economic factors in the design of multi coloured camouflage clothing designed for the angling market. Survey of float selection based on regional variations. Thermoplastic properties of chow mein pot noodle prepared at different temperatures of water.

def getting a set for the shed wall!

I would suggest that to prevent this problem in future all anglers could have a copy of their birth certificate tatooed on a part of their anatomy that rarely sees the light of day. Then when proof is needed you merely need to drop the trolleys to solve the problem. Chesters is excepted from this (it would take too long) and the copious forehead could be subtituted. I am pretty sure that you would only be asked once for proof

Spot on Also fish the swim before you hammer in a shed load of groundbait. I am convinced that the first bombing run of groundbait sends all the bottom feeders for cover. The other big consideration is the dawn and dusk feeding cycle. Just keep the changes coming until you find what the fish want. Another thing... dont underestimate "on the drop". I must point out that I am talking about finding fish not just the specimen hunter specials. I just want entertainment

I agree that any fish can switch off (and some anglers too for that matter). But I find that a decent punctured lob twitched along the bottom gets interest (a bit like a horror film) Not one of those nancy dendro's but a full blown lob, tatooes etc head banging nutcase lobs. Just as I treat other species, when the going gets tough I get smaller hooks. The "Animal" and "carp" hooks are still meaty for the big boys. At this point I presume we are hammering the bigger than pi**in' nuisance perch, but not necessarily going for the UK record, sit and wonder why we aint got a bite fish. On various ponds round here I am finding perch in the 3/4 to 1 1/2 bracket, but hey! I only fish a couple of hours at dawn or dusk. So use that weakness in the Perch to bushwack a weaker fish and add life to the bait. or just sit, chill out, read a book, darn your socks etc zzzz

Please point me in the right direction for a website or the info for fishing france on rivers and canals. The family have settled on a holiday in Brittany, I suspect I can just about pack a travel rod. Do I need a licence? Is it free on the coast? Ta Thanks

As little as possible. Sit on the bank on the unhooking mat. Bait and some bits in a bag (it has been known to be a Tesco bag!! ) I have one of those sleeveless jackets with loadsa pockets for the odds and sods. Rod and net. Bank sticks are just that, sticks from the bank. If I go for the day I might be tempted to take a chair if it is wet. Oh yeah and a poncho, but that often gets left in the car.