Wag

You need to use line a bit stronger than 6lb. It's not a problem with playing and landing the fish, but more a question of wear and tear on the line with repeated casting. I would say either of the 12lb lines will be OK, but make sure you use a wire trace, even if you don't think there are any pike in the water you are fishing. The stronger line might enable you to pull the plugs/spinner out of the weeds if you get snagged as well. Fish safety MUST be your first consideration, pike are not as robust as their appearance would suggest, so make sure you have the right unhooking equipment as well. [ 06. November 2003, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: Wag ]

Have a look here:- Password Editor Bootdisk

Try downloading the demo from the Fishsim2 website.

There are two types of maize flour available, fine and coarse, one used for polenta, the other for tortillas. The coarse stuff is great for cleaning the maggots off, as it seems to haver a mild scouring effect. Add a few tablespoons to a pint of maggots in a big bait box and give them a good shake. Riddle off the maize flour and put the clean maggots in a clean bait box. Add a tablespoon of fine maize flour and a teaspoon of curry powder or other spice (I like fivespice powder for red maggots or turmeric for white and bronze). This helps top keep them smelling fresh, and helps mask any smells off your hands. I collect old jars of spices which are out of date from all my friends and relatives for use in flavouring my maggots, but you can get big bags from Indian and Chinese food shops for next to nothing in most big towns nowadays.

I keep adding the odd soldier when I remember. How's it going now Steve. Are you a fully fledged, battle hardened General, or have you lost interest.

Yes, speak english.

And here's a few more:- Norfolk Enchants Shy Talk Wear The Fox Hat

Radio 5 were running a story this week about a French racehorse called Big Tits, which the Jockey Club of GB were having a bit of difficulty with. This prompted a load of emails with examples of other racehorse names which are a bit tricky for the commentators. Here's a few I can remember:- Noble Locks (a gelding!) Mary Hinge Hoof Hearted (which for some childish reason reduced me to tears) [ 12. July 2003, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Wag ]

I'm pink therefore I'm spam. Apologies to Descartes.

quote: And that's how it ends: No Huns, no writs, no Eros, and nun left on base. You're going to have to explain that one to me Newt, either I'm thick or something gets lost mid-Atlantic. [ 12. July 2003, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: Wag ]

The polaris floats may only be a few quid each, but if used fairly regulary they only last a season as the plastic on the slider mechanism is too soft and a groove tends to develop as the mono runs through it, which stop the float working as intended. John S makes a really good point, why not make a slider/adapter attachment for use with any float. I'm sure they would sell well. I'd certainly buy a few, especially with the line wear problem mentioned above. [ 10. July 2003, 09:04 AM: Message edited by: Wag ]

Countryman, your choice will really depend on where you are going to fish, and what you are going to fish for. For a canal or small pond then a 14m pole will be ideal, especially if there are features at that distance from where you are sitting - which will have to be flat and open behind you so that you can ship the pole back to land any fish you hook. The problem comes when you have a 14m pole and the fish are 20m out, or the nearest fish holding feature is more than the length of your pole away. What do you do then? If you are targeting bigger fish, such as double figure carp or hard fighting fish like barbel, or sneaky buggers like chub which seem to know the exact location of every weed bed and tree root in the swim, you will really struggle to put enough initial pressure on the fish with the pole to stop getting broken off, or snagged. If the fish runs off, and carp are the masters at it, what happens when it gets to 15m away and is still going? The angler in the next swimm is not likely to be too happy with someone waving 14m of carbon fibre running along the bank chasing a strong fish. I'm not being anti-pole, for accuracy and presentation they are unbeatable, but there are many situations where a rod and reel will be a more flexible choice, and a hell of a lot cheaper than a manageable quality pole. You should be able to get yourself kitted out with a few good rods (say a 13ft match, a 12ft leger/avon, and a 10ft spinning/lure rod) and a couple of quality reels and spare spools, plus all the terminal tackle you'll ever require for the same price as a good pole. I know which choice I'd make, but there are an awful lot of very successful pole anglers who would argue with it!

wrong number of what?

Colin, those are analogue channels on the Astra satellites at 19.2 East. Rudd is on about digital channels available for Sky digibox users to get other regional ITV programs from satellites at 28.2 East. If you have an old dish still pointing at 19.2 E your digibox should still be able to tune into them by using the Add Channels feature, but you will need to enter the frequency etc. for each one. See here:- Satellite Explained [ 12. June 2003, 02:03 PM: Message edited by: Wag ]

Have a search on the 'net for a Diskeeper Lite free download (try ZDNet). This is what is incorporated in Windows 2000, and seems to work well enough with all Windows OS. Remember to turn off any Anti-virus software before you start defragging. [ 10. June 2003, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Wag ]

That's the problem seph, the Enterprise website just has an order form to post along with a cheque. dizidaves's looking for somewhere to order online.

chafing

To be honest Tom, you wouldn't want to eat most of the fish that come out of our rivers (and I do speak from experience). The only really tasty species are Perch, Pike, Eels and Gudgeon (which are really small - you'd need a few to make a decent sandwich). If you want to fly-fish there are lots of waters that allow the taking of a limited number of fish for the pot, mostly Rainbow Trout, but what the reaction would be if you cooked one up at the waterside might be interesting. Sea fishing is only really restricted by size limits, and most sea fish are edible. Sea anglers also tend to be a bit less sentimental than their inland counterparts, and fish cooked fresh from the sea are by far the tastiest I've ever had. Ask locals for advice on which species are available at the time.

Try here:- Direct

The IPS are campaigning AGAINST Pike culling by the Irish regional Fishing Boards, and their obsessive concentration on Salmon and Trout water protection. The gill netting is carried out each spring to reduce the numbers of predators to "protect" the game fish. It destroys large numbers of all species, and is totally indescriminate and cruel (as well as counter-productive). Shame on them. [ 29. May 2003, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: Wag ]

What's all this about crap on your flies and boils on your bottom Koi? Now where did I leave my specs? [ 27. May 2003, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Wag ]

If the spindle is nice and tight in the drum bearing then I would clean the bearing and spindle with petrol (lighter fluid is a good option) and lubricate it with a drop of sewing machine oil. However if the spindle and bearing are a bit worn I would use 3-in-1 as it's a bit more viscous, and will help take up the slack. Whichever oil you choose, only use a couple of drops - too much makes it worse. [ 13. May 2003, 08:34 AM: Message edited by: Wag ]

Others on here will know more about carp fishing than me, but I can offer some advice about test curve to line strength ratios. As a rule of thumb your main line wants to be 5 x test curve i.e. if your rod has a test curve of 2.5 lb your main line should be 12.5 lb. For safe working limits multiply TC by 3 and 7, so for a 2.5 lb TC rod main line from 7.5 lb to 17.5 lb could be used (with caution). Modern rods are a lot more forgiving, and lines are often stronger than their stated breaking strain, but the above rule of thumb is close enough. Another thing to consider is casting weight, and if you allow one ounce of weight per pound of test curve you won't go far wrong - i.e. if your rod has a test curve of 2.5 lb you should be able to safely cast a 2.5 oz weight. This is why many carp anglers use rods with 3 and even 4 lb+ test curves to allow them to cast heavy bombs or feeders at distance. [ 08. May 2003, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: Wag ]

Sorry to keep banging on about this subject, but I just spotted this in the Independant, and thought it was worth a post:- Keith Elliott Sums it all up for me.

If you only ever take one piece of advice take Peter's, Measure twice - cut once in fact measure again just to make sure.