The Diamond Geezer

Phone So my time in the Technical Department of a nylon spinning factory wasn't entirely wasted then?! Incidentally, where did your figures (the 1.5 million years etc)come from? Diamond G

Rob I've fished in Ireland a lot. In March you'll probably find that the water levels in the rivers are high, although the canals and loughs will still be fishable. With that in mind, and the fact that a 40 came-out recently (See PW's posting), I'd for for the Broads and the Fens HAve fun DG

No so, my friend! Age IS a very important factor depending on the storage conditions. Of course UV is important, but it's only one factor, if a major one. Oxygen and water(from air) are others (which is why some spools are vac-packed) and, as the rate of every single chemcial reaction (degradation in this case) increases with increasing temperature (trust me!), the storage time and temperature have a bearing too. Obviously the generation of radicals e.g. from oxygen is one major cause of the degradation of the polymer chains, but this is not the only chemcal reaction or physical change going on! Personally I'd like to see the Date of Manufacture printed on every spool. Even some of the claimed initial BSs aren't what you might think (see Dave Barham's ace article on Elton's site here) I guess this is why many anglers are changing-over to HPPE braids which are not immune but far less susceptible to this kind of degradation. Anyway, why take the risk with old mono? It's cheap enough to buy new stuff Fortunately though, many monos are over-rated re their initial BS which gives some leeway, and who really truly knows what BS they really need in their everyday fishing. Diameter, wet-castability, suppleness, wet knot strength, visibility to fish etc etc are some other important factors. This is where HPPE braids come into their own, except of course when it comes to abrasion resistance (as discussed at length elsewhere) Tough lines Diamond G [ 13. January 2003, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

A handle would be useful?! Well spotted, Smarty-pants! That's why you're the Chairman of the LAS and I'm not! Anyway, just to keep you happy, here's one I prepared earlier and in case you're wondering, it's a gye net with leather strap. But as Polly's original posting was about folding handles, here's the URL for some sharpes.net/sharpes/FoldingArmL...andingNets.htm DG

A handle would be useful?! Well spotted, Smarty-pants! That's why you're the Chairman of the LAS and I'm not! Anyway, just to keep you happy, here's one I prepared earlier and in case you're wondering, it's a gye net with leather strap. But as Polly's original posting/enquiry was about folding-handled nets, ehere an URL for some sharpes.net/sharpes/FoldingArmL...andingNets.html DG <small>[ 13. January 2003, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]</small>

Looks remarkably un-used and would look a lot better with a fish in it . Peter That's the "Before" photo, you silly-billy DG

I wonder how old it is though? Have you tried any other monos, other than Maxima? Richard

EXCELLENT! Well done! R The DG

Agreed, that's why I like mine:- Richard

Daiwa Sensor

Barbel & Perch Man Nevermind HOW, WHERE????? DG

I like the sound of the mesh that Peter Waller is using, but in the meantime, is there anything wrong with this?

As a matter of interest (and cost!), which line HAVE you been using then?

Good! All sorted then?! Now for the fishing! Good luck Richard

But from Steve B's posting, obviously he's not bought any for a couple of years! I suspect that if you do find Pro Gold, you'll find it more expensive pro rata than Maxima. You did start out by indicating that cost WAS an issue, and that's why I recommended Daiwa Sensor which has most of the virtues of Maxima and ProGold, but at a fraction of the price. Richard

PW Cheers DG

Pity, Peter, because I'd love to know where you got it from! DG

I have to say that this view is shared by several fisheries managers of my acquaintance, and indeed I seem to recollect Prof Barrie Rickards championing this theory several years ago. Richard

Rob You don't say anything about the feel of the net itself. From my recollections this is an unnecessarily rough & hard mesh and I've always wondered why people use such nets when really soft ones that still resist hooks are readily and cheaply available. Steve Burke did a lot of work on nets and his were beautifully soft. Richard

What's the cost comparison between Maxima and Progold then? Richard

Have a look at http://www.sharpes.net/sharpes/nets_accessories.html

Why not consider a Sharpes gye net? http://www.sharpes.net/sharpes/nets_accessories.html They've teamed-up with Keenets now, so getting hold of one should be no problem.

Maxima's OK and hardly costly; alternatively you could try Daiwa Sensor.

Chevin That sounds to be an amazing little telescopic! I wish! Richard

Den I quote (again from Dave LINEAR BREAKING STRAIN TEST You may have seen one of the Berkley line testing machines before. It's a simple, but very expensive piece of equipment used by both line manufacturers and specialist angling groups alike. All light-line records have to pass the test on this type of machine before they can be accepted - so these results are as good as you will get anywhere in the world. For sure it'll be an Instron or other similar tensile tensiometer ..£20+K's worth! Richard