Jim_UK

So they put it in the river Huron!!! Jim

I got mine from Argos and after 5 years it is still going strong. One thing I did replace was the usual spike for a screw in one. Jim

Exactly the same situation as the tops I buy then. If I pick the brand carefully I will be able to boast that once I was XXL but now I am down to M(medium) Jim

A couple of waters that I fish on have maximum hook sizes (10's) so not sure how that would work without a defined size for hooks. I bet if I bought size 10's in the Fox hooks they would be quite suitable for hanging sides of beef at the butchers. Jim

It is impossible to buy clothes just by their label descriptions of S, M, L, XL, XXL etc as manufacturers do not have a fixed definition of what these sizes actually are. I have a top that is marked as L and fits me with lots of room. I bought another marked as XXL and found that it was too tight. What has this got to do with fishing I hear you ask. Well I discovered yesterday that a similar situation exists in fishing tackle - namely hook sizes. I went into one of my local tackle shops to buy some smallish hooks suitable for small floating baits and asked for some 14's. The shop owner suggested that I try some of the 18's that he had at which point I suggested that they would be far too small. How wrong I was - the 18's that he produced were larger than the 14's I had in my hand. Now when I was in my youth you could be sure that the hook sizes went larger as numbers got smaller - 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10 etc but it seems that that is no longer the case. My mate and I were discussing this last night and trying to determine just what it was that made a hook a particular size. Could it be the gape of the hook? NO as we could see that the gape on the 18's was greater than the gape on the 14's. Could it be the gauge of wire? NO as the 18's was a larger gauge than the 14's The hooks that I had in my hand were Fox Match 18's Just what determines the size that a hook really is? Jim

Yes I guess if he hasn't found a pole he likes after 11 years then he is very fussy, Jim

Same here - Prawns do look like large shrimps. It is possible in some areas to walk into the shallows with a fine net and catch shrimps but prawns are from deeper water I think. Some Prawns are quite large - say about 4 inches but prawns are about 1 inch. Here Shrimps are also expensive - come to think of it --everything here is expensive. Jim

Prawns have been the most successful bait I have used on commercials with good numbers of:- Carp, Tench, Golden Orfe, Trout, Perch, Roach, Rudd, Chub, Gudgeon, Bream and Barbel The ones I use are the ready cooked ones in trays from Just about any Supermarket. I dip the cooked prawns in boiling water for about 10 seconds to toughen them up a little. In those trays there are always bits (less than whole prawns) and these plus about 1/2 the tray are broken into small pieces with a small number thrown into the swim about every 5 minutes. At about £2 for a days bait they are even cheaper than worms. If the fish are slow then you can help them out by eating a few yourself but take care as just when you have eaten the last they are sure to come on with a vengeance. Jim

The problem of course is not knowing what is going to pick up your bait. I have had lots of carp to 16 pounds on the previous Maver pole and finally of course down to the last two sections but I would not like to hook one of that size just on the top two sections. Hence the margin pole which will save my power tops some grief. I have measured the top section of the margin pole at 5 foot but am still unsure whether to just elasticate that or that plus the next section. I intend to elasticate with at least 18's so as to be able to put some pressure on to stop fish getting into snags. Of course the longer the elastic the greater the chance the fish has of getting to those snags. Am I convincing myself to just elasticate that top section? Jim

How can you go fishing and then sleep? Anyone coming next week? I am going sleeping!! Sorry but it makes little sense to me. I have done a lot of night fishing in my younger days for eels on the Ribble and Wyre and not once was I tempted to sleep. I had after all gone fishing and not sleeping. Jim Edit I tell a lie. I once went up to Cumbria to fish a night tide for Bass. On the way up I dug lugworm and on arrival at the beach decided to get an hours sleep as the tide was so far out. I woke up in the morning with the tide gone waaaaaay back out.

Thanks for the reply. I already have the margin pole so do intend to use it. It does seem to be very robust which of course is what you expect of such a pole. I am not worried about the extra weight of it being composite as it is quite short and I always use a forward rest and also a rear "hook" (clever claw). The question is whether to elasticate just the top section or the top and composite second section. My top kits on the Maver pole are elasticated with Prestons hollow 14-17 elastics which should be more than adequate for the fishing I do. Jim

I have only had experience of sounders from a boat but know it is important to have the gain turned down as low as you can to get readings. Too high and you get spurious readings. Jim

I have never owned a margin pole before and I am a little unsure about the elastication. As you know each section of a pole slides into the next size up when you dismantle the pole but if you chose to elasticate the top two sections then you can no longer do this and need a separate pole tube to hold the top during transport. The margin pole that I have bought (Ebay) is a Garbolino 6.5M which is a carbon composite three sections and full carbon top. Is it usual on a margin pole to elasticate just the top section (just over 5 foot) or would you elasticate the top two sections necessitating carrying the top two in another tube. Please only answer if you actually do pole fish and have elasticated/used margin poles as I really do want to get this right. I would normally just use the power top two of my standard pole to fish the margins but have experienced the problem of trying to add extra sections when a lunker has made off with the bait. Thanks in anticipation Jim

Great - Many thanks for the link. I had not seen that on the TV. I had only read about it in a book at some time. Jim

No one spotted the mistake there? It was not of course Edinburgh as the Romans turned back when they got to Scotland not wanting to cross swords with folks that ate brains in sheep's intestines. It was in fact York that they were seen. Jim

I have over the years given my experience a lot of thought. I know what I saw but don't know what I saw!!! Let me explain - there are many documented reports of folks seeing "ghosts" including the famous one that occurred in the Edinburgh cellar where a whole legion of Roman soldiers were seen to march through sunk up to their knees in the floor. The question is what were they and what did I see. I tend to discount spirits but lean towards a glimpse of the past. Some sort of short term time warp as neither I nor the guy in that report saw any interaction or even recognition of our presence. It may be that some areas lend themselves to this more than others. Whether there are any spirits is another matter but I never cease to be amazed at the folks that are god believers but deny the possibility of spirits. I am an atheist and have an open mind regarding ghost spirits. Not that there is something that people see but just what it is they are seeing. I hope that makes sense. Jim

Just the sort of response that make folk say nothing. Tired and bored =Your words not mine, Wisp of fog most certainly not. Discussing it with my son whilst in a suggestible state. I don't recall you being in the car at the time so how do you know that? As a matter of fact neither of us said anything for at least 100 yards after we had passed the point as I didn't want him to treat what I had seen with the same disdain as yourself. It was in fact he that asked me if I had just seen anything and we had both observed exactly the same. A definite figure and not a wisp of fog although there was no well defined face which is why I said sex unsure. It was a figure and not fog, I was not tired at all, I was not in a suggestible state as you have stated. I am not sure what you mean by a uninterested observer as neither had any interest in making up the story. Anyway my last words on the subject as I knew I should have said nothing. Jim

About 20 years ago whilst driving from Preston to Blackburn I was on an unlit section of road when something materialised about 1/4 the way across the road and about 20 yards ahead. It seemed to unroll out of thin air from the head down and then glided across the road in front of me, disappearing when it reached the grass verge on my near side. I keep saying "me" but my son was in the car with me and he saw it clearly as well. The figure was not easily identifiable as either male or female as the features were not distinct. Easier to describe the clothing that looked as though it was a long flowing dress or cloak and the whole thing (figure and clothing) was a sort of translucent white. I don't usually talk about this as the usual reaction from listeners is to laugh and ask how much I had had to drink. I am a little surprised at anyone having a poltergeist experience and then as a result having an open mind. Any open mind I had before seeing what I did definitely led to a closed mind. Believe it THEY ARE REAL. Jim

Thanks for the info. I will watch for that. One more question - When I submit a post it never comes up straight away but has to be checked first. Is that a permanent thing or just for the first x posts? Jim

Hi Elton, How strange then. I had made no changes so what I was seeing was presumably the default. Anyway - whatever the cause what I have now (standard) is the one that makes most sense to me and what I can easily browse with so thanks for the assistance guys. Jim

I for one will not rise to that bait. Short poles are used over here as well. They are known as Margin Poles and used as the name implies to fish against the bank and close in vegetation that carp like to patrol. They tend to be very beefy poles as you need to be able to extract fish from weed very quickly to be in with a chance of landing them. Nearly all the largest carp I have caught have been bankside rather than far out. Jim

Thanks for the info. I always have a look on Ebay to compare prices and can get it on there for about £2-50 less but it is still far more expensive than other hollow elastics that I have see. I guess that is because of the liquid filling it has which begs another question does it not? Am I correct in assuming that you do not cut it to length but use a winder bung at one end. I would imagine that your top kits are the same length as mine. Do you use any sort of special bush at the tip or just standard ones and is it a standard stonfo connector to pole rig you use? A lot of questions but that is how you learn and I am never to old to do that. Spent 2 years so far pole fishing and still seeing new ideas. I bought one of the clever claw pole rests earlier this year and quite impressed with it. Jim

Thanks for the reply. The Hydro is one of the hollow elastics I think(?) and I know that instead of being a dedicated size they cover a range of strengths such as 12 to 15 and 14 to 16 etc. What strength range is the Black one and do you think my idea of setting them up with identical elastics is a good one? I have had carp to 16 pounds on a number 12 solid but the last one I elasticated I went up to a 14 as I felt the 12 was "pushing my luck". A few months ago I caught a 3 pound perch and that bottomed the 14's elastic I always thought that pole fishermen fished for the small stuff and that was all the gear was capable of but I know better now. The pole that I won was a Maver Grim Reaper which normally sells at £399.99 but I spotted one being auctioned by a tackle dealer with a starting price of £249.99 a saving of £150. I kept watching the auction and there were no bidders so I did not show my hand until the end of the auction when I stuck in a bid with seconds to go. As a pensioner that £150 made a big difference to me and I felt like Xmas had come early. Jim

Newt (Admin) Your method works and John S - sorry but what you described had no effect at all (I did try John S method first) Now I feel more at home with the layout being a user of phpBB for years and actually for a number of years being on the phpBB.com team. All the best for the New year to all readers and their kith and kin. Jim

I find it very difficult to follow topics with the default set up were you see the original post and then follow up posts are just links listed below. Can it be individually configured so that each post appears underneath it's predecessor as it does in phpBB and VB boards and most others? If so how please do I set it so? Jim