Barry Kneller

That's a brilliant tip, many thanks....... How much water/mollases do you need to pour on to get a dryish mix? CheersBarry

I'd say that's definitely a roach, dorsal and pectoral fins are in the right place, colouring is good for a Roach and in the bottom photo it's plain that the top lip protrudes slightly.......... It's hard to be accurate, but it looks to have about 44 scales along the lateral line, which IIRC is about right. (bottom photo) Also pretty sure that both photo's are of the same fish - both show a slight 2 tone effect. Yepp, I'd almost put money on it - only way to be sure would be to kill it & examine the pharyngeal teeth . As Dant said - it's a toughie, but I'd be proud to catch it & claim it as a Roach. Well done to the angler concerned.

Very Strange, can't explain that at all - I've never done tests with the line soaked but conventional wisdom suggests that mono always loses strength when wet, maybe this is not so?? Can't do any tests at the moment, the rig is fixed to the workshop door & because of an accumulation of junk I can't get within 3 feet of it at the moment....... Cheers Barry

Nottingham's a bit far from my neck of the woods - Essex, dunno if there are any AN members in your area.............. If you get no luck here, try one of the dedicated Fly Fishing Forums - there's loads out there, just Google it. Cheers Barry

Whereabouts are you RPM? there may be someone in your area that would be prepared to meet up & give you a few pointers. Cheers Barry

Jeez, that test was impressive - I'd never have thought that any carbon rod could take that much abuse..............

Should, of course, have been 'knotless'

So, Half Blood and it's variations, Grinner, Uni, Palomar, Rapala knot - PLUS palomar. Duly amended...........

Oh No Mate, The stuff you took was holding all the other stuff in place, after about 3 days it had relaxed to its proper dimensions & spread all over the workshop again................

So, looks like Half Blood and it's variations, Grinner, Uni, Palomar, Rapala knot - any more? Won't be doing any tests for at least a few weeks, planning to get some fishing in as well as de-rubbishing the workshop.....

Sounds right to me................ Number of turns/twists seem to be very much a personal thing, some times 4, 5, or even 6 - I tend to use 4 or 5 twists/tucks on braid (grinner) - and 4 to 6 tucks on mono (uni) depending on diameter. My very general rule of the thumb is to use as many twists/tucks as I can get away with, whilst still being able to snug the knot up without problems.

Ok Budge - I can do that, I know that twice through the eye definitely improves the half blood knot, but only if the tag end is passed between the hook eye and both thicknesses of mono. Never noticed a difference with the grinner..............

I'll see if I can do some tests in a few weeks, workshop looks like a skip at the moment - twas positively tidy when Colin called round - but now looks like a bombed out Tehran market place! Is it mainly mono we're interested in at the moment?, if so what BS? - I've got a bulk spool of fairly fresh 8lb suffix that's been kept in the dark, should be OK for comparing different knots. I would prefer to stick to one type of line at a time - can do braids, fluoro's etc another time maybe.......... What knots? Uni, Grinner, Blood & all the variations, plus knotless knot and turle knot. Any others? I can probably only test 'em dry (but well lubricated!), I'll need to do at least 4 tests for each Knot & variation so it'll take too long to soak every hook length. I'll also do a few tests on the line itself, without any knots, to establish some sort of bench mark. Cheers Barry

Hi Colin, thanks for that.................. Colin visited me a year or so ago, to pick up some gear that I'd sold him & some other odds'n'sods for donation to one of his local Angling charities. During the conversation I mentioned that I'd not managed to find a really reliable knot for braid, I tend to use the uni knot almost exclusively for mono's and flurocarbons, but for some reason, and with any braided line, I was lucky to get more than 50% of the breaking strain of the line when using the uni - 'try this one', says Colin, 'dunno what it's called but it works for me'. The knot he showed me started out like a blood knot and finished as a 5 turn uni, I believe this is known as a 'grinner' knot, until then I'd thought that a grinner was just the same as a uni but with the tag end wrapped around 2 loops, not one. (does that make sense?) Colin had tied it using a spool of 30lb PowerPro - so I stuck it on the rig and was very surprised to see that it broke at about 27lb - I then tied a normal uni in the same 30lb PP and it failed at around 17lb. After Colin had left I repeated the experiment a few times, with different makes of braid, and the results were pretty consisten with the 'Grinner'? knot consistently out performing the 'Uni' by a similar margin. I now use this knot with all diameters of braid from 8lb BS Drennan to 50lb PowerPro. It's equally good on mono's and fluoro's but I haven't done any tests to substantiate this. The only drawback here (with mono's and fluoro's) is that the grinner tends to leave a curly bit when tightened, whereas the uni tends tighten nicely without this problem. One of these days I'm gonna do a proper series of tests, but at the moment I haven't got a 'round tuit' - if anyone has one of these most useful devices they could let me have, I'd appreciate it greatly. Cheers Barry

Late 50's through to early 60's - IF I remember correctly...........

Excellent Chris, and very true too........ Hope you didn't mind, but I C&P'd this to the 'OverTheGate' here: http://overthegate.myfreeforum.org/sutra18560.php#18560

Hi Richard If you are looking for something a fair bit lighter than the standard Avon types, but that will still take lines from 3 to 8lb, have a look at the new range of Map 'Mini' Waggler rods. I saw one in a local Tackle shop and was so impressed that I bought 2 - I reckon they'll be good for anything from light(ish) float fishing for Roach, Perch etc. right through to Touch ledgering & light feedering for Tench, Chub & the like. Also intending to use mine for a bit of light live baiting for Perch in a coupla weeks. It's the 11 ft, 2 pc model that I bought, the 3 piece is quite a bit softer. The only criticism is that the guides are a bit on the small side, but as they appear to be Sic lined I don't think it'll be too much of a problem. Cheers Barry

quote name='Colin Brett' date='Jun 8 2007, 09:44 PM' post='753042'] Masterline now market those with or without hooks attached. Advertised in Pikelines or P&P Colin I just had a look at the Masterline web site - I can't believe that the "corkscrew" advertised there is an absolutely identical copy of my latest Grubb Screw - even down to the crimp marks on the lead head. Perhaps I should be flattered, but can't help feeling slightly grieved that someone who I've sent, or given samples to, has obviously passed them on to Masterline, who must have had 'em copied exactly by someone in the far east. I wonder who that could have been - our Avian friend perhaps, Colin? Can't grumble I suppose, the things were not patentable anyway - having originated (in a slightly different form) in the States, but you'd have thought that they'd have taken some pains to disguise the origin, especially as they describe it as being ".....a brilliant new invention by Masterline" This is a picture of the floteq Grubb Screw, compare it with the picture on the Masterline site................. [ Just for the record, I got the idea from Trevor Salmon, who got the idea from Charlie Bettell, who got the idea from Gerry Castles (Argyll), who got the idea from Gareth Lewis, who got the idea from a Lure kit set from the States that contained some very small bait screws made from thin copper wire. I think that the kit was called the 'Magic Minnow' lure kit or some thing similar. Maybe I should put a few up on Ebay - I may even get back some of the money I spent on developing the tool to make them - not to mention the months spent in development. I seem to remember supplying some of the originals to an AN member a couple of years ago, I also offered Elton a few sets for evaluation, but he never got back to me........... Cheers Barry (floteq)

For the last few days I've had to log in every time I visit the forums. I've been through all the settings & the 'remember me' box is ticked. I seem to remember that this has happened in the past to some members - can't find the relevant threads tho'. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks Barry

I also watched it and although reasonably well made, I thought it showed a very negative attitude towards fishing. Not sure if seeing a Pike caught, butchered & cooked is a proper thing to link to from an angling website. Also not quite sure how the dead Pike managed to kill the poacher.........

One of the 2 piece, Preston Innovations Mini Float Rods would be the ideal thing, but any other 11' 2 piece float rod (not an avon) would be considered. Prepared to pay a sensible price.......... Cheers Barry

I sometimes get this on my car - usually just run it through the local auto car wash, seems to do the trick OK..... Cheers Barry

Just ordered a 7 way dispenser of Dinsmores egg shot, plus a set of preston stotz shot.......... Thanks again for all your help Gents Cheers Barry

Weald Park Lakes are very close to Brentwood, also Thorndon Park - south of Brentwood near junction of A127 & A128 - I think you can get probably get a bus down to here. Also Some stretches of the River Roding should be esily accessible by bus. It'll also be worth having a look here: http://www.essex-fishing.co.uk/index.php Cheers Barry Basildon

Thanks fellers - looks like 'Anchor Pro' then............... Cheers Barry