stivestackle

Obviously everyone wants to catch fish. But for me its a chance to get away from the bustle of everyday life and clear my head. It goes back to our basic needs to be at one with nature. Its the whole experience, forget the crack and social scene which is what some go fishing for, I need to get away and chill out recharging my batteries along the way. I guess everyone takes something different from it and others.... well they just never will understand!

Probably not getting through to the right people. Try the dreaded ebay or your local shop. We often sell things on behalf of customers with a good success rate. On ebay you can do buyer collects as rods cost a fortune to post now. Good luck.

Managed a 3lb jack pike while shad lure fishing on the river. Sadly not had much time to fish at all this break. Maybe next year?

I do agree a lot of this fish care is at times OTT. Trouble is you have to legislate for the lowest denominator. What I call a cradle is the type thats a mini bedchair rather than a mat with sides which seems a lot of hassle to set up. I recall reading of one lake that banned the cot type of mat as anglers were leaving the fish in the mat/sling for way too long as they felt the fish was safe! Never mind it was out of water eh? The new Fox Easimat is great though as its not got the bulk of some of the others and is super speedy to set up. Like a previous poster said I'm off pike fishing this weekend and a basic mat is all that is required when travelling light. A confident angler can handle a fish well on any type of mat but a poor angler will make a hash of it even with the best mat.

Yes, I use and sell those TF Gear Dave Lane Ones. Currently using the Ignite versions and they are proving to be very reliable and I always neglect my alarms, falling into the camp of switch it off and chuck it in the rodbag. Can suppy at a good price too. Dave Lane Mag Runner Set Ignite Alarm Set

It would seem that fashions in carp angling come and go and when you think you are the first on to something invariably you find everyone is doing the same. So who still does any of these and why? Tipping your hookbait with plastic corn. Fishing slack lines all the time! Madness when snag fishing but I see anglers doing it all the time and using backleads in snaggy situations. PVA mesh tube of pellet or broken boilies. Lets hear about any other trends, maybe we could start some new ones? Camo everything seems to have vanished or maybe I can't see them.

Hi all, We have been running our online store now for 2 years and it goes from strength to strength. Why not have a browse through what we have to offer and please take the time to like our Facebook page St Ives Tackle Tight Lines Mike

A great example of a poor listing I'm afraid.

Wouldn't be too happy if someone did that on my local lake. The smell would be a bit grim.

There really was a rod pod with built in spirit level a few years back. Me I love wobble stick set ups. I have 3 rods all over the place, hangars at different heights and usually no rear rests at all preferring a bucket or log to rest em on. After all the carp cant see your neat and tidy set up. Can they? One of the best anglers I ever met had the untidiest set up you have ever seen proving theres nothing technical about carp fishing other than in the minds of the brainwashed.

Thers nothing clever about a carp, its more them wiley carp bait manufacturers that are clever, convincing every angler to pile in kilos of the stuff when there are no carp for miles. On my local lake theres bait going on top of bait on a daily basis. The tufties are 30lb now!

I am going to try fishing with no boilies, no I dont mean with a bare hook I mean using alternative baits. I will start with using Pallatrax Hidra Snails soaked in minimino rather than lake water. They sure look disgusting but I am positive I will catch more doing this. Oh come next Winter I am hanging up the carp rods and going Pike fishing, something I used to do a lot of and really enjoyed.

I,m afraid every water seems to have them, the local know it all. I tried match fishing in my younger days but I couldn't cope with the bull **** spoken on the coach or the bankside. Seemed to me it was all about the talk rather than the do! Mind you carp fishing is much the same, full of complicated rubbish that just isnt required. If you think about it only the anglers make fishing complicated, the fish still treat it all as real simple. Best advice is to just humour them and let your catches do the talking.

I have been tempted to use marzipan but always end up eating it myself!

Acorns! Really! I know they eat elderberries though.

My take on the fishing shows is a different angle again. As a small business I see a quiet spell approaching when ever a fishing show is on. Anglers now go to these shows where they can get a "bargain" at less than I pay trade for it. I think a lot of anglers wait till a big show is on and buy their tackle then but unfortunately the big companies are very short sighted as this is fueling the death of many tackle retailers as they just cant sell their stocks. I do detect a sea change now though with some companies working much harder to support their trade customers. Palllatrax for one give us excellent support by not selling direct and referring customers to the nearest outlet. Some of the shows are nothing more than a chance to unload all the rubbish cheap tackle that did not sell through the year. My own experience is that cheap tackle will only sell at rock bottom prices with very little profit made if any! Clearly people wont buy rubbish. A situation that can not last, but still the few keep churning it out. How much longer can it go on ? I did see a scary figure of 8 tackle shops a week closing down, obviously I would hope thats not every week but its a frightening figure all the same. I would prefer to see the old style show of new goods and ideas but find an outlet that sells it and buy from them.

and what sort of fishing do you like?

Hi and welcome, There is loads to go at in Huntingdon area depending on what you want from your fishing. Try Earith Carp Lakes they have two lakes that are moderate plus another thats well stocked and mostly easy. You will find a link to our store on their site as this is where we fish. Some very nice carp as well as cats and mixed fish available there. Take a look the links on our website for a view of some of the carp stocks. In the same area you have Fenland fisheries which is a 24 hour prebooking set up, Ron Middletons Ashmire is there as well and the Earith Trout lakes has a carp syndicate as well. That should get you started. Good luck and if there is anything else you would like help with feel free to get in touch.

I have some very fond memories of pike fishing Scottish Lochs around 1995/6. Loch Kinord in the Dee valley to be precise, used to drive from Peterhead where there were no pike for a days fishing. Awesome fun it was. Tried another Highland loch and my lad who was about 10 at the time lost a good un as he forgot to set his clutch and she snapped him off. I was busy ticking him off over it and he had another take. It was landed this time at 18lb and it was the same fish complete with bitten off rig safely removed. Ah the memories.

Great little website you have there, enjoyed browsing that.

I have to take my brewing kit. I would be gutted if I couldn't have a nice cup of English tea while waiting for a bite.

Certainly interesting. I also like the idea of ice fishing but it doesn't get cold enough here.

MMm, not sure about that. Obviously I am in the business of selling TF Gear and from my perspective have found them to be one of the best companies to deal with. Always helpful and totally supportive to us as a small business.

I see on TF Gears own facebook they are going to be signing up Jim Shelley to help develop their range of fishing tackle. I for one am looking forward to what new items of fishing gear will develop from that. Here is a new brolly system out from TF later this spring. Looks well designed although I havnt seen one on the bank as yet. I believe there will be a range of end tackle under development as well. What do you think of this then? Looks pukka!

Welcome, I would suggest starting on a well stocked commercial type carp fishery. ( I am assuming you are in UK?) This will get you plenty of bites so you can practice your skills. Be aware that carp fishing has become very fashionable and thus many items of bait and tackle are designer goods that you will be paying a premium for. On the opposite side of the coin really cheap tat is awful and a low quality bait will be really bad. Might I suggest for rigs stick to a simple braid or nylon rig tied knotless knot style on a suitable hook pattern. The Pallatrax items are really good but there are many others such as Kamasan which are great value but still totally reliable. Try Youtube if you want to see how to set up or tie rigs but keep it real simple. For bait any good quality boile but Pallatrax Jungle is a superb bait in my view and I use it a lot. For the rest of your tackle I can recommend TF Gear its great value but good quality and Dave Lane uses it and Jim Shelley has just joined their crew so it has to be good. Keep it simple and remember to catch carp, you have to be fishing where the carp are and don't scare them away which means no hammering in tent pegs or slamming car doors and no thrashing the lake to death with spombs, markers or 4 oz leads. All things I see happening every week sadly which ruins everyones chances of a nibble. Watch the water and learn to read it, the carp will tell you where to fish! If you would like any information on tackle or tactics feel free to message or ask through here. Good luck.