snotty

The man was just a class act. His decision to quit showbiz some years ago I think endeared him to many people and ensured what work he did can truly be called classic comedy. Lights out Fletcher, thanks for the memories.

Always the same old reaction... if we banned everything that was dangerous... blah blah... Well I'm not after banning everything so full stop to that inane response. Fireworks are a blasted nuisance to many thousands of people in this country, me included. The sooner they are totally banned the better, for now the new laws have at least reduced the problem in my area considerably and I am very grateful for that. If joe public had common sense in buying and firing the damn things i.e. not industrial type bombs and not at two in the morning, there would be no need to legislate. It hasn't always been a problem, but it is now.

If anyone tries to prevent me from wearing the symbol of my country they had better be prepared for a spot of bother. Anne Owers should be hauled over the coals and made to apologise to the POA.

Its not a perfect system but it gives you an indication and thats all I use it for, its better than nowt. Can anyone enlighten me to the rules regarding withdrawal of an item for auction due to quote; 'the item is no longer available for sale' There was no previous indication that the item would or could be withdrawn or was advertised elsewhere for example. At the time of withdrawal there were no bids on the item.

They are the ones I have Don, you can use standard cut shot to refill them whereas the dinsmore has to use plain uncut shot. You partly raise the little peg and twist the bottom of the dispenser until a shot appears in the window, then you push the peg right in and pick up the shot in the peg, it can then be applied to your line and squeezed on with the peg. Simple idea wish I'd thought of it.

I rather liked Dans idea, but then again being on dial-up it takes me an age to get there and back again, any step as a short cut is worthwhile.

If you want a pet, have one, look after it and I hope you and it are happy together, if you let it out and it craps in my veg patch, kills the songbirds at my birdtable and leaves bits of frogs around my pond, I should be entitled to fight back somehow. I have made my garden as cat-proof as I can legally, the little buggers still get in.

Ohhh that's good, gives me goosebumps. I used to regularly see the Mosquito which was based near Chester some years ago, and you could hear it coming for miles... awesome. Such a tragedy when she went down. Had the pleasure of seeing many of its displays over the airfield. Piston v. jet... no contest!

Sounds a bit grim Chris, whereabouts is the Croco? and where did you hear about this? My club have several miles of bank and there's nowt on their website about any pollution.

Don I have two Anchor type in sizes 8 and 10, my eyes aren't what they used to be, I find them quite useful to apply the shot, sometimes the actual mechanism sticks a bit and it can be fiddly to get a shot to sit in the groove 'ready' to apply but hey better that than half a pot on the deck !

Good points, well made, Chesters, speaking for myself we never had a bean when I was growing up I never knew any better except when I went to my best mates home... his mum and dad ran the local hotel, that opened my eyes a bit. I learned at my fathers side how to change an engine in a battered Hillman minx, make a piece of wood resemble a Johnny 7 gun, (well in my eyes it did anyway) and ensure the barrel of his 12 bore was spotless, re-wire the house, lay new floorboards, chop down a tree safely and make paternosters and fishing weights from bits and bobs. I used to strip, service, repair and reassemble most of my old vehicles bikes and cars, and now that I can afford to have someone else do it... I pay them to do it, and I do something better. I could probably still do it given the time and patience but I can't be ar**d frankly, thats what having a few quid a week more has done for me. Q.When am I at my most enthusiastic and inventive ? A.When I have a bit of plastic, wood or metal in my hand and a problem to solve or bit of something to fix, but no absolute need to do it.

I'm sorry to hear that the school kids are having their education affected by Katrina Newt, and it will take generations for some of these families to recover from the devastation caused them. Please don't take this the wrong way, I know your reason for posting was in no way looking for sympathy merely helping us over here to get some sort of insight into the terrible events and their wide reaching effects, but it sure is hard for me to feel bad about U.S. fuel costs when we have to pay in English pounds roughly what you guys pay in U.S. dollars for a gallon of petrol. In parts of the U.K. we are now paying £1 or more per litre since the 'shortage' kicked in. I suppose its just not technically feasible for refineries in the U.K. and elsewhere to 'up' their production to go a little way to meeting demand. I understand its not the non-availability of crude thats the problem its the refining capacity.... mmm sounds like another cash cow just arrived on the farm.

I too went down the quiver route, the padded holdall never comes out of storage now, if I'm travelling really light I just use a single zip up fishrite rod cover and keep the reel on the rod, I can also squeeze a net handle into the cover strapped to the rod with neoprene bands.

There's only one way to get rid of a Mole... Blow its b****y head off!

The loss of a few fish netted due to using barbless hooks is infinitely better than the loss of a few fish lives due to deep hooking. Small perch are particularly susceptible, they have their vital organs pretty much in their throat and it doesn't take much to pierce them. Ayjays comments re; shotting should go a long way to stop deep hooking occurring. Many of the anglers against the use of barbless believe that a barbless hook can penetrate deeper and move around more than a barbed hook, that might well be so with a specimen fish and a lengthy fight but smaller fish IMO stand a better chance with barbless.

Milk would work, however its not a good idea in any quantity as there are algae growth problems associated with milk products. There is an old thread on here somewhere about this.

The simplest way to make it blacker and dirt cheap is to use dirt. Mole hill soil to be exact, its very fine and also takes the groundbait down quickly. Ian Heaps is a big advocate of this I've tried it and it works just fine. Just be careful where you source it though, don't go sneaking around your neighbours lawn in the dead of night with a bucket they might not believe your explanation.

Just a thought... where do Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morisons source their petrol?

quote: 'It is America and the same would happen here if we had a similar disaster, I for one would be prepared to "loot" in order to get water and food...you don't seriously think that Americans are any different to the looters that appeared after the Tsunami do you?' Spot on Poledark, there but for the grace of God fellow anglers... This human disaster reinforces my beliefs that when the chips are down, you better watch your back. Does anyone here really think that tony's cronies would or could react differently if this happened in Norfolk say, sad truth is we are watching human nature at work and it ain't pretty. As for 'war spirit'... this is 60 years on, apathy selfishness and greed are King. Not many turn a hand when they see injustice... 'not my business stay out of it' we cry. This also shows the U.S. for what many of us knew already, full of bluster, all taters and no meat. Shame on you Bush!

Been watching the thread since Sunday and its now major headline news here in the U.K. its so hard to comprehend the forces involved with a storm system so huge. I have to go out today but I'll be keeping a close eye on developments and saying a few prayers for those caught up in it. I must say I don't fancy being in that great concrete bowl as this monster passes over, but if any people are still stranded in slow moving traffic on the highways they are surely in grave danger.

Choose carefully Argyll I had a browse around a local one recently with a view to a little offloading myself and have thought better of it, stuff was being given away for pence! I would rather give the stuff to a charity shop than freeze my butt off for a few hours and raise a couple of quid, after deducting the £8 or so to get on the field. Hell... the organisers were even charging to get in and walk around.

I have found shop bought ready to use pellets break up on me, so I bought a pump and do my own now. I have used Xpander and Van Den Eynde and have no problems with either. I tend to hook through the side (the cylinder) of the pellet rather than the ends.

Thanks for the info anyway guys, its good to see I'm not the only one who has an interest in the historical side of the angling bits n bobs we come across. Interesting to think it may have come from Chorley, I believe it was found in Ireland, by an angler friend from Clitheroe in Lancs.. not a million miles from... Chorley. Anyway its going to get an airing come the cold weather and I'll let you know if it catches. Cheers.

I have been given a battered old(?)lure which is about 8 1/2" long (215mm in new money). It is a spinnerbait/lure having two gold spinners ahead of a plastic fish. The smaller front spinner has the name Landa Flipz 3 in a circle. There is a sizeable double hook threaded through the fish on a wire which exits at the tail. It looks as if its had a bit of a seeing to by the odd predator, with dorsal fin missing and tail nipped, there are teeth marks in several places. Can anyone offer any info on these lures as I've never heard of them before, it certainly looks like it would catch and probably has.

Looks like I missed a gud'un after all, ah well always next year, I wonder if the millions who tune in are the same ones who tune into big brother every year?