snotty

I am looking for a book titled; ''Fishing for fun - a personal history of angling in Leigh'' written around the year 2000 by Fred Cooper a Leigh angler. Does anyone here have a copy they are willing to sell or know where I may get one? Thanks.

Just a thought... why not try tying on a ready made pole rig, loop to loop, I use them a lot of the time on canals, and they are great for an underarm lob. A fine bristle pole float makes for the ultimate bite detection.

Nice one! a fine looking fish Jan, I look forward to reading your article.

Hi Gaz, I take it you have a pellet pump and know to only fill it 1/3 full with your chosen pellets. Add water and flavourings to suit enough to cover the pellets then pump and allow to stand for several minutes. Usually 5-10 is plenty. You will notice bubbles coming off the pellets and they will start to sink, if you overfill the thing you wont see this happening. When the pellets have dropped they are ready drain off almost all of the liquid (into your groundbait bowl so as not to waste the liquid attractants) and keep them moist and covered. It should be possible to get your hook into the pellet easily by rolling the pellet over the point and up the shank, bands are usually best for hard Halibut oil type pellets, these are best kept for warmer times. You may have seen ready tied hooks (Middy do some) with hair lengths and a little spike attached, these are great for pellets if you fancy a hair rig setup. I reckon you are probably just not allowing enough time for the pellets to absorb water and soften. Try feeding a pot full of 3mm pellets and fish a bigger one over the top.

I also use No.8 and No.10 shot on my pole rigs, however I was recently advised to use styls as they give less resistance to fish, are easier on the strike, produce less tangles and do less damage to the line especially fine hooklengths, but are still easily moved up and down to alter shotting pattern. I tend towards fluorocarbon for my rigs, which is probably also a no-no.

I would like a good annual show too, this was not it... Unfortunately, the organisers will proclaim it a great success in their papers and mags despite damning condemnation among several angling forums from a wide section of ordinary anglers. The only way to persuade these ego-driven people that they have lost direction is to hit them where it hurts, loss of revenue. Then again, maybe I'm completely wrong and the majority of visitors want nothing more than an abundance of (mainly carp) tackle at knock-down prices. For me these 'car-boot sale' sorts of events already take place in leisure centres throughout the country, complete with a certain auctioneer who was present at the NEC for the first time selling his usual cheap gear. It wasn't all bad... just most of it.

Did anyone here visit the go fishing show at the NEC today? If you did, what did you think of it? I have been every year for the past four years and this year may well be the last time I bother. Its in Hall 5 at the NEC, it uses about 3/4 of that hall at the most, and large areas of that are taken up with a bivvy village, refreshment area and the MOJO ''theatre'' Don't waste time looking for Shimano, Diawa, Fishrite, Rive, Garbolino, Preston, Korum or a host of other manufacturers, they aren't there. No WMAC stand either. Oh, and the pole alley inc. Maver ladies are missing too. You may find bits of gear at one of the retailers stands but no official representation. Even stalwarts like Masterline are much lower key this year. Most of the gear for sale on retail stands is carp orientated, but the large and varied stalls of previous shows are missing. So too are a lot of the little privateer stalls most notable being bookstalls, of which I counted none. I booked in advance but don't recommend it, the VIP lanyard seems to entitle you to an old JW DVD and a supposed discount off tackle, as I didn't purchase anything I didnt get to benefit from that. The arena seating was a joke, the talks over-ran so the 15 minute earlybird seating didn't amount to anything. The positives... Martin Bowlers new film series 'catching the impossible' looks extremely good and worthy of its hype, we have to wait until 2009 for the DVD though. errmm... that's about it folks... By 2.30 a lot of people had begun to drift out, I can't see this show continuing if this is the best emap / bauer can muster.

I never thought I would see the day but I'm glad its happening.... lets hope no-one throws their dummy out of the pram now. Well done to all groups involved, and the individuals who have fought hard for this on our behalf for the good of angling of all sorts.

Hi, the best thing you can do is locate your local tackle shop and ask in there, the only one I know of in Lancaster is just off Dalton square and mainly game (fly) fishing. The canal is a good bet for silverfish and predators like perch and pike, down past b & q looks nice. I have no idea which clubs run the fishing but the tackle shop will know and probably sell tickets. They will also sort you out with appropriate tackle to suit your wallet. You may find the Lune is owned by mainly game fishing clubs, as it is a good salmon river in and around Lancaster and up towards Caton, and you don't want to get caught poaching. There are some commercial type fisheries not far away if you are looking for big carp, wyreside fisheries out on the Garstang road, and Borwick at Carnforth spring to mind. Tightlines...

Gone fishing and forgotten to take your licence with you?... me?... never !!! Its always tucked in its wallet with my ACA membership and club cards inside my waistcoat pocket. I have however, forgotten my reel, landing net, landing net handle (more than once) and even hooks and end rigs, but licence ... never.

I have until now enjoyed the diminutive twitchers progs on the telly, his irreverent treatment is sometimes irritating but never so trite as tonights serving which touched on cormorants. According to the learned Mr.Oddie, cormorants dont deserve their dark harbinger of doom reputation, and are actually rather nice. The somewhat annoying habit of eating fish stocked in lakes for anglers to catch and chuck back (his words) is somewhat overplayed. He reckons the anglers sit for hours and having caught nothing then see the cormorants catching what they could not, and are in fact, jealous. This ridiculous nonsense could be taken for light hearted jokery, were it not for the fact that it was preceded by a straw poll of the public who seem in the main to be blissfully unaware of what a cormorant actually is. Shame on you Oddie for abusing your prime time terrestrial TV slot to make light of a serious problem affecting our inland waters, if only there was primetime opportunity for a balanced reply, but of course the BBC dont have angling progs anymore do they...

Spot on Phil, Depression is not a pleasant experience and even when you have 'beaten' it the threat stays with you forever. Work is not something which should be seen as a pre-requisite to providing shelter, for every work shy sponger there are many who for various reasons find it difficult or impossible to hold down a normal job, social housing provision is there for these sorts of people and any government even contemplating otherwise has definitely lost the plot.

Best eel I ever had was from the river Douglas on the wigan DAA stretch at Gathurst.

Oh well that will be me well and truly stuffed !

Here:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_72...747&bbcws=1 Maybe the smokers are correct and the government is persecuting them, what do you think?

QUOTE(snakey1 @ Jan 22 2008, 08:57 PM) they continue to sell them by the truck load because they're making a lot of money in taxes off them and they haven't banned smoking anyway only smoking in a public enclosed spaces, now lets turn your statement on its head if your so against the banning of substances that people can take recreationally and only harm themselves(ignoring the passive smoking aspect) can we assume you are therefore in favour of the legalisation of all drugs both hard and soft(crack, heroin,crystal meths, pcp, ecstacy etc) because that seems to fit in with your argument.

Oh and another question... why did you quote snakeys post and address your reply to wordbender??

Who is the ''big bad bully'' you speak of Motorola???

Having never smoked but hating the smell of smoke, I understand smoking dulls the senses somewhat, particularly smell & taste, could I ask does it also dull brain function to the point where logic and reason are adversely affected ? Reading this thread one could be forgiven for thinking that smoking damages the parts other drugs fail to reach...

There are times when fishing around Wigan that I have felt uneasy, I've never been threatened... yet, usually you can hear and / or see trouble approaching, and I always have a stout bankstick handy just in case. The usual thing you get is groups of kids hanging around you asking a million questions and its so easy to be rude and tell 'em to shove off, but there goes a potential angler or three... There have been occasions when innocent curiosity got a little too close and it is hard to watch several pairs of hands. By reeling in and standing up to re-tackle a rig they usually get bored and wander off. I do tend to fish with a friend or my father these days and he tends to get more attention so I wait a while then wander over to his swim, message is then received loud and clear. There are plenty of places where you won't see another living soul so don't let the thought of any trouble put you off enjoying our wonderful pursuit.

Check out ebay there were a couple of new ones sold recently with a load of kit if I'm not mistaken they went for not much over £150. I noticed the X3's were selling for much higher prices then the space stations, similar to tackle shops in fact at around £240, hope this helps.

I see, I didn't realise that if one agrees with the pro-smoking stance one is level-headed, whereas if one holds the view its a stinking, foul habit that is to be shunned, one is pandering to and going blindly along with some sinister government plot to ban everything and introduce a licence for sea anglers to boot !... As for defending someones right to smoke, what about the right to drive whilst drunk as a skunk or drugged up, ridiculous of course. Who is actually suggesting a ban on smoking in one's own home then? No-one ... only where it affects another persons right not to inhale smoke... Anyone who claims that smoke does not make you stink is past the point of help I think, your nasal membranes are shot to hell mate.

Having cast my vote and observed that those who agree with the ban (on the whole) outnumber those who dont by around 2 to 1, I was quite surprised to see the large majority of posts moaning about the ban and its effects on trade etc...etc... Perhaps you smokers are still huffing and puffing though not in my local anymore. If there are less alehouses in ten years time, maybe that will be a good thing too, less places where louts with no self control or dignity can drink themselves stupid and behave badly on our streets. Its wonderful to go out and not come home stinking like an ashtray. Its so good to eat out and not have to ask the selfish drug sucker on the next table to refrain from blowing his vile residue in my direction. The only problem now is that to get into or out of the pub these days you have to run a smoky gauntlet of these wretched folk huddled around the entrance. Just remember this, once us non-smokers were the lepers, huddled in an area underneath the obligatory ceiling fan or vent-axia, the publicans concession to the non-smokers rights. If I had my way I would restrict smoking to a lean-to shed at the bottom end of the car park farthest from the door, but if you would rather stay at home, then so be it... I wont miss you.

Well thanks, at least that explains why my sons annual fishing trip to this water only ever results in small trout and perch...

Have seen a lot of the vids and forum topics on this subject and I agree that the only guy who looks the right colouring, height and build and has the same voice is Ben Collins. He's a west country driver who has driven single seat formula 3 cars and also had a spell in NASCAR american stockers, so he's pretty good at circulating at very high speed in close proximity to other cars. Also he's a bit of a demon in the wet, and last but not least he was helping out on top gear with some of their features like five a side car footie etc.. so when Perry McCarthy left he was a readily available known quantity. (probably cheaper too). There have been a couple of stand-ins... African Stig for obvious reasons and I believe F1 driver Kovalainen did one feature, and another scandinavian ice specialist did a ski thing.