Trotters

Hi Phone Don't want to shock you too much but when I fish for coarse fish on the rivers here I fish with a centrepin (I possible). You do get a lot of control over the fish. I was interested in yoou mentioning Coyote boounties, My father in law told me that when he was a young man (1930's) they would get a bounty for rat tails. He had a good ratting dog. A nighhtwatchman in a local chocolate factory could get a better bounty for the Tails so they would collect them for him and share the booty. On one occaision the had collected the rats alive for him, I guess there was a reason we will not go into here, they were to meet him in a local bar where he would pay them. This was before the days of everyone having a motor car so they had to take the sack of live rats in the pub to wait for the Nightwatchman to turn up. You have guessed it the rats chewed their way out of the sack and were on the loose. The dog dashing this way and that killing rats one after the other. Tables and drink falling in all directions, the dog proved her worth but they were barred from the bar. Regs Trots

Hi All I will always have my doubts about touch a Mackerel and it dies. I am with you all the way on only taking what you have a use for, NOT JUST MACKEREL, all other fish but unforetuately that gets spred around by someone thinking they know better than everyone else and a cap gets put on the number we should take. I have refused to go on certain charter boat trips because there is a quota put on the number of fish the anglers can take. In notable instances the remainer of the catch gets sold to restraunts, I only hope the correct license fees are paid to make it legal. Float fishing spinning and fly fishing is the only way a true angler should fish for Mackerel they are a very sporting little fish. By the way the last batch of record size Mackerel happened along because they were fished to a level where they were becoming scarce if not rare. What happened then was there was an explosion in the food species that Mackerel feed on in all their developement stages, this resulted in the Mackerel that were present had an unlimited amount of food, hence the terriffic growth rate. Many Mackerel we caught then had comparativly tiny heads and tails and really bulky bodies. I use to have some photos must have a look for them. Regs Trots

Hi Used to have a competition going on one boat I fished regularly. Who was the quickest in Skinning a dogfish with bare hands and you were not allowed to bite them either. Only the totally crazy would have a go at it. I was up there with the best for a time. Regs Trots

Hi BL I have fished allover with Jelly worms Shads and the like (well from Drumore in Scotland to Porthcurno in Cornwall) from Charter boats, one of my own and other peoples privately owned boats and I must agree for that they are a superb way of taking Pollack Coalies Cod and the like.The 18lbs,er was some time ago and was on a wreck down Channel from Minehead. Back in the 1970s I remember spinning with a natural Redgill they were very much the fashion then, the smallest size would have been about 4inches. I often fished a particular rock mark where Mackerel for the BBQ was pretty much a given, If you fished a summers evening, just before dark, and on a dropping tide. The accepted method was to rig a frozen sand eel, early days of Ammo as well, on a 4 foot trace under 2oz of lead. the favoured rod something like a carp rod. i graduated to a Derek Townsend Bare Bones Bass rod, which I still have about somewhere, albeit has been rebuilt a few times its a very good Conoflex blank. As I said if you used a Frozen sand eel you had continual sport. Feeling clever, I thought, use the redgill save on time rigging natuals and save on bait. Well I saved on bait but lost out on mackerel. No matter how I fished it Deep,shallow fast or slow. the mackerell woould follow, usually in groups or small shoals, they would look but not take. This happened so much that I was writing a script in my head as to what they were comunicating to each other. " What the hell's that mate." ...."I do'nt know, D'ya think we can eat it. " "Sure as Hades beats me." ....... "You taste."...." Why me you're closest." .... "Nah.. Tain't natural"... By which time the cast was reeled in and the lure was out the water, the shoal swimming off with an air of releif..., Put on a frozen sand eel and you were back in business...... Mind you its hard to catch them from here on feathers as well. Just a tale from way back regs Trots

Hi Newt Your last paragraph sums it up. Horses for courses, I have seen some of the arrows for bow hunting pretty effective pieces of ordinance. Does anyone control foxes ( I guess yoou have some) in rural areas? Regs Trots

Hi From what I hear. The fresh water have driven them away. Very l,ittle boat activity and the jungle telegraph is quiet about the shore sport. Down below Minehead might be worth a shot. Reg Trots

Hi Get your own back. learn a few good ways to cook the evil little things. Salt flour Pepper and chilli in a polly bag. chunks the doggy ( Less the skin in question unless you feel you need the roughage) shake the fish in the mixture then fast fry it. You wont give them chance to skin burn you they will be in the bag. Hope you heal wellRegs Trots

Hi Newt Looked at those dogs on wiki p. Crazy eyes, recon they would liven things up over here. Interested to read they climb fences and trees. I bred a litter of Springher Spaniels one time they could climb a 6 foot Chicken wire fence, they could hardly see but they really could climb. Are you in the area where they shoot turkeys??? i subscribed for a while to North American Hunter magazine read a fare bit on the subject. Sitting in a hide with a semi auto shot gun and telescopic site, really do'nt think they would let us do that sort of thing over here. Powers that be are just a bunch of kill joys. Rabbit shooting thats something else,I love it but theres not so many around, at times, my all time favourite shooting sport is pigeon shooting either decoying them in or roost shooting under trees at dusk and good to eat. Down and gone for now. Trots

Hi There BL Well yes I have done my time hauling Red Gills Pirks and infact did catch an 18lb Pollack from a Bristol Channel Wreck once on a Plug bought from Woolworths, now that will give you an idea how long I have been at the lure fishing lark Woolworths not only in business but selling fishing tackle, anyone want to go down that road, what I really mean about lure fishing in the salt is that, first to catch the fish you have to find the fish, ok so far. well then they have to be in a feeding mood, then you need to convince them that some pretty bit of oriental plastic is in fact good to eat. Chuck a soft crab or a mackerel head at them and they still might turn away but at least you know its something they might eat. I watch young bloods, now hopping from rock to rock ,in their chesties hurling plugs and stuff a little way into the surf and I genuinely wish them well. With the wind in your face throwing 30grams of plastic into the Atlantic about 30 feet seems to make me wonder why I spent half a life time trying to learn the right way to propel 5oz of lead over the horizon. If there were that many fish under my feet not only would I have never bothered to try to learn to cast well but I would not have had time I would have been catching an awful lot of fish. Go on tell me I'm wrong. I've got a broad back

Yo. You know your stuff. Catahoula hound. I'm thinking thats what we might call a Lurcher part Gaze hound ( Greyhound whippet) part shepparding dog?? we would generally think of them as a poaching dog. Bloody good fun to own!!!!! Hard to keep controlled. Good luck. Trots

Hi I'd like to hear more about your shooting over dogs sound a bit different from our way. We beat a wood to raise the birds for the guns who are out in front. They shoot them in flight. Pheasants mainly especially from the woods. Partridge are driven in from more open fields. The birds which are shot are then gathered in with the use of dogs. Spaniels are the jack of all trades good in the beating line and if trained well passable retrievers, Labradors and retrievers mainly for picking up but can make passable hunting dogs. Always fancied I would like a Blue tick hound???? Have I got that righth. But I am probabley to long in the tooth myself now to take one on. Just realised where you are based. My comments re lure fishing is based on British sea fishing. I have caught plenty of Pike Perch and Chub from rivers on both fly and spinner crank bait and spoon. A syndicate I am in have just bought our own stretch of river which supports its own possible sub strain of Brown trout . The dry fly and nymph fishing there can be outstanding. So yes I understand the thrills of artificials in frest water, I find it not so good in the see. Regs Trots

Hi Nah! Something I have done a great deal of for very little reward compared to other methods. I could well be wrong but its hard enough to find fish that might be in the mood to feed without complicating it by trying to get them to chomp on something inedible. When was the last time you saw someone take a bite out of one of those large tomatoe shaped sauce dispensers in your favourite cafe, never I hope, well, fish have been around a long time making a living out of feeding on things nature tells them is good to eat. Now, I'm not saying fish are not caught on lures, I'm saying in the same situation a properly presented bait would do it better. There's a lot of Bass being caught on livebaits at present isnt there. If you do not want to get smelly hands tie on a plastic fish prosthetic and do your oown thing. I still tie on a string of mackerell feathers now and then though. regs Trots

Hi New member signing in. Names Phil 61 years gone by 56 of them fishing. Have fished for most things in this country at some time or another. Have published articles and chaired a local radio angling show. Now keeping the enthusiasm going, small boat fishing, still getting on the beach to sling leads at the ocean. Bit disallusioned with all the lure fishing articles around at present. Was interested to see the topic following the old Angling magazine which really had a voice in fishing matters. Well thats me..........for now.......

Hi I Only signed up to Anglers Net Last night and to be honest what caught my eye was Den Poledark and his inyerest in Steam engine building. i was a mate of Digger Derrington and folowed the Old Angling mag religiously. Dennis Darkins articles inspired my interest in casting plus his skill at debunking myths (catching cod in a fog with salted lug). Any other names from the past still active Nick Cranfield, Doug Cooper, Vic Homewood and Brian Harris. Any sign posts to memory lane?????? Trots

Hi A bit late folloewing this but we were in Cornwall fishing and from where we were staying just outside of Newquay there were four beacons in view. The Cornish seem to know how to light a decent fire.Does Poledark also have a history in fishing reel making along with Steam Train ???? Regs Trots