Jeff S

Thanks Greg I'll be using them on river Ure much of which has a gravel bottom. Getting there could be an issue though. It was up about 2-3 feet and running extremely dirty. Needless to say I came home empty handed. Think I'll take the waders with me for their debut tomorrow. So do you hang them inside next to the radiator and over the new carpet??? I'd hate to ruin them first trip out.

Pleasantly surprised this year with a set of chest waders. Can anyone tell me what the maintenance will be on them? I've never owned the sort with felt soles and they are neoprene. Trekking about in the mud without any traction makes me think I could spend more time under water than actually fishing it.

Thanks Lid, you are correct I did order it from their website. Interesting information. I hadn't thought about looking for the British equivalent to the Better Business Bureau. Not sure what I'm going to do as yet. I don't want to rat them out completely. It could have been a simple mistake. I've complained to the company and will have to wait for an answer. I didn't get very far on the phone. Just the usual.. "Well would you like a refund?" :mad: [ 22. December 2003, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: Dvarcet ]

I've seen a few comments on dodgy business practices on this forum. Issues with specific products and occasionally with a business. I won't name and shame them at the moment, but I will say they are based in Leeds. (With Eltons permission of course) The issue.. I placed an order through this company for a Panasonic DVD recorder, multiregion, you name it this had all the bells and whistles. I placed the order on Dec. 8 and was told that it may not be available for Christmas. Not a problem. I placed the order for a friend who didn't want to let on to his wife that he was making a major purchase. Needless to say I called this afternoon to verify that it would not be arriving before the holiday and was told that the item was no longer available and that panasonic no longer offered them. :mad: :mad: :mad: Now why would I not be notified when they discontinued the item? They had my phone number and email as well as my address. Surely it would have stated on their website that they had a limited quantity and it would no longer be available, or when they called to tell me when it might be arriving they could have told me then. At least I would have had the option. So is this a common practice for businesses? Discontinue an item after its been paid for :mad: [ 22. December 2003, 08:38 PM: Message edited by: Dvarcet ]

I have been lookng at them too and one of my friends swears by them. The batteries should last much longer than a cd player.. There are no moving parts since all the music is stored digitally. Much smaller than a cd player as well. You should have a way to download them. With a pc shouldn't be a problem. Make sure if you are taking them from the web that you use virus protection and maybe spybot. I'm sure you'll get more replies and with that more ideas. Cheers

Here's one from last year.. Probably shouldn't let the kiddies see this or some others

Surely thats a man....

Well not as inappropriate as I had originally made out.

Hi Alan, Have fun in Egypt! They don't have chimneys there do they? I had more wrapping paper pictures to post but they are much too inappropriate

Gifts for the ladies..

Wrapping paper??

Could they be for hauling all those heavy fish out at once without putting undue stress on the mesh and the rest of the rings? Providing that it is similiar to the ones that I have seen... Oh yeah and Happy Birthday to ya.

Alan, I haven't been to Florida in a few years, but yes it's very fish friendly. I can't steer you to any contacts but if memory serves me correctly you don't need a Florida license to fish coastal waters as long as you are fishing from land or on something connected to land.. Some piers will charge access to fish their pier. Look here for more regulations. Freshwater licenses apply to rivers, streams, and still waters. I hope you take the trip. Fishing there is great fun.

Reminded me of one that I had...

Thanks Newt Any input on what I did wrong? Nice cat by the way

Not sure if this will work since the preview gives a link and once clicked shows the website as not found. Anyway here I am or not... :confused: edit note - fixed the image link for you. Newt [ 30. November 2003, 11:45 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

Hi Colin, I haven't had much experience with vets in the sense of losing a pet. Well to be honest I've lost one and that was a story in itself. I'd think that the bigger companies are out for cash. It can be very expensive but with that you shouldn't have had the sort of dealing that you described. I use a smaller less commercial vet that offers 24 hour coverage. My animals NEVER seem to get hurt during the day when it is convenient. Almost always at night or on weekends. Last week one of our older cats came back after having jumped off and snagged one of his legs on something. A call to the vet (at 2300) and about 100 quid later he is fine. The vet was driving a BMW X3 or Z3 not sure which. I guess it's not uncommon for any vet to overcharge? That isn't to say they all do, but when you spend that amount of money for a service it should be exceptional. And who's to say they don't work hard for thier money? Last year one of our other cats disappeared for nearly three weeks right after Christmas. We figured she had been locked in someones shed. After sliding flyers through everyones door in our village, calling local vets, and posting on lost and found websites she came back. She had lost 15 kilos. A trip to the vet resulted in a a 700 quid bill. Before anyone asks why.... Let me validate. One of her canines had broken off resulting in an infection. We were told that we could 1. have it removed and risk her lower canine puncturing the recess left by the missing tooth. 2. have a root canal done and save the tooth. It was interesting on the sense of what was accomplished but the details were a bit boring. The vet walked us through EVERY detail with his new 'toy' meaning the software they use to enhance the X-rays, surgery etc. that was enough for her but since we needed their yearly shots plus flea dipping and all that we figured we could get them all done at once. We live 30 minutes from this vet. So do they overcharge? I think they do! I'd rather not say how much we spent bringing the two over with 6 months in quarantine.. Some have said why spend so much when a small caliber B***** cost so much less? Pets are for life? [ 15. November 2003, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Dvarcet ]

I've caught a fair few using only lures. I can't comment on lobworms, when I've used them I haven't caught. I tend to stick with the lures that work and rarely use new ones unless my favorites aren't producing. I fish mainly for pike but the lures tend to attract anything. Chub, trout, and perch usually. What I tend to use and what seems to work only for perch are bright colored spinners and spoons. Chartruese (sp?) and blaze orange mostly but try metallic colors as well. I've even caught them on rubber worms fished Carolina style in February! One thing that was consistant when I have caught perch is they seem to strike on the drop like 'sink and draw' and strike at the tail of the lure which foul hooks them. I haven't tried tying on a trailing hook as yet but I suspect it might result in more fish. As I'm sure you know perch usually school so if you catch one there are bound to be others. I've found that I have to move quite often until I find them and once I do I can catch three or four from the same swim. I have a tendency to release them in the same place I caught them which more than likely spooks the rest of the fish.. Then of course time to move on. These results were mainly from shallow lakes with little or no cover and slow rivers with a lot of cover and underwater features. Hope this helps.

Imagine your a Siamese twin. You're connected to your brother. Your brother is gay. Tonight he has a date. ... And you only have one a**.

Lets hope Misty ended up alright. Since their house survived I would assume their cat did as well. Speaking of cats, ours came in damaged late last night. A call to the vet, a 60 pound call out fee (not including consult), a half hour drive, and a night spent at the vets.. Seems like a good Mastercard advertisement... Might go something like this A night out on the town for P*****Y. 60 pounds Drugs to keep off the pain. 19 Pounds Anti-inflamatory. 15 pounds Yowling cat/ Cuts and abrasions. Priceless

Luckily most of the homes were spared. Those firefighters work their tails off. Fires that size can create their own weather. True what you say Newt. I spent 4 days in a shelter during Hurricane Georges (1999 season I think) Only I didn't get the option of leaving. Military does that to you. The cleanup was quite fun though...

Bonfire? I saw the one at Roundhay Park in Leeds on the 5th. Spectacular display of fireworks and I might add we could feel the heat from the bonfire from a few hundred yards away!

I can't see why they waited so long! Fire Storm 2003

Hi Rich, everyone has been right about using a trace of some sort. I use seven strand pike wire in 20 lb breaking strain. I would imagine even with your lighter line this would be sufficient as the trace would be a smaller diameter than your main line. I'm not real familiar with mono at the moment. So I can't comment on the BS/tensile strength and all that. I use 30lb braid and haven't had any serious problems with it. You may want to consider cost. I'd go with the heavier line just to feel safer about getting my lures back when they snag. I think my spiderwire has paid for itself 5 times over. Definitely worth a thought. Lures aren't cheap here. 6 quid a piece.. I tie a swivel clip to the main line then attach a 12-18 inch trace to that with another swivel clip on one end and a regular swivel at the other. This makes changing lures much faster. If you have trouble getting the pike to take plugs, try using a small spinner in gold or copper. I had a red letter day last week. Since you sound limited on time keep moving. If there's pike you'll catch them. Maybe even perch, trout, and chub. Oh yeah don't forget forceps and an unhooking mat. Good Luck

Back down at the river this morning near the swim where Secret Squirrel took his dip the other day. I didn't get to see him this time. There was evidence that he had been there. He knocked a tree over. A day of relaxation or so I thought. Within four casts I had a perch and small pike. So then after setting the timer on the camera taking pictures, and releasing them it settled down long enough to get the mackerel out in the water. Right. Time for coffee. Nice and hot... down goes the coffee.. there's a run already. Reel down, set the hook. YES! Nice and heavy, good fight, taking line yeah, then nothing. Well at least he left the bait. Back in the water it goes. Oh yeah, back to the coffee.... another run.. What is going on? I've never had a day like this. Same thing, then nothing. It settles down again, so I finish my cold coffee and start tossing around a gold spinner. Bang straight away I hook into another small pike AND while reeling that one in I get another run on the mackerel. So I net the small one, unhook and release, then run to the other rod. Reel down, set the hook, yep still heavy. Netted a nice pike about 26" long. So I take a picture, get it back in the water and toss the mackerel out again. It was like this for about 4 hours. I would cast around with my lure and watch the other rod. Then I would let the swim go for a bit then cast some more. I caught 4 pike between 5 and 10 lbs on the gold spinner and had a final screaming run on the mackerel. I had set it on free spool just in case. I'm glad I did. I didn't even get a warning tap. The line just started going and no matter what I did it wouldn't stop. Whatever it was, it was kind enough to leave me with my rig. I also find it difficult to get fish unhooked, photographed and released. Anyone else have the same problem? So my question is.... Why can't everyday be like today? [ 01. November 2003, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: Dvarcet ]