Peter M

Great angler, hope he is ok also a great writer, get well soon Tony

Surely even if a currency union with Scotland was proposed wouldn't it need a referendum in the UK for us to agree, and as there is no benefit to the Uk for it we would vote against it. If Scotland uses the pound without currency union the markets will bet against it and force its value down. This will lead to the raising of interest rates and particularly in Scotland. the stock markets will be hit especially for Scottish firms. Scottish banks will have to relocate south to protect a run on the banks. The MOD will move ship building and defence contracts out of Scotland. In the event of a Yes vote the UK could have real financial problems that could put us back into recession, however, the situation in Scotland would be worse as they could be heading for real financial melt down and austerity that would rival Greece. Real problems for real people worried about their jobs, mortgages, pensions, investments, public services etc. All for a dream, a vainity project being driven by the chattering classes. All for nothing as they have and are getting more powers under devomax. On the plus side they have oil. well you do the math as they say in the US.

thanks mate this all looks good for an autumn visit thanks.

Thanks someone said that you need to have a wye usk foundation membership to fish the wye, is that so? found a nice campsite at symonds yat although might be a busy still could be good. i will take a look at that stretch

hi all i would like to have a fishing break to the river wye to go for some barble chub etc. thinking of staying around symonds yat. any pointers would be helpful thanks

I always thought the bubble would burst, if there are only large fish being caught where are the juvenile fish? this its what has happened to the river Lea. The best barbel river seems to the the Wye with lots of small to medium fish showing.

Sadly i have stopped fishing rivers about two years ago. The combination of really low flows in summer, cormorants and predation et al as well as annoying dog walkers and the like mean that they are just not worth the hassel any more. I don't like most commercials as its like shooting rats in a barrel. I now only like syndicate or some club lakes with a more natural feel. I feel very sad about the state of river fishing near me any way.

get something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Wilson-Signature-Quiver-Deluxe/dp/B005UMJTDM itwill allow you to choose to float fish or feeder fish from light to more heavy, you can target carp, barbel and tench feeder fishing or straight lead, free lining for chub or trotting a float for dace and roach.

nice fish on a cane rod mate, I bet if felt awesome

I recently did a blog post about the nature of luck in fishing chubcatcher.blogspot.co.uk

great catch on opening day well done.

Hi i got a tracker Big S + very warm and has the crash zips that allow you to get out quick when the buzzer is screaming at 3 in the morning

By the way this is a message for those who posted that the answer is don't fish for carp. well here is a thought if you don't fish for carp yourself why not try and resist posting on a thread when someone is asking for advice about carp fishing. your not actually adding anything useful.

keep a tight line and try to stop the fish heading for a snag. Also, when allowed, i always use a micro barbed hook and make sure my lead can eject on the take so i am direct contact with the fish.

from an article in the independent his victims included a school girl he groomed and regularly abused, there was no "mistake" on his part he know exactly what he was doing and used his power and celebrity to carry on the abuse and hide it.

Overall there is a lot of kit that is there to catch the angler and that is true of all tackle manufacturers. Korda are perhaps the most aggressive as they have the Thinking Tackle show on Sky which allows them to go on about their products. although i use some of their products, ESP make better rig tubing and safe links even though Korda seem to pride themselves on their end tackle. The worst is their goo range which my club promptly banned as it looks like radioactive waste in the water.

For me i am having a great deal of success for large Cat fish and carp with New Grange boilies. Like Cell they are made by Mainline and can be good if most people are using Cell on the water and you want to offer something different but with really good ingredients like Cell.

tight lines

I have got one of these for spinning and i have used it as a carp rod too. http://www.poingdestres.co.uk/1148/Shimano-Exage-BX-S-T-C---Travel--Spinning-Rods.html

welcome back to our wonderful sport.

i wonder if its climate or availability of food like cray fish ?? only a guess

well also i actually don't think he is really any good. he makes schoolboy errors when playing fish and yes i am worried that this is creeping into the UK and the risk is the antis will have a field day if these practices become widespread in the UK. especially in fresh water.

i have watched this programme on Discovery Shed many times. considering how much grief we all give Robson Green this Cyril guy is just as bad. His bad handling of fish and disregard for their welfare is appalling. i just watched one where he hooked a large fish on the edge of very fast rocky water on a light lure rod and could not stop it racing into the flow with the inevitably line break. not realising what he had done wrong he tried it again with the same outcome. This dropping an angler into a wilderness and film the outccome is just awful. At least John Wilson and Jeremy Wade actually know what they are doing when they fish round the world. This paints a very bad picture of angling IMHO.

Chesters you really need to walk the banks of the river lea or stort sometime and see the evidence for yourself. clubs do run the fishing but they cannot police it 24 hours at a time. and even if its free there are rules as to fish you can take for example live bait. also pike are not hard to catch lets face it especially jacks. Now they are turning thier attention to lakes and my club opened up night fishing for members to deter the visitors without tickets. If you read anglers mail a few weeks ago when they could not even catch silver fish on the coppermill stream and only had one bream out on a 24 hour session then you see how this river has declined. i have fished the rivers less and less around me as its heartbreaking to see what happens every year.

On my local rivers the close season on rivers is a myth! only the law abiding keep to the rules. on the banks of the Lea and Stort evidence that people have been catching fish and cooking them on open fires is there all year round, usually there are empty beer cans to complete the picture. In some cultures this is a normal way of having fun and usually takes place at night. Large areas are devoid of fish as this practice, along with the problem of cormorants, mink and now otters, is making fishing rivers almost pointless. for example there is one massive chub on the lea that everyone tries to catch and is regularly seen in the angling press, apart from this a a few other large fish there is little else to go for. All this is very depressing and yet come this time of the year up comes the close season debate on this and other forums.