Simon Fell

Oh good, that will make me buy them then....

Mmm my thoughts ecactly! I'd probably just give up fishing after that catch, must have had a fair bit of kit with him and a fair few rods unless all fish were caught in a drag net I hope my scales are not 2lbs light, but that could explain why I can catch that 2lb riiver roach.....

I have a newish set of fox digitals and read that they were unreliable, but everytime I have checked them with actual weights at home and on the bank when comparing with my mates Avons they have always been accurate and I've never had an issue. The only issue I can see is that they dont measure half ounces so which way do they round up (or down)!? I guess its down to what you get used to, but I do wonder because of what other people have said about the accuracy of the fox scales, although I have never found this to be an issue. Maybe they have been dropped or damaged in the past, or dont have new batteries and that gives an inaccurate reading? I always keep spare sets of batteries, as they are quite heavy users of batteries and I always like to have a newish set in when weighing fish.

Well done, so it was you that managed the 1lb 11oz roach! We need to get name badges next time, so we can easily identify people I still have not got the picture off the camera yet of the 1lb 7oz roach I had, but will try and post it here when I do. Had a really enjoyable day, lots of small grayling and about 7 roach with 2 over the 1lb mark. Hard fishing though! Your 1lb 11oz fish looks like it would go bigger as its not got much of a belly on it, lovely looking fish a perfect specimin. All you need now is to catch her next year when she will be 2lbs Thanks to Rusty as expressed above for organising, next time I might even stray away from the other side of the motorway bridge and chase some of those specmin minnows further up stream!

Had it on the ledger whilst quiver tipping for roach with bread, so not by design I'm afraid!!! The fish had little lice on it so must have been laying up in the slack I was fishing when I chucked my feeder in right on top of his head! Last year I manged 2 bream both over 7lbs, the Itchen always has a surprise for me everytime I fish there, hopefully Saturday will be no different

If you find me in the morning I will point out the swims where the roach were caught, as we hired the whole venue and I was fishing with 19 other friends. Some decent roach were had up to 1lb 12ozs. I did not have any Roach but managed a 12lb 5oz mirror carp, which put up quite a scrap. Oh and a 6lb bream and lots of trout and small Grayling. Speak to you on saturday PS, No maggots sounds stupid to me!!!

Looking forward to Saturday now Have the rest of the week off work to get out before the end of the season and get some fishing in, just a shame the Bristol Avon is not in perfect fettle! I fished the Itchen 3 weekends back, just after the very heavy rain the river was high and coloured, but still had a good days fshing. Not many Grayling caught due to the conditions, but lots of other fish and a few small Grayling. Conditions should be much better on Saturday, so looking forard to a good days fishing and meeting some new faces. See you all on Saturday Simon

Its not a well kept secret but the Korum range of chairs are great. They do a lightweight version that has everything you need. There have been some threads about this previosuly so have a search and see what else you can find for info as there are quite a few chairs on the market, but Korum come with my recomendation

Chub love a bit of colour, but on the Bristol avon the river is back to normal levels already, so it should not be too high and coloured. If its coloured try a smelly bait like cheese or cheese paste. If the river is running fast mashed bread is a better bet than liquidised, just mix some stale bread (if possible) with a bit of river water and mash it up with your hands. I always prefer a river with a bit of flow and some colour than a low clear one. The flow might make you have to use a heavier feeder or tip, but try and use as light a feeder as you can. Fishing upstream can give you much better bite indication. With Chub if they are at home you can get bites within the first cast, if you have not had any touches or bites in 20mins try moving swim, you can always come back. Make sure you fish into dark if possible as this tend to be when the better fish come out to play It should be good chub fishing conditions, hopefully we have a bit of clud cover. I will be out Roach and Chub fishing on the Bristol Avon tomorrow, good luck.

I'd say to use a different strength hook link, even if its only 5lb or 4&1/2 as a lot of chub swims could be snaggy and you dont want to lose lots of feeders! I'd personally suggest bread as the best bait for chub, with some liquidised braed or mashed bread in the feeder and some flake on the hook. Dont worry about using a big hook a 12 would be fine, or even a 10 if using crust. Maggots will work also though. Look for areas with weed rafts, sangs or areas just on the edge of the flow. If you can bait a few swims when you first arrive with a couple of balls of mashed bread and then fish them in rotation. If you catch a chub, relese him/her up stream so not to possibly spook the rest of the shoal. good luck PS, chub bites can be very small or just pull the rod of the rest, look for rattles on the tip as a sign they are about. If the ater is clear and not too high you may even be able to spot the fish in the river before fishing as its still quite warm at present

I'm in for this, love this fishery. Great place to spend a days fishing. Will PM you rusty to get the details for the cheque to send to you and put it in the post this weekend. Simon

Another message of thanks for organising the day, the weather made it difficult to be very sociable as spent most of the afternoon hiding from the lashing rain! Had a good days fishing, not catching my intended species, but ended up catching 6 Rainbows. Fished the main river the whole day as the carrier was attracting a lot of fishing attention, and a bit small for my 15ft trotting rod! I did manage my PB Rainbow of 6lbs 4ozs, which faught like a Salmon out in the main flow (I'm guessing what Salmon fight like as I've never caught one!!) so it was worth braving the weather for. As usual, back at work and weather is lovely!! Look forward to seeing you all again on the bank sometime. Simon

I just want to make sure I turn up at the right place, can someone confirm I've got the right details (link below):? http://www.timsburyfishing.co.uk/findus.html Look forward to meeting everyone on Sunday Simon

If you are still looking for more people to come along, I'd love to be included. Love the look of the floats chavender, nothing better than watching a crow quillgently wind its way downstream, or into a tree in some cases! Simon

Ever since i read all the negative sentiment regarding the fox digi scales I've been so worried that the scales I own are a complete waste of time, however I have spent the last 6 months testing them all the time and I've found them to be absolutely perfect with no variation in their accuracy. I do wonder if some people have perhaps treated them a bit roughly as the fox scales I own I have complete confidence in. Just need to actually catch the PB to weigh now! Roll on you 2lb Roach

I dont have any experience of that rod, but have a look at recommended hook and reel lines for the rod. Anything with a guide of hook links in the region of 2-6lbs should be perfect. Anything over that in my opinion is overkill for trotting, I use stickfloat rod with a maximum recomended hook link of 4lbs and it still handles big fish ok. Its all about balancing your tackle to the rod you use, I prefer using a lighter rod as its more fun catching fish on such equipment and even a 12oz roach can be felt reasonably and is a pleasure to catch. Good Luck PS, I'd go for the 15ft version as the extra length is useful and I've never had a problem with a 15ft rod being too long for any swim and it really helps in the wind.

Here Here, could not agree more. Its still got that feeling of them (AT) and Us (Normal anglers) a bit like a government Quango that does not really know what is going on in the real world.

Bob, What opinion have I formed on you? What comment have I made against you? NONE I purely stated the name you have on fishingmagic. I have nothing against you, but I have an opinion formed about the kind of people running the AT but the way you post on the internet. Fact (like it or not, whatever medium you use represents the AT) so maybe a bit more tact in future may be in order? That opinion may or may not be justified, and I for one am willing to support anyone fighting for the benefit of angling, but at this point I am still considering if I wish to join the AT, but at the moment its a no and that decision is impacted by what I read on angling sites on the web. Good Luck on encouraging others to join

If you read some posts on other fishing websites you will Realise Bob Bradford (or Boring Bob) as he is known has already created some passion against him and the angling trust! The thing about debate is there is always 2 sides, otherwise its not a debate. Just cause you dont agree with peoples point of view does not mean its invalid. Are we not all fighhting the same corner, why does the AT feel the need to be-little other fishermens views (even if they are dsplayed on the worthless internet), no matter where they come from, after all they should be appealing to us and encouraging us to join not allienating fishermen? Bloody stupid is what I say. The internet has revolutionised many aspects of life, induding fishing. Simon

It all sounds a bit nasty (I've not been to Barton court before, so dont know abou the track leading to the venue, is it really gonna need a 4x4?) ! I'm not sure what to do, as it takes me probably nearly 2 hours to drive there and I was planning on arriving early about 7.30am, that does not leave much time to check the weather with someone in the morning. Do we have any members near Barton Court who can give us a better understanding of what we might be up against? Ta Simon

Good plan rusty, Its still looks like we might have some more snow on the way, and with the councils running out of salt, it could get interesting! As you say as long as the river is fishable and the snow is not really thick and pushed the levels up when it melts I'm willing to attempt to fish, but on the other hand dont want to drive 2 hrs unless its worth it. Its supposed to be sunny and 3c on saturday according to the latest weather forcast but this is changing every day! Simon

Its always good to have a 5 min break every now and then when trotting, try sitting down and having a cuppa. Keep feeding and rest your swin, the next trot through can often result in a decent fish. Apart from that, remember there is no gain without pain! You can also get those weight lifting belts that I'm sure might help your posture if you are really struggling, aprts form that it is sometimes possible to trot the inside line whilst sitting down. Good Luck in these cold condiitons all.

PS, I'm off to the chemist tomorrow to buy a bottle of glycerine apparently stops your rings freezing and we dont want any frozen rings now do we? Also apparently wd40 does the trick too, but you need to apply the night before and leave to dry. Vaseline is also supposed to work, but I imagine this could be sticky? If anyone wants to borrow some glycerine I will try and get sme tomorrow, but they will have to apply to their own rings as that is beyond the call of duty!

If its really that bad one can still use a feeder, and there is a lake people can fish also. But saying that I have just looked at the weather and they reckon its gonna be near freezing all day and minus 7 at night! I'm still mad enough to try it, you wont catch in front of the telly and I've got to catch a Grayling this season, its on my list of things to do!

Fish particularly Grayling still bite in the cold right? I went all the way to the Stour yesterday, not the best conditions but with some help from a friend managed a PB Chub of 4lbs 6ozs, so as long as the Kennet is not flooded it will fish. Anyway I'm still likely to blank on my local if I dont go to Barton court, so whats the difference! Bring on the Grayling! Simon