Old Bob

Thanks for the kind wishes guys, they are much appreciated. The reason for the Old Bob name is because the the guy I used to fish with before he emigrated to the States was also called Bob. He was known as Young Bob and he was 2 days younger than me. These things stick.

Thanks guys, You have posted a few questions and I will try to answer. I will soon be a widower (something I have now come to terms with) and I will have to sell up the current house. It was to raise the familiy who have now flown the nest and for one an acre of land is just too much for one. By the way I am 53 so I hope I have some years of fishing left. I love fishing of all kinds and will continue with freshwater as well as doing sea fishing. I was born and raised by the sea (near Great Yarmouth) so it is in my blood although I have not sailed in the last 25 years due to work and raising a family. My intention is to move close to the sea but also close to freshwater haunts and Norfolk or Lincolnshire look good for that. This means a lot of beachcasting although I will get a small inshore boat as well. I am also quite happy travelling any distance for reasonable fishing. My carp gear is Shimano rods and reels I have baitrunners and a couple of big pit long cast models which allow very long casts. I believe strongly in paying for good rods and reels as in my experience performance is definately related to price. I am not afraid of overnights and even weeks in my bivvy so I will do that on the coast as well.

Hi all, As a Carp man moving into sea fishing I was wondering what the best rod reel combination would be for beach casting. I would be happy to pay say £200 for the right combination. Next question, bite detection, do tripods have the abilty to put electronic bite detectors on - I have a set of four which I use for Carp and Pike fishing.

I have been catching OK on the Trent and lower Derwent in Derbyshire. Also I have caught on local gravel pits. I take a frozen roach or skimmer and descale it on one side and pierce all over with a fork. Then I soak overnight in herring or Salmon oil whilst it thaws. This seems to work just about abywhere, I know it is a bit messy and smells a bit but the fish seem to like it. I also force a couple of popup boiles into the bait to make the buoyancy neutral this seems to make a difference I use Trigga Boilies for this two 12m ones seem to work. I don't know if the smell of the boiles helps.

Hi all, I am selling up at home and want to move to a good fishing location. I don't mind rocks or beach but where is the fishing reliable. I intend to get a smallish inshore boat as well so mooring would be a consideration. Any suggestions

I have ordered it from amazon thanks.

Well, I have ordered a bait boat but it is taking eight weeks to arive, as I said before casting is a nightmare for me so I have bought a pole (nearly new). It is a Preston Innovations Zyrium with a margin pole. The problem is I have not really used a pole before and I was wondering if any of you had any hints or tips on using it. I have been a rod and reel dinosaur up to now and am a bit clueless on how to set it up and use it correctly. My previous use of a pole was one I borrowed and I was hopless with it. Any advice welcomed

I have tried it about a dozen times and find it makes no difference. A better bet is to get some dark treacle and add about 4 teaspoons full to a couple of pints of boiling water. When it is cooled mix your groundbait with it. I find it works and is cheap.

My way of catching roach is liquidised bread made into balls and thrown out. I use a waggler with most of the shot at half depth and a small shot 8 inches from the bait - I use bread flake for larger roach and hemp or tares for smaller ones. This makes the bait fall through the water slowly and I fish just over depth. The cast is into the cloud of liquidised bread. 90% of bites are whilst the bait is falling through the water so be carefull. I find the the float settles slightly when the last shot puts tension on the float. This takes a few seconds, get used to the time and if it doesn't settle in the time you expect strike as you may have a decent roach on. You need to use a bread ball on each cast so make them small and practice this method it does work honest. It will also attract Rudd and Orfe.

After asking loads of people, several emails and constructive comments on the boards I have made my decision. I have ordered a microcat with graphical echosounder - it is expensive but form me with my arm problems a worthwhile purchase. I have a carp barrow and this will fit nicely with the other stuff. There is one problem I have been told it wioll take up to eight weeks to arrive so I will be margin fishing for a whle. Mind you today I had 6 carp maximum 14lb and 4 Bream to 4lb fishing within a rod length so all is not bad.

Hi all, I have never really considered bait boats but I have recently badly damaged my right elbow and following the operation I cannot cast well and accuracy is nigh on impossible. I have tried left handed and it won't work. Can play fish as I don't need elbow movement to do that. My doctor is a keen fisherman and he suggested that I get a bait boat. I have checked with my local clubs and they will allow me to use a baitboat because of my condition. A couple of questions, what do you all think of baitboats and can you suggest a good one. I will not be dumping tons of groundbait as this was what I had against them in the first place. Also are there any commercial waters in the midlands that allow bait boats.

For particle including hemp try http://www.supercatch.co.uk/ this is Haiths site. I recommend soaking hemp for 48 hours and boiling for 60 minutes. Leave to cool in the water they were boiled in and most will be absorved. Use the rest of the water for mixing groundbait it is ace.

I find the best way is to mix particles (well prepared) and groundbait in equal parts. The moisture in teh prepared particles dampens the groundbait sufficiently. I use Haiths Carpticles (which work on tench, bream, roach as well as carp) I soak them for 48 hours with a small amount of CSL and boil them in the same water for 20 minutes. They are small seeds so this is adequate. I then leave them to cool in the same water for 24 jours in a warm place. The result is that the water is all absorbed and the particles are coated with a jelly like covering. I then mix 50:50 with Haths superred and it forms a moist but crumbly groundbait. If I want to freeze I do so at the stage before adding the groundbait, To use I just thaw out what I need and mix with the groundbait - I do it the night before and it is always fine. This mix is brilliant for the method. It also works in PVA bags if the inside of the bag is smeared with hemp oil or similar or the mix is 40:60 in favour of the dry groundbait. I discovered this after much experimenting with mixes for PVA bags and advice from other on this site. I have also found that mixing groundbait with peanut oil and a flavouring will make a great PVA bag mix - I also add CSL and hemp pellets Again this was as a result of help from this site.

Corydoras You are a genius, the weather is freezin but I went out before dawn and have just got in. I tried groundnut oil with 10% hemp oil and 10% salmon oil. I used this mix to dampen my groundbait so that it woul hold together when compressed (half a pint to 1.5kg of superred groundbait). The result, 11 tench (3lb to 6lb), 2 Bream 4lb and 8lb) and 3 carp 8lb. 9.5lb and 11lb This is my best ever day at this none comercial water.

I placed an order with Chapmans over the internet about three weeks ago. Since the confirmation email I have heard nothing and have been trying to email them for nearly two weeks but the sit is not down. In fact their site is not present not do they have email facilities. On a personal basis I will never try to buy from them again. I will stick to reliable suppliers