davidP

When I said "F**k me, a barbel!" I was actually expressing surprise, not an instruction!

It's not the size of your rod, it's what you do with it that counts.

What do you mean I'm using the wrong kind of meatballs?

Phworrr! Look at the fins on that!

There's love, and then there's barbel love.

If you keep neat maggot in a container without maize or sawdust you'll very soon have an extremely unpleasant bait box. Maggots sweat (and I would presume excrete) and the maize or sawdust is really there to absorb this and keep the maggots as dry and clean as possible. If you're keeping maggots for a few days then you should really riddle off the maize/sawdust on a regular basis and replace with fresh. As for a preference, I think I prefer maize, but as you say, it does get everywhere!

As I guess we all do, I find myself from time to time thinking about what I'd create if I had the opportunity to build a lake from scratch. I'm not think a commercial fishery here, just something that you could build and fish yourself. Also don't worry about the technicalities of building it, let's assume that everything you need is available and viable. So what would you build? How big? How many pegs? What type of pegs? Depth? What would you stock? What would you plant? Go on, live your fantasy!

When it's cheaper to bring lamb from New Zealand than from the local farm I think that says it all. Supermarkets have a lot to answer for though. Think back before them (I can just about) and the majority of what you bought was local produced. You bought meat from the local butcher who would have bought it from the local slaughterhouse or even direct from a local farmer. The fruit and vegetables would have come from the local wholesaler who would have been in the nearest large town or city and would have supplied largely local produce when in season. Milk and cheese came from the local dairy. Supermarkets however want to buy from one source in bulk as cheaply as possible. That kills any thoughts of local supply stone dead overnight and reduces the prices paid to the lowest levels. Any farmer who then can't operate at the minimum cost starts losing and will never come back. A crazy state of affairs.

Of course it's safe - I've got my flying condom lure right here

Retaining a fish for a few minutes until a steward arrives is unlikely to do the fish much damage, and in the scheme of things certainly less than sticking treble hooks in it's mouth. As with all things however if the fish is retained carelessly or for too long then it is deservedly frowned upon. Pike matches are a fact of life and it's not something that's likely to change. If a fish cannot for whatever reason be immediately weighed and returned then I'd rather that the fish was retained in an appropriate container than by any other means. To this end JackPike is to be congratulated for considering this possibility and being prepared to buy a suitable product rather than making do with a substandard one as many would.

Yes, using what you described. You won't get much more than a decent handful however - best to use as hookbait with bought maggots as feed. For commercial volumes however fish or chicken (ex battery farm normally) are normally used.

A few minutes with a machete, or even better a strimmer and you can clear a choice of pegs. Once they're cleared they should be low maintenance to keep clear as well if you're there regularly, and other people will probably start using them as well. The problem for clubs that own miles and miles of river is actually getting people on the banks to do work parties. They'll all turn up at the easiest and most popular venues, but sometimes stretches only get done if one or two people are particularly keen to fish them. This is one of the fundamental differences between commercial and club fisheries. On commercial fisheries you are paying them to provide you with a usable peg and fishing. With clubs however you're only paying them to provide the fishing. If you want them to guarantee a usable peg as well then you'll have to be prepared to pay a lot more so that they can employ maintenance people. Best thing to do is invest a little time in making what you want for yourself - it'll be time well spent. [ 17. September 2003, 12:11 AM: Message edited by: davidP ]

Barbel fishing???

Still can't find anything with the full result. Here's what I've found so far : Individuals GOLD: Alan Scotthorne, ENGLAND, 3pts SILVER: Karoly Schater, Hungary, 5pts BRONZE: Robert Bednarski, Poland, 7pts Teams GOLD: Hungary 55pts SILVER: Poland 93.5pts BRONZE: France 102.5pts 4th Belgium 109pts 5th ENGLAND 119pts 6th Slovakia 128.5pts 10th Wales 153pts 17th Ireland 187pts 26th Scotland 230pts If this is correct then that's a phenomenal 19 point 2nd day performance by Hungary and a 25.5 point day for Poland - pretty impressive stuff. It also means Alan and Sandra now have matching trophies. We should put then out to stud to create a team for 20 years time

Still can't find an official report, but the same site is reporting that Alan Scotthorne is world champion and that Hungary were first, Poland 2nd and France 3rd. Hope it's true about Alan

Mainly because only Europe fishes the way we do, and our style of match fishing is totally alien to the rest of the world. Most of the non-European teams (usually USA, Australia & South Africa) are made up of UK ex-pats anyway. No Australia seemingly this year, but China are competing for the first time.

Sadly no - haven't been since my honeymoon and looks unlikely in the near future due to new business (and the state of the country - Daily News shut down as illegal by Police today!). If you're taking bait then make sure you pack them well as customs will not like it if they find them - they simply won't understand why you have them! I know some people who had problems with baits - got them all confiscated. BTW barbel love white chocolate boilies!

Can't find an official site with the results on anywhere, but I did find the following. Can't guarantee it's accuracy obviously, and Latvia seems to be in twice. Individuals are by weight rather than points, but I would imagine it means Scotthorne & Conroy scored the section win & fourth for England, although don't know who got which. Either way there's a good chance of a medal for an England individual, but it looks like a team medal may not be too likely after two of the team appear to have nightmares (21st & 25th in section). Teams 1. Belgium 32 (3-9-5-1-14) 2. Hungary 36 (15-10-1-7-3) 3. Croatia 38 (9-11-2-11-5) 4. France 45 (5-3-32-4-1) 5. Germany 56 (6-5-25-10-10) 6. England 63 (4-1-12-25-21) 7. Wales 65 (2-12-13-3-35) 8. Poland 68 9. San Marino 68 10. Austria 70 11. Slovakia 72 12. Italy 81 13. Portugal 86 14. Czech 87 15. Spain 87 16. Ireland 88 17. Finland 97 18. Macedonia 98 19. Latvia 101 20. Netherlands 102 21. Slovenia 102 22. Sweden 104 23. Denmark 106 24. Luxembourg 106 25. Latvia 111 26. Romania 114 27. Bulgaria 115 28. Norway 118 29. South Africa 129 30. Scotland 130 31. Switzerland 131 32. Serbia 134 33. Russia 135 34. Ukraine 135 35. Bosnia 138 36. USA 151 37. Channel Islands 153 38. Estonia 168 39. China 184 Individuals 1. Robert Bednarski, Poland, 9710g 2. Andrew Murphy, Wales, 8920g 3. Christophe Gazannois, France, 7310g 4. Guido Nullens, Belgium, 7130g 5. Stuart Conroy, England, 6090g 6. Alan Scotthorne, England, 5980g 7. Gilles Caudin, France, 5800g 8. Hans Slegers, Belgium, 5560g 9. Jose Duarte, Portugal, 5440g 10. Stefan Posselt, Denmark, 5400g

I notice on the BBC news site that Barclays have finally issued a warning about this scam. Originated in Baltimore apparently.

Would appear to be up on the Solway Firth near Dalbeattie. If they mean Southness then choice of 15!

I sympathise with your plight, but you live in China, the biggest communist country in the world, and the Chinese authorities don't give a stuff about your human rights, or inded what the rest of the world thinks about it. We know full well what goes on, but because the world is scared of China we make very little comment so as to keep the peace. China knows this and hence the way it acts. If China was lots of small countries the West would have been down on them years ago to clean up their acts, but the sheer size of the country means that the authorities can safely do whatever they want. China is also far too important in world trade terms for any western country to rock the boat. Losing trade with China could cost western countries billions, and in the scheme of things cheap goods are far more important than your human rights I'm afraid. Shameful I know, but sadly a fact of life. And to answer your points in the text, I'd recommend a tutti-frutti boilie hair-rigged on a size 4, 15lb main line and a 2.75 test curve rod.

Judy, the vast majority of Ebay sellars are just like you or I - ordinary people with stuff to sell and they are just as honest as you or I. There are of course also professional sellars who in general are also perfectly reasonable people. As in all walks of life however there are the few rogues who try and rip you off and spoil things, but they don't last long and there aren't that many of them. Personally I've done near four hundred trades and I've been ripped off only once (by a guy in Brasil). Otherwise I've bought stuff from all over the world with absolutely minimal problems. Here's a few tips - some are pretty obvious but they're worth repeating : Be straight and be prompt. Get your methods of payment sorted out before you bid, always respond to e-mails quickly and get payment there as soon as possible. That makes you an easy customer to deal with. Always make sure you read the item description and the terms and conditions attached to each sale closely, and if you've got any doubts or queries then ask the question before you bid. I've found that most sellars will give you a straight answer and will always try and accomodate you (particularly if they're abroad and say they don't do international shipping - most will if you ask nicely). Avoid anybody with negative feedback, and be wary of those with low feedback. Low feedback doesn't mean they're bad however - it normally means they're new. After a couple of months regular use you learn to spot the difference between newbie and git. Give feedback promptly and honestly. Be patient with people - they aren't always sitting at the keyboard 20 hours a day. Don't leap in. Monitor the type of items you're interested in until you get a feel for what's available and the type of prices things go for. This could save you a lot of money! Don't expect something for nothing. The days of absolute Ebay bargains are long gone simply because so many people use the service these days. In some instances it can actually be cheaper to buy from dealers rather than Ebay simply because people are lazy and only use Ebay and so they drive prices up (some of the records I collect are now selling for ridiculous prices on Ebay because many people are bidding for few items). If the prices goes above your limit let it go. There'll be another along shortly. If you can be at the keyboard in the last 10 minutes - prices often shoot up right at the end as everybody piles in (I've seen a record go from $1.20 to $250.00 in the last 30 seconds!). Don't be upset if you lose right at the end - it's part of the game [ 12. September 2003, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: davidP ]

Best gloves I've had in recent years have been a pair that incorporated the windstopper material. Unfortunately I lost one last winter and haven't managed to find a replacement pair yet (not that I've looked too hard admittedly), but they really were excellent - very warm even on windy days without being bulky at all.

http://shorterlink.com/ http://tinyurl.co.uk/

I'm booked in BTW - the DAM Robo is finally getting an airing!