Alan Roe

This is a purely personal view I have used various types of braid on pins and universally loath all of them! The only real advantage is that they all tend to be low/no stretch which may be of some small assistance if you are trying to set a biggish hook at extreme range. I loath the sound that braid makes in the rod rings, I prefer my line to have some stretch I like my line to flow smoothly through the rod rings I also like my line to have some abrasion resistance mono has it braid doesn't ! Braid is truly the pits when you get a tangle in it, belive me it's much easier to sort out a minor birds nest in mono. As I have said this a purely personal opinion and I know that Chris Plumb will vehermently disagree with me. It's all bout confidence and frankly I am more confident with mono. As to what Brand I prefer it's good old Diawa Sensor cheap as chips and as tough as old boots! As for breaking strain you seem to have hit it on the head I use 6lb when targetting barbel/ Salmon/carp. and either 3 or 4lb for most other fish unless I am specifically after roach in very clear river water such as is found on the LAA stretch of the Avon then I will drop down to 2 lb with very fine hooklengths to maximise bait presentation

Alternativly if you are anywhere near God's own county of Lancashire you can give me a shout and I will show you it's easy to do honestly!

If Chesters don't want it it would be Perfick for Peter Waller for piking in......Speaking of Peter how is the old curmugeon????

To be honest you dont need a desparatly free running reel for Wallis casting either as the duration of the cast is less than a couple of seconds so even reels that would be little use for trotting can be used for wallis casting this is something I often show at my casting displays as there are people out there who believe that you can only cast with top(expensive) kit and it's good to see the looks on their faces when they see long casts made with gear that they woulnd't give house room to As with many things it ain't the carrage its the driver that matters!

Lighet fuel and cotton ear buds are the easy way to go to clean and degrease a pin it is also occasionaly a good plan to get some solvol autosol metal polish and give the top of the pin a good polish then clean off with the lighter fuel and then use a couple of drops of sewing machines oil to re-lube with

Yes they are glued on but it doesn't take a lot of heat to break down the glue and then they slide off easily the older J.W rods have the carbon blank dolly butted into a fibreglass handle and that also comes apart easily enough so the job isn't usually that hard I did mine years ago best thing I ever did to that rod!

As to the question of which type of pin I prefer..........The one I am using at the time! As to casting clubs..............If anyone wants me to attend one in their area My time you can have for free I used to ask for a donation to the ACA but as such it no longer exists. However I would be grateful if you would cover just the cost of the fuel

You can Wallis cast with the line coming off the top of the spool a good friend of mine does it all the time and I can manage it also without any great difficulty However it is a damn sight easier if you have the line coming off the bottom of the spool

I'ts a great bite alarm !!!!!!!!!!!

Met him on a few occasions and did some bits of work with him he was a thoroughly decent man who angling owes a great deal to. My condolences to his family RIP

Tiggers response was accurate the Okuma is a good quality pin that will do everything very well and at a reasonable price. The Youngs reels are also perfectly adequate the price tag is larger and the design is a tad different just be aware that the newer Youngs reels seem to be getting made in China though the price tags are the same as when they were made in Redditch.... The Hardy reels are also adequate but stupidly overpriced. The new Adcock Stantons also seem to be good but again are rather pricey. If you want a future collectable and are prepared to lay out a lot of money and wait for years you could also go for a Chris Lythe pin but again in the real world they don't do anything that the Okuma doesn't do. If you go for an Okuma avoid the baseline Adventa and go for the Adventa Pro which is the VT 1002 or the Sheffield. For different reasons I would avoid the Kennet and the Trent models in the case of the former a badly designed line cage and the latter an unecessary star drag system which adds weight. There are a lot of older pins on the secondhand market some will be perfectly good reels others will be garbage avoid the trap of "it spins forever"as this is meaningless in the real world. Caveate Emptor in that market! So you pays your money and makes your choice but before you do spend some time with someone who can use one properly to show you how to handle one and then you will appreciate the value of these reels and enjoy having them. Avoid doing what many have done buy one and then be too stupidly proud to get help in learning how to use it then wind up flogging it later ....blaming the reel!

Okuma VT1002.......simples!

You can get some cream for that you know!!!

There are three clubs that control the best of the fishing in the area Bradford City AA £45 for your first year and £30 thereafter. Bradford No 1 which is a tad dearer and Keighley and district which from memory is about £25 all of these clubs hve got some good fishing on the Aire around Skipton down to Keighley. I'm in Bradford City and Keighley and find that both of these clubs offer great value the fishing on the canal in the Skipton area is controlled by Keighley and your nearest tackle dealer is K&L in Keighley that is where you will get day tickets for the canal and other areas there are none available on the bank. There is a Skipton angling club but I don't have the details of that one as I have never been a member. The Aire is a cracking river but you do need to take a roving approach to get the best out of it. there is some superb fly fishing to be had on the Bradford ticket from Broughton Hall up to Gargrave annd the bit of the Aire at Connoly also has some cracking trout and grayling in it as well so give some thought to some proper fishing! Hope this helps

Nah we need another couple of weeks of this level of rain it will give the Ribble a much needed serious pulling through to clear the bottom properly annd it will clear the banks of those who are frightened of a spate which makes for better fishing for those of us that arn't.......Who selfish????Moi???? :D

Firstly it sounds like there's a problem with your tip ring or possibly with your cast or a combination of the two as for a good trotting line I use good old Diawa Sensor cheap as chips and as tough as old boots perfect for the rough and tumble of trotting for Barbel etc

I will second both of Tony's choices as I have the same rods and they fit perfectly in the boot of the MX5

Complete and total poppycock! If there has been excessive predation by one year class it's because there is nothing else in the river for them to eat.... This would indicate to me that there is a far more fundemental issue with the river and I would suggest some serious studies as to the state of the invertibrates that should be in the river which tend to form the largest elements of a fish's diet. It would appear likely that if there is a big lack of these wee beasties in the river then you are looking at a serious environmental problem. One possibility could be if you have sheep farming going on in the area the use of synthetic pyrethroids as a sheep dip these things are now banned but this may not stop the odd farmer from using some old stock ...or just pouring it away into the river!! Given the now known lethal power of these chemicals it would be a reason for any lack of invertibrate life....The trouble with them is that they are not an easy form of pollution to detect the fish just quietly disappear due to having nothing to eat. Furthermore work may well need to be done to the environment of the river to promote spawning to allow for natural regeneration but firstly some proper studies of the river need to be done as a matter of urgency. The reason you have been given simply does not stack up without there being an underlying more fundemental problem and your club needs to be demanding action from the EA

Me too!

As Sportsman has already pointed out the Lifetime warranty is nothing more than a scam! Quite honestly I have often found that the lesser know or regarded purveyors of fishing tackle often provide some seriously good kit at much better long term value. The firms that spring to mind are Middy, Shakespeare Masterline Ron Thompson etc. Sadly many anglers have become fixated by labels thus proving the old adages about a fool and his money soon being parted...... and there being one born every minute!

If you want to learn how to cast with it drop me a pm

Ribble , Hodder , Aire and Wharfe are all in a right mess I have decided to stop fishing on the grounds that the last thing that our fish need at the moment is the pressure from anglers. I will restart once we have some water in the rivers and the whole thing becomes a sporting option again

Right then for the small rivers you will be looking for a rod in the 8 foot range casting a 3 or 4 weight line as the fishing will be at short to medium range with smallish flies and presentation will matter and when it is low and clear 2lb tippets will be the order of the day ranging up to 5 to 5lb tippets depending on what flies you are using and the conditions you meet. For still waters a rod in the order of 9 feet in length casting a 6 or 7 weight line will fit the bill as your casting range will be greater and a combination of wind and fly size which is usually larger in stillwater applications will mean that you need an outfit that is capable of operating in this sort of challenging environment. The advice I gave to Steve Walker will hold good for you as well as would the tackle he bought. You will need the different outfits for the different applications. If you have to decide which outfit to spend the most money on then I would recommend that you spend it on the river outfit as delicacy and precision tend to be a good deal more vital in that enviroment and sad to say you do have to pay a bit more for it but once you appreciate it then you will see the sense in the argument

Before you part with your money where are you likely to be using the outfit? This is the most important question of all and one that needs an answer before we can provide any decent advice.

Frankly it's neither easier or harder than any other branch of the sport it's simply different, every aspect of angling throws up it's own challenges and each will need to be met in different ways accoring to the strictures of the branch of the sport you are undertaking. In terms of results these will be determined by a number of factors......There are essentially two types of anglers thodse who think about what they do and those who dont. The thinking group can reasonably be expected to have consistantly better results than the unthinking given similar conditions. The other determinant is the ammount and quality of the fishing available to you. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with some reasonable waters around you then assuming you put some thought into what the fish are likely to be doing and wanting and you have put in sufficient practise to deliver your fly accurately and gently then you should expect to reap a decent reward for your efforts. One of the most telling Quotes in flyfishing literature is attributed to Marrryat when he said "it's not the fly it's the driver".....