Whitty

Fewer posts, but also less members, less topics, the lot, more aggressive debate on forums that deters many from even bothering...

I must agree Peter, he was on another forum at one time, as a paid contributor and didn't do much for me I'm afraid, also when you questioned his methods, for clarification you understand, not picking, he wasn't very forthcoming, as though we should pay for his written word and he had already supplied his quota...

I believe John joined the club Keith, but living at Abingdon the journey can be taxing...

The water treatment people must be in league with the devil himself as they are completely immune to fines.... as we the customer have to pay them out of our bills(even though we don't want the muck in the rivers), unless the shareholders/boards of these companies are punished directly it will never ever stop!!!

Social media is an awful place to talk fishing, you get the anti anglers, the women after your account numbers and the underhand spoilers, I'm sure the problem is many people love talking about angling but don't want to debate it, which happens quite a lot within forums, wanting to use a forum is a bit like wanting to go fishing, you either do or you don't.... As to being quiet on AN, it is a self perpetuating problem, the less people post the less people look in, new, potential members look at the post numbers and just don't bother, Ian mentions Maggot Drowners, but the forum is match orientated and even though I used to be a dedicated matchman, imho today's match anglers are only interested in catching 200lbs plus, not the skill in catching 2lbs from a hard natural venue, so it is our choice, the days of hundreds of members potentially posting every day are long gone, these days it is easier to click onto YouTube and watch videos of your interest....

Sadly that isn't an option,we have an autistic son(22)whom if he wakes it is my shift,the wife has the short straw as she stays up as he doesn't go to bed until midnight most nights and if you push it he has serious behaviour issues...

We go down to Dorset on Friday,I'm dreading it,the weather is so warm that I won't be doing anything other than trying to find some shade,how is that a holiday,I usually fish every evening on the Stour,just the thought of marching down the bank at around 3-4pm sweating buckets does little to excite me....

My rant is that this forum has slowly lost following,where hardly a thread is started,or answered,so nothing happens,just another ten or fifteen regularish posters would make this fly,the comments like 'why dont you do it then ' doesnt really apply as nobody replies with a question,or contrasting opinion,so you drift into everybody else's apathetic style.....rant over(and out).

Haha,I check my posts before putting them on,but as soon as I click to post auto corrective spelling kicks in,which would be OK if it was the right word it was spelling,now I can't remember what the tampon was supposed to be,but at least I've corrected the blender....

These hook tyres,made and shipped from China are pretty good,they are gold in colour,knearled,with a threaded section around halfway which when unscrewed reveals a twin pointed loop there,these are sharp,like dart points,I can tie loops by hand very easily,but these points are brilliant for knot picking,I have already had one around a year but decided to pick up two spares in case I drop one in,so I picked these up for £3.56 post free,they arrived in around two weeks,a proper bargain in my view,a warning,search around because there are many sellers of these and some are asking 5 or 6 quid...

Right people,I bought one many years ago,a daewoo halogen thing that we found next to useless,so after three or four attempts is banished on top of kitchen cabinets,but having seen a few things on YouTube and seeing how much better they seem now I'm tempted to have another try,question is,how much,how big,particular models etc,so any help would be greatly appreciated....

In my opinion their mouths and eyes are the biggest giveaway,as chub have a big mouths with basically level lips(in the perpendicular,dace have a slight top lip protrusion,as do roach,rudd the opposite,it is possible to mistake decent roach(say a pound)with similar sized ideas,but ide do not have orangey red eyes,more golden,like rudd. They are easy to differentiate once you have caught them a few times,but....

John,clean all dust from fridged maggots then put them in a plastic bag removing as much air as possible,tie them up and keep them in a cool box/bag,with ice blocks,when you take them out for use open the bag and place in a bait box putting some maize meal on them,the vast majority will be wriggling again in an hour.Tips,small batches,say half to one pint per bag,that way your wastage would be minimilised as your problem would be chilling them back down after usage,hope this helps....

Horses for courses Ken,didn't realise your types of fishing,no doubt drags could burn out etc,all of my fishing is done with various 4000 sized reels,if I fished different styles I might need bigger,I have two 500's and one 1000 for life and that's it.

I agree with the general idea behind your post Ken,but,I have just sold six Shimano reels,two stradic 4000's,two aero match 3's,and two fighting drag lesser older offerings like the stradic in operation,all worked perfectly,I got good prices and no complaints,the only reason I sold them is I now prefer front drag reels,when I barbel fish I can be casting 3ozs or so,in strong flows,I fish very regularly and catch a fair few fish(when conditions allow)but I've never worn a reel out yet,now these Cadence offerings may be the first,but I don't lure fish much,but I'm sure that reeling weights in flow must wear more rigorously,so I would like to know how your reels are wearing??? Not having a go,just interested.

I happened to look online and happened to see a Guru reel,Aventis is it,£289 I think it was,it wouldn't matter if it was £269,are they worth it,I've been using Cadence reels for the last three seasons,seem pretty good to me,this is from an angler who has had several Shimano's up to Stradic's,Daiwa's some of which I use,but I have 2 Cadence CS7's and one CS10 all in the 4000 size,drags are excellent,the CS10 is £120 tops if I remember correctly,I just cannot believe the Guru is more than twice as good,also,my brain tells me that if I find a decent reel for a fair price,if I buy 1-2-3 of them,I get spare spools a plenty,plus spare reels,all interchangeable,which I know are perfectly usable,logic,obviously not,unless the people who buy the Guru buy three for nearly 900 squids,my wife would put me up against the wall and shoot me... P.S. I know people spend their money on what they wish,it is just the way I equate it and I like to fish with decent gear...

Well,diesel £1.99 a litre,petrol £1.91,why,apparently the price has come down per barrel yet prices haven't gone down at the pump,yet the cheeky beggars put the price up daily and we all know that the tanks in the filling stations weren't empty,so they were making stacks,our government haven't reduced fuel duty to help leaving everybody paying twice as much for everything,it will soon come that thousands of people will have to give up their jobs as they can't afford to commute and pay their rents,mortgages,loans,gas,electric,council tax and food bills,when are people going to realise that not everyone can get employment that pays £50,000 plus per annum,I'm glad I'm out of it,I pity those that have to think in such a way....

Not good especially if it had happened at night whilst he was snoozing....

The Ouse at Bromham has fast shallow water and deep slow stretches,roach are there to the sizes you speak of,but there are hordes of smaller ones,which in summer can be a pest,on tare too,I fished the Lea on Saturday and had around 25 lovely roach,up to maybe just under the pound,smallest 4ozs,but only one that small,the vast majority around 8-10ozs,lost a definite 2lber,on 6mm banded pellet,fished hemp and tare and though they ate it,they seemed very spooky...

I don't,apart from when wind is coming hard,as I use my penrose frame and a brolly bracket on the legs,if it is really strong and from an awkward angle it doesn't work well,but most times

You wont do brilliantly on hemp and tare at MK John,the river doesn't hold the head of roach it used to up there...

John,it is free fishing in Bedford,due to the Magna Carta,I've fished there since a boy,it is a bite a chuck on tare(once they get going),worth taking some corn too,parking can be an issue,if you go on a Saturday the college car park is two quid a day,paid via card in a machine,there is a free car park further downstream,one bonus is the banks are basically flat,with tarmac footpaths,lots of hard bank(so banksticks,brollies can be a problem in places),must be seventy miles from you surely,this river is fairly wide,slow through Bedford,scullers can be a pain in the rear,especially school kids learning,the Ouse either side of Bedford is a totally different beast,narrower,shallower,with weed and more flow....

Ended up going fishing at 2pm,was going tenching,but as I went past the clubs river car park I saw there was only one car in there,so river it was,5 barbel between 5-8lbs(plus a baby about 12ozs in milt)and 5 nice chub 2-4lbs(plus 3 10-12ozs fish),so happy days,at least I got my string pulled...

I fish a stretch of the Gt Ouse in Bedford,I can assure you it is absolutely solid with roach,dace,perch,skimmers,plus bream,but after Christmas(sometimes before)you will struggle for a bite,on anything,pinkie,maggot,worm,bread,but its still solid,think of it like yourself,when you are full,your not going to eat one more 'waffle thin mint',that is just the way of it,fish are cold blooded,their metabolism slows down to the stage that they won't feed,even chub,a friend of mine was telling me about a match he fished on the Ouse where he spotted a good shoal of nice roach to well over a pound he loose fed casters and the roach ignored them totally,letting them slide down their flanks without moving station,also there are other times when fish are feeding on the loose feed and won't take your baited hook,that makes it appear no fish are present think hard and long here,if every fish that was in the river in the summer shoaled into certain pockets,there would be millions of them,you wouldn't be able to trot through without foul hooking them,I'm afraid that is why it's called fishing not catching....