Whitty

Fishing a bolt rig doesnt stop drop back bites if a fish bolts towards you the line drops slack,its the lead that creates the bolt...

Maybe October,depending on water clarity,temperature etc,once the water clears as the boats ease a little they become less troublesome,in fact you wouldnt know there were any amazingly...

You will soon be coming to the shut off time for bleak,so they wont be a nuisance,horrible things....

I fished the Ouse in Bedford yesterday,I catching quality roach feeding 5 or six maggots a chuck,the more I fed the more bleak I drew in,in summer these days on the Thames you have more chance catching chub on tares,on the feeder it was always small amounts,often because I was expecting a bite from a chub within two minutes,reeling in then to start again...in winter liquidised bread in a tiny cage feeder and breadflake,or small knobs of cheesepaste are most effective maggot has lost its magic as numbers of chub have become less...

Yes,on the far bank,as for the power station outfall,there hasn't been any warm water for some years,the last time I fished it they pumped water,but it wasn't steaming on a frosty morning like it used to,used to catch tench there,but they have spread out since the warmness went,caught a few downstream to over five pounds since though...

There is no one size fits all feeding approach in fishing,each species,weather connotations,water temps,light levels,seasons etc all have bearings on your day,when you say you only fed less than a pint of maggot in two and a half hours,on more than one occasion in matches I've fed one maggot a trot for five hours,on one occasion I weighed over 8lbs and was second in the match,how many maggots is that in total??? The big problem with feeders is most think you must fill them right up,back in the day I used to cut down drennan feederlinks and araldite small arsley bombs into the base,these feeders took around fifteen maggots full,I cannot tell you how many big catches of chub i've taken on these....

Benson above old stone parapets on the far bank,plenty of chub there,roach right through basically on seed,I had fifty pounds of roach the first time I went to Radley practicing for a match,it seemed to be heaving with roach,on the day of the match it fished grim,lol.... The hemp 'happy' time is nearly over,two to three weeks tops...

Not much in there...I really liked the stretch where the old power station outlet pumped out,in the winter with a very small cage feeder with liquidised bread and flake on a 10 hook,you could catch some lovely chub,bream and roach,had some nice barbel there too,Sutton Courtney water,very nice...

Keith's post with diagrams mirrors my own general approach(obviously components used are personal choice),one addition i've been using for quite some time on the running rig is a silicon float stop placed above the lead/feeder,this is useful creating a semi-bolt effect,this position can and is varied dependant on resulting bites and is also very useful on rivers where debris is carried down,keeping the majority of it above your lead and hook.Tigger's post is also very apt,as no swim,river,or even day is the same,so often there is no rig fits all scenario,depending on how you see it on the day trial and error can often result in 'the one'...

Gross Gardons needs mixing with another more sticky groundbait to achieve your goal,try fishing Sensas Lake Black,neat,or mixed 50/50 with fine brown crumb,this is a very sweet g.bait and attractive to roach,bream and skimmers...

Braid has no stretch,if I snag fished for barbel braid reel line might be a good choice,but I do not,I fish a reasonable distance above snags,or nowhere near them, I normally use 10-12lb reel line(quoted)said lines break heavier than that,especially when you take on board the stretch,stretch is my friend for my barbel angling,barbel fight in a shock and awe manner and I need all the help I can get,especially when we are talking big fish,14lbs or more,these fish are monsters in the fight and though not as fast as 7/8lbers are a real test for tackle,you have to be 100% confident in every component,lines,hooks,swivels,knots,reels and rods,I am confident with my choices,so can be very aggressive if needed,I play fish on tight drag settings,no bait runner for me as I don't want mister barbus getting a head of steam up,my venues are relatively small rivers and I dont often fish in flood water,so 3ozs would normally be my maximum lead...

Well I don't really know,surely somebody wants him,I mean blimey buying a thirty six year old is really for old times sake...

I believe Kane is a fool to stay at Spurs,he will win nothing there,so he will retire with nothing,how sad,he has given his best years to the club,it is time for him to think of his bucket list...

Love it too John,recording it as the missus is watching Vera...tigger isnt keen.

It used to be great dace fishing,3 to a pound,plenty of bream these days I believe....

I've fished a lot at Newbridge,Northmoor,Kings weir,Tadpole Bridge,Sandford,Wallingford,Benson,Culham,Abingdon,Dorchester,a little around Windsor and a bit on the tidal at Richmond,probably more...

I havent fished the Thames for two years,I have a history of match fishing at a high level and have won matches on the Thames,Gt.Ouse,Trent,plus a few others,canals lakes,though not for a while(too old,lol),these days I fish nearer to home (Luton),on local rivers,lakes etc,I love barbel and chub fishing on rivers,tench,crucian carp and bream on stillwaters,loving quality roach anywhere,the problem with roach on the feeder is hooking bites,the only really successful rig I know is the helicopter rig,which isn't so effective on rivers,also the average weight of roach is relatively low,ie 3-8ozs,yes you catch bigger,but...these bigger fish are a little easier to hook on the lead/feeder,float fishing,when shotting is sorted has a far more effective fish to bite ratio,I believe it is all resistance related,fishing has no hard and fast rules,roach feed sometimes hard on the deck,at others 6" deep, another key factor is the roach's love to compete for loose feed,this gives opportunities for regular bites on the float,as I say there is no definite rules so how many bites you miss will be an on the day thing,but you WILL miss a greater amount of bites resulting in more and more recasts,which in turn result in more missed bites,a never ending circle... And thanks for the welcome...

I will send you a picture of them on messenger,to be honest I can't remember the exact price,but they were ridiculously cheap...

I laughed when I read the opening few pages of this thread,if you are fishing big leads on the Severn,Trent or Wye it would be wise to buy a reel with strong gearing,just to cope with heavy leads/feeders in strong flows,however I have barbel fished a lot,but most of my chosen venues are smaller less powerful rivers where a 4000 sized reel is best,with most situations easily covered by leads up to three ounces,normally half that or less,'cranking' power was an issue to me when I fished the Thames,normally back then I used a Shimano Stradic 4000 GTM,this is a rear drag reel and when the river was carrying water and a three ounce feeder was required the reel didn't like winding these in,yet a cheap front drag 4000 Shimano (£15) horsed it in easily,now all my reels have gone front drag,the drag is better,the winding power is there,happy days. Whilst on summer holidays in Dorset my wife,youngest son(18) and I enjoy a bit of lrf for mini species,mainly in Poole Harbour,but Swanage too,Weymouth on occasion,anyway I was looking for a cheap 500 sized reel for my son,well I ended up paying silly money(£5 each I think)for a reel with supposedly 12 bearings,well,it looks ok,but it obviously isn't a Shimano,but we have used them now for three summers, three weeks away,probably around twenty shortish sessions,I rinse them off after each session,they still run nicely,line lay isn't the best,but it's not that bad either,horses for courses so to speak,as I could spend sixty or seventy quid easily,but because of the rugged nature of the fishing the price seemed excellent...

I do not use braid mainline at all,in fact I rarely use it for hooklink material either,though I went through a spell whilst barbel fishing,personally I think braid is very obvious,but is supple,monos are far more versatile,some are supple,some are stiff,in general I found monos were more successful in my barbel fishing,so that is what I fish,at times I use fluorocarbon,though I remain a little unsure on the actual effectiveness over ordinary monos,that said if using a hair,said hair stays good presentation wise because of the stiffness of the shortish link...

Hi Keith,THEY told us trout pellets couldn't be digested by cyprinid species,yet then created marine halibut pellets,more oily,harder etc,a halibut can be fished for two casts of forty minute duration no problem,a trout pellet is softening around its outer edges quite quickly,i've found cyprinids feed better on trout pellet feed,that does not however mean that I throw buckets in,it is a very rare day I throw a kilo as feed into any venue,but all feeding should be carefully thought out imo...

Hi,I've caught many,many large bags of fish on hemp and tares,on virtually any water that holds a decent head of roach,fast,slow,still,canals,the lot,on the GtOuse,Trent,Thames I have caught big bags of chub and roach,50lb plus bags of roach an all of these rivers,I suggest you use small shot,no.8's or smaller,in small bulks and individual droppers,starting on or near ths bottom with a slowish fall,but they do come right up so be aware,often fishing 3ft deep or less with one no.10 down is lethal,hook sizes on tare would normally be 16/18,but I've caught well at times on a 12,I hope this is some help...

On the Thames you are unlikely at best to get a match winning weight of roach on the feeder,the pole or waggler will usually outscore the feeder by a country mile,bleak are a real issue on the Thames in summer,even on the feeder,weights of roach upwards of ten pounds,to more than thirty can only be amassed with a float,you would be missing nine out of ten bites on the lead... Hemp and tares,sometimes just hemp are best maybe slipping and odd caster or maggot on the hook,particularly early in the session...

Hi,John...

In my opinion trout pellet are the most attractive pellets for course fish,mainly down to breakdown and oil levels,which are attractive to smaller fish,which in turn are attractive to larger ones,halibuts have a slow breakdown and therefore a slower digestion time,if you want to flavour trouts,get oil based flavours and put a bit in a bag full of pellet,this will slow breakdown a bit,but....