AndyM

Hemp, worms, sweetcorn and bread

the critical angle for light entering water is somewhere around 40 degrees to the surface, hence reduced light in the water and more confident feeding when the sun is lower in the sky (dawn/dusk). In regards to oxygen levels in the water, I couldn't say how the levels effect our native fish (tropical fish no problem ) but some general guidelines are that levels should ideally be between 8 and 10 mg/l (or better) below 20C, or between 5 and 8 mg/l over 20C, 2mg/l is the critical point. Here's a quick table to the maximum levels of oxygen which can be absorbed in freshwater at a given temp. Temp ---- mg/l or ppm 5C (41F)-----12.8 10C (50F)----11.3 15C (59F)----10.1 20C (68F)-----9.1 25C (77F)-----8.3 30C (86F)-----7.6 35C (95F)-----6.9 At each given temp, most fish require 75% or more of the max, and will seek these areas out. As most of the oxygen enters water via the surface, even a slight ripple can make a big difference, due to it increasing the surface area 2 or 3 times, hence allowing more to be absorbed etc. Again I have to stress that each species of fish will have it's own requirements, ie. barbel will require much more oxygen than tench say, but I've not researched our coarse fish to the same point as I have tropical fish, to give values to species and how it effects them. Assume that fish from fast running waters or surface lovers to prefer/require higher levels however. [ 12. August 2003, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: AndyM ]

without meaning to look thick, what are the down sides of using a metal disgorger? Only ask due to the fact that the shop which I went to to get the kit to start myself up again in course fishing, tried to sell me a metal one "as being better" until I said I wanted a double ended one so I could remove large and small hooks.

make sure he's changed all his detail like CLI (caller line identification) with the ISP, as some will only take traffic from a certain phone number to avoid abuse to the system ie. 2 or more computers using the same account (usually they will allow download of email, but not upload from a number not specified). Likewise make sure he doesn't have number with held active. Has the surftime package been transfered to this new phone line? and does he have the same problem if he tries pay as you go?

ditto on my local canal. hopefully not only will it lead to an increase in size of the pike and perch, but also the chubb which are coming out around the 1 to 2lb mark atm.

soak for 24hrs, then boil until soft but not split. I think it's Anglers mail which has an artical on them this week.

the todmorden stretch is a controlled area yeah? and not open to day ticket I've heard :confused: Yeah this stretch is near slattocks, just a mile or two nearer Manchester. It's not gin clear atm due to the kids playing around the lock and the weather, although it was a few weeks ago before the schools broke up. I don't think he spotted me baiting the swim (or at least he said he didn't), but he just saw the activity in the swim and decided to fish it. I had put a half dozen balls of sensas match (roach,perch,bream,tench) mixed 50/50 with liquidised bread and put hemp, castors, sweetcorn, sensas 3mm strawberry carp pellets, and some larger strawberry hook pellets over the top. Rather than wander off topic further, I'll PM you regarding other waters in the area.

Cheers again. So I take it I need to buy a pole a couple of meters longer than I will usually use (especially at the cheaper end), just to get the right balance? Rich, I'm fishing the stretch near Mills Hill train station (Middleton Rd) from behind the Rose of Lancaster upto the lock which only needed a minor clean up and wasn't drained like alot of others. There are not too many ppl fishing it apart from a few kids after anything that will bite, but there are a few of us there on a regular basis catching a fair number of tench with the odd biggish bream (durring a hot spell you offen see a few schoals of them 20 or so strong around the 7 or 8lb mark up on the surface) although I've not managed to pick off more than one or two of them per session (the bream that is). Roach wise, there are loads of them around the 2 to 4oz size and once you bring them into your swim it's a bite a cast (usually no more than 15" out), I must have had over 50 of them in a 2hr period last Sunday on maggot, with the odd bigger one around 8oz coming on casters. I had planned on going for the tench, but the swim I bait up the evening before had had someone night fishing it (don't you just love it when some else get the benefit), and he had 8 or 9 of them, biggest 5.5lb. the better areas I'd guess are the other way from the Rose of Lancaster (towards Manchester) behind the mills/factorys where it's slightly deeper and wider, although it's much harder to fish as the tow path is narrower (forget using a pole) and with the number of joggers/dog walkers etc. anything other than stalking is impossible (you also get the odd d@*&heads on quad bikes racing up and down at weekends). You'll offen see the bigger fish rolling round here, and with the extra reed beds on the near bank would make for some fun sport. I'm not sure who if anyone has stocked it, but there are even the odd small chub around the 1lb being caught which could be fun in a few years time, and is fishing much better than I remember when I was a kid (I've yet to blank here in the dozen or so times I've been down there since starting up again). [ 31. July 2003, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: AndyM ]

yes, cheers

Howdy, Ok I've just started to take up course fishing again (2 or 3 weeks ago) after around 15 years away, although I've done a bit of sea fishing during that time (if only to void shopping with the wife and in-laws when we visit up in Scarborough). So I went out and bought a 13' carp waggler rod, reel etc. etc. but now think using a pole might be a good idea for the fishing I'm doing. Most of it (bar one evening session) has been on my local stretch of the Rochdale canal, where I've been bringing out small roach, perch and skimmers for fun, with some decent tench to 4lb as well. Now, here start the questions, I've never used a pole before except a 4m whip when I was younger, so haven't a clue about elastic numbers/colours etc. and was wondering if someone could just give me a brief run down on the basics. Also, with a very limited budget could anyone reccomend a cheap pole able to handle the fish I might bump into (tench to around 5lb, bream to 8lb and judging by the run I had by one fish which snapped me off, some single figure carp) as I notice most poles accept upto a certain rated elastic. The reason for the pole is to fish hard against the reeds etc. on the far bank for the tench/bream, when it becomes hard to sink the line on rod and reel and avoid drift (kids keep openning the lock). Range is around 9m. Cheers for any help.

Why thank you, not bad for a first post here

I think 4M pixels will suit your needs. Problem with 5M cameras is that they are at the top of the current consumer end of things, hence you pay a premium for them, so don't quite get the value for money that a good 4M will give you (most prosumer SLR's are still in the 3M to 6M range, so megapixels arn't everything, it just it allows more in the way of cropping). A good 4 or 5M digital will give just as good a results if not better, than an APS or standard 35mm as the imaging sensor is much more sensitive in low light situtations compared to film, plus the lens tend to be better in digital cameras compared to the equivelent film camera. Most cameras use the same CCD (imaging sensor) with only a few manufactors like Fuji making there own, so the difference in quailty between most of them is in the lens and the inbuilt software which interprates the data, features etc. have a look at some of these websites which have some very good info, and excellent reviews. http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.php?lang=en http://www.imaging-resource.com/INDEX.HTM http://www.dcviews.com/ File sizes also vary depending on the megapixel of the sensor, file format, compression, plus the subject, ie. a jpg file of a subject where the majority of the picture is of the same colour, will produce a smaller file than a picture where you have smaller areas of colour and tone. Look for a camera which has at it's best jpg setting a compression ratio of 1:4 at most, with 1:2.5 alot better. Cheaper cameras might be 1:6 or even 1:8 which really you should avoid if printing out in large sizes. TIFF or RAW images give best results, but do take up alot of memory, and like has been said, a low compression JPG will not give a noticeable decrease in quailty, yet will use only 10-20% of the space needed for a TIFF. It is a good idea though to convert the JPG's to TIFF files once on your PC if you plan to play about with them, otherwise the quailty will decrease after each save as compression is added ontop of compression etc. etc. Printing wise, to get the best results have a look at documentation which comes with your printer, as it will give the ppi value it performs best with, which for most inkjets is in the 200 to 300 range, and resample your image to that. Most cameras sample the images they take to around 72ppi which is what most monitors are set to (hence the problem Peter Sharpe was having with over sized images, the lens are also not really that good on the Traveler cameras, plus jpg compression high even on it's best setting), but this is easy enough to change in most software packages (printing software which comes with the printer might already do this on the fly for you). Have a look at the photo printers, while standard inkjets might give very good results and be quicker, the inks used might not be upto the same quailty, and fade quicker. Photo printers can be bought for under £100 like the Epson photo 815, which give very good results, but tend to be slow and noisy, so spending abit more here might be better for yourself. Epson, Canon and HP all make good photo printers in different price bands, and with alittle practice, gives better results than most high street developers do with 35mm. Matching the correct paper to the inks used is also an important factor as not all inks are the same and neither are the papers, but for starters match the printer with the same brand papers, although Canon papers tend to work very well with both Canon and Epson printers, with Kodak papers working well with HP's.