Houseplant

sure, the law is on their side, but British anglers tend to behave a little differently when we are instructed to kill a species. i'm thinking of the catfish debacle. also, judging by the tone of some of the posts on aussie/NZ forums, the carp kill sessions seem far from a chore.

yeah, it's interesting. i'm planning a trip to NZ at the moment and the attitude over there is similar. it's pretty much wanton destruction of anything that isn't a trout or salmon, although perch seem to get slightly more respect, probably because they'll take a lure or fly. from our point of view, it seems like an awful waste of a great sporting opportunity, however, they have a totally different perspective. they live in underpopulated countries with good stocks of natural game fish that can be caught on what are perceived to be sporting methods. carp will just muddy the water and detract from this. given the choice of fishing in the wilderness with a minimum amount of gear versus lugging half-a-ton of kit to some muddy carp hole, i know what i'd choose (gross stereotypes aside). however, i'm stuck here, fishing for our rather dull, grazing fish, so i'll make the best of it.

err, i don't know, that was the point of the post.

Strangely, I usually have a couple of bin bags with me when I'm fishing for the purpose of collecting other peoples rubbish . Didn't think to use one on this occasion though, good tip .

Pike, but it's the first fish from this water in around 50 that hasn't been a jack, in fact the first fish that's bigger than 4lb or so. They're usually unhooked in the water/net (barbless single) and released straight away, so no need for a mat.

fireline is a bit different to most braids, in fact, technically i'm not sure if it's even a braid. anyway, i'd go for 10 or 14 lb CRYSTAL fireline. there was a thread about it a while back. it's cheap enough on flea-bay now.

thanks, some variation there, it's difficult to estimate, i conservatively put it at 16 lb. one of those days when i regretted not routinely carrying scales. there is certainly a tinge of red on the fins. to give a little background, it came from a small river well into darkess. as i was walking home, i saw a swirl right up against the bank. rod was still set-up, so i tossed in a mackeral head and a few minutes later, this beauty was on the bank

A genuine question, it was caught a few weeks back, before the cold spell. It was 36 inch long. Please no debate about lack of unhooking matt, it was an unexpected capture, the grass was soft and checked for sharp debrtis.

Thanks for the info Steve. In answer to the original question, this is one of the reasons Just a baby, but the result of a 1 hour spinning session. It was almost topped by the look on the faces of the local matchmen when they realised that their stretch of river had been invaded

Steve, that's an interestting article. You mention lobworms, whitebait and bread. Any other 'big' baits come to mind when fishing for whatever comes along on a river in winter? Also, do you always use a bread-based feed, or are you happy to fish big baits without groundbait? Cheers Andrew

No I haven't gone mad, but I bought some of those old fashioned, awful bubble floats for a forthcoming trip abroad. They're ideal for backpacking because they are simple and mean that I don't have to cary lead around. I was going to get some of those flash Fox in-line ones, but settled on the old style which were one tenth of the cost. Anyway, does anyone know a neat, safe way for attaching these contraptions to the mainline?

A spliced tip match rod is my first choice for light, near bank legering, so don't get caught up with names on rods. A non-spliced tip rod would be happier with more weight. However, I would personally avoid the screw-in tips as they're horrible to use. Not surprisingly, they don't bend continously with the rod blank and tangles follow.

Just got some, 14lb for feeder fishing. Any user reports? If it has the same characteristics as the original Fireline, it's the perfect line for me

Hi guys, thanks for your input so far. Sorry for taking time to reply as I have limited internet access atm. I'm off to NZ for 10 days tramping. Will be wilderness camping and planning on doing as much fishing as the half will let me. We've decided to go to the central area of the North Island and walk one of the routes that runs along two famous trout rivers. Looking for a few trout to supplement the pasta and rice

Off to NZ in April, would love to hear from anyone who has done the tramping and fishing thing.

Good going mate . I went bits bashing on a local stretch of river the other day and really struggled, landing only a micro-perch. It can be tough fishing at this time of year.

If you can stretch the budget a little bit, look at the 4 piece Daiwa Exceler Spinnning rods. I have two, 9ft and 10ft and keep raving about them to anyone that will listen

Fishing with less gear has become a bit of a preoccupation for me. I've come to the conclusion that while I can carry terminal tackle that will realistically catch everything from bleak to pike in a small rucksack and that I only need two rods to cover most eventualities, it's fishing comfortably that's the clincher. As much as I like fishing light, the thought of spending a whole day in one spot without a decent chair, umbrella and enough food and drink is not a good one (roving sessions are different of course).

Hi Seph Things are good right now. Been working my ass off over the last couple of months. People in Cov seem to like smashing bottles over each other's heads, so that's keeping me busy Apart from that, I was doing an awful lot of diving and managed to bugger my right ear drum, no hearing loss or pain, but no diving, so have been fishing. Still jack hunting on the Leam and was doing well until all this bloody rain came. Managed a few near doubles and *nearly* had a carp out . I have a little free time on my hands up until Christmas, so up for any fishing trip offers , still no car though I'll PM you my phone number. Cheers Andrew

cheers guys, not a total disaster if i end up with it then

Had a party at my house last night. Was near paralytic, but managed to get on ebay and put an offer in for a rod I'm not even sure I want. Woke up this morning and had no memory of it until I logged on to ebay and saw it Any way, it's one of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...p;rd=1&rd=1 Any good?

To answer the question, the moment between the livebait going apesh*t and the pike float sliding away into the depths. A close second is fishing with 'match' tackle on a nice pond in summer, striking at what is thought to be yet another tiny roach and meeting solid resistance in the form of a good tench or carp. As for the other matter, that could be discussed endlessly, but on the basis of personal experience and about two dozen pike safely landed, there's no problem with leaving the take a few seconds when using a single circle hook. Never had a fish hooked anywhere but the scissors.

Sounds like a good experience. I fished matches as a junior and did ok, winning a few junior club prizes. I learnt a lot from the experience and appreciated the time that older members gave to helping me out. I stopped match fishing mainly because I enjoy the freedom that pleasure fishing brings. Also, I was truely disgusted by the treatment of fish by some match anglers. I remember an incident on a Thames venue with a high bank. The weigh-in was happening on top of the bank and the anglers were tipping their keepnets out from there onto a shallow beach below, leaving the fish to flap there way out of the very shallow water. I ran up the bank making sure all the fish got into deeper water and nearly missed my own weigh-in.

Strongly agree. If I catch an emaciated fish, I tend to do the reverse. Pop a smallish bait down it's throat just before release. If it doesn't want it, it can get rid of it easy enough.

The cortland rods look like a fantastic deal, especially the 11 ft version. I use a similar Daiwa rod for most of my big fish fishing and the 4 piece format is very handy for travelling abroad. Very tempted, but I just don't need one