darrell.cook

Recently bought a Canon A75 - very pleased and well worth a look!! Try to make sure it takes normal batteries (AA etc. ) I previously had a Sony - good camera but used a specific battery which cost £40 - ouch!! One other thing, I bought mine from Jessops - but at the best price I could find on the 'net. They will match prices of any UK based web-site

The teach in, offered by Budgie and Lyn, is witout doubt an excellent introduction to Piking. The only way to start piking is to be guided by someone with experience - you owe it to the fish. I remember the snowy day at Angling Projects! ( Very fondly )

My past experince of conti - seatboxes: Browning river box - nice box, let down by poor hinges, lifting the top section the hinges would often drift apart. The hinges are designed like this so as to make the box modular. Also the top section had no stop - so it would go right over, putting a lot of strain on the base hinges. Boss box. Same issues really, nice sturdy sqaure leg system though. I prefer side drawers, this was a problem with this box as the drawers were blocked by the legs in certain positions. also the locking pin system, whereby you withdraw the pin to allow the drawers to be opened, not really what you expect on a product costing this much money. Kiley river box - Best by far, Each lift up section has a metal stay which supports and locks in position. Each drawer has an independent ball catch at the back for positive locking. It's big well made and I could not find fault with it! Despite being very pleased with the Kiley, I no longer have that one either - the fishing I do doesn't suit a conti-box, my river fishing is now one net, one rod, and a small bucket type bag containing all I need. Must say I enjoy it all the more for taking all the less ! ( mind you a chalkstream is a very different beast to the Tees !! )

Personally I'd go with Shimano. They're proven quality, and for me the rear drag adjustment is preferable - personal choice. I've tried Quantums, didn't like the front drag and poor line lay. Tried Daiwa Regal Z's, didn't like line lay. Looked at the John wilson Baitfeeders on E-bay, Brand new you could kit yourself out with a pair for £50 - just PM the guys who sell them regularly. Colours are a bit, shall we say - Gawdy ?, though if you're considering Maver Tica's this can't be an issue! lol. I remeber my local tackle shop, actively pushing the Tica's a few years back, I thought they were a bit "plasticy", didn't strike me as a reel that would last the test of time - that's just an observation not based on any experience of them. I have quite recently bought an Okuma Genic fixed spool reel - not a baitrunner, It's superb, and excellent value for money. So if this is typical of Okuma products - don't ignore them. Okuma Baitfeeder reels are always on E-bay.

[[/qb] I've actually witnessed a similar incident myself. It happened to a friend of mine on South Norwood Park Lake in the sities. [/QB] Where exactly is the Sities, Steve ? Joking aside it does add weight to the fish / pain theory

So who is it for you ? Hayes, Wilson, Bailey - one of the "carpy" boys ?

Can't disagree with anything written here. A few seasons back I regularly fished a small pond that had a good head of tench - nothing big, but plenty of them. At the time I worked nights, so I prebaited on my way to work and fished it when I finished. I prebaited with a groundbait called "Stench". I think it was made by Whizzo (?). If you can find it - definately worth a go! Add some corn, with corn on the hook - they fizzed like mad!

As a kid my reels were a Winfield closed face ( woolworths ) and an intrepid Boyo. My mate - who later became the worlds greatest tackle tart - had a mitchell match. Oh, how I envied him that reel! Recently - I've bought two Mitchell 300,s ( E-bay ) and a pair of Mitchell Matchs' ( car boot sale ). One Match is unused and I intend to keep it that way ( Can't quite explain why - to me it's a combination of nostalgia and an appreciation of it's aesthetics ). The other one is now my main fixed spool for waggler fishing. Same with the 300's. one is boxed and appears unused - the other I use for legering, and floater fishing. I think they perform well, look the part, and remind me of when I started. Also the clutch makes a lovely noise !

Tend to agree, I think the barbel thing is a myth ( nowadays anyway ). As you say it's the sort of river where you would expect them to thrive. A guy Saturday had a 15lb carp from below the pub, Very short and fat - the carp, not the angler! lol. I had a similar shaped one last winter ( 10lb ). I think sometimes people hook and loose these and think it's a barbel - hence the myth is reborn. I had 5 nice chub last night - didnt have my scales but the two biggest were knocking on 5lb. Caught them further up-river at Chickenhall Lane. This river is Heaven!!

Picked one up at a car boot sale. Packs down to about 10" and weighs next to nothing. Cost £2. One of those items that are always at boot sales.

Local rumours are that there are indeed Barbel in the Itchen. Apparently one guy had three from Gators mill - I've heard ( but not seen ) that there are photos in Home Stores tackle shop in Swaythling. Anybody know anything ??

Anyone thinking of taking up piking could have no better instruction than from Budgie. I speak with experience, as Gray Catchpole and I drove up the M4 one snowy morning a few years back and attended the original one!! That day enabled me to make up rigs, understand bite indication requirements and best of all put my first pike on the bank! I've since put a few on the bank - no monsters (YET!!) all thanks to a great grounding in the basics. Would love to attend a weekend session! look forward to more info!!

yawn

Yoxer! complete with a christian heart ( Clutched in his hand )

Sad day when we beat up a youngster! He's obviously young and obviously keen, keen to develope his angling and his computer skills. We should encourage him, he forms the future.

up their own ar*es

see if anyone had bid on his "entrance" on ebay

Thread lock is available through motor factors etc. Usually made by Lok tite, be very careful with it as one drop is a lot! Also bear in mind that there will be times when you wish to remove it, for cleaning etc. too much threadlock could make this extremely difficult. I found that grinding the center of a large flat blade screwdriver, so that it resembled a fork made a useful tool for tightening said nut.

But the size 6 Raptor nicked poor Stella's toe. With a hiss and wizz she went down on our intrepid hero!

admired his waggler

Thanks for the info Newt. No techie myself, so I wondered if they played a part in the cr*p service I have with tiscali. With this type of service I still get a "dial up" pop up which usually takes several attempts to make a connection, message says " unable to make a connection". Also if I leave it, for say 20 minutes, it's disconnected me. Other times it works fine ( maybe 30% of the time ) and the speed is much better than my old true dial up with freeserve.

But there was a split down the nose

Why the end of his waggler was so red

His waggler took some beating

Fantastic laughed till I cried ( I'm an ebay junkie! )