Starvinmarvin

No nothing about the Okuma's, my recommendation would be a SL20SH, bit more money than your budget, but has a proven record, had mine 2 years and love it, good strong little reel. Alternatively have a look at the Fladen's, built in the ABU factory, look a great bit of kit, not as bullet proof as the SL20SH, but still a nice bit of kit, think that Speciman has one, so hopefully he will come along and give you some better information on them. Sm

Yep I'm leaving Friday morning to hopefully fish from Noon, fly, lure and bait, have I missed anything SM

Sadly the Tope died after the captor tried to release it, see NormB's comment at the end of the thread. SM

I'll bring some rice

It's nothing to worry about, just be more careful next time it is possible to repair some minor cuts and grazes, but it's also possible to do serious damage to the structure of the kayak so unless it's a hole I really wouldn't worry. SM

The Grip and Weight is very good, it is showing signs of rust around the arm joints, even though it gets rinsed after every trip, have tested the accuracy and it's spot on, well as long as the weights that I weighed it with were SM

Hi Stevem, what are you going to target with a 10 wt. For Bass on the fly from the kayak, a 6wt will provide more sport, an 8 wt if punching into the wind, there isn't the distance problem associated with fishing from land. 8/9 wt will also be fine for Pike fishing. If your after the 10 wt for other species the best place to ask is the Fly fishing forum, Fishing Chat at the top then select the Fly Forum, nice bunch of knowledgeable guys. SM

Check out the AnglersAfloat review. http://www.anglersafloat.co.uk/Review_XTools.html Sm

Talking of tarts, look at you with your sail SM

Have had the filleting knife for over 12 months washed down and dried after every trip or filleting job and only get the odd spot of rust on the edge of the blade, the blade is still extremely sharp, that and the discorgers are the best items from the range, the rest, well you know the rest. Sm

Been watching the Ushanka's flying off on ebay, does this mean we are going to be sharing the bunk house with a bunch of Cossacks... first sign of a handle bar moustache and I'm sleeping in my van

I'll bring some soup

As Darnsarf says, most important thing is to be able to swing the line around both ends of the yak, the other thing worth mention is length of the butt, you don't want it to go much past your elbow when your in a winding position otherwise it will catch on your PFD and generally be a pain. Bottom fishing most use a 12lb class rod, but anything between 6-20lb will be fine, the lighter you go the more sport you will have, a 12lb class is all that we use for Tope fishing Best thing to do is use what you have at first, then buy rods to suit your needs once you have been out a few times. SM

Starting to make preparations this weekend, off to get some bait so like Nifty need to know about the size of that freezer, mind you only going to take a few packs. What we doing about eating in the evening, is there a pub somewhere nearby or will I have to give my Mrs Beeton's a dusting off SM

Just don't drop it

Mark an alternative would be to use the new Scotty Screw in mount, it looks tiny and use a pair of their rodmaster holders, alternatively get some RAM Mount's, only down side is that the rods will be behind and above you, which the kids may find harder to get at. For children, I would probably stick with a holder up front or to their side like I've done on the Malibu II XL Project on AnglersAfloat, that way they will have less chance of ending up in the water SM

Great report chaps, nice to see you managed to get the sail up as well Richi, superb photo's Mr Speciman, Richi looking as relaxed as ever SM

Overrun, Your not meant to drop them . The AnglersAfloat Prowler transducer has been in place for approx 18 months with no signs of it letting go, hence my recommendation for the Devcon 2 Ton, but if you drop it on the wrong spot then the flexing of the hull will make it pop, the epoxy will only flex so much. I have read on here that somebody has tried hot glue, not sure it was entirely successful, do a search before attempting. Some of the guys have recently started using Silkaflex, messy stuff but it might be the answer you are looking for. SM

Here you go Mark, Only a baby. Noticed that the markings were very light compared with your Broads Pike, Ralph's bigger fish were almost grey. Totally agree about the sinking of the net, no point in poking the poor things 24 incher it is then, damn and blast, there was one on ebay on Friday, nearly put a bid on. SM

Good job Mark, what size landing net do you use and where exactly do you keep it, toying with getting a 36 incher and cutting down the handle and placing a noodle behind the net to keep the arms afloat whilst using one handed, but can see it getting in the way or worse still stuck over my head at an inconvenient moment Had a Pike session today with a chap who makes all his own spinning lures, he obviously out fished me but was surprised just how big the lure he was catching was, going to see if I can get my hands on one for Llangorse, the river was a little shallow for most of my lures and trolling was sadly a waste of time, but thankfully I didn't blank. Sm

might be

Might be a good option anyway give you a back up set just in case. Totally agree on the comfort side of things, it has to all feel right or it's just going to ruin your days fishing, nothing worse than spending all day wriggling to get comfy. SM

I'll pop the kettle on

It's on the list as the 2007 AnglersAfloat project... and yes in Pink if I can get one, there is actually an in aid of breast cancer model , mind you still work to do on the 2006 Malibu II XL. SM

Can't have that happen before I get to fish it... Done. SM A Pike meet would be a good idea, especially if you can get people from far and wide, could make a good news article if the right people were prompted. SM