ricey

cool. i'll have a look at those. Cyranne12 - sorry i should have said im looking for a cottage/house. not interesting in camping or caravans. thanks though.

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help.. I'm looking for some possible self catering holiday destinations near to Barble/Chub rivers in England this Summer. It would be for 2 people and must allow a dog to stay as well. the rivers i would love to be near are Dorset Stour, Severn, W.Avon, H.Avon, Lea, G.Ouse etc etc any of the hot barble/chub ones really. The accomodation would have to be nearish to day ticket/free swims though. anyone been to any or know of any good spots? any info much appriciated. Thanks

For me, its exploring a new stretch of an unknown river. Creeping along the banks, through the thick nettles and heavy vegetation that nobody else bothers to go. Discovering that perfect glide or pool of crystal clear water and peering down into the unknown. Just the slim chance that you'll be the lucky one and catch a glimse of that perfect specimen that nobody else even knew existed! There she is!, a huge dark shape relaxing in the shade. It makes the river look like a tiny stream in comparison...You thow in a freebie just up stream...the dark shape turns instantly and heads towards it.. the entire surface ripples around her. She hovers above the freebie, hesitates for a a few seconds.. then it vanishes!

5lb Chub 5lb4oz barbel 15lb Pike 2lb8oz Perch 15lb Common Suffolk Stour

got my lures out yesterday and had a go for some perch/pike. Did I get lucky or what!! 15lb on the dot! biggest pike i've ever seen!! she battled like mad too!

fantasic chub tradman, and Russell tradman - what river was that?

well done! which River Colne was it?

i've had a bash at pretty much all of the species. most of my time is spent looking for that elusive BIG chub though. i've had one carp out at just ubder 9lb. it put up one hell of a fight! like you say though, there some much biggers ones in there. I havnt spent as much time targeting the Pike as I would like, i hooked into one that was about 15lb, but i panicked and brought it in a bit too green. lost it right at the net... gutted! I've seen one or two more about that weight. PM me if you wanna talk about swims etc.

Sharkbyte: I've done pretty well so far. I tend to fish the Chelmer more in the Summer and Autumn. My biggest Perch from the Chelmer so far was rougly 2lb 4oz more pics here

hi I've fished the Chemler a fair bit. Some nice Perch in there! My advice is to look for weir pools. Lob Worm is the bait of choice for me. Failing that, maggots will do the job. dont forget a disgorger though... Perch are prone to deep hooking themselves. good luck!

3.5lb - 4lb roughly

in my experience, chub will only take floating baits off the surface when its slightly warmer. when its freezing cold, your best bet is to ledger on the bottom. You may be able to temp them into taking a freelined piece of flake that has been dunked so that it sinks slowly as it glides down stream.

i've had this problem too. take the float off and freeline a fat lobworm. I also find that you should try as hard as you can to conceal all of the hook, they are amazingly good at spotting the hook.

It isn't actually illegal to ride two abreast on roads, see here http://www.bhs.org.uk/content/leaflets.asp...e=Safety&area=5 Sorry Billy, I've been a horse owner for a fair few years. No hard feelings tho

hmm after a bit of reading, it looks like its mostly bream/carp/roach territory. Pike and Perch and the odd chub can be had too though. good luck