Tim Kelly

Mepps spinners are very well made and work at slow speeds. If you have any decent sized perch 4-6" soft plastics like shads and curly tailed grubs will probably be better than spinners though.

Just because they're fishing programs doesn't really make them immune to criticism does it? Just like every other part of television some are better than others and the poorer ones should be weeded out. After all Discovery are commissioning these programs, it's hardly like there are never going to be any other choices so we have to make the best of what we're given. I expect there are dozens of better presenters out there waiting for the opportunity. Why do you think there are so many one series shows? The better ones make it and the less well received, or less good at the business of making the programs don't.

I actually quite enjoy PY's programs. I like the way he is enthusiastic about any game fishing program and isn't at all over bearing. His non- fly fishing programs are a bit of a struggle to watch as he always looks like a fish out of water. He is a right hand wind reel type of fly fisher and always looks awkward with any other fishing tackle. That Chris Sandford is truly awful, hopefully he won't get another series. Not only is he a crap angler, but he would have been too oily and cheesy for the Saturday evening ITV slot in the 70's! Dean Macey's new show is quite good, he's a genuine enthusiast who doesn't overpower the people he's fishing with. I enjoyed Day Ticket too. The two guys on there seemed to have the right attitude. Even Matt Hayes is slowly getting better! He's eventually learning to let the fishing do the talking and keep his verbal diarrhoea under control to some extent. Mick Brown seems to have helped calm him down. I would have liked to have seem "Botham on the fly" but I missed most of them. I'm sure they'll be on again though!

So you're about 9 or 10 years old? Not a bad result foir a 10 year old either!

Hi Newt I have and can't be bothered with them. They are too expensive, difficult to make off securely and prone to sudden unpredictable snaps - especially the multi strand. I have a 75lb ti solid trace I have had on my lighter big bait rod for a while now and it's fine, but I've only been through a couple of 130lb single strand ss wire traces in the same time and the cost difference is enormous. I can see the theoretical advantages of ti, but in practice steel is better for my purposes. Is that Tiger Ray stuff bright steel coloured or bronze? I ask because the last time I used either bright steel coloured leaders or black ones for jig fishing I had problems with the fish hitting the leaders and missing the jigs! The bronze colour doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems peculiarly. Leader colour doesn't seem to make any difference for faster moving baits though.

I really like the 11lb strain for my light jig fishing. I tie the jig directly to the wire with a 1 or 2 turn half blood. Not too prone to kinking, compared to similar wires. I also use the 61lb for my heavier jig, small swimbaits, spinnerbaits etc setup and find it very durable. I twist melt the 61lb. The only problem I have with the stuff is buying it! Harris are as much use as a chocolate teapot, so I would love to find another supplier this side of the pond.

Unless you know where the good pike spots are on the canal already I would have thought a more mobile approach would be far better. Get some decent lures out and go searching for the fish. If you want to do some coma fishing later at least you might have found some spots which definitely hold pike.

Wait a couple of years and the fashion will change back to black reels, no doubt they'll be sold with something like "Stealth matt black tm" as a dazzling new feature! I'd be astonished if the colour or shinyness of a reel is going to be the difference between catching or not though.... Newt, you have a point!

Dave Lumb has them in various styles. www.dlst.co.uk

I was wondering what a carpace was for quite a while, imagining someone with a shell and all sorts! Bless their eurospeak...

Dave Lumb does a nice net. www.dlst.co.uk

That fishing programme with Matt and Bertus was very good, but possibly too advanced for general consumption. I don't mean that in an arrogant way, but your question shows the problem. They way they were fishing is a very specific technique with very little relevance to any other way of lure fishing. The very light braid is used because it has a very fine diameter, at the depths they were fishing the current or movement of the boat would cause thicker line to bow loosing contact with the jig. The braid is strong enough to pull zander straight up without too much difficulty, but to use such light tackle for anything where you have to pull it past any snags etc as you would with any casting technique or bank fishing technique would be foolish. They were fishing without traces and this is an assessed risk. Apparently they find very few pike in the areas and depths they fish for zander and they believe that they get about 40% less zander if they use traces. They do use stinger hooks - so there is a treble and a single on their lures. I don't think there are many places in this country where you can fish for zander vertically out of a boat in areas where there are very few pike so the relevence of the entire technique is limited. As a general rule, for pike fishing in this country line should be around 15lb mono or braid in the 30 (if it's fireline) to 50lb (power pro) class for bait fishing as a minimum with lure fishing often requiring the use of up to 100lb braid depending on technique. There is nothing sporting about loosing fish, especially pike where they are attached to a mouthfull of trebles. It is an even less good idea to snap off and leave baits in the water. They will surely be picked up by a pike and consumed hooks and all.

Yep.

Is there anything Roland Martin won't endorse? Worse than Barrie Rickards!

Is the braid used for the hooklink made of spectra (like superbraids you get for reel line) or is it dacron (woven terelyne)? If it sinks it's probably dacron and that does deteriorate with time.

I find I'm far more accurate with a baitcaster than a fixed spool. If you're better with a fixed spool than a multi, fair enough. I wonder why multipliers are so popular with people who do a lot of lure angling?

You're right of course. For a beginner a fixed spool set up is far easier to use. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a better tool for doing a job though. For many of the reasons given above a multiplier is better for most lure fshing applications once you understand how to use them properly. BTW, I believe the beachcasting distance records are still held by multipliers.... :-)

One of the big advantages of multipliers for lure fishing is the way they manage the line. Cast out a lure with a fixed spool and the lure flies through the air with minimal resistance from the reel/line. Do the same thing with a multiplier and you will notice how much less of a bow of line there is following the lure, this is because of the slight ressitance from the spool having the line pulled from it. The net result of this is that your lures are less likely to tumble in mid air and therefore less likely to be tangled when they touch down. Lure fishing is a tangly business at the best of times and the less casts wasted through avoidable tangles the better (unless the reel bites you on the bum of course!) I also find it easier to cast lures accurately with a multiplier. The flat trejectory and the one handed line management make it easier, but multiplier set ups are more fussy about lure weights etc than fixed spool setups. Horses for courses. I use both but prefer the multi for most applications. If you are only dabbling though you'll probably find the fixed spool outfit far more familiar and not really notice the difference between the two.

Maybe you caught some that had been recently stocked? I suppose barbel reared in tanks for stocking places would suffer the same way as trout?

Hmmm. Hard to know which part of the story is more ill-advised. Shark fishing from a canoe, shark fishing without wire leaders, or just going lure fishing without a pair of Knipex bolt cutters. On balence I think they got their just deserts!

http://www.sovereignsuperbaits.co.uk amongst many others have a good selection, though annoyingly they all seem to quote the head size in grams!

Thanks guys. As another add on, are there any of these new pellets etc which are particularly good for roach, in natural waters as opposed to commercial places? I'd like to have an easy to store bait that I could just pick up and use if I fancy a couple of hours without needing to get hold of maggots. Bread works well enough, but maybe one of these new baits would be even better?

Shhhh! Thanks Slodger. I wondered if a hemp rich mix would be at all selective?

Everytime I read an article about feeder fishing it's always on about the groundbait mix which will attract bream, tench or flippin' carp. Are there any mixes which are more likely to attract roach than any of those pest species?

They're both very shallow and I think the main species in them are canine - usually the stick retrieving variety. I think there must be more relaxing places to fish!