Jim Gibbinson

Day sessions? I use a 45-inch standard brolly from Argos; about £15. Proofed with Nyloproof, I think it's called. It won't suit those to whom "looking the part" is important, but for those who merely require a sunshade/wind-break/rain-shelter, and don't care about their bankside "cred", it's ideal. Can be dismantled in seconds, too, so doesn't inhibit me from moving swims. And because it's cheap, I don't worry about forcing it in small gaps where it gets raked by thorns, etc.

Certainly more mullet in the Medway than there were last year. Recently, Adam Lawrence and I had a good evening from the shore: I had two five-pluses and Adam had one. On previous trips Adam has had fish of 7-plus and 6-plus. The mullet now seem to have left that particular location and we've not yet found where they've relocated.

Julian, I'm not sure that the appeal of brazils lies in their white colour; I've tried cubes of coconut flesh, and found it/them to be completely ineffective.

The broad jugular interspace looks like that of a thin-lipped mullet. The lack of obvious papillae on the top lip also suggests that it's a thin-lipped - unless the lack of papillae is due to lack of photo definition rather than actual absence. The fact that it took bread is more characteristic of a thick-lipped, but bread-eating thin-lipped are not unknown, I understand. Given the evidence of the photo, I would opt for it being a thin-lipped.

There's no need to have 10ft carp rods specially made; 10ft spinning rods will serve every bit as well. I have a couple of 10ft ABU Enticer spinning rods that I bought for carp fishing where a tree canopy makes 12ft carp rods untenable. They're inexpensive, too - about £30 each, if I remember correctly

".... there may not be a mullet by your hookbait for miles....." Welcome to the world of Medway mullet anglers!

It's proving to be a good year for lawns - I've only had to cut mine three times thus far. It's turning nicely brown at present; one more cut might see it through to the autumn. A downside of hot weather being combined with school holidays is the wholesale emergence of "yoofs" who elect to swim where they're not allowed, and leave heaps of rubbish when they eventually depart. Anyone who has the temerity to remonstrate with them is rewarded with a mouthful of abuse and an accompany risk of reprisal vandalism on their parked car. I'd rather suffer cormorants....

Elton Good luck to Julian and yourself with this project. To tell the truth, I'm somewhat sceptical about the potential of an E-book on carp fishing (leastways, in the UK) at present, but I hope you prove me wrong. More potential overseas, I would have thought.

Sam, there have been carp in the tidal water at Beeleigh for at least 20 years - in fact, I heard reports (unconfirmed) more than 30 years ago. I've caught roach at Strood on the tidal Medway (while mullet fishing) where, to all intents and purposes, it is salt water (bladderwrack, crabs, cod in winter - the full "nine yards") - admittedly it was on an ebb tide after heavy rain so there was doubtless some freshwater influence, but even so.... Brackish tidal waters are often a sort of "no mans land" - ignored by saltwater and freshwater anglers alike. Access can be difficult, though, with marshland and/or mud. Tremendous potential for anyone prepared to invest time from a boat, though.

I endorse Elton's comments; Ian Welch has been a terrific asset to Ceemex's fisheries department.

Matt: "I've got access to Basin 1." If the facility extends to guests, you'll find you've acquired a whole batch of new best friends!

Matt, you ask where the Medway mullet are.... a proportion of them, at least, are in the Number One basin at Chatham (no fishing allowed, of course). A friend who is an experienced freshwater angler said that the largest of those he saw would have been equivalent size to chub or grass-carp of about 8lb. Certainly very few signs of mullet at my usual locations: just a few lip-marks, and you have to look hard to find them. Like Andrew, I'm cutting my losses and restricting my mullet fishing this year to occasional keep-in-touch trips while primarily targeting tench. Trouble is, Medway mullet can't be in the river AND the dock basin(s) - it's one or t'other. Last year they were in the basins until late autumn; looks like it's shaping up the same this year. Curses!

Mussels.

Well put, Julian.

Three Medway trips so far this season (all from the shore); no bites. I've seen a few swirls, but I think they were thins. Trying the shore again this afternoon; plus a pier trip this weekend. Trying to fit my mullet fishing in with tench and carp this year, rather than focusing specifically on mullet. Remains to be seen if the policy is a sound one.

Medium lobs and any-size dendras I hook through the head only (threaded directly on the hook). If a centimetre or so is snipped from the end of the tail, it discourages them from burrowing tail-first. Large lobs I tend to use halved: the head section threaded direct on the hook as already described. At first glance it looks as though takes would be missed with three-quarters (or more) of the worm's body extending beyond the hook, but in practice misses are rare.

Re. hooklink materials. I tried Kryston Multistrand, split (divided) so 15lb BS became approx 6/7lb BS; I also tried fluorocarbon in approx 6lb BS. Both worked okay, but I gave up on the fluorocarbon because I lost trust in the stuff. Multistrand is worth using, though. For the past three seasons I've relied wholly on Shimano Exage 5lb BS, direct to a size 10 Kamasan B980. I don't think I get fewer bites on that combination than I did on either fluoro or Multistrand. 5lb Exage actually breaks at about 7lb - it's very fussy as regards how it's knotted, though (just once through the eye and four turns Grinner/Uni; same combination for tucked half-blood). One more thing: very soft hookbaits are, I believe, an advantage. I use cubes of compressed crumb (a bit like large bread punch), which reconstitutes in the water to form a very soft cube that stays on the hook but offers no impediment to the strike. The real secret to mullet fishing, though is BMP (Bloody-Minded Persistence)!

I can understand why people are impatient to start mullet fishing, but as I said earlier I reckon mid-May is soon enough for thicklips in the Medway. Might be worth a try for thinlips, though, as they pass through on their way upriver. Last weekend I had a look for lipmarks: saw just one, plus two or three anal-fin line-in-the-mud scrape-marks. Lots of algae on the mud, so there is plenty of food to keep them interested when they do arrive. Daytime temperatures up to 18C forecast for this forthcoming week, evidently - if so, hopefully it will mitigate the very cold temperatures we've had hitherto this spring.

In my opinion, mid-May is soon enough to start mullet fishing here in the south-east. I'm not saying that they can't be caught earlier, just that it's not really worth bothering until mid-May. I suspect that most of the fish that show late April are thinlips.

At one time overfits were confined to more expensive blanks because it was necessary to make two blanks (for a two piece rod) rather than one blank that was chopped in half. Not so now, though, and many inexpensive rods have overfit ferrules. The first rods to be made with overfits were, I believe, Fenwick fly rods from the USA. Not sure about that, though. I prefer overfits: logic tells me that there is less likelihood of a shear-point - but that said I've never had a spigot fail on me. An advantange of overfits, however, is that they better accommodate wear than do spigots. So-called "flat spots" puzzle me. Lots of people talk about them, but I've never seen one. I've handled innumerable rods - both overfit and spigot versions - and have yet to encounter a flat spot.

The BDAS water is upstream of the road bridge. I think Edenbridge AC have the opposite bank. When I last went to have a look (late January/early February this year) it was painfully low and clear. The ex-KAPS water downstream of the road bridge seems to have recovered somewhat from the dredging. I haven't fished it, but pre-dredging my son had some good catches of chub there - no monsters, but fish to 4lb-plus. Not sure who controls this stretch now, but the KAPS sign remains in place by the roadside parking!

You need to be careful what you put in a compost bin. On no account put anything of animal origin other than rabbit/guinea-pig soiled straw. Avoid citrus fruit-waste, too, or you'll get loads of fruit flies. Also, any compost bin can become hijacked as a nesting-site for mice. I had one for many years with no problems, providing me with an endless supply of redworms. I had to get rid of it eventually, though, due to the development of the aforementioned problems.

I agree with Ken L. I've a couple of Stradics with Fightin' Drag, and a couple of Shimano Match (can't recall the model number), similarly equipped. Initially I was enthusiastic, but it soon became apparent that you sacrifice sensitivity on the main clutch. You are thus compelled to use the F/D because the main clutch has been adversely compromised. I have now come to the conclusion that reels are better for having just a conventional clutch, no matter whether it is front or rear adjusted (I prefer the former).

Like you, Andaroo, I don't like the short-hooklink/heavy-lead combination. And like you, I've wondered about the effect of a heavy lead in close proximity to a fish's face, especially its eyes. I'm amazed that prior to your reference, I've never seen mention of it. Brother Rick and I discussed the very subject a few weeks ago (following our watching of Korda's excellent 4 & 5 DVDs), wondering why there is widespread concern about line lifting scales from a carp's flank while it's being played, but no recognisiton of the risk of a heavy lead battering hell out of the fish's eyes. Should be "recognition". I'll write it out ten times!

The River Eden in Kent is painfully low. Currently, it looks like it would in a summer drought; goodness knows what it will look like if we actually get a summer drought. Parts of it will dry out, I reckon, just as happened with the River Darenth in '76. Worrying situation.