jim doyle

The float tuber extraordenaire , sportsman is wintering in spanish climes at the moment, a good source of information is Mike Barrio at haddo fishery by inverurie. he uses and hires them out he should be able to offer you some great deals. jim

Sorry not to have made it,should have phoned I know Still it looks like you had fun I have to pass comment on that hat, you,ve been spending to much time with the folk next door.!!!

Must have killed off all their own forums to try and wind us, quiet ,reserved peace loving ,bunch up, red wine anyone??

It was being chased by Elvis, egged on by a little green man.

And me!!

Lindores has some super pike and perch(big) there are the lochs out behind Blairgowrie but hav,nt fished them for years.

Somebody obviously Knows you well!!!

A 3wt , thats plain silly!! youll have to go to at least a 6wt, heavy I know but some of these things go to more than 10lbs!! I will lend you 2 longshank 8s that should get you started. You can also borrow my carp net!

A few years ago a good friend and brilliant salmon angler told me of a time when he worked the nets on the lower Tay. They took a sweep and netted a shoal of roach. These were dumped in a field, as was the practice on the river then, as a fisherman he later went to look at these fish. He then weighed the biggest 2, the smallest went just over 4 the biggest 5. These fish came from the brackish water down near the mouth of the earn. I have no reason to doubt his story as he is a geuine guy, some on here ,Steve Burke have met him and will vouch for him.

hope you do well, I still want to see you skate fishing though!!

Hi John, back on line at last, I used to use lead foil from wine bottles but they seem to have stopped using it on my £2 50 bottles of wine. The other method was to melt solder onto the hook, even messier than poxy and a site more dangerous. You can get lead sheet from tieing suppliers, what about tieing them on tubes, these can be bought in different weights. The other thing that might work is a detachable head , get some different size lead bullets and paint and epoxy them. I found something last week that might work if I can find it again I,ll send it. jim

Re,The pike police, bring them on, check back to some of the origional PAC literature and you might find me somewhere. I fished Lomond when there were only three anglers fishing the winter, Gordon, Dereck and me. We had the place to ourselves, did,nt see anyone else from the end of October till March ,And in the early days John Lafferty, who caught more Pike tha ANYONE else. I think we allused PK3S or similar with in the main about 20lb line. I seem to remember John Watson and Gordon Falling out about tackle for Lomond, I think Mr Watson thought that the tackle being used was to heavy, so what he makes of the current trends god only knows.

I agree about the properties of braid, I,ve used it in as low as 4lb breaking strain and as high as 110lb but for general use I use about 16lb b/s. I know throwing jerk baits about is taxing on gear, and the price of baits is high, but I still think that 80lb is excesive. I,ve fished some of the most fearsome swims in Scotland for pike and never needed to go above 25lb. Still everyone to their own.

Scopex, I dont think it was the use of braid that was in question, I think it was more the b/s that you were useing that raised comment. I realise the advantages in useing braid I,ve got it spooled up for specific uses, I do wonder at your choosen b/s though.

habilis, definately they should add to a days fishing. I have several run of the mill line holders, Greys GRX . I also have a couple of top end works of art, the main one being an ARI HART. this is fabulous. I,v also got a Hardy and an Orvis Large Arbour, both nice reels , but the Hart different class.

Nip down to the local zoo and borrow a crocodile, I heard this on a gardening programe, the woman did,nt explain how you cut the grass after you got one, but did assure listeners that it put the cats off.!!

Try and listen to Dick Gaughens A handfull of Earth. The workers song is stunning, he can play his guitar a bit as well!

Don,t be so sure!!

There are two kinds of people in the world, those that are born celtic, and those that wish they had been born celtic.!!

I,ve had the odd go at sea/sport fishing, to be taken out to a spot or an area by the boat skipper told what to do and just wait for it to happen is not my idea of fishing. Perhaps if it were my boat and I was making the decisions I would feel happier. I am aware that in some areas fish are killed for food, the odd trout or three may have sucumbed to my rod, but I,m also aware that fish are killed to promote the boats prowess. There is a fundimental difference in the two stances, one is reasonable the other is not, you pick which one. I,ve had my share of trophy fish and apart from one which was set up in the fishery photos of live fish will surfice. Strangly I too read the odd book, I suggest our american friends try and read some "english" books if you can find it start with "Confessions of a carp angler" thats written about a fish that is classed as vermin in the states, we tend not to class fish in this way, well apart from the odd "game" angler, even they are a receding breed.

As has been said been there done had to sell the tee shirt. We got a quikie divorce after being seperated for two years, the problems were down to my guilt. I,ve recently met up with several friends that I left just to give herself space, they brought back to me how much their frendships meant it was a salutory lesson . there are no easy answers, but just think if the two of you are just in a rut or that you can,t put up with things any longer. If you can,t put up with it go your own ways sooner rather than later, ,cause it dos,nt improve honest. Keep your friends informed you need them more than you think. If I can help in any way pm me and I,ll try my best.

how many of you are going? classifieds in the troutfisherman gives some options the Fox and Hounds 01780720088 is good, self catering at normanton 01780720071, these are two that weve used in the past as for prices best phone cause you might be able to do a deal at this time of the year.

Yes , thats how you,ve ended up with "mad scots disease" and want to celebrate "New Year" like us.

Ps we seem to have ignored the less interesting "festivals" ie lent and ramidan, I mean if we all stopped drinking the whole country would go to rack and ruin.!!!

Us celts will continue to celebrate all and anything, halloween, new year and even in Angus St Andrews day. I believe that new year celebrations are starting to catch on, must be all them missionaries we sent south.