Bryan Andrews

The swim that you and that fat bloke ;-) fished last year has produced a few Chub around the 4lb Mark. Most of the people Chub fishing have been on the day ticket stretch in the obvious looking Chubby spots. The only problem I have down there is trying to keep the Trout away from the Chub bait. I've used Mainline Grange in the past down there and my best result is about 15 Trout and 2 Chub. My best Chub catch this winter has been 3 fish in a session all between 3lb - 4.8lb Right at the top of the stretch might be worth a try as well and also in the Hatch Pool at the bottom. Sorry can't be any more specific than that, my larger Chub captures down there have been accidentally caught when trotting for the Grayling.

Not that many Budgie, the best fish I know of this season was about 2.08lb I think, maybe an ounce or two bigger, but nothing over 3lb. The casualties were the big Girls and the young fish. Next year will still be tough I think but there should be some big old Grayling then and if the rest of this summer has been okay for recruitment then we should start seeing some little Grayling being caught. The following year should be better for sport generally and some giant Grayling. Its been disappointing fishing this year, but I'll still get another winter ticket this October. If I were you I'd have a fish were I was last year, its been producing the better fish this season. I might go down for a few hours on Friday to have a go for the Pike, have to see how work goes first.

There are some good 2lb Grayling coming out and some high 1lbers. If you catch a fish keep going theres likely to be a pod of them there. The fish are putting the weight on until the end of the season. Some nice Sea Trout and Brownies coming out with Chub and some very nice Pike if you can find them. Might be worth taking a Pike rod with you. A lot of people fishing the tip for the Chub, seems to be working, need to be careful though not to deep hook the Grayling. Expect maybe 2/3 Trout for every Grayling, all baits seeming to work well. Have a good days fishing. Bryan

Hi Jerry I'd be interested in you can point me in the direction of any venues around Veenendaal, I doing quite a bit of work there, probably until June 06. Does anyone fish for the catfish in the Rhine? Thanks Bryan

Carp to 26lb Chub to 6lb+ Barbel to just over 10lb Roach to 2lb+ (I seem to recall someone saying a 3lber came out in the last year or the year before) Perch to 2lb+ Brown and Rainbow Trout average 2-3lb but a few bigger ones Sea Trout 2-6lb and some bigger ones (and boy do they go) Salmon Bream (I've not seen them but have been told) 8lb+ Pike to 23lb (you have to cull any Pike you catch under 10lb though) Dace 15oz is my best Minnows Gudgeon Is that enough for you

Not too many big Grayling yet so far that I've heard about. The majority of the fish seem to be between 1-1.8lb. The best I know of is 1.14lb, still a very nice fish though. I've got a season ticket again this year (and will do so next year) so will keep plugging away during the winter, my target fish this winter is to catch one of the elusive Barbel from there. I'll give you all an update nearer the time on what has been coming out. BTW, I'm pretty sure that there are some additional feeder streams / branches off the river that you guys can fish as well, they are not on the map on the LIF website though.

Sorry to be a bit of a party pooper. There was a fairly major fish kill around July this year, due to pollution, it started somewhere upstream of LIF. Quite a lot of the bigger fish and yearlings were killed, so the Grayling population is somewhat depleted now, with a good days fishing producing 20 Grayling plus some Chub and Trout rather than the normal 60+ expected at this time of year. Fish are proving to be more localised now and harder to find. Good news though that the coarse fish appear to have come through unscathed and quite a few Chub are coming out. Barbel to over 9lb have also come out this season, plenty of Trout and the odd Sea Trout. If you have n't asked, I'd ask Lindsay if you can use the syndicate stretch at the top end. Good luck on the day, if you need any info nearer the time on how its been fishing, send me a PM.

<<Am looking for something to offlay tax liabilities >> You'll have to buy it for your pension fund and then you will save at least 40% of the cost. Nice way to build up a pension fund having the government fund your property purchases

Dan The CCG sell a braid hooklink that has wire woven it, to protect against the Pike. Its called Cannelle Supratress. Personally I'd be wary about using standard wire for Cats, its likely to cut their mouths up quite badly. Some fisheries have banned the use of wire traces in the Cat lakes. <<sure theres no tension the fish can feel wen it picks the bait up otherwise they will drop it especialy>> I'm not so sure that its the tension in the line that causes Cats to drop a bait, I think its more a change in the level of tension. I had a low 20 Cat, the week before last, that went scatty on the mat and even worse when I had a photo taken. First one I've had thats ever done that. I have a great photo of the Cat curled up in a ball, with me holding it.

You could also try some of the stiff links that HBS or Carp r us sell. between 4 and 12", with a swivel to attached the stiff rig to. I normally use Korda IQ for the rig.

If you put in a range of dates then the EA will accept this. I've just completed this years for the date range 16/6/5 to 15/6/6. It works for a club that I am a bailiff in.

Argyll This is the licence that you need to trap the Crays. Good hunting. http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/formsandguides/FR2.pdf Bryan

<<Are they shelf-life, or frozen>> Frozen is coming, later in the season I'm told

A couple of chaps I know have been using the Spicy Prawn for the Chub over the winter and have managed a couple of 7s plus backup 6s and 5s and the odd 10lb Barbel. I'll be trying the S&O out for the Cats during April.

These chaps might be worth a call http://www.fisheries4sale.com