mww

Well done Glenn - you'll be glad you didn't downsize the hooks too much now, I'll bet!!!! MWW

Glenn Thats ok, then. They're a real pain to clean out properly - best way I've found is several soakings in petrol/ solvent followed by cleaning with a cloth - put the cloth through the bearing as a thick "noodle" & turn the bearing on the cloth (like it would on the handle shaft). You'll see the cloth picking up all the muck & rust, just keep pulling the cloth through so a clean bit gets used, then re-soak etc. Make sure that you let all the petrol & solvent evaporate off & then lube the rollers before it goes back together. Once the outer shell starts to corrode it's hard to stop this recurring - best I can suggest is to blather the outer shell with waterproof grease, & keep checking it. Might be worth a call to Penn Service to let them know - I think the reel's well less than 12 months old, so you might be able to get them to replace the bearing under warranty? Cheers mww

Glenn Just checked, got a new anti-reverse bearing if you need it. Let me know. Cheers mww

Glenn If you can get the reel to me I'll have a look - If it's the 525mag I've got spare bearings of all types I think. Not sure what size bearings are on the ordinary 525, though. Cheers mww

My two-penneth... Use 8/0 Gamakatsu Circles for tope, & really like them - we probably don't get the chance to do a proper comparison vs J-hooks, but I'm not rushing to go back to J's. Got to agree with Ian B on the T-Bar unhooking bit - we find pilers are generally needed to twist the hook out. Also agree with the comment about them not working whan loaded with bait around the shank - basically they don't work that way!! My mate Chris (cps) will tell you all about the time several years ago when I first tried them for codlings with crab/ mussel baits from the boat- bites were taking the rod tip under, but despite trying not striking/ striking/ winding/ etc, the only ones i could get ended up gut-hooked - presumably had taken the bait so far down, after being left so long, that they'd stripped most of the bait off & were basically digesting it!! I didn't persevere with them after the 2nd fish hooked that way. The trick is definitely to have the majority of the bait hanging below the hook - fish baits hooked once through the end are fine - along this line I also occasionally use circles as top hooks on my pennel rigs for codlings - have landed plenty of codlings hooked only on the circle, but to be honest I'm not totally sure that they're any better (or worse) than the usual J-hooks in that application. Hope this helps mww

Guys Thanks very much for the replies, most seem to kind of confirm our early findings with this relatively "new" area. Not really sure what the flow is, maybe a couple of knots maximum - it doesn't really scream through like it does round Filey Brigg area - generally even during the springs a week ago, we were able to downtide comfortably with 50lb whiplash/ 30lb fireline & 8oz - further down Holderness we can normally get away with around half that. One thing that it will be interesting to see whether is the same next season (assuming we don't get another go this season) is the amount of loose weed that's prevalent around the Brid area - it's a real pain during the strong part of the tide - smallish fibrous chunks - I guess the way this stuff gathers around the rig & bait doesn't exactly help!! We don't ever seem to suffer with this stuff down Holderness. We assumed that it was the fall-out from the mountains of the stuff that was on the beach until a couple of weeks ago after some SE'ly winds, but maybe it's just the "norm" for the area? Thanks for your comments again. cheers MWW

Hi Been doing quite a bit of topeing around Bridlington Bay the last few weeks with a reasonable amount of success. However, we've found that, compared to the toping that we've previously done for a few years down the Holderness coast, the tope up there seem to be very tide-dependent...or more accurately llack of tide-dependent. Best time up Brid way seems to be slack water/ very early flood/ ebb, with hardly a run through the peak of the tide or as it slackens. Down Holderness it seem to be totally the opposite - runs at slack water are quite uncommon, best time seems to be when there's plenty of tide, probably the best time's as it's just starting to ease. Probably worth saying that at Brid, in a similar depth of water, 13-15m, there's more tide on neaps than down Holderness on Springs. I'd be interested to hear of what you guys have found with tope fishing in your "patch" - or your experiences around the ones we fish. Cheers MWW

A friend of mine has an Igloo MaxCold on his boat - not sure if its the 100, 120 or 150, probably the larger one, & it's very good - whilst he doesn't use the ice/water slurry method, 10 ice packs will keep it & contents really cool all day & longer. One really good design feature is that there's a smaller "trapdoor" in the lid, which means that you don't have to open the full lid every time you want to put something in/ take something out, certainly helps conserve the cold. there's some on here: http://www.mobilegas.co.uk/mobilecoolbox/passivecoolbox/ If you know anyone going on holiday, he bought his in the States considerably cheaper than over here - just dumped a suitcase & brought his gear back in it! Hope this helps MWW