Bob Bradford

Hi Zenith, here is what I would do mate; Set up your rod with a waggler, set it just over depth, about 2/3 inches should do it, fish with a small bulk shot and a couple of small dropper shot, (8/10s), I would use a size 14 hook to about 2lb bs hooklength, 3/4 lb mainline. My attack would be worm based, worms catch everything that swims, I would take at least a 1/2 kilo with me and some casters, I would chop up some worms, add some casters and form small balls with a little of the soil that comes with the worms, try to feed one spot regularly, do not try to fish too far out, keep it tight, line up with something on the opposite bank as a reference point, if bites get "iffy" on worm switch to double caster, if there are any decent sized fish in your peg (and there will be if you keep the feed going in regularly) you will hook them! take your time with every fish and make sure you land it, good luck, Bob.

Hi Zenith, I live in East Anglia and have been open match fishing for about 20 yrs now, i would like to help if I can, I need more info though, so can you tell me a few things about the venue; How deep is it? Is it still or moving water? What rods do you possess? What is the dominant species? What is the usual winning weight for your matches? and finally ,how much experience do you have at the venue?

Mr Nice, Before I put pen to paper I would appreciate a little more info please, who or what are pushing for a ban on live-baiting in Scotland? How long has this process been going on? How far has the proposal gone? I find this very disturbing news and as you quite rightly state "It is the thin end of a large wedge" I write this having NEVER live-baited/dead-baited in my life, nor do I intend to, but I realise how significant such a ban will be to ALL anglers.

Mr Nice, Yes I am an open match angler and have traveled all over the UK to indulge in my particular branch of the sport, I respect any other anglers wishes NOT to do the same, just as I respect some of my fellow anglers on here not wishing to use live baits to catch pike,use a keep-net etc, for me, this is down to personal choice and free will, I ask that others do not take away my or anyone Else's legal right to indulge in the sport/pastime I love, in the way I wish. Leon Rosskilly, Superbly argued and informed post , very well done .

I do not fish for pike, but I am intrigued by some that do! Lets see if I have got this right, It is cruel and hard to justify the use of live-baits,but it is not cruel to catch Roach/skimmers and knock them on the head to use as deadbaits? This is exactly the sort of muddled thinking the antis will pounce on, so , lets forgo our perfectly legal right to use live-baits because angling will then become more acceptable to the minority that are ruining this once great Country! it will of course stop there and they will all go away and leave us in peace, yeah right! so they come back for more, OK then, lets ban keepnets! that will keep em happy won't it? OK, OK ban keep-nets,live baits,dead baits and match fishing, all cruel and unjustifiable, whats next? maggots? worms? For Gods sake! the people that want to see angling banned want just that! ANGLING BANNED and no amount of concessions will stop them, quite the reverse in fact, for every little concession they get, they will see as a victory, they will gather momentum and confidence, until angling is banned altogether, it would be naive to imagine anything else.

We all have our own code Peter, whether an angler is a match/specimen/predator/game or sea exponent, it matters not, we all have a common bond and should respect the choices others make in our sport/pastime, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with ANY of the above and fight anglings corner, but I will not concede one solitary, legal angling activity to the anti's or a fellow angler, that is nothing more than pious claptrap, the question is simple enough for all to understand; Am I for angling or against it? there are no grey areas, for once we allow grey areas to play a part, that is the beginning of the end, give one solitary inch, and the anti's will take the proverbial mile, we MUST stand as one.

Divisive drivel coming from high profile writers,pike anglers,match anglers ,fly fishermen ;ad nausea, We must not undermine ourselves, that much is clear, I may or may not agree with live-baiting, but why should I agree to banning it? Angling is a crude,old as the hills pastime, people of all ages,creeds and gender participate in for personal pleasure, HOW DARE A FELLOW ANGLER TRY TO STOP A SINGLE ASPECT OF IT,simply because they feel it is morally wrong, if you do not agree with keep-nets,simple,don't use one! but do not preach to others whilst impaling a treble into a live fish, the Hypocrisy stinks! Anglers must stand united on every aspect of our sport/pastime, and stop defending it by conceding this or that,it will be the end of angling otherwise.

What a good idea! lets give ground on live-baits to appease the minority, or we could concede that keep-nets are totally unnecessary (except of course if you happen to like fishing matches for money or silverware) how about we all agree to fishing no longer than 2 hrs a week? will that do it? Why don't we all stop using hooks and bait? Ridiculous isn't it? Mark my words, if angling starts conceding ANYTHING we are currently ,legally allowed to do, things will snowball and it will be the end of angling in this Country for all of us, you have been warned.

My Uncle Jake won every three legged race he ever entered, and retired un-defeeted.

It is the way things are, S+++ happens, and justice is a word that gets bandied about because no-one has the answer, I know from first hand experience that relying on the Police to do their job is sheer folly, Ditto the courts, since the brutal,cowardly attack on me by a Traveler (known to the police, but still at large) with an axe last October I have learned several important lessons, the most poignant of them all however, is the total un-professionalism of professionals in this Country. It's a no-brainer to most of us that the people responsible, having done this to that defenceless,old dear will not be punished appropriately,if at all. [ 13. September 2005, 04:45 PM: Message edited by: Bob Bradford ]

That is quite correct Chesters, What the EA are actually doing is making large, sparsely populated areas available, to be turned into vast flood plains when the need arises, they have learned the hard way, instead of building piled banks that just push the flood water further downstream to wreak havoc. They still do not "do it" for me where angling is concerned however.

The EA have 50 million pounds granted to them from DEFRA, to upgrade and install, flood defences in the Norfolk Broads over a 20 year period, this work started a few years ago and the task is massive, However, our rod licence money has NOTHING to do with this, and it is wrong to suggest it has! I do not believe our rod licence money is well spent, Indeed, I think the EA, largely, offer poor value for angling, and perceive themselves unaccountable to us.

You have my greatest respect Dave, what a thoroughly decent thing to do, you are a top bloke ,well done, and if you meet young Will again , please pass on my best wishes,Bob. [ 17. August 2005, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: Bob Bradford ]

http://www.total-fishing.com There are loads of top class match anglers regulary using this site.

Paul D, Wrong! wrong on the closing time, I posted this morning at about 7am and very Wrong on still insisting on STRIKING! that is where you are losing the fish, you simply do not need to strike when using a bolt-rig, as I said, it ain't hard to understand or is it?

Paul D, you are using a bolt rig, there is no need to strike, what do you mean you cannot help yourself? I think you are having a laugh, are you seriously saying you cannot control your bodily functions? You do realise that the poor fish is swimming around with line and a hook trailing out of it's mouth, just because you react wrongly, sort it out , it ain't hard pal.

Yeah! I would have crapped myself too Salar! he he.

Is that Chirac in the background with his hands on his head? pnaw, pnaw.

" ALL FISH CAUGHT LOCALLY"

dogman, the answer is obvious; He would have got home later, cos it's further away.

Why have a law if it is not enforced ? If the guy is a true angler ,he knew very well what he was doing, FAIR COP.

This is of no use, but it may interest you , My old mate Tom Boulton fished the opening day match on the River Yare, and hooked and landed a small Barbel! as far as I know this is a first on the match length at Beuachamp arms, I don't think it will be the last though! Try the Wensum mate.

"Does my bum look big in this?"

Trapped wind?

Thank you for being so gracious Dave. Without wishing to hijack Peter's thread, I would just like to comment that, I realise the EA are not going to be able to prove who removed the fish (if ,indeed this is what happened) but , the whole point of the petition Lee has started, is to uncover the truth, many of us cannot accept what the EA are saying on this matter without proof, in a nutshell, just because the EA have said it is "probably otter and mink predation" does not make it so, all we are doing is questioning their action on this very serious issue.