dave e

I have fished it a nimber of times over the years, first in 1963. a magic place, quiet, peacefull, suronded by an estate woods, full of deer and pheasants, godd concrete pegs, built by prisoner of war labour. it was built to supply water for Boston, but no longer for that use. dose lose some water level in summer for agricultural irrigation. I have fished for bream different ways over the years, used to be catapult out about 2 lbs of sweet corn, and fish the lead with 5 grains on a size 8, and wait, this still picks up tench and bream, cast about a bit and find the runs of weed free water. last time I was there, groudbait was banned, but could be used in the open feeder. pike been out to 27 lbs, but I must be there in poor pike conditions, seen some caught late in the year, and know someone who had a 24, but not much to my rods. you do have to park up, and walk to your swim, the gamekeeper will be round for your duea, no fishing on sundays, it used to be match day? regards, dave e b

I looked into the legality of minnow traps some time ago, the EA reply was, they are not legal, as a licence is required to trap fish with a trap, but as the EA could not issue a licnence to use a minnow trap, you could not legaly use one ????? I tried one of these minnow traps, bought it from holland, made of net with net funnels in the end, cunningly made from a long spring, so it was kept open, with bait pouch inside. I tried it a number of times, but the minnows wouldn't play. in the end I threw it away. In theory it should work, but first, find moving water with minnows in it.

I too have tried casting to bubbles, usualy to no effect, one of the bailifs at our lake reckons it is just swan muscles moving about, and disturbing the bottom??

hi Pangolin, the answer is easy, buy a can of silicon spray, and give the line in the reel a good spray, it will float for a couple of months, so use a seperate (new) line for the trace, and use line grease on that to float as much of the trace as you want, I always leave the last 6 inches free of grease, it sinks, and leaves no telltale surface impression near the bait.

j_s, you have email ref john watson guiding

done, glad to help the brothers of the angle

hi chaps, a quick question for any pikers out there, I have not fished our local canal for a few years, and find it now full of dace. the question is, are dave any good as live or dead bait for pike? it is time to stock up my freezer for the winter piking. dave e

I have used all sorts of bite indicators, both bought and home made, so be warned, form experience, that anu indicator clipped to the rod has limitations. In that the line has to move twice the distance for the same the indicator movement that a swing or quiver tip will move. But, it is not effected by the wind so much as a tip on the end of the rod. For convenience however, I always carry a couple of squeezy bottle tops, which are just as good, and adjustable for weight with a stone pushhed in the bottom. dave e

just taken me half an hour to get from 41% to 43%, come on you lot , pud=sh it up some more, dave e

I regularly use lamprey as pike bait, one day taking 6 pike on one section of lamprey, I am a bit of a tight wad, try to get the most out of a bait, and they are not cheap. The skin is a bit tough, rather like an eel, so I take a frozen one, slit it up the belly, and holding it in a cloth, gripping the skin with another cloth, skin it, which usualy come off in pieces, but the advantage is the hooks come out easy on the strike, and the bait held on the line by the loop of nylon line method. A great bait, even if they look peculiar, dave e

thanks fellers, I will give the nylon a try, when it comes back from not being repaired dave e

can anyone help me with a problem. I thought the clutch on my masterline sixshooter was slipping, I called masterline, who advised to check the braid was not slipping on the spool. I checked, and considered it was tight, and sent the reel for repair. I have now heard from them, that the clutch is ok, but the line is slipping. So, my question is, does anyone know how to stop braid from slipping on a mutiplyer spool? the problem seems to be that braid does not tighten onto the spoll like nylon would, so there is no inherent tendency to grip the spool. someone must know the solution? dave e

my daughter was down from scotland this weekend, and very subtly asked if I needed any fishing gear, my reply, all I need for christmas is more time to go fishing!!!! dave e

I learnt a long time ago that not all bubbles are feeding fish, if the air pressure changes, gas in the silt is released, or if the bottom silt is disturbed/cracked skin, then bubbles are released. My local lake has a lot of swan muscles, the bailiff reckons most bubbles are mating swan muscles!!! If the bubbles come from one spot all the time, there is a good bet it is just gas from silt, but if the patch of bubbles moves position, it may be a fish feeding. Small cloudy bubbles are often tench, the gas passing through the gills, as food is sifted from the silt. After a while you get to reckognise the difference, only experience will let you know the difference. The longer you fish, the more experience, dave e

A little known fact, I left some cut up bacon grill in the bait freezer, in the garage, all winter in a bait box. During this time the water must have been dried out of the meat by the cold of the freezer, because when I went to use it in the spring, it floated, as I said, a little known fact. dave e

I have been using a cheap ,efficient bite indicator for years, a couple are always in my fishing jacket pocket, are adjustable for weight, and show drop back as well as pull bites. What is it? a squeezy bottle top, the sort of washing up bottle top which has the pop-on resealable top attatched to the pouring neck by a length of plastic. the bottle top is snapped over the line between the butt and second ring, allowed to tighten on the drop. When a bite is indicated and the fish on, the indicator is left the line during playing the fish, but removed during casting. How is it variable for different line strengths, flow etc, push a stone in the end that used to be in the bottle. The only problem, finding the correct bottle top, as newer type washing up bottles use a different type of top. I have no idea where to get more when my small supply runs out. Very simple, and after all, an alectronic alarm only lets you fish without watching your tackle. Is there anyone out there know where squeezy bottle tops can still be found, dave e

I have been using a cheap ,efficient bite indicator for years, a couple are always in my fishing jacket pocket, are adjustable for weight, and show drop back as well as pull bites. What is it? a squeezy bottle top, the sort of washing up bottle top which has the pop-on resealable top attatched to the pouring neck by a length of plastic. the bottle top is snapped over the line between the butt and second ring, allowed to tighten on the drop. When a bite is indicated and the fish on, the indicator is left the line during playing the fish, but removed during casting. How is it variable for different line strengths, flow etc, push a stone in the end that used to be in the bottle. The only problem, finding the correct bottle top, as newer type washing up bottles use a different type of top. I have no idea where to get more when my small supply runs out. Very simple, and after all, an alectronic alarm only lets you fish without watching your tackle. Is there anyone out there know where squeezy bottle tops can still be found, dave e

I have often watched pike take a dead bait in fairly shallow (3 foot in the margins), they have always taken the dead bait side on in the middle, either a carefull pick up in the tip of the jaws, or an inhalation of water, by flaring the gills and causing suction at the snout. The pike that pick up delicately in the end of the jaws, seem to swim away with the bait still held, what they intend to do with it, I have never found out, as I have not hit these bites, I do not like to wait too long before striking, I do not want a deep hooked pike, and cannot bring myself to wait it out. The pike that do full bodied pick up, often stay on the spot to eat the bait before moving off, tossing the bait like a bird with a worm, until the bait is head down the throat, and usualy swallow the bait as it moves off, as by this time the mouth is shut/slightly open for normal gill movement. That is the time to strike. If my float or bobbin is off from a standing start, there is a good chance the bait is not in the pikes mouth, much better to see the bobbin/float do a jig for a while (may only be 10 seconds, but seems like ages), and THEN move off with purpose, those are the ones I expect to land. Any help? dave e

I have often watched pike take a dead bait in fairly shallow (3 foot in the margins), they have always taken the dead bait side on in the middle, either a carefull pick up in the tip of the jaws, or an inhalation of water, by flaring the gills and causing suction at the snout. The pike that pick up delicately in the end of the jaws, seem to swim away with the bait still held, what they intend to do with it, I have never found out, as I have not hit these bites, I do not like to wait too long before striking, I do not want a deep hooked pike, and cannot bring myself to wait it out. The pike that do full bodied pick up, often stay on the spot to eat the bait before moving off, tossing the bait like a bird with a worm, until the bait is head down the throat, and usualy swallow the bait as it moves off, as by this time the mouth is shut/slightly open for normal gill movement. That is the time to strike. If my float or bobbin is off from a standing start, there is a good chance the bait is not in the pikes mouth, much better to see the bobbin/float do a jig for a while (may only be 10 seconds, but seems like ages), and THEN move off with purpose, those are the ones I expect to land. Any help? dave e