Pete Elleray

Hi. Emberton Lakes, up near Milton Keynes,have everything the mobile home man could wish for plus a short stretch of the Great Ouse. Try www.mkaa.co.uk/emberton_lakes.htm (One day I will learn how to insert links in a message.) Pete

Hi. Could it be a rubber gravel guard that goes on the mainline and slides down over the top of the swivel? Pete

Boiled potato produced my first carp. It was after the trebles era but I can't remember how we got a potato on an ordinary hook. Regards, Pete

Hi. Aren't smell and taste very nearly the same thing? Scents, such as Eau de Cologne, are a special case and I suspect they taste horrible because they are so concentrated. The flavour of a boilie leaks out into the water and becomes, to the fish, a taste. Regards, Pete

Allibee, the knot that you have been using for years is what I understand to be a grinner knot. The loopy thing was explained to me years ago as a double grinner, that is a good knot and I used it regularly until I learnt the palomar knot. The problem with the double grinner is that you need a lot of spit and tender loving care to avoid kinking the line. Regards, Pete

Hi MikeP. If you plan to visit Broadlands, telephone beforehand, or ask at a local tackle shop, to make sure that the water is open. I drive past it regularly and last week was the first time this season that I saw anglers there. There were rumours of a fish-kill but I didn't check to see if they were true. Sway is a lovely little fishery and is supposed to hold some good carp. If you go in the holiday season, you might find it a bit crowded. I have only fished it before Easter and after August and I have never fished for the carp.

Chris and allibee, combined, will crack it for you if the pond isn't a puddle. Rake a swim, pile in the pellets and particles, and fish a swimfeeder with popped up casters, maggot, or pellet on the hook. Yeours, Pete

Have a look at the Boss trolley and its look-alikes. I have used a Boss for years and have no complaints except that it takes two trips to get bivvy, bed etc to my swim if I am out for a long session.

Hi. Lakeside Lodges was discussed in one of the topics recently. It is not new but I think it is in your area. Regards, Pete

A thieving rat with a mouthful of boilies.

Fenboy, I suspect you are thinkung of the Ashlea pool that is on the edge of the Cotswolds Water Park. Regards, Pete

Hi Susiebee. A kettle is a style of net for catching fish in the sea. 'A pretty kettle of fish' indicates a good catch. I know that kettle nets used to be used by the people on Romney Marsh to catch fish from the channel, and I think they were staked out at low tide and retreived at the next low tide. Regards, Pete

Chris, two points for you. 'Method' feeders are usually fished like a safe bolt rig. That is, they aren't free-running but will come off easily if you break on a fish, the fish doesn't end up towing your feeder up and down the lake. There are all sorts of ways that you can do this. I would put a short length of tubing over the spike at the bottom end of the feeder and pull the swivel up into the tubing. Similarly, there is nothing wrong with a 10" hook link but most of the articles about method fishing say that you should have a short link, about 3" to 4", so that your hook bait is lying by the free grub on the feeder. Hope that helps a bit. Pete

Hi Judy. Did you ever find out what an Avon rod was? The first 'Avon' rod that I encountered was developed by Richard Walker. It was similar to his Mark IV Carp rod but had a test curve more suited to tench fishing or trotting for big chub. Yours, Pete

Reply cancelled. I think the EA are doing a reasonable job given their limited resources.

And you don't have to have a bite alarm, these are used to tell the angler that he should be paying attention. (Don't get me wrong,I wouldn't be without them on a long session.)

Hi Johnny. Lots of people are telling you how difficult it will be with your rod but nobody has asked you which Hyperloop you have or the size of the carp in your water. If your rod is too 'light' you won't be able to cast heavy baits to the lake next door and you might have difficulty landing big fish. But neither of these matter that much, what matters is the other end of your tackle. Find a productive area that you can cast to and use rigs and baits similar, but perhaps lighter, to those that the other anglers are using. Get a few carp on and that will tell you if you need a stronger rod. Yours, Pete

Hi. It looks like everyone agrees, the Hyperloop rods are very good value. I bought the 1.5 lb barbel rod to chuck big feeders out when baiting up for tench. That worked fine and, when you are fed up with tenching, it is an excellent barbel rod. Regards, Pete

Hi. Has anybody said that most tackle shops stock pellet pumps. Bobb Nudd was pushing them earlier in the year - it might be said that he is a sucker for anything new. Yours, Pete

I am firmly in the group that thinks Chapmans offer a reliable service. For years I have ordered items from them over the telephone and been 100% satisfied with the service. Pete

Thanks Bruno. Some of the tench I have seen had red spots in places that didn't seem to be vunerable to spawning activity. Now I know why. [ 13. April 2003, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: Pete Elleray ]

Hi Zapp. Tench with red spots are not that rare. I don't know what the current thinking is on these fish but the theory that I like is that the spots are the result of scales damaged during spawning. Yours, Pete

Hi Zappagod. I don't know if it is mentiond in any of Fred J Taylor's books but he used swan mussels as a tench bait at 'Benniworth Haven'. They make a super bait but please don't chop lots up for groundbait - they are slow growers and it doesn't take much to clear them out of a swim. Yours, Pete

Hi. Steve is dead right about adding sausage rusk. In my case I mix crumb 50/50 with a commercial groundbait (Sensa's 'Secret' is my favourite), mix this base with water and then add some dry rusk. Make your base mix nice and crumbly and you won't need to add much rusk. This is good because rusk rising to the surface attracts ducks. Yours, Pete

Late again.