Jigotai

Great programme, loved the underwater footage. Thanks for pointing it out earlier Peter, I would of missed it otherwise.

I use a piece of the mesh that plasterers use. It's quite sharp and when you rub the bread over it, it sort of grates the bread. Doesn't take long and is cheaper than a blender/liquidiser.

I agree that is a good swim I think I'm going to move about a bit more this time, maybe taking a look at the carrier streams that I missed last year.

I fish an LAA stretch of the lea in Hertford that is pretty good for chub, perch, roach and the odd barble. There is also a stretch of the Lea navigation that fishes well when it gets hard else where between the lock and the mariner. Plenty of moored barges that you can fish to. Andy.

Thanks Tony.

Hi Tony, Can I put Vidar down for that place please. I've just spoken to him and he would like to go but isn't at a computer at the moment. Cheers Andy.

Here's my three favourites in no particular order Chicken Madras with side dish of bombay aloo, plain rice and naan. Sunday roast. Beef, lamb, chicken or pork. Bacon Roll/sandwich on a sunday morning waiting for Wickes to open. As f0r Britains worst I'd say Roll mops and jellied eels.

Eeek! 4 daughters, no wonder you need to get out fishing. Welcome to AN.

If you don't mind getting out of London Rib valley fishing lakes has a good reputation for fly fishing, but they still insist on one fish being killed. There is also part of the river lea that would be a good spot to try pike on the fly, I use lures and have had good results with pike and perch there. When you reach enough posts and are able to use PM's I'll tell you a bit more. Andy.

I agree with you there, most of my winter chub come to a nice big piece of bread flake trotted through a swim. I'd be inclined to try a nice fat lobworm in high coloured conditions before meat or cheesepaste.

Hi Anderoo, I'm not sure if this will help, but I tend to look for gravel runs between streamer weed. As you know, the stretch of the Lea where I fish gets pretty choked with weed, so these narrow channels are a good bet for fish moving up and down the river. I have also watched them moving up stream virtually under my feet so I also look for runs in the margins.

Hi Chris, I've just recently reared some chicks in an incubator, not as successful as you as I only managed 3 from 7. What breed are yours, these are silkie chicks.

A good little book to look out for is the Floatmakers Manual by Bill Watson. It has a detailed look at materials, construction, and painting/varnishing of various types of floats. It's not available new but you can pick up second hand copies on Amazon.

Paul that's quite a collection of reels, have you got a favourite?

It's 4 1/2" dia with a narrow drum. At the moment it's bright and shiny, but I'm going to get it black anodised. Some of the smaller parts I have made out of stainless steel and these will be polished.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't want to get the polishing and plating done and wish I had lightened it first. When I finish it I'll post some pictures and maybe do a report. John, I bet you were gutted, I know too well the time that gets put into something like that.

For a little while now I have been making myself a centrepin reel. I have almost finished, just a bit of polishing and plating to do. While playing with the ratchet and seeing how long it spins for, as you do, I started to wonder about the weight. With this in mind I weighed it and it came in at 265 gms. Now can any of you regular users of centrepins tell me whether this is heavy for a pin or not. Thanks Andy

You could try tying a pellet band onto the hair, it's a method I've been using lately that works well, no need to drill or glue.

I use my sons sony PSP to browse the net when he's hoggin the computer. It's wireless, and if you get board surfing the net you could always use it to play games .

Nice fish Anderoo, will be trying to catch one like that this weekend. I've a pass to fish that mariner on the Ouse I was telling you about.

As others have said the lea is a good option. The river/canal is a short walk from the stations at Broxbourne, Rye house, St Margarets, Ware and Hertford. Or you could change trains at Broxbourne and fish the Stort, which is a short walk from Harlow station. If you want to come out this way give me a shout and I'll help you out.

Hi Dant, any of these any good clicky

I'd say you were right there Peter, the bumps certainly looked more like some sort of infestation. RAC If that fish looks normal where you fish, I'm glad I don't fish there.

If it hadn't of flapped a couple of times while I took the photo I'd of thought that too.

Hi folks, I caught this bream the other night on my local stretch of the lea. Any one know what's wrong with it.