tincatinca

Excellent job Budgie. All you need now is some camo nail varnish and a new badge. Master Scratcher

Interesting thread. I have spent a small fortune in setting up my workshop and one of my intended projects was to have a go at making a pin but now having finally got a Lythe I have totally discounted having a go at making one as the tooling I would need to get anywhere close to the accuracy and finish Chris achieves would cost me another small fortune and certainly several times the cost of one of his reels so I am quite happy to let him do his thing and wait for as long as it takes as it will save me a lot of time and money. I appreciate that pins are not everyones cup of tea and that there are many others which as a fishing tool will do as good a job for a lot less, but as a work of engineering art I personally cannot think of anything better and that includes the originals. Now for another twirling session.

Still sitting down twirling the Lythe and am so pleased with it that I have just ordered another one but this time after a long discussion with Chris it will be a slightly modified Scotton long trotter.

After over 3 years the Lythe has finally arrived this morning and I have to say that the wait was well worth it. The workmanship, materials and prescision is is simply stunning with the bonus that the price paiid was that at the time of order. What I really like is the simplicity of the design and the smoothness of operation and whilst I do not believe for one minute that it will be better than other reels that I have for actual fishing, it is a work of art and I can't wait for the 16th to christen it.

Well done Andrew. It's nice to get your first twenty.

Brings a whole new meaning to air drying your boilies

Lovely fish Chris and a cracking report. You have achieved what many have failed to do for many years of trying. I bet you wish now that you had brought a centrepin with you as I am sure that now you have the taste you will want more. Excellent result.

Congratulations on the Carp Elton. That is a lovely looking fish. Did it come before or after the visit of the little bunny.

After Budgies rescue act I bet they have all buggered off to the Sargasso

Excellent effort Stephen and well done with the new PB although I bet you kept the heater off in the ride home

Fantastic. Well done Chris. I am delighted for you and look forward to the pictures. Just sorry that I had to leave yesterday.

Have a good read Confucius_sa1.doc

B.A.A is cracking value for the money. Just need to check out where matches are booked.

Chris, Just got the eurodome out for an airing but could not remember how to put it up Anway after much messing about and a few expletives finally got it up and it is in surprisingly good nick considering it has not been used for about 10 years. It should be weatherproof as it was treated just before it was put away. In fact I was so impressed that I nay bring it out of retirement as it is a lot lighter than what I currently use. It is double skinned and has a full zipped mosquito net front and also full zipped clear panels. Are tou ok for a bedchair.

For anyone needing it I have spare JRC oval brolly complete with groundsheet, storm sticks, overwrap and t pegs Fox 1 man euro bivvy not pram type but threaded poles. Chub bedchair

To give people some idea of size and weight, the baitrunner reels shown in the picture are top row from left to right are Shimano Aerlex 6000 at 623 gms used for spod and marker float work, Daiwa emblem z5000t with baitrunner function at 613 gms used for long range Carping, Simano Baitrunner 4500B at 686 gms used for medium range Carp and Cats Bottom row from left to right are Shimano Baitrunner 6010 GTE at 500gms used for medium range Carping. Shimano Baitrunner 5010/5000GTE at 421 gms used for specimen Tench and Bream. Shimano original Baitrunner 3500 Triton type at 412 gms used for specimen Tench and Bream. All the above reels are of the older types and I do think that they are far better made than the current models and can all still be obtained from e-bay at a reasonable price. If it was not for the line lay on the 3500s I would use them a lot more than I do as they are nice and compact, have a superb clutch and are virtually bomb proof.

I am another advocate of the Terry Eustace pro series line but in my case I use pro-clear in 10lb b.s. which is slightly thinner than pro-gold or pro-tough and is very supple. It has stood up to abrasion surprisingly well even though there have been a few hairy moments with the gravel bars at Wingham. I always use a metre of anchor tube both to pin down the line and protect the bottom end and this has tended to work well. The biggest difference that I can see between the pro-clear and the other pro lines is that it breaks very close to the stated breaking strain and not a few pounds over.

I switched to the Korum S3 hooks early last season primarily for fishing at Wingham and they have been excellent. For use with a maggot feeder I use size 14 and 12 and for hair rigging I mainly use size a size 10 with occassional use of a size 8 dependent on what presentation I am looking for. With regards to hook strength, a large Carp was landed in recent times on a size 10 with no problems. I mainly fish with with a bouyant/semi bouyant bait of some description so the line aligner effect can be created without the need to use shrink tube by bringing the hair off the hook at the right angle. The inturn on the eye on the Korum hooks also assists in creating this. I am pretty sure that quite a few of the Wingham regulars use the Korum S3 hooks and to date I have not heard any adverse reports. http://www.korum.co.uk/hooks.php

Hi Ant, it takes two complete turns from full lock to no clutch pressure. The problem is that they are very sort after and always fetch a high price on the few occassions that they do come up on e-bay. They really are excellent reels like the majority of the older made in Japan Shimanos. I also have the smaller sized 3500 that I use for feeder fishing.

No, Tinca didn't get banned for leaving the gate unlocked but banned twice for not locking it properly and also for making something for a certain Wingham bailiff that didn't fit properly. As you can see SB was in a quandry over the new found avian species and obviously thinking about an invasion of twitchers. Also a local Mallard was non too happy about sharing the territory either .

If you can find them, the bottom reel which is an original Shimano Biomaster 4500 is also a good reel with excellent line lay and quite compact compared to the 6010 baitrunner.

A bit of teamwork between Andrew and Budgie

After recovering from the unplanned aquaintence of the aquatic life forms in Wingham, our hero was back in action the next day explaining to Andrew "Now this is what happens bruv when you attach your bait to a hook" Note the picture was taken from a safe place in a boat

I have just noticed the secret recipe to your success. Camo at night and plain in the day