Vagabond

Answer No I do not have much time for women who habitually wear nail varnish, and to be fair, such women do not have much time for me.. I regard it as one of nature's signals - analogous to a stickleback's red chest - or lack of it. This mutual antipathy has, over the years, doubtless saved both of us much time and trouble' I have however several coloured varnishes for salmon and trout flies, but I do not seriously think a woodmouse could regain its home terriitory from 3 miles away ( across two main roads and a stream) in about 15 hours - as AJ pointed out, my first option was nearest the truth - the alternatives were just whimsies; In my youth I made a fortune from the "shilling a tail" bounty for grey squirrels, until it dawned upon the government there was an *infinite* supply of squoggies out there.

Full of beans, no doubt.

I have fished for burbot, one weekend from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, in company with the late Dave Marlborough and John i'Anson, at the last known location in the Fens where burbot were caught. Like Chris Yates, we caught no burbot, but I did catch more eels than I had immediate use for.

Note for the pedantic. The italicise option is not available for topic titles Norma's seedlings in the greenhouse have been nibbled ! Kill ! Kill ! Kill !!!! Well, ...er set the "humane"*** mousetrap, baited with birdseed. Mousetrap set Saturday. Sunday morning yielded a woodmouse which was released half a mile away in a wood the other side of the ghyll. Trap cleaned and reset Monday morning - another woodmouse. Some discussion as to whether it was the same one. Releasedi it 1.7 miles away. Cleaned and reset trap Tuesday morning a third woodmouse - released at same point as the Monday mouse Wednesday morn... fourth woodmouse - This one driven to Norma's favourite birdwatching site 3 miles away Thursday morn fifth woodmouse, again driven to site three miles away. Now is there an infinite queue of woodmice waiting to get into the birdseed-baited trap ? Or is it the same woodmouse each morning with prodigious speed and homing instinct ? Or have we the first known case of reincarnation in mice ? **** Although we see no reason to kill the mice trapped, trree-huggers in general should be under no illusions - if any of the mice were females (I didn't look) and have a nest somewhere, the youngsters will starve.... "humane" ??

Good point - why not boaters, canoeists, bird watchers, dog walkers, etc Every action in the countryside puts some sort of pressure on the environment, ....and ironically the best fishing I have ever had was on "my" trout streams, which have never seen a River Board, River Authority or (as now) an Environmental Authority official in my lifetime - and I have fished said streams since WWII.

Perhaps the crack is relevant to someone in the reporting chain I too have been bitten by an adder/ On Ashdown Forest adders are common. When I was about eight I trod on one. It bit me through my leather sandal. It felt about as bad as a wasp sting, but less painful than a bee sting. I ran all the way home. As I understand now, received wisdom says that movement of the affected limb is the worst possible option ! My parents didn't believe me** ! All that happened was that I was scolded for being "late" (If it hadn't been for the adder I would have been even later - lateness was a perpetual condition in those days.) Anyway, scolding and being sent to bed seemed to work - right as rain the next day - perhaps the amount of venom injected was minimal. ** The Chesters approach - believe nothing - fine, except that they believed any old hocus-pocus spouted by the local hedge-priest

I will have to give Wingham a miss this year, There is family gathering at an old lifeboat station in the West Country and I rather fancy a bit of sea fishing. I think I might stand a couple of all-nighters at Wingham, but my family are less confident, so Cornwall it is. The family may well be right, so I won't put it to the test. I would still like to contribute to the bailffs' "honorarium" and can offer a COMPLETE set of Waterlog magazine - 100 issues with a reserve of £70 - all in good nick with crosswords untouched (I set 'em, Norma checks 'em, so we already know the answers) Its a heavy lot, so buyer collects, either from here or from a mutually agreed location

Every schoolday from age 11 to leaving school at age 16 I used to take a shortcut through the local goods yard and have to cross the main line each morning.to get my "up" train for Tunbridge Wells (change at Eridge). On a lucky few mornings I would get a footplate ride to Eridge on the pickup goods if I was early enough - it left about twenty minutes before my train was due. I had told the crew my grandpa was a driver and that I had often helped prepare and/or dispose his engine. In those days that was good enough to admit a schoolboy to the camaraderie of the footplate - they gave me the odd fag as well.. I had to keep out of sight as the train went through the station though as the stationmaster was a bit rule-conscious. In the evening of course, I didn't have to cross the main line as I was already the right side In other countries - such as Sweden and Australia and others too numerous to mention, much of the railway is unfenced. No doubt Darwinian selection deals with kids too stupid to realize railways are potentially dangerous.

Chesters, from another thread Can happen to anyone - it happened to me whilst Spey casting - fortunately whilst I was practicing on our lawn rather than standing in mid-river . Lesson learnt - belt and braces whilst wading, Incidentally, the best advice I ever had on wading was from my Icelandic host on the Nordura back in '95. "Dave, you are a brave wader - but not a good one !" Anyway, Chester's adventure reminds me of a recent plea from one of my syndicates for two strong lads to collect some old railway sleepers and deliver to said syndicate. Now my sleeper-slinging days are well and truly over, but it was not always so..... Back in my days as a volunteer footplateman I was rostered one January day to fire a "permanent way train" In detail, to chug up the line, stopping at intervals to pick up old sleepers that the permanent way gang had replaced as part of routine winter maintenance. It had been snowing since the sleepers had been flung into the cess - and freezing so the sleepers were encased in ice. Every time we stopped, I got down to help lever the sleepers out of the ice and chuck them onto the sleeper wagon. (Firemen are expected to do EVERYTHING on this railway) My hands got quite blue Eventually we had a full load and time to go home. Eagerly I climbed on the loco to the welcome warmth of the fire, seized the shovel to replenish the fire, swung a load to the front of the firebox, and.......... hands were not just blue, they were numb as well, so I lost my grip on the shovel and into the firebox it went./ Jock the driver and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Fortunately, we carried a spare in the toolbox (shovels occasionally break) so more cautious firing got us back home OK Reported loss of shovel, expected a ribbing, but nothing was said. I should have known better That evening, the usual evening feast of curry (strong curry - we had would-be master-chefs in our ranks) was prepared in the locomen's lobby . Someone passed me a large plateful. i grabbed a spoon and set to. As the first spoonful became gob-bound, the entire lobby shouted as one man "DON'T LET GO OF THE SPOON DAVE" They don't let anyone get away with anything on the Bluebell

Thanks all for your good wishes - have just had a short walk over some rough ground on Ashdown Forest,, Tiring, but nice to be out in the sunshine and see a few heathland birds (stonechat, linnet etc) I think the first fishing trip is not far away.

When I fished the Murray basin for native Australian species, I had to try about twenty locations, as it was wall to wall carp almost everywhere, I did locate and catch some callop and trout-cod, but the famous Murray Cod had been crowded out from its previous haunts, Met a few local anglers who were pretty livid at the way their fishery had gone. Received some Australian advice, "Put the f**** carp back mate, but be sure to cut their throats first - good feed for the yabbies" Catching a carp a chuck everywhere I fished would soon put me off fishing

Very true, and I would go further - if something is repeatedly and heavily advertised I begin to suspect there is a reason why it is not selling on its own merits.

Hi Martin, and the rest of you lot, An update. I now sport, not one, not two, but three stents ! I did get away without the rotablation that had previously been thought necessary as they were able to push the stents into place without having to "rebore" the arteries. The report on the procedure refers to my cardiac arteries as "tortuous" - which presumably is why I finished up at King's College Hospital under the auspices of their chief cardiologist in the first place. Anyway, this was a first class team who did a first class job, so now all I need to do is get in trim for some fishing - already I have progressed from needing glyceryl trinitrate every time I tottered a few steps. to walking in the garden needing neither stick nor chemical support. The target is to catch a decent fish before the end of April - although fly casting is forbidden for three weeks, so look out ! Every trip from now on I will regard as a bonus trip as there was a real chance my fishing days were over. Hope you have a good season also Martin - something that was very apparent in the recovery ward at King's was the camaraderie amongst the patients - it was a bit like Churchill's comment when a young soldier in the Boer War " There is nothing so exhilarating as being shot at - without result "

Now I am not a betting man, precisely because I DO understand odds !! We had a self-opinionated and self-righteous RI teacher at school who threatened us with hellfire and eternal damnation if we ever dared go near a bookie. Now I have a nose for empty threats, and left to this twerp I might have become a life-long punter.** However, our maths teacher got bored with quadratic equations one morning, and as a diversion led us through the mathematics of "making a book". That was utterly convincing and I have never wasted money in supporting the life-style of William Hill and his ilk. ** After one of his diatribes, I was so annoyed that I found out his home address, and sent him an unstamped letter which read "Bet you tuppence-ha'penny this will cost you fivepence" (Postage due in those days was double the value of the missing stamps)

Really ? The ruler in my desk is marked in half inches on one edge and half centimeters on the other. The half centimeter line is not labelled as such, but nor is it labelled 5mm - just a longer line than its immediate neighbours., 5mm or 0,5 cm - surely it matters not. Much more serious are the people who do not realise both mean the same thing. Are there "no such things" as half a dozen, half a crown, half a minute, half a pint (well OK, that's for cheapskates) ? My education overlapped both imperial and metric systems and I am quite happy with either. However, I agree there is far too much misunderstanding of measurements. The most serious objection to the metric system is the frequency with which people who are supposed to have a grasp of science get the decimal point in the wrong place. - or even three places - I came across a professional nurse that did not know the difference between milligrams and micrograms.

Have re-read my post. It says what it means, and means what it says. Neither of your alternatives above is correct - Rather I was seeking a rational explanation of the figures you quoted - it is clearly impossible to assert the depth of meat quoted as applying to the whole lake, but that depth in just a swim or two is certainly possible.

My sister-in-law, 15 miles inland of Brisbane says its deluging. Schools are closed because they expect a month's rain in the next 24 hours. The school is near the Brisbane River, which floods.

What is wrong with tying up leadheads without the lead, and just pinching an appropriate split shot on next the fly ? What did J K Best say ? Makes the streamer more versatile Likewise, each of my several sizes of Ondex spoons comes in a range of weights, courtesy of some lead wire. Easily put on, easily removed.

Yep, done, whatever . I note there is a lot of patronising comment on how we will all be worse off financially, which I doubt very much - but even if true, remember the words of Jose Marti, instrumental in gaining Cuban independece from Spain "The wine may be bitter, but it is ours"

Phone Have you ever come across rods made of "snakewood" ? Negley Farson, in his book "Going Fishing" (well worth reading BTW) refers to a "handsome snakewood rod, with German silver mountings and agate rings" Now I know that snakewood is a tropical hardwood from Surinam/Guyana, and once had a billiard cue of that material, but have never come across it as a rod material. What have I missed ? Phone ? Anyone ?

In a lifetime of flytying, very few of my materials came via tghe fishing tackle industry. In my youth I shot enough game to provide me with enogh fur and feathers to last me out, Haberdashers have always bee my "go-to" option for threads - not nylon but sewing silks. Many other things there also - do you know you can get PVA thread there in large reels at a fraction of tackle-shop prices Charity shops too - old necklaces etc for pence - a great source of beads, and flashy things for lure-making. One of my very first fishing books was "Tackle-making for Anglers" by Vernon Bates - well dated now, but the principle remains. PS I do have a quantity of Veniard materials and very good they are too - I picked them up as part of a job lot at a house clearance sale.

Hmmmm Lets take the mid point of your area estimate and call it 4 acres 1 acre = 4840 square yards or roughly 4047 square metres Now I don't imagine the layer of 1'33 metres was over the whole lake, or else total amount of luncheon meat is 4047 X 4 x 1.33 = 21528 cubic metres. It is a big lorry that carries 5 cubic metres, and it would need 8588 such lorries. Far more likely the 1.33 metres refers to the depth of luncheon meat in the swim nearest to the car park - even so, it is a lot - a lot of meat, and a lot of money, even at low-end supermarket prices. I have fished at Redmire once (spent a week there and was pleased to catch carp, eels and gudgeon - the three species known to be there) One swim I avoided - it was shimmering gold, due to a carpet of sweet corn (or maybe maize) covering the bottom, and showing a fungal growth. The carp avoided that swim also - never saw a fish near it all week. Evidently the anglers you "will never understand" turn up everywhere - in those days anglers were vetted closely before being allowed to fish Redmire

Well no, not whole cubes, and for the same reason as you I guess. Cubes are difficult to hook without damaging the meat (Unless you thread them on the line before tying the hook on - which would be a pain ) My solution is a bit different. - if I want, say, about a cubic inch of meat on a hook, I cut a slice a quarter of an inch thick, cut it swiftly into one inch squares, and thread four of them onto the hook so that you have a miniature ready-sliced meat loaf . This avoids having to damage a cube by hook insertion. Adaptable for any size hook - smaller hook - thinner initial slices. Bigger hook -thicker slices A bonus is that it seems to be more resistant to bait-robbing. and more cut surfaces means more flavour diffusion It's just one more job for my multi-tool knife - no rummaging in your bag for different size punches' Works for rubbery commercial cheese also

Blimey, I paid £5 for an aluminium chair about 15 years ago - use nothing else by still waters - it has the advantage of not being too low and having armrests that an eighty plus can use to lever himself up, For rivers I use my unhooking mat Sit on one side and turn it over to put fish and wet net on tother side. Low cost, low weight.