Anderoo

Awesome! Congrats

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-anger-bregret-leave-voters-protest-vote-thought-uk-stay-in-eu-remain-win-a7102516.html

Interesting article. A place in Wales that voted out due to non-existent immigration. Will the new government really match all the funding they've had/we're going to get from the EU? https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/25/view-wales-town-showered-eu-cash-votes-leave-ebbw-vale What happens if/when they don't? Who to blame?

The assumption that remain would win anyway seems to be the reason a lot of people voted leave, as some kind of protest at the establishment. Might explain why no one seems to be celebrating this genuinely momentous event. I would have thought that after unshackling us from the suffocating tyrrany of Brussels after all this time there'd be parties in the street...instead there's just a profound sense of shock and, in some cases, regret.

Interesting times is a euphemism. God forbid we live in 'interesting times'. We live in dark times.

Watched the first minute so apologies if I missed key points later. Yes I understand it was a democratic process and no I don't argue with the result and yes I want to now do whatever is best in the circumstances. But it's already very obvious that a great many people chose leave for the wrong reasons and are now regretting that choice. It wasn't just a poke at those currently in power; it wasn't a referendum on immigration. If I'm proved wrong and Britain ends up more prosperous and equal then I will be very happy to admit it. I know quite a few people who voted leave and I know they will be disappointed because what they thought they were voting for won't ever be delivered. We are entering into dark times. If the leave camp can't deliver what they promised the anger that has been very evident in this process will find new targets.

And not a single shot was fired. Well done everyone - we've just gone back 20 years. Goodbye Scotland, good luck Northern Ireland, goodbye Great Britain. So long international investment. Bye jobs. Farewell britain's brightest youngsters and good luck to the rest who have no choice but to stay. Hello again recession and the resurgence of the far right. No change to movement of labour and that 350m is not for the NHS after all. The world is staggered by our ignorance and xenophobia - London and a few other international cities excepted. I dare you to tell us in 5 years it was worth it.

A Britain that is tolerant and open and forward looking and welcomes people from around the world but deports all Express and Mail readers to their own little fenced off 1950s themed enclosure somewhere sounds about perfect

Yep as above - I use amnesia as it's really stiff, and the longer the weed strands the longer the boom needs to be. Let it drop on a tight line. If the weed is REALLY bad you're better off ditching the float all together and just leading around for fishable spots, and using rigs that can be fished in/on weed.

I'd be moving slowly and looking carefully at the fishfinder

Tackle shop on site...!

I'm looking forward to it but will be waiting for all this rain to stop first...

The best way to research the method is to look up info on fishing at willow pond at Linch hill. From memory there's plenty on the web about it.

Nice one Ralph

Agreed - allow softness or slack into the setup and it won't be anywhere near as effective. I'd still recommend swapping the quivertip for a normal rod, point it straight at the rig and clip on a very heavy bobbin.

I'm really excited about the river season this year, conditions are excellent and I can't wait to swap the fly gear for the trotting gear and get back out on running water. I have no grand plans for monsters but I can tell already it's going to be a lot of fun.

I've spent a bit more time at the little river, plenty more trout to mayflies and as the coarse fish gather to spawn and feast on mayflies I've had a very good look at the overall fish population. Lots of chub of all sizes, plenty of dace, stacks of minnows. Nature always finds a balance in the end. The rivers here are in fantastic condition this spring. For a few years they were painfully low and there were very few fish evident. As soon as there's a decent amount of water, good flow, good weed growth and plenty of insect life, suddenly there are all the fish again. I suspect people may be very surprised at the size of the fish population in a 'decimated' river. I'd put money on there being other reasons why the fish are not seen or caught, I bet in most cases they're still there somewhere.

Nice! I tried that the other day but they were preoccupied with spawning...

About 10 years ago I waded into the (still ongoing) otter debate by saying I'd seen one at a little Thames tributary and despite that the fishing was good. I was told that means nothing, just you wait, in 10 years all the fish will be gone. The other evening I was back at the same stretch fly fishing for brown trout with rich and we saw another otter. It swam upstream along the far bank underwater (we thought it was a huge fish at first!), popped its head up, had a look at us, and then swam off again. We caught some lovely fat brownies, as I had on previous evenings this spring, and saw a few decent chub mooching about under the surface, also looking for mayflies. I don't know if this is just the world's crappest otter, or it needs new dentures or whatever, but I'm afraid to say that the little river still has a decent population of fish despite the rampaging carnivores that are apparently decimating our rivers. Anyone who predicted an empty river and a very fat otter a decade ago is welcome to explain this impossibility!

Do not feed the trolls.

To a degree, I do agree. I have come round to thinking that a lot of the time fish just are where they are. They probably have good reasons to be there but often in ways that are unknowable to us. I've lost count of the times I've fished a spot that seems perfect and blanked as the fish thought otherwise! However, you have to start somewhere, and unless you can see them you have to assume their movements are to some degree dictated by factors such as food availability, temperature, shade, water movement or flow, cover or structure, human interference, etc. On some waters the influence of the wind in concentrating fish is very evident. Waters with very little else to complicate the effect show it more clearly. Two waters I've fished a fair bit spring to mind, one of Farmoor reservoir for trout and the other is Frensham big pond for tench. Both are large, featureless circular(ish) bowls. In both cases, the windward bank is the place to be as long as the wind is a warm one. For the trout it's pretty safe to assume it's because it concentrates the food. For the tench, as the 'pond' is so big and so shallow, I always had the impression that the shoals of tench literally got blown over to one bank in a strong wind! Releasing them into the windy water, they'd actually struggle to swim off against the tow. Add in complications like nooks, bays, structure, bars, overhanging trees, non-fishing areas and the effect is much less clear to see. All things considered, I'd almost always prefer to be fishing into a wind if it's warm, and on the back of it if it's cold - but there are always exceptions...! I'm less convinced about fish having homes. Some species seem to be more 'stay at home' than others but even so I think they are usually pretty transient to take advantage of localized food, temperature, etc. I can think of a few exceptions, the one that immediately springs to mind was a chub that always lived in a pool under a free at the Windrush. Rich and I nicknamed him 'Percy', every time we fished in that spot we caught him, so after a while we had to stop fishing there out of guilt. Shame, as it was a lovely spot

Yes - even the wingham bream fall into that category!

I had some nice crucians last summer on float fished expander pellet. I think a fair bit of their effectiveness was that they were kind of bouyant.

That's true! We used to do the same as kids in Norfolk, every waterway was carpeted with eels then. Which was handy as we never ran short of pike and zander baits

Sounds perfect to me - guaranteed no eels!