jevs

Hi Steve You've made a mighty fine choice taking up angling. Beleive it or not, it will turn into a lovely, theraputic hobby where you and the family can relax among some of the most stunning countryside in the world. You've had a bad start....don't let it put you off. All new hobbies are an absolute minefield once you get satrted. If there's one piece of advice i could give you, it would be....go to http://www.allthingspiscatorial.com/ and go for a days tuition. Good luck and keep going....at least you caught something on your first trip......it took me two years when i was a kid to catch my first fish !!!!!!! Andy

Yep...you can get a bed chair in either length or width ways and a normal chair plus loads of luggage. When i used to go away for a carping session, i took loads of gear and it all fitted in comfortably with room to spare....plus you have a porch too. They really are super tents for the money Andy

http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/catalog/pro...roducts_id=1185

I've found the Shakespeare 2 man cyprio to be as good as anything on the market. You can pick them up for about £80 new, they are easy and quick to put up, reliable, very big and i never had a problem with mine in 5 years of good use. Or you could pay £300 just to have a posh name stuck on the side HTH Andy

Yeah...i'm trying to think back on how that'll work....whether the "nitrates" produced by the leaves will show themselves as other nitrogen compounds such as nitrogen gas, i don't know. I'm pretty certain that Nitrate (NO3) would not be a direct product of leaves rotting. If it does....it would be an absolute minimal amount and be munched up by the bacteria as you mention, before it reaches the water column. Nitrate also requires an oxygen-free environment to be eating (anaerobic) where nitrite must have an oxygen rich environment (aerobic) to get broken down. Many people will have encountered the anaerobic conditions in stagnant ponds......the smell of rotten eggs or hydrogen sulphide gas. I'm off to consult my boys book of chemistry

Trousers for me...and that goes for sticky groundbait too....my wife goes potty when i get in and my strides are covered in christ knows what !!!

Plus they are heavy feeders so reducing the nitrates and phosphates that blanket weed and green water feeds on

Must admit that i thought it was duckweed. The above advice is good.....get a small lilly in there

Yes....you can get it out of the small pond and put it in a big pond !!!! There are several factors that can cause this.....genetics (coming from already deformed or week parentage), being in too small a pond and being in too shallow a pond all can contribute to the problem. One things certain though, it won't get any better or cure itself...the fish will have it for the rest of it's life. But, it won't affect the fish and the carp will/should go on to lead a long healthy life.

I absolutely loved the shimano GTE series with the twin handles. Can't remember what ones i had now....possibly the 5000 GTE but they were as smooth and balanced as any reel i've ever had. You do pay for quality but it's well worth it !!!

Well, i took my trusty old float rod, a rucksack and a seat (plus a couple of tinnies !!!) down to the duckpond to wet my line for a few hours this afternoon. First cast after 2 minutes, i catch a 7lb common carp which took 20 minutes to land !!!!.....second cast immediately i get a 5 lb mirror carp much to the annoyance of everyone else fishing. But, a couple of small roach was all i caught after the initial activity but great fun was had. I'm taking the kids down there tomorrow for a bit of fun.

I'm gonna have a couple of hours down my local duckpond today too...again first time this year. Luckily it's only a 5 minute walk so i just take a rod, reel, small rucksack with essentials such as terminal tackle, bait and beer, landing net and that's it !!!! Tight lines

Does anyone get the opportunity to "rake" their swims before tench fishing. It used to be a lot easier when we had the old closed season....you could go down to the pond and rake your chosen swim for several days before the 16th then pitch up over night and start fishing just as it starts getting light. Had some superb results like that especially with a bit of pre-baiting but it's not easy to do now that the waters are open all year. Andy

Sorry mate but i would have to disagree with you there. Rotting leaves will produce humic acid which will turn the pH of the water slightly acidic (coldwater fish prefer a pH of around 7.5). Nitrate is produced as part of the nitrogen cycle which goes like this Fish are fed>>>>>>>fish excrete>>>>>>>>fish waste produces ammonia (lethal to most fish)>>>>>>>bacteria in the filters break ammonia down into a slightly less harmful nitrites>>>>>>>>another bacteria then breaks down nitrites into nitrates which are virtually harmless>>>>>>>nitrates are removed by water changes and also help feed any plants you have plus algea (green water and blanket weed) Personally, the rotting leaves are undesirable but not critical. You are better off getting a good air pump and chucking in a few air stones.....or creating more surface agitation by a fountain as mentioned. Hope this helps Andy

I tend to wait for postive bites too especially if using small baits or lunchoen meat where the little'uns tend to pick at it. I usually wait for the float to go right under or go on a good run. Andy

Always worth taking a tin of sweetcorn with you too....Tench love corn. Good luck Andy

As water temperatures increase, so the dissolved oxygen levels in the pond decrease....especially at night when any pond plants you have will be taking in oxygen and emitting carbon dioxide. I have a large air pump on my koi pond with 8 large air stones. This is a bit over kill for a small garden pond but if you can find a way of getting some air into the pond like that, it'll make the fish a lot happier and healthier. Although the rotting leaves are not particularly desirable, i wouldn't think they would play any significant part towards oxygen depletion. Hope this helps Andy

I know exactly where you're coming from riverside. I've been carp fishing for the last 10 years and i found myself going away for weekends and just waiting for the alarm to go off. So i started taking my float rod and i ended up enjoying cating 1/2 lb perch, roach and bream so much that i sold all my carp gear and now just posess a float and ledger rod. There's nothing nicer than going down to my local duckpond ( 2 mins walk) with a just the basic stuff in a carrier bag and fishing for anything i can get.....Eels are welcome too ! Andy

You can get silica or silver sand from most garden centres now.....playpit sand from argos or mothercare is equally as good and i ran a deep sand bed filter on my marine reef aquarium for 5 years with it. Not too deep though...max 1" otherwise the sand will turn anaerobic and start smelling of rotten eggs Andy

I've always found that 2 or 3 crates of Carlsberg export is the best first aid kit. It numbs any pain in a short while and alcohol is a superb antiseptic

http://aquaticplants.eu.com/acatalog/index.html Greenline for me every time There's also http://www.tropical-aquarium-plants.co.uk/ which is worth a look

If you add some inert gravel....you could even use washed pea beech, the fish, which are all natural scavengers, will keep it clean and give them something to rummage in. I added clumps of elodia which were tied to a pebble to keep them on the bottom when i was growing on koi in my 150 gallon tank. A nice brance or piece of bogwood would make them feel at home too.

I found a cheap "cool box" works a treat and keeps the water hotter for longer. Personally, i soak it in a nice, warm, sunny place for 24-48 hours then boil it till it splits....30-45 mins. I then put it back into a bucket in a nice warm sunny place but cover it with a sheet of glass or plastic (or clingfilm) and leave to ferment for 24 hours. Add molasses and cod liver oil as attractants or whatever you choose. And as mentioned, it does stink......just like a herd of damp donkeys has taken up residence under your sink

I'm a newbie one here and apart from my 35 year love affair with freshwater angling, i am also a devoted fish keeper. I've kept ponds and trops for 30 years and marines for 20 years on and off. I currently have a 50 gallon planted aquarium, a paludarium with some guppies living in the bottom and a 20 gallon tank for rearing baby guppies ( a bit of fun for my daughter to be interested in) I also have 2 ponds, a 1,000 gallon pond for putting small koi in to see if anything comes of them and a 3,000 gallon koi pond built last year. Here's some pics of the koi taken at the weekend. All a mixed bag of muts.....all cheapies from garden centres etc but they are stupidly tame and i love em. Enjoy Andy

First post so please be gentle with me !!! I've been using my trusty old mitchell 'match' reel for 25 years. It has a finger dab bale arm which i find so easy and comfortable to use. Why didn't they catch on and become the "norm"......has anyone else used them and what did you think ? Regards Andy