yorkio

When Benson the wonder carp shuffled off his mortal coil a few years back and his demise was blamed on a surfeit of uncooked tiger nuts, I asked one of our most distinguished fishery scientists* his views on the matter. And he said: * I'm quoting his email without permission here, so I won't name any names. He's probably known to most on here though.

David Norwich make their own blanks. Peter mentioned Century. There's Zziplex too – they're all British. I believe the top end Daiwa and Hardy rods still use British-made blanks, although the majority of their ranges don't. I'm pretty sure there are no British-made fixed spool reels though. I wonder what the last ones made over here were? Anyone?

That's presumably talking about returns though, ie if you had changed your mind about the rod and wanted a refund or to exchange it for something else. Something that's broken on arrival is quite a different matter and entirely the seller's responsibility.

Great crested grebe

Couldn't agree more. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the first generation iPads and they'll still be just as good when the iPad 3 is in the shops. If you really want a new one though, keep an eye on the refurb section of the Apple store. The discounts can be pretty decent most of the time but there'll be a few weeks after iPad 3 is announced when they'll still be clearing out iPad 2s, most likely a bit cheaper still than they are right now. The stuff in there may, strictly speaking, be 'used' but it comes with a full Apple warranty and most of the time you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. (I'm still using an iPod I bought from the refurb store nearly nine years ago!) Oh, and you get 2% cashback on iPads from the Apple store if you're registered with Quidco too.

I know it's in the paper and everything so it must be true, but really?

Thanks, all. For a while I'd almost talked myself out of taking any fishing kit at all, but that talk of tench bubbles has set me straight! The whip can go back in the garage and I'll see if I can pick up a cheapie travel float rod from somewhere. The net's still a bit of a tricky one though but I've got a sea trout net with a telescopic handle that at a pinch will probably fit into the suitcase. The handle's rather too short to be ideal but with a bit of stooping it'll probably do.

I'm shortly off to south west France for a week, staying at a place with its own small lake, in which I'm told there are "carpeaux, carpes, and [some say] brochets". So that would be carp, pike and carpeaux? Google's failing me on this one but I'm guessing it means small carp, or in this context, most likely smaller silver fish of an unknown variety. Does that sound about right? I've also been wondering what gear to take. I started off thinking about a travel float road and a little fixed spool, but am now tempted to cut down on the luggage and take a whip instead and just target the tiddlers. I've never actually used a whip before, mind – I bought it a few years back for one specific pond, stuck it in the garage and promptly forgot about it. From my brief research, I can confirm it's of the non-elasticated variety – just a eye whipped to the end of a bit of carbon fibre and that's it really. Will that do the job or are they really only designed for pulling half a dozen bleak a minute out of canals? If I could find a suitable and cheap telescopic/travel rod, I'd go for that rather than going off into the unknown, but as ever, the market seems to be travel carp/spinning rods but little for lighter (float) fishing and what there are strike me as quite big. For example, the Shakey Mach 1 XT travel match rod is 84cm dismantled, which is hardly going to go in my suitcase. (I've got a bloody beachcaster that packs down smaller than that!) Which makes me wonder whether I'd actually be better off taking my fly fishing gear? The main thing I'm concerned about though is not having a net. I've been told there's some fishing gear that the children use there but no one knows exactly what that might be. Does anyone do 'travel' nets? I've seen enormous folding carp nets but never anything smaller. Or am I just not looking hard enough? Any thoughts? Or should I just forget the fishing and settle in for a week of foie gras and armagnac?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Drennan It is new though. Gawd knows how they managed to hold out for so long.

On my (Mac) keyboard it's alt-0

Don't worry – it's still there! Kind of like a shipping version of Frogger! http://maps.google.com/maps?q=29%C2%BA58%2...mp;t=h&z=15

Fascinating stuff! I knew amadou was a fungus, but I had no idea which one or how it was prepared.

Yep, I have to empty my cache once a day, or I can't see new posts. Firefox 5.0.1.

Several used copies on Amazon for 1p and worth every penny! (Plus £2.80 delivery so a little bit more expensive than your copy.) It's an excellent book though. I picked up a copy when I came back to coarse fishing a few years back and it was absolutely perfect. It's very clearly written if you're an absolute beginner but there's loads in there to keep you interested as you gain more experience. In fact, I still refer back to it now if there's a new technique I want to try or if there's something I'm doing that's not working.

British Waterways may own the fishing rights and the canal network, but if the council controls access to that water and the ground you're actually sitting on while you're fishing, then I'd guess they're within their rights to stop you fishing. The only way to find out is to ask them though. Similarly, have you spoken to British Waterways?