nomadpaul

Yes , there are any number of coatings available - If you want to make the meat more durable , its sometimes worth slightly frying strips of the meat to toughen the outer skin.

...Or for those of us old enough to remember......Anchored crust !! The Zig-rig is just a fancy name used by modern carpers to jazz up an old fashioned rig !!

I havn't read the links but i'm betting Raphaels park is mentioned in there somewhere !!!

I have 2 - A Drennan ESP wooly thing for winter and a very nice ( product placement call ) Anglersnet.co.uk baseball cap

I think this is a slightly different problem Chris. The signal fault is with the new Iphone4....the upload problem is with the older phones being loaded with the new operating system that is offered when synched to Itunes.

Steve , thank you for this picture. I know it may seem silly but my dad is recovering in hospital from a double leg by-pass op and whilst i don't have any of these floats anymore , it has bought back some wonderful memories of us fishing together from a good few years back. The term 'Bobby Dazzler' is now synonomous with our fishing talk and is used to describe any item of tackle that tends to be of comedic value OR highly successful !!! I guess that being quite emotional at this point in time whilst waiting on his recovery/rehab has made this picture even more poignant to me than most old fishy pics. Thanks again . It has made me smile a lot

Crushed hemp is normally used to make a groundbait more 'active'....although exploding ground bait mixes normally rely on their 'mixed' state to provide this action. If you want groundbait to ' explode ' out of a feeder then its best to make the mix on the dry side .

Nuts !!! I'd just written out the envelope to send it off !

I have heard stories of OS4 deleting complete contact lists and purchased Apps hence when i synched to Itunes and it asked me if i wanted to upgrade i pressed a categorical NO !!! Will wait to see the outcome....and i have a 3G

So , i went out for a couple of hours fishing this morning ( 6:00am gates open ) and although it wasn't majorly sunny , it was a good warmth to be out in. Decided to fish on at one of our other lakes so spent the time from 6ish to 10:30 on the first lake. Second lake is quite 'woody' so was in shde for most of it. Gets home early evening and realised i have made exactly the same mistake as i do every year around this time. Shorts and ankle boots worn so now i have bright red inner shins where i've been sitting facing the sun....but still white ankles and feet with a very distinct boundary line between the 2 !!! Such a schoolboy error As i tend to wear 3/4 length or long shorts with flip flops , its not a good look as i havn't had my pins out much so far this year. And as i recall , i think i had this same thing happen last year and the year before that etc etc Will be straight down the chemists tomorrow for some sunscreen and aftersun. Any other stories of not covering up ?

There is now a reel on the market that has a line clip actually 'designed' for hitting the same distance and actually releases the ine when you start playing a fish. Its been advertised and reviewed in the weeklies in the past couple of weeks. Here it is - the MAP ACS - auto clip system http://www.map-fishing.co.uk/reels.html

Here's a quick pic of what the line should look like on your reel spool .

Actually , since 2006 i think , all monies earned by the England players whilst on international duty is given to charity. They don't get paid for playing for their country but they do get expenses etc. It was decided by the players that they knew they were in a very priveliged position and so this is all placed into a players fund and then given to various charities suggested by the players themselves. On their club wages though , i'd agree that they are extrememly overpaid !!!

I'd say keep it as simple as possible. A beefed up float or avon style rod , 5 - 6lb line straight through to a size 8 hook. Simple float rig fished with the bait a couple of inches overdepth and a nice big lump of luncheon meat or a big juicy lobworm. As has been suggested , no need to fish too far out , in fact , if you're real quiet , we could be talking easily less than a rod length out........The simpler the better in my eyes The carp in my profile pic was caught about 5 feet out from the bank on a free-lined lobworm !!!

Ok , which one of you Eeeeenglieeesh dogs have nicked my Vuvuzela ?