bensrus

thanks all for the advice,what exactly is lb test curve of a rod,and how much would i expect to pay for a half decent carp rod?

having started coarse fishing last summer,im pretty happy with my regular trips,but what i do seem to have a problem with is the amount of carp im losing,on yesterdays trip, fishing pellet and corn together,i hooked 7 and lost 6!!, iwas fishing 10lb leader with size 10 kamesan hooks,admitdlley i was broken by one i estimated to be 20lb+,but the rest just came off,any ideas??

another disturbing point i think from the seawatch program,was witnessing those horrific "weapons of mass destruction" otherwise known as scallop dredgers

whatever we think of the commercial sector,it makes interesting television instead of some of the recent rubbish thats been on

anyone who fishes shore or boat,who watched tonights program about the penlee lifeboat boys,must have been incredibly moved,those chaps had hearts of gold and nerves of steel,never mind some pretty boy £100,000 a week footballer being described as a hero,when you look up hero in the dictionary it should say "see penlee lifeboats",respect to all the lifeboat crews everywhere.

wouldnt like to get me fingers/hand or any other essential bodily part near that catfish thing!!!

theres always going to be ongoing discussions about the affect that commercial trawlers are having on the depletion of threatened fish stocks. but after watching the first episode tonight,i for one (and im sure many of you would agree)wouldnt do there job for any amount of money,definatley a danger money job!!!

my multiplier has 20lb mono mainline,what strength shock leader should i be using for 4-6oz castings leads,and whats the best way to attach shock leaders to mainline and to hook length?,told you all i was a novice

some fair points brought up,but any chefs who also fish and i suspect there are many,must look at the long term solution,not just a short term strategy,the bass situation being a prime example,the so called celebrity chefs have done wild bass no favours whatsoever,i personally used farmed bass,or i wont use it at all,im just trying to do my bit

as a head chef in an extremley busy pub/restaurant,i more often than not find myself thinking of new fish dishes(we currently have 14-16 fish on the menu at any onetime),but thinking of new dishes isnt always the problem,fish availabilty and more importantly sustainability is the key,and while i would always prefer to use wild fish(because of the superior quality and flavour),i only use wild fish now,that numbers at sea are constant,and if needs be would use farmed,maybe the whole wlid fish stocks scenario,could do with a few high profile chefs to forward the case?,the support and public awareness it could generate could be profilic i think? martin

thanks for the info norrie,do you think i would catch conger there?

ha ha thats it then i take the (not so subtle) hints,dont bother with an okuma,thanks again for all the help. ps ive now bought a shimano tld25,cant wait to try it out martin

im going fishing to ardnamurchan in 10 days time,and as well as doing some boat fishing,also trying shore fishing,heard kilchoan jetty is pretty deep,anyone got any ideas what species i might get there? cheers martin ( im the man who puts the N in novice thats why i ask lots of questions!)

after absolutley stack loads of great advice,i have definatley now decided to geta shimano,many people have reccomended the tld20 and 25,as im planning on doing a lot more conger ,ling etc trips,wish the (very) occasional skate trip,does anyone know what the tr200g is like cause when i had a look in my local shop,its a reel i like the feel off,thanks again to everyone for helping this clueless beginner,martin

after much deliberation,and much advice(thanks everyone),i have found a reel i really like( the okuma titus gold),but before i go ahead and buy,would like to know what people think of them,i will be using this reel just for boat fishing,predominantly for skate and conger,the price ive been quoted is £125, thanks again martin