rarepleasures

The elastic in my Middy Margin Pole snapped so I have to re-elasticate it. It comes with a swivel bung that is supposed to 'prevent twist in the elastic', previously I've only seen the winder type which allows you to tighten the tension. Are there pros/cons to each type ?

In the 70's I fished the pools of the Towy in South Wales with a closed faced reel and a short 7' rod, on my own, and thought nothing of it at the time, I must of be all of 6 or 7 (we moved in '78). Ironically now that I'm much much older I find I have more trouble not less (re)-learning to fish. I'd say its worth letting him try out a closed face reel or a center pin to see if hes comfortable with it.

Since you've cross posted in the Carp forum lets just deal with the Roach/Rudd. Maggots should catch anything. I'd also take a few castors, plus some hemp and sweetcorn. This year I've found sweetcorn to be an excellent bait for getting the bigger fish, but different waters are ... different and fake hemp with a sprinkle of real freebies may be better. Castors tend to work better in winter but always worth trying just in case.

Then a decent match reel will suffice, see this thread

What kind of water will you be targeting ?

Since I haven't the room to take much groundbait with me on holiday, I took the advice of AN and cut what little I had with 2 x mole hill soil and added a cup full of fixed size pellets and a few grains of sweetcorn . I got the best session I ever had. I recon having to root through the soil kept the fish in the swim.

Whats always put me off about Anglers Paradise is the on site swimming pool, gym etc doesn't seem right to have those things included as part of a fishing holiday :-) No fishing ?!. Arghhhh !!!Fishing is the only thing keeping me sane on holiday:-P

We are planning a third trip to the York Gravel Pits and I was wondering what times of year are best, not just fishing mind you, but for the nature. We're thinking of the autumn for our last trip for this year (for the colours) and planning for next year, and I was wondering if those that fish these places all year round could give advice on changing tactics as the seasons change. Thanks

Anyone know the line diameters of the Gold Label Pro Gold range 6lb breaking strain and under ?

I usually send all mine to Les Webber's Angling Projects who use it to kit out schools.

Broken tips is a recurring post. Basically you're options are to buy a whole new rod or have it repaired. You'll loose some of the action with a repair. The only time I've see spare rod tips for sale they've been for Shimano feeder rods. When buying a new rod (as opposed to a second hand Ebay one where they're likely to be discontinued) I'd enquire about spare tips and buy one immediately. It seems to be the most common breakage where a repair has a noticebale impact on performance.

I know opinons is divided on its merits but I do rate the 'Improve Your Course Fishing' magazine available from most larger newsagents. Regularly has advice on basic things like how to cast, and what knots to tie.

What shotting pattern are you using ? If its shirt button the bait will tend to fall in an arc, better to bunch it all together. Generally advice I'm been given is to have 2/3rds of the shotting weight around the float and the remaing third bunched together, with a bite indicator shot a couple of inches from the hook bait.

Grauvelle 1.2 Avon

I've never heard of 'Carp Master' pole and Google hasn't either so.... it would be pure speculation.

Theres something I wouln't mind trying my hand at, and she does love Scotland.

Those photos makes it look like a swiming pool. We're looking for something with a bit more soul. Think Wingham rather than Cemex.

as I said neither of us can drive. Also the site doesn't show pictures of what the area surrounding the cottages is like. Finally you can't search for those that include onsite fishing.

we used to go to York Lakeside Lodges all the time, but the in-laws switched to Woodlakes for the better scenery. YLL is great if you fancy visiting York and the surrounding countryside with just a bit of fishing on the side, but as its situated on the back of a housing estate it doesn't just doesn't cut it for an all day experience.

To add some fuel to this thread I've just been watching Bob Nudd' Feeder Fishing DVD. His set up was braid with a mono leader. He chose braid so that it could accurately spread the feed out pull the hook bait back into it. The lake he was fishing though was consistantly shallow without the features that would cut through braid. Watching it I wondered should I get one of my shallow spools filled with braid and employ the same tactics ?

But do the places themselves have a 'soul' ? Like I said this place didn't hold specimens but the fishing was more involving than just the part from where you've hooked into the fish.

The problem, looking at the pictures, with the Pafex model is the wide weave, which could possibly damage fins when lifting.

I was persuaded to buy an Abu Garcia folding landing net as suitable choice for taking on holiday. Its similar to but with three sliding sections to the handle. However I'm not happy with it. The aluminium handle feels heavy and difficult to manoeveur from the bank but worse its come apart at the upper handle joint more than once. Can anyone suggest an alternative for those holiday trips ?

I've ordered the Exage via my local tackle shop a while back andit still hasn't arrived. It was the same with the small spinning reel I ordered. Shimano seem to have a very bad order forfilment service. I had to get the John Wilson Travel Avon for this last trip, but to be honest I found it a bit stiff - I had a couple of bumped off large roach and a 5lb line snap on a 6-10lb carp, the rod didn't seem to absorb the lunges as nicley as my match rod.

I have a Shimano KX 3500M I bought on Ebay last year, and unfortunately I can't find any info on that model but it appears to have a graphite body. The new Shakespeare Mach 3 I have just bought has an aluminium body. Is there any opinion as to which material makes for the best construction ?