Unimexsol

Alas, if only I were computer savvy enough to know how to reduce the size of the photos. I just uploaded them onto Tinypic and copied the img /img bit that it gives. Oooh, I've just noticed that Newt has done it for me - many thanks As for the method, floatfished livebaiting, bait fish hooked through the top lip only with a Size 4(I think) sea hook. Not leaving the run any longer or setting up any differently from how I would have done using 2 trebles or a single treble. Added bonus is that if the session is unsuccessful I can release the bait fish with little damage done to it. I'm hoping for a nice evening tomorrow as I really want to take one of my kids and help them to catch their first jack/large perch.

No arguements please about the weights! edit note: I have posted smaller versions to make life easier on members with slow connections and left the tinypic links to the originals. Nice fish. Newt http://i11.tinypic.com/2gsfktt.jpg 4-5lb I guess http://i16.tinypic.com/49k4tmr.jpg 10lb. I was surprised about how light this was, it fought like a monster. Lovely fish though. http://i17.tinypic.com/4cmzzgz.jpg 18lb, my biggest to date. Caught last year. Many thanks to RussellF. Since going out for a night's fishing with him last year I have stopped using trebles completely and use only a single hook. I've not lost a fish because of that switch yet, however it has made unhooking so much quicker and easier.

I fish the Lee in both Tottenham and Hackney quite a bit and have never had any trouble despite both areas being fairly rough. Don't let others put you off, if you are a bit worried about it then just go with a friend. You are very, very unlikely to be hassled.

In general there is no longer a close season on canals, but you need to check on each individual one. The River Lee Navigational Canal has no close season....until Aqueduct Lock above which the canal is deemed to be a river and as such has a close season.

Well, it's been a while since I last posted but I thought I'd stick my head in and say hello to you all again. Could it be anything to do with the weather getting warmer? Hmmm, fair-weather fisherman - MOI? Hope everyone is well and that lines are tight. Have I missed anything in the last 6 months?

I would, but I never have. I would like to try Pike and Carp as I've never had them. It's funny that I've never had any reservations about eating Trout that I've caught but until very recently would never have dreamt of eating a coarse fish.

Small dace, lip hooked on a single size 4. Remembering what I read on here about Pike herding fish against a wall etc I put the bait out only a couple of feet from the side of the canal. The take came about 4 minutes later. Interestingly enough the fish appeared to have an injury but at 17lb I'd have thought it would have been too big for another pike to have a go at? Boat injury perhaps?

Went fishing with Russell off this message board on Friday night and had a good evening. Didn't catch much, although the 4lb pike early Saturday morning was a nice bonus, but I did pick up a few tips that I'll will be incorporating into my regular fishing. Saturday night saw me pop out for a couple of hours with my brother-in-law, got into a 17lb+ Pike. My first "confirmed" double and my own personal PB. Obviously Russell's tips worked. All in all a good weekend.

Steve/Megacorp, where are you located? It doesn't say in your profile. I too suggested maggots for the same reasons as Colin. If you don't like maggots what about worm? It is another good bait and you might find that it can be just effective as maggots.

I'd highly recommend that you try and find a mate who's done a bit of fishing - or even see if someone on here might come along with you for a couple of hours. You will learn more about the basics from actually being with someone for a couple of hours than you can from either the internet or a book. I'm also surprised at your choice of bait, most people start off by using maggot and catching a few small fish first. This time of year you should be catching regularly if you go after the smaller roach, bream, bleak etc with a single maggot on a size 18 hook. It will also give you good practise at handling a fish and unhooking them. Oh, and did I mention, catching fish is really fun, even the little ones.

If the maggots are still alive why not make up a small harness for them out of cotton thread, point them in the right direction, attach the other end of the harness to your car and hey presto - a wonderful way of saving money on fuel costs. This method will have the drawback that after a couple of days they will become castors and will not be able to pull the vehicle. On the plus side though, if you give it another couple of days they will hatch and you will have a flying car. Hope this helps.

Yuk don't do that! I once liquidised maggots Making a maggot smoothie were we?

Mash together with a bit of potato, cover in breadcrumbs, oven bake or deep fry and serve them to the old bag as Protein Surprise.

Kleinboet, the point you made was that you need a licence to do many things, eg marriage etc. My point is that there are many more things that you don't need a licence to do. You also ignored the solo outdoor activities that I commented on such as canoeing, hiking and climbing. These are not team sports and in many ways have more in common with angling than lets say...building a house. I hope that you also noted that I stated that I didn't have a problem with buying a licence; my post was more to point out that the idea that we should need a licence for fishing just because you need a licence to drive a car is not a valid argument.

Do you need a licence to play football? hockey? darts? cards? Do you need a licence to go canoeing? hiking? climbing? So why do you need a licence to go fishing? (although I personally don't mind paying for my licence.)

I saw a thread that suggested that when you bought a license that you automatically became a member of some fishing federation. I believe that this would in fact be a "closed-shop" operation and thus unlawful. There must be freedom of choice as to whether or not you belong to an organisation.

Before you move the thread to Off-topic, please answer my question about slammos and flower types. I know you've all got carried away with Pigeons and crayons and such like, and I didn't like to mention it before (in case Gozzer and Huge got too excited), but I'd quite like to know. Many thanks killjoy woz ere

Steve, to be honest as a newbie I don't think that not having the line within a couple of mms to the top of the spool will matter that much. It will affect your casting distance slightly, but as long as there's a couple of hundred yards of line on there then you should be able to manage. Ideally, you will always ensure that you have a full spool but it isn't the most important thing. (This is of course only my opinion, I'm sure that others will strenuously disagree.)

I usually use an alloy disgorger that I've had since I was a kid but I've just bought another disgorger and I believe that it has a Slammo disgorger on the other end - how is it used exactly? Is it the same as a normal barrel disgorger. I've also seen some disgorgers where the head is sahped a bit like a flower?? How do these work and are they any good? Ta

I recently took my 14 year old fishing and he seems to have enjoyed it and asked to go again. I'm hoping to take him one evening this week too. He doesn't know it yet but I went through my tackle box and sorted out stuff that I could spare, went to the tackle shop and bought the stuff that I couldn't already provide, and yesterday went and bought a rod for him. I'm also giving him one of my old rods too. I'm really hoping that once I present him with his "own" gear that he'll become even more keen. (Don't worry I am already preparing myself for disappointment just in case!)

Damn, I was looking forward to the royalties for my rod-bending... etc tagline.

It may be cheap Chris but if someone's just starting then they don't need to spend hundreds of pounds on fishing equipment. In my local fishing shop the cheapest rod they sell is £49.95 and the cheapest reel is £19.95. By the time you've added in all the other stuff then you've got to be looking at at least £150 if you were to go to the local fishing shop. Now I'm sure that the rod and reel are far better than anything than you'll get at Tesco, Argos, Lidl or wherever but if I was asked my opinion I would still recommend that someone shell out £30 and find out if they like fishing first rather than putting them off by telling them that it'll cost them £150 before they even start. If they like fishing they will soon upgrade their gear and they will do that at the local fishing shop, this is a natural progression. Megacorp, by all means try the local tackle shop and see what they will do for you but remember that, especially when you are starting, the amount spent is not necessarily proportional to the amount caught.

How about: "ONE MAN AND HIS ROD - 16 months of rod-bending, arm-pumping, tackle-wetting fish photography"? maybe "The Angler" is a better choice.

Seems really expensive to me for what you are getting Megacorp. At my local Tesco's I bought a Kingfisher 3pc 12' rod for £10, and they were also doing adult starter packs with 10' rods for £16 and kids starter packs with a 6ft rod for £10. Packs included: Rod, Reel, Line, Floats, Hooks to nylon, disgorger, bait box, How to Fish book, weights, and some other stuff. They also sold landing nets (lightweight extendable carbon handle and net) for £10. Ok, the stuff won't be great, for example the rod that I bought doesn't have a top ring with a screw thread and therefore I can't use a swingtip or a quivertip (bite indicators for ledgering) but I would recommend it as a cheap entry method where the stuff will last you until you decide to upgrade. As I put in another thread, my first rod was a Winfield 6' rod (Woolworths equivalent of the Tesco's kids rod) and I still have it and still use it. Cheap doesn't always mean nasty. Remember, a fish can't tell how much you've spent on your rod as long as the bait is presented correctly.

For £25 (less than a night on the beers) I get a years fishing. I see it as quite a good way of saving money as it means that I'm not down the pub or shopping with the missus, or some other expensive habit and having spent my £25 on a licence I will make sure that I go fishing fairly regularly so as to get my money's worth. I don't begrudge it, I just wish that it was enforced more often. I would wager a considerable amount of money that where I fish less than 10% of the other anglers hold valid licenses. Yes, I know that, in theory, I could challenge them and ask them to produce their licenses but I don't like being a) knifed or b ) thrown in rivers/canals.