Golden Paws

I must have been living in a box because I've only recently discovered buckethead. Soothsayer seems to be his most popular track and it's worth every minute. Luckily I found Sophie Lloyd quite a while back, enjoy!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-62330478 I was watching the Redmire episode of Passion For Angling only the other day and apart from Hugh Miles's brilliant camera work, Bernard's voice over really made it with his gentle woody voice and comic insights. He also featured in Catching The Impossible, when Martin Bowler got a shoal of large carp fishing in the margin in a tree covered swim and one roared off. Martin gave him a huge shove in the back so he landed in the drink with the rod in his hand as to land it, he would have to be in more open water but it was one of the funnest angling moments I've ever seen. His career also included one of the best episodes of Fawlty Towers where Basil though he was a hotel inspector and fussed over him although he was incredibly rude to him. When Basil found he found out that he wasn't, there was a great slapstick scene, just as the real inspectors walked in. Also famous for Carry On, the Wombles and later on Dr. Who. Rest easy Bernard, one of life's really funny and nice guy's.

There are 2 different compounds that have been used to make PVA bag. Originally there were made from Poly Vinyl Acetate and they have a vinegary smell and taste (acetic acid). Most manufacturers switched to using Poly Vinyl Alcohol (sometimes referred to as PV-OH) as it doesn't leave that horrible lingering taste. Technically if you are a Muslim, you aren't allowed to use it and I don't suppose recovering alcoholics would be tempted back on again with a quick lick and stick!

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/fortis-wraps-bifocal-2-00-polarised-sunglasses My close up sight is rubbish and I need reading glasses to do a lot of simple tasks which is pretty annoying. At work I wear a pair of safety glasses but with the same sort of lower lens that makes reading easy but my long sight is near perfect and looking straight ahead is just looking through normal perspex. I've got a pair of the Fortis glasses and they are very good. Sorry about the AD advert but the Fortis website is pretty rubbish when it comes to displaying exactly what you need.

Just browsing on YouTube and found this which might help: The bit about saving the hemp juice rung a bell, I freeze any I drain off and use it to make a groundbait plug for my spod.

It's all about building up the fishes confidence. The longer they feed freely and without anything untoward happening, the more confident they become and the more the larger fish will bully their way to the front of the feeding queue. I've witnessed it happening in clear rivers and it does take several hours of baiting and waiting until you can achieve that. I used to bait about 6 spots and visit and watch them over a few hours and then normally a large smelly bait placed in the swim on dark could result in an instant bite and with a high average size. Baiting in the margins will allow you to lower a bait dropper and your bait into the swim with minimal disturbance and less bait will be washed out of the swim by the current.

I used to fish rivers for barbel a few years ago and used plenty of hemp and corn as a particle to get the fish grubbing around. If you just throw the bait in, it will scatter and create a large area of bait. I used a bait dropper to get most of my bait down, here's my Heath Robinson home made versions that I made from a tuna can, piece of metal rod and some roofing lead and a hinge made from an old bicycle inner tube and fastened together with rivets. You can buy them in the UK but not sure about NZ. PVA mesh is another good option for getting bait down (if using hemp you'll have to add some salt or else it will melt too quickly) or a swimfeeder. A large smelly bait fished as a single is another good option, I used luncheon meat fried in tandoori and garlic with some success although it was better after dark or when the river was carrying extra water.

https://www.foxint.com/home/product/fox-black-label-qr-banksticks?c=pods-and-rod-support When I used to use banksticks, I found these really good as you could really bore into quite hard ground as the T-bar supplied made it easier to dig it in. I've gone over to a pod as it is easier and quicker in the long run.

My local park lane deepens down rapidly to about 7 foot a rod length out. I drag a lead through the margins until I feel the rise and then tighten the rod to the lead until the tip is on the surface and I've found the transition. The loose feed is then fed about a foot further out. The far bank trees always get targeted by most other anglers and I've normally got one rod there and the other is in the margins. Don't let on but the margin rod often outfishes the other!

Lead has a specific gravity (weight v size) of 11.35, whereas Zinc is 7.2. Incidentally, Tungsten is is 19.22 but I suspect it's cost would be prohibitive. Most of the lakes I fish are fairly weed free and no snags I'm aware of and I try not to drop the lead on every fish as I don't think it's necessary.

A lot of venues do state that tents aren't allowed. I assume it's in case anyone turns up with a family size job. Saying that, some bivvies these day's are so big, you drive a van in. A mate of mine was fishing a lake a good few years ago and brought his missus along and she put up a multi-coloured wind-break. A jobsworths bailiff decided it didn't conform and chucked him off!

Perhaps that bit wasn't clear. I also use a Korda safezone leader (made from 30lb fluoro that is very heavy and abrasion resistant and keeps the last metre pinned down.) I was attaching this to my mono and using olivettes to keep another metre of line pinned down. As I used a bait boat on my last trip, the olivettes were dragging behind and so I changed over to my spare spools of line loaded with fluorocarbon on them. The stuff has been used for quite a few previous trips but the inherent wiriness puts me off. When I first put the stuff on the reels, the stuff was literally leaping off the spools. I had quite a few wind knots on casting for the next few trips that you rarely get with mono. When I got home from my last trip, I put the mono spool back on the rods. To help pin the line down and without using olivettes, I attached about 30 foot of 20lb fluoro after the safezone leader. I was stretching it as it behaves better as there is less coiling. That way I get some of the benefits but reduce some of the problems. You do introduce a weak spot with the joining knot and when playing a fish, the clatter as the knot passes through the rings always gives you the jitters. Most people have a love hate relationship with fluoro. Love it heaviness, invisibility, lower stretch and abrasion resistance but hate its tendency to coil and casting is restricted compared to mono.

I've used a few brands of fluoro and they are more difficult to manage than mono's. They do tend to bed in with use and become more manageable over time. I was giving my leader a good stretch the other day as I find that it does behave better. I switched over to using pure fluorocarbon on my last trip as I was bait-boating the rig out but when I got home I took it off again! Using a leader does give you the benefit of a heavy invisible line near the rig but without some of the drama's associated with fluoro.

On my last trip, I lost a good fish and when I reeled it, I found that the trace had snapped at the knot after the swivel. The lake I fished isn't easy and one chance in 24 hours is a result and then to lose it was a kick in the nuts. I tested all the rigs in my wallet and one failed quite easily but the others survived a good yanking with a couple of puller tools. I have been using olivettes to pin down my main line but since buying the bait boat, it does cause the line to sink a bit too much. I went back to using a 30 foot fluoro leader on the mono so everything near the hook should be pinned down without the drama's of using fluoro all the way through. As fluoro can be a bit temperamental, I put the hook through the gridding on my barrow and gave the line a good pull to try to iron out the inherent coiling the flouro likes to do. On one rod, the line snapped without too much pressure. I was convinced it would be the back to back grinner but when I checked, it had gone a foot above on the mono. I must have nicked it putting it in the holdall and created the weakness. I used to check every rod before casting it out but fell out of the habit. Today's thought is to check everything is sound before you lose that fish.

Did a 24 hour on Wednesday and it was hot. I prefer my brolly system to a bivvy as it fits in the rod quiver and is less to take and set up. Didn't bother with the overwrap as it was so mild. Plastered on the sun cream. legionnaires cap to protect my neck and spent most of the day sat in the shade in the trees that surround the swim and drank cups and cups of orange squash. Still got a touch of sunstroke and had a headache yesterday!

Our outstanding Lunatopes are your brighter than bright, luminous, non-toxic, isotope replacements. The Lunatopes come in a sets of 2, 3 or 4 and in various sizes to fit your existing equipment. Simply fit the Lunatopes into your bobbins to light up your tackle at night time, for up to 7 hours glowing time. The Lunatopes are charged by UV light, so the daylight will charge them to full brightness, or a few seconds of light from your headtorch will also re-charge. The Lunatopes will glow at maximum brightness when charged for the first 30-40 minutes and will slowly dim over the 6 hour period. Recharge at any time to restore full brightness. They can be charged repeatedly and an unlimited amount of times. I hadn't heard of them before I have used the (very low level) radio active isoptopes in the past. To be fair, the product description does specify what you can expect. Should be OK for a summer overnighter but wouldn't be brilliant for a winter session.

I haven't used the rest but do find Colemans tend to run out when there is still plenty of gas in the canister. Being naturally tight and with the huge rise in gas prices, I recently bought a valve that connects two cylinders together. You put the fuller cylinder in a freezer to cool it right down and then put the other cylinder atop, open the valve and the gas should flow downwards and condense and start a flow until the top one is empty. I can confirm that it doesn't work!

I can understand that sentiment. I think I paid about £300 for my camera about 10 years ago so it's not expensive but I wouldn't want to fork out unnecessarily for another one. I keep my camera in a bag in my rucksack and inside a zip and seal sandwich bag that keeps any stray moisture out. I quite often take scenic and sunrise/sunsets shots on my camera that a mobile would struggle to do justice. It's also easier to be more create with the flash and cheaper camera's or mobile phones automatically try to flood the scene with light.

https://www.srb-photographic.co.uk/srb-dslr-self-take-kit-8891-p.asp I use this set up with my camera. You can adjust the position of the firing pin and I've used it with my bridge camera (SLR size) and my compact. You've just got to press the air bulb with your knee which is pretty simple.

Still Searching For A Wingham Ticket by Terry Hearn Tackling Silt by Tim Paisley Fishing In A Time Warp by Chris Yates Travels With A Rolex by Mark Pitchers Improve Your Angling Etiquette by Jim Shelly Munga Ways and Happy Dayz by Danny Fairbrass From Hero to Zero by Ali Hamidi Yomping 4 Carp by Chilly Chillcott Short Session Carping Between Your Lunch Break by Alan Blair Through The Haze by Rod Hutchinson Ushering In A New Era by Julian Cundiff Carping Telepathy by Simon Scott No Need To Secure An Angling Consultancy by Richard Walker Anarchy In The Colne Valley by Micky Gray Running A Business From The Bivvy by Rob Maylin Step By Step Guide to Carp Fishing by Kevin Maddockes Subsurface by Rob Hughes

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/what-is-the-embodied-energy-of-materials.html Yes, found the figures. You are quoting steel made from recycled steel but to originally get to that stage it has to be extracted from the iron ore and that requires 20 - 50 MJ of energy per kilogram. The plastic packaging weighs only a fraction of that of a can so it compare weigh for weight, the plastic would be far less. I take the point that it is far easier to recycle metals and most plastics do end up in landfill. Canned can does contain more salt and sugar but I forgot to mention that I always give my spod mix a good dollop of salt whilst mixing in the corn.

The plastic packaging weighs next to nothing and doesn't require a lot of energy to produce it whereas the tin can requires being smelted in a furnace. That's my take anyway.

If one part of the swim produces more than the other, it's not particularly the spod mix that's made the difference. You could end up confusing yourself as much as the fish! I fish one swim quite regularly with a set of overhanging trees to the left and right but a good 10 yards apart and some days one produces and not the other and vice versa. I don't think that what goes into the spod mix is all that important but use a mixture of hempseed, foreign finch mix and pigeon conditioner which gives you plenty of different sizes. Hemp is pretty expensive these days so the others bulk it out. Add a bag of frozen sweetcorn (not a tin as I'm doing my bit for the environment!) and it's ready to go. If want to use trout pellets, add them to the spod or spomb before casting or else they will mush up.

Got myself the Shimano XTD spod reel for Christmas and extremely pleased with it. Super smooth and as you say, the line lay is ridiculously good as the super slow oscillation puts each coil of line on the spool millimeters apart . I haven't fished a water this season where I've really needed to really wang it but know it wouldn't disappoint if I did.

Here's the video.