nigewoodcock

You need to hope that pete reads this!

Nothing come back mate. Sorry

I've just sent Oli a message asking what he and Alan did ticket wise. I'm pretty sure he is in Europe again this week but will let you know when he comes back to me.

Take a look at the latest NASH euro banx video on YouTube

Sinks better than any other mono I have tried.

Jun 7, 2013 Re-spooling reels- By Nige Woodcock I was re-spooling my reels the other night and thought I would take a few pictures to show you how I try to make things a bit less time consuming whilst also having a decent line lay with no twist etc. I’m not sure how much difference the brand of line would make to the process. Maybe more the type but as I use one brand for all my fishing, I can’t guarantee that this method would work for say, fluorocarbon or fluro coated mono. The mono I use is Suffix Synergy, mainly in 12lb. It has all the properties that I require from a mainline; good knot strength, high abrasion resistance, sinks like a stone, casts well with a good line lay on the spool. Those last two qualities though, depend a lot on how the line is loaded onto the spools. You could have the best line out there but spool it up with a bad lay or put twist in it, and you may as well have saved your money and gone for a cheap option. I like to change my line at least once a season but tend to do it on average twice, sometimes three times. It all depends on what lake I’m fishing and also the amount of sport I have been lucky enough to have had. The first thing to do is, obviously, strip back the old line. This can be time the most ball breaking part of the process. Wrapping a full big pit spool around your hands is a mare. You also have to think about how you are going to dispose of the old line. A big albatross nest of line is going to be dangerous to wildlife if not dealt with in a safe way. To help with these two problems faced. I incorporate the use of my drill and the inner of a bog roll! First off I take out any bits that are in the drill and place the roll over the chuck and tape it in place just at the bottom of the roll. Open up the bail arm and tie the line to the cardboard spool as you would your reel spool. All that’s left to do now is pull the trigger whilst holding the drill at 90º to the reel. I guide the line back and forth along the length of the roll leaving around an inch at each end. It takes very little time to empty a spool and one thing to watch is when you get to the end, the force of the stop can cut the line into your finger that’s guiding it onto the roll. I got cocky the other night and didn’t put a glove on. I now have a very deep, clean cut on my index finger! Once the reel is stripped, I take some of the tape and wrap it around the old line to hold it on the cardboard roll. This leaves you a nice neat package to dispose of or even keep to use for mono hooklinks and the like. Then simply take it off the drill and you’re done. The photos don’t show it as I was keeping this line but if chucking it away, I would tape all the line up before putting in the bin or burn it in the incinerator if I have other stuff to burn. I’m now ready to start re-spooling proper. Before I started stripping back the old line, I filled a bowl with warm water and soaked the line. I place a 4oz distance lead in the top of the spool to hold it down. This is enough to keep the new spool of line steady whilst filling the reel. The spool needs to be the correct way up for loading. This is with the line leaving the top of the spool in an anticlockwise rotation. This will eliminate the line being loaded in twist onto the reel. With the Synergy, this has always been with the label facing up with every new spool I have used. If this is the case with other brands, I can’t be sure. You can see in the picture below the way the line unloads. With the reel on the butt section of the rod, I take line through the butt eye and tie it onto the reel with a slip knot. On my reels, there is a recess for the knot and loop of line but if there wasn’t, I would place this first loop around four 5ths of the way down the spool. When loading the line, I like it to be under a touch of tension so that it is bedded down throughout the depth of the spool. I used to place a book along the length of the line and close the line in the book at different pages depending on how much tension was needed. I found the line used to skip around too much doing it this way so needed a better option. I now use a rod band around the line and the rod. This can be set to give a wide range of tension strength and seems to be a much better and consistent way to add the required amount to get a decent lay and bed of line. It was always my practice to overfill the spool to allow for the line to bed in once in use. By adding the tension to the line during loading, I can now pretty much fill the spool to a ‘working’ height from the start. I went out for an evening session on the mere the last night and, as always, it cast perfect first time with no slipping or coiling off the spool. It also sank beautifully with no twist. The finished spool:

Love this rig. Along with a hinge stiff and a zig, I very, very rarely use anything else.

I have had my diawa infinities for around 13 years now. Never been serviced, other than a clean down and oil every couple or three years by myself. I would never change them. I've never even been tempted to 'upgrade' them as I don't think they can be! I also have a pair of emblem spod reels for my spod and marker rods. These are also bullet proof but do need a bit more of a regular oil to keep them in top nick. I know coops uses these reels for his 'fishing' rods and loves them. There is is no doubt that there are some decent shimmy reels about though. Just that I wouldn't change mine to them, doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't.

Could have something to do with Korda having the distributed rights for trakker, delkim and I think maybe diawa in a lot of countries.

I'm the same kev. Didn't feel I needed one but since having it, I would be lost without it now.

The fox flatlighter is a fantastic bed. Used and abused mine since they came out. Not quite as comfy than an indulgence but far far lighter and not too much of a difference in comfort levels.

He was a murdering scumbag steve. Can't believe the tributes being paid to such a despicable person.

The big bag has a metal frame to it that sits in a groove on the main barrow frame. Can't get more secure than that on an under bag. The two smaller ones are Velcro fastened on all 4 sides at the top. Again, very secure. Mick got one as soon as he saw mine on the bank and is equally impressed.

I'll watch the first 1/4 maybe 1/2. Then catch the rest tomorrow evening. Just need to keep the radio, Facebook and twitter off tomorrow so I don't hear the result

I'm average height.......:: For a dwarf!!

I had no complaints with the room. Done a few 4 and 5 night sessions under it. I am only an inch taller than being a dwarf though!!!

Looks like I'm the only one who has actually owned the fox 60inch brolly. I had the system one with a zip on front. Really good bit of kit. I changed it after 4 years of heavy use and just chucking it in the sling. I ripped it through carelessness so got the supabrolly as a replacement but the smaller one. More than happy with that as well.

I really don't miss the sides mate. I have the fox bag that sits on the front. The under bag holds loads of kit. All that goes on top is the bed chair, with legs up to form sides, my bait (normally two buckets) and the sleeping my with brolly. One of the best bits is you can access the under bag and the tackle bag without having to offload everything. Ideal for being mobile before settling on a swim for the night.

I changed over to the new fox barrow last year. It's a fantastic barrow that packs down to nothing but will take a hell of a lot of kit if needed.

My mates had a sample pack off Ruben heaton. They look and feel amazing. I think the idea with the honing of them is that they wouldn't need sharpening. Looking through their extensive catalogue, they have some weird and wonderful patterns for all types of fishing. If there is any real benifit to using them, only testing them in a real fishing situation would tell.

A number of years ago on here, we had a discussion on fishing over hemp with a bare hook.

There is one or two major differences with attracting the lakes natural baits to your baited area rather than baiting with the tinned or frozen ones. They are still alive, they are natural to that particular lake. The tinned or frozen ones are obviously dead and they also may not be a he same as what actually lives in the lake your fishing. If this makes a difference or provides an edge, who knows?? Worth thinking about though.

The post with snails on the boilie was from me. Not my photo mind, but one off the essential baits web site. The snails were not stuck to the boilie, they were naturally attracted to it and were feeding on it.

Just buy her 4 horses. What you spend on fishing gear will seem like the cheapest hobby ever!!!!

Ha! Doh, that makes sense!! I used my bivvy for the first time in about 4 years this week. Won't be using it again for a long time!!!! Such a faff to put up, take down and transport around! I was mega impressed with the new Nash TITAN tc pro version when shown it though. I think I'll definitely be ordering one when they are released next year.