brighton_carper

Hi Bishops, I'm guessing you mean The Rother and The Arun. IMHO one of those will be the next river to break the Barbel record, if they haven't already. But the Barbel in there, whilst often massive, are very few and far between, and I just don't have that amount of time or flexibility at the moment. Wye Barbel tend not to go as big, but are more numerous. As I've not actually caught one before I'd be quite happy to come away from my trip with two or three up to 7-8lbs. And on top of all that, The Wye is one of Britain's last great, relatively unspoiled rivers. One that should be near the top of any river angler's bucket list.

Hey Chill, good to be back. Basically, in my old job I had a lot of spare time, it was basically sitting around waiting for something to go wrong, this one is a hell of a lot busier, hence disappearing off the forum fore a while, but it's still my first port of call when I need some info. Hereford Sounds interesting. Apart from anything else, it's a a bit closer. What sort of tactics did you use? From what I understand, the wye and usk foundation is actually a collection of most of most of the local societies along the Wye, so Hereford might even come under that. I'm going to give them a bell next week and see what they've got offer.

Hi Chaps, Never having caught a Barbel, and in an attempt to put that right, I am planning trip to The River Wye this summer, probably in July. I would really appreciate any information on where to fish, where to stay, what baits and techniques work best. I'm planning to sign up with The Wye & Usk Foundation, as I've heard that's the best place to get decent River Wye beats. If anyone has a better idea, I'd be interested to hear it? Cheers Theo

Mufty, he won't be getting paid. West Ham can fine him two weeks wages for each misdemeanour, so as long as he fails to train and play, they can keep fining him. There are reports that we are going to bid for him, but we've already got enough potential bad eggs. I wouldn't want him anywhere near my club. And at 29 no one is going to pay£40m for him. He might only have 2-3 good seasons left in him.

According to The Telegraph, Sam is quite expensive. LOL

No Steve, that was Big Sam giving Rooney the rope to hang himself, and I'd say it worked quite well. What do you mean, you gave up on England 20 years ago? Everyone knows Liverpool supporters have never supported England. You say England have had two good tournaments in 50 years, well for a start I'd make that three, 1966, 1990 and 1996, but look at Spain. If you took Spain in 2007, they had a far less successful international record than England, and now look at them. It only takes a couple of clubs to get their coaching and youth development right, and a bit of intelligence at the top, and things can turn around very quickly. Southgate, Bruce and Pardew, that's why we have to go for Hoddle or a recent ex-player. Look what Klinsmann did with Germany, and he'd never managed at club level.

I know they won't, but I'd give it to Hoddle, with maybe Shearer and another respected old pro, maybe JT, as assistants. I know Hoddle had his problems in the past, but we played some great football under him.

I think he'd have done ok with England actually. We'd have been well organised, and he wouldn't have been pushed around by the senior players, like Woy. He never really managed a big team, so you can't really compare the dour way his struggling premiership teams, and championship teams played, with how he would have got England playing. The resources are totally different. I just can't see who would want the job now.

I think you're right, these papers never give up everything they know in the first article. There'll be bigger revelations to come. I think Sam knew that, and I think that's why he didn't try to hang on. It's a real shame though, I don't see anyone better waiting in the wings. Southgate is about as inspiring as cold tea, and Howe has only been in management for five minutes. Pardew would be a bigger liability than Sam, and there have been similar rumours about Bruce. I decided to wash my hands of the England football team after the Iceland game, and I can't say I miss any of it.

I think West Ham spent £58m on 13 players. I think they'd have been a lot better off spending that money on three or four quality players. The thing is, they thought they were going to be playing Europa League, so I guess they were trying to pad out their squad for that. I was really surprised they let Tomkins go though, I thought he was one of WH's most consistent players last season. I still reckon tyey'll finish above Chelsea though.

So did you go, and did you catch?

Hello all, I think West Ham are really going to struggle this season. It was always going to be tough moving from a proper old football ground soaked in history, to a characterless concrete bowl, paid for by everyone but West Ham. You would have thought with all the extra gate money, and money saved on ground maintenance and stewarding, they could have gone out an bought some proper players, but they haven't. And you're right Newmarket, I don't think any of the signings would improve last season's first 11.

How did you get on? Good luck for the social, not so much for tonight's match.

Yonny, thanks mate, just checked online, and they are a fair bit cheaper. I'll just have to see how much it is to ship em over.

You at Linnear?

Stevo, you never seem to be at work any more. Every time I look on Facebook you've just arrived at another lake!

Thanks for all the recommendations. I really like the look of the Emblem BR 25As, anyone used em? To be honest, I like the look of the Castisms even more, but I don't think I can stretch to that kind of cash.

You won't be gloating after Friday night Stevo. With our defences I reckon it'll be about 5-3.

Mitchell, now there's a blast from the past. I haven't had a Mitchell since the Mitchell 300 my dad bought me for my 8th birthday.

Afternoon all, it's been a while. I'm looking to buy some new big bait runners. I've tried big pits, with the quick twist front drag, but I just can't get on with them. I find myself jumping out of the bivvy and reeling like mad, only to remember, too late, that I need to tighten the drag. Whereas with the bait runners, it's just a turn of the handle and you're in. Basically, it's one less thing to remember when I'm still 90% asleep. I've got some Shimano 10000 XTE's but they are getting on a bit. So who's got what, and what would people recommend? Cheers T

That Jordan Ibe has looked real quality any the I've seen him this season. Is he a youth teamer?

Seriously Jimm, Kent is one of the best counties in England for Carp fishing. You've got Cranbrook AS and Tonbridge AS, as well as the tickets already mentioned. It really depends on which side of Kent you are based, and how far you're willing to travel. I'd say Mid Kent is still the best around, even allowing for the loss of a few waters, but if you're more on the Sussex side of Kent Cranbrook and Tonbridge both have very decent waters.

I remember when RA bought the club in 2003, everyone was saying it wasn't going to last, he'd get bored and sell the club, and loads of other wishful thinking, but twelve years and three league titles later he's still here, and still attends more games than he misses. FFP was the best thing to happen to Chelsea. If RA had had to continue pumping ever more money in, just so we could compete with the state subsidised Real Madrid, and the other giant European clubs, I think he might have eventually seen Chelsea as a very expensive luxury, but now he and other owners are prevented from pumping in immense quantities of cash, I think he'll be at Chelsea for the foreseeable future. I remember when RA bought the club in 2003, everyone was saying it wasn't going to last, he'd get bored and sell the club, and loads of other wishful thinking, but twelve years and three league titles later he's still here, and still attends more games than he misses. FFP was the best thing to happen to Chelsea. If RA had had to continue pumping ever more money in, just so we could compete with the state subsidised Real Madrid, and the other European clubs, I think he might have eventually seen Chelsea as a very expensive luxury, but now he and other owners are prevented from pumping in immense quantities of cash, I think he'll be at Chelsea for the foreseeable future.

Plastic. . . . . . .not even sllightly. First game I saw at the Bridge was back in the early 80s, the year we went back up, 3-2 against Sheff Wed, I think Kerry Dixon scored the winner. Had a season ticket from 90 to 98, have done 48 English grounds, although about half don't exist any more, and I've done Europe with Chelsea and England, so while you might not like my opinions, I'm no plastic. That said, I only get to 3-4 games a season these days. Funds and time are limited, and I'd rather be on the bank listening to it on the radio, than in the stands. I don't say it with any joy because I love the Boleyn for being a proper football ground, but the Olympic stadium will be the death of West Ham. You'll end up being a team where the old faces only go to away games, or don't go at all. West Ham - World Cup - Yawn.

Rushes lake looks perfect, I'm just waiting to see if they've got any availability. West Ham fans, ah bless em. I don't mind West Ham, probably because they aren't any kind of threat. I was at the Chelsea v West Ham game last season when they scraped a 0-0, then celebrated like they'd won the league, it was almost embarassing. The real West Ham will pretty much cease to exist when they move to the Olympic stadium. I’m pretty sure the league is a done deal now. As I think I said to you before, the only thing that could throw a spanner in the works is us getting to the champions league final, but I think we’re a year away from that one. But if we could stretch the lead to 10 or 11 points, then we could afford to rest players before the big champions league games, and then anything could happen. It pains me to say it, but Liverpool are looking better every week, and now that useless sack of you know what is side-lined for a few weeks, they’ll be even stronger.