bishops

The Wye a lovely river to be sure and well worth the journey, last time I was down that way was 4 or 5 years ago but it was in full spate and heaving though, The Seven I've never fished best of luck to you both.

No need to travel that far unless you really want to, there are some big barbel rivers much closer to Brighton.

One to look at, http://www.korum.co.uk/products/line-and-braid/xpert-reel-line Used mostly atm by barbel guys but suits carp too, thin, good knot strength, strong abrasion resistance, sinking, kink resistant, cheapish bulk spools.

What type of job do you want the gear to do, margin to medium range, medium to long, or compromise a bit of speciality with all rounders, it may also be worth looking at separates rather than two of the same and cover more bases. What size of fish do you want it to cope with, better to suit starting gear to your preferred style and expectation. Lots of questions I know but better to think about these things before buying than after.

now and again when the mood takes me yes, On lakes and ponds it needs to be in the right place with very little other bank side disturbance for float fishing or free lining, River trotting with a stick float and a pin certainly.

On the mainline, lead core is unnecessary and imo potentially dangerous to use in that situation.

In line running lead on a semi slack line 95% of my fishing needs.

Been doing the same, in-fact more and more the last few years, neat easy and something different.

Not much of my actual kit I would change, it's by no means the best or the worst come to that, but I'm comfortable and happy with it. I've decided what I really need is fishing Sherpa's to get it all to my swim, the downside to fishing some less manicured lakes is the paths can be long, narrow and tricky especially in winter.

not very practical from my point of view, I like to fish either separates or 2 on buzz bars / pod and one on sticks, also a problem with one head means you need to send the whole thing away.

old shoelaces is a great idea, I've used last years line, electrical tape and the green string gardeners use in the past to bulk out spools but never though of that one, cheers. I once brought a reel second hand that had elastic bands as backing to bulk out the spool.

wouldn't buy anything from that place. I do have standards, and any company that treats its workers that way no matter how cheep won't get my money. The way the thread went is sad but not unexpected, same old faces.

Too expensive for a rod rest for me but if it wasn't I would go for something in the defiantmps titanium range.

As others have said, don't think the money side really comes into it much now once you take into account time and how much ready made's have improved over the years. But for personal satisfaction and getting exactly what you want to achieve with a bait, for me it's still worth it as I don't make a lot at once. a 3 egg mix normally takes about 1 1/2 hours including boiling and clearing up.

I also do my baits just cooked 60 - 90 seconds mostly (I like fishmeal base so boil until they float), but apart from the first night to dry them in the air before freezing, I don't air dry or rehydrate them before use. As others have said gluing in oils is only useful if your not confident in the ingredients or attraction of your base mix which do the talking. I prefer them lightly skinned and mostly soft inside almost still a paste, to counter this will armour mesh them even if crays or other species of fish aren't present to be sure they are still there in the morning.