You never know who you may be talking to

[slime monster]

Today I treated myself to a day at Stafford moor fishery , the Carp were spawning so I opted to fish the pin in the margins for silvers .towards the end of the day I was just thinking of packing up when a chap came and sat behind me he seemed interested that I was using a centrepin and even more so when I told him I had 6 decent Crucian Carp two of which were knocking 2lb . I was very flattered when he introduced himself as Paul Hamilton freelance photographer for the Anglers mail and asked if I would mind if he took some photos of me fishing with a few of the Crucians also.
what a thoroughly bloody nice bloke .

 

[the indifferent crucian]

Thank God no-one would ever want to point a camera at me fishing, I got in enough tangles today as it is.

Up at 5am, I spent the day fishing with a 'pin in the margins. Best crucian about 3lbs. Lots of small tench.


One of the nicest days at the bankside for a long time. I hope you all got a chance to wet a line today.


Horror of horrors, when cleaning all my tackle today, ready for a repeat performance tomorrow, Mr. Lucky, my favourite float has taken on water and split.

This means that some 200 floats I have made are not as waterproof as I thought and will need re-varnishing with some good stuff, rather than the fancy low-gloss waterproof ( not! ) laquer I have been using. Grrrrrrr !!!!!



I thought that float was sitting a bit low in the water .........................

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I and three mates were sat fishing a private stretch of the Beds Ouse at Harrold and this guy came and sat behind me. He chatted for an hour about this and that and the quality of the bream I was catching said goodbye and orft he went but not before saying "I'm Fred Taylor by the way!"

 

[Scott Whatmore]

I was fishing the stick on the Thames at Windsor. A bloke stood behind me and chatted for 10-15 mins.

As he left he said 'nice to meet you mate, my name's Dave' .

 

[the indifferent crucian]

I think I've met Dave too !


On the banks of the GUC under the A40, just down from the old Ski slope.

Small World !





Mr. Lucky is straining under the weight of four coats of varnish and is propably not feeling very lucky any more...just wait till I shove him in a float link and chuck him in the pond next week !


His substitute, 'Crucian', a sort of bigged-up Mr. Lucky , let me down badly!

Same peg, same bait, rod and reel and I couldn't catch a cold this morning! Tangles, snags, many, many missed bites............

To make matters worse a young lad who I also fished with yesterday was emptying the place, taking a 3 and a half pound crucian, at least two, four pound tenches and literally dozens upon dozens of smaller tench.


I thought I showed remarkable self-control when walking back to my car not to have pushed him in!

 

[Paul Morley]

You have names for all your floats???? I have a bloke sits not far from me most weeks and talk incessantly......... it's Eddie Cardus.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

You have names for all your floats???? I have a bloke sits not far from me most weeks and talk incessantly......... it's Eddie Cardus.

hahaha, poor Eddie..............

 

[the indifferent crucian]

Well, no, not really.

I had been using the same float for several weeks as it just worked.
I had a couple of casts made for it, ready shotted etc etc and it got me in the water nice and quick.

I only called it Mr. Lucky for that post yesterday, but todays float does have Crucian written on I do confess.

I used to make up sets of floats with the names on them of the fish they were supposed to fool. Until I realised that the float that will fool a pressured crucian will propably do for all the others too:wh

The secret is the tip insert, made from a cocktail stick. These are made from a dense wood with little bouyancy and a number 8 shot will account for a full three inches of it. So I can set it high for the tench and spot the liners and bait droppers and shot it down for the crucians.

Well that's the theory anyway...today they just all spat the bait.

How can a float go under, be seen to move a full 12 inches sideways and down and there NOT be a fish on when I lift into it ?



Where's me golf clubs ?

 

[slime monster]

That Dave certainly gets about ..I met him once on the canal in Stafford

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

Me and the wife was fly fishing on the Yorkshire Derwent at Hackness, sunny day, birds singing, water voles swimming. A good day to be on the river with fields full of wheat etc. Well we both managed some trout and we noticed an old chap watching us from the bridge over the river. Well we got chatting and after about half hour he went on his way (difficult to tell what he was saying half the time, broad yorkshire accent and local dialect). A month later, me and the wife went to the CLA Game Fair that was held at Castle Howard, Yourkshire. We went to watch a casting demostration in the main arena, guess who was doing the demonstration? That same old chap we were talking to at the river. Name of Jack Martin. His demostration was supperb.

 

[the indifferent crucian]

A sad bulletin.

Mr. Lucky appears to be holed below the waterline as no ammount of varnish seems able to plug a pin-hole beside where the cane shaft enters the balsa body.

Any more varnish soaking into the balsa will propably result in him being re-named Mr. Sinky


A sad day for anglers everywhere and our thoughts are with his float tube companions.

 

[mark wintle temp]

The secret is the tip insert, made from a cocktail stick. These are made from a dense wood with little buoyancy and a number 8 shot will account for a full three inches of it. So I can set it high for the tench and spot the liners and bait droppers and shot it down for the crucians.

Another one that has yet to grasp Archimedes principle? The density of the cocktail stick has no bearing on its sensitivity! It must be a very thin cocktail stick if a no. 8 shot sinks 3"

I can offer a cure to the pin hole problem though probably too late now it's taken on loads of water but using balsa cement plugs holes better than allowing the capillary effect to draw in varnish. Best to start again with a new float based on the original.

 

[Morespiders]

A sad bulletin.

Mr. Lucky appears to be holed below the waterline as no ammount of varnish seems able to plug a pin-hole beside where the cane shaft enters the balsa body.

Any more varnish soaking into the balsa will propably result in him being re-named Mr. Sinky


A sad day for anglers everywhere and our thoughts are with his float tube companions.

Dont kill him Crucie, leave him in your tube,he can pass on hints and tips to his mates,and bring back happy memories each time you see him.
Long live Mr Lucky,

 

[the indifferent crucian]

By 'Eck that Wintle's posh.

Eee's employing a Temp these days.


Archimedes? Archimedes? He came to me but the other day in a dream....



" Screw you" I said !


You're right of course Mark, but it does seem to be an extraordinarily sensitive float. It's just a normal cocktail stick, the sort you would get in those red and clear plastic dispensers. Propably a bit of yellow deal.



A few copies are on the bench as we speak, but drilling a BBQ skewer to take a cocktail stick is something I seem unable to repeat. I seem to recall that I deliberately went deeper than needed to create an air chamber below the insert. Again contrary to Mr. A, it might be the reason the float cast so well...more a matter of balance than bouyancy, I suppose.


I can think of no other reason ( other than pure superstition) that it was so much better than its contemporaries.


I'm putting the rods aside today and going out with the pole this evening. Now the fish are in the margins it's time to try and winkle out a biggun.

They had started spawning behaviour yesterday so hopefully they'll be at the post-coital cigarette stage tonight and blissfully off their guard......?




EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that you might wonder what I was gibbering on about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes'_screw

 

[peter crabtree]

you never know who?

In the 70's I worked for Sam Spiegel the american film producer as a crew member on his yacht. We were in Palma marina and mr S asked me to take him in the speedboat to visit another yacht. As we came alongside a youngish man came out onto the foredeck , white tee shirt and shorts.
I held out my hand for him to pull us alongside, I said "cheers mate"
Mr S then took a little bow and said "good morning your majesty how is the Queen?"
It was King Juan-carlos of Spain.

 

[Stealph Viper]

I knew a Juan, Once.

Juan Sheet, his brother's name was Lukes like Sheet.

He was married to Fulla Sheet and there children's names were Pierce o Sheet, Phat Sheet and Doug Sheet.

The last time i saw Luke he was taken his wife Fulla in to hospital, the Dr said, it was just a precaution as she was looking a little Flushed.