very funny...

very funny as ever Kev, does your missus appreciate your humour as much as my wife enjoys my sarcasm.....

when is the 'fluff chucking article due?

Dave

Thankyou for your comments. I haven't had a request before, but I am more than willing to offer my thought on our game fishing friends.

Kevin

PS
Please pass on my kind regards to your good lady wife.

Like the articles Kevin - keep up the good work! ;o)

A lot of my own thoughts on sea angling echoed here.

Although I am mainly a freshwater angler, I have dabbled with saltwater species on quite a few occasions. I can never understand why UK sea anglers have to use such strong tackle to land in most cases small species, and even the bigger ones like cod don't pull all that much.

In South Africa we used beefed up fly tackle to land REALLY hard fighting species such as Queenfish and Yellowtail which would make a UK bass of 15 lbs look pedestrian. An we landed them on 15 lb leaders no problem.

In addition I have taken lots of mullet in Natal on typical barbel strength gear- 12 lb stuff and bread flake. A 6 lb mullet can outfight a 10 lb barbel anyday

I have caught Kabeljou in the Eastern Cape Estuaries up to 50lbs or so on 12lb line and 20 lb wire, coupled with a 10 foot 1.5 lbs TC rod. No problem at all.

Why do you UK sea anglers have to use such brutish gear?

once went sea fishing as a kid, overbalanced and fell in, put me off sea fishing for life!

Give me a good old haunted carp pool anyday!

I did a bit of sea fishing this summer . I took two outfits , a light spinning one and a beach/rock outfit. Suffice to say the light outfit (10lb line 9ft spinning rod/reel) was no match for the rocky outcrops of Cornwall. It was fine for the youngsters with small Pollack of a harbour wall.The heavier gear was needed off the rocks and the beach due to rocks/kelp etc.But I suspect my inexperienced heavy gear ie 15lb mainline with a 40lb shock leader might be considered light by some beach anglers ? I used this due to 4-6oz leads I was flinging into the briney.Great fun though I would love to do more.

To ye Dreaded Black Monk of ye Shires:

If thou wouldst taketh off that dirty great habit, thou mightest be able to swim..;o)

Hi Ron mate, I was a quire boy in those daze

OK point taken. In many situations carp gear is fine if you are fishing at close range, from a boat, for species such as Bass- I've had great fun cathcing them this way, on standard gear and size 2 hooks, also using plugs. Ditto for mackerel- on fly tackle, which is great fun. Some of the more enlightened anglers here in North Wales are starting to use fly tackle for surf fishing for Bass, and one of the regulars caught a 4lb mullet this way a couple of weeks ago... As for pollack on floatfished prawn, fantastic- I've caught pollack upto 14lb on 8lb line this way, using normal carp gear, all these species fight infinitely harder than Carp. Lots of us use light tackle you know, and most of my angling friends operate a catch and release policy. The times when you really need to use heavy gear are for 1) wreck fishing 2) beach casting 3) uptiding (to an extent). There simply isn't a sporting option here- either you lose the fish, plus assorted paraphernalia, of suffer abraded lines, crack-offs, bite-offs etc. If any of the Carp anglers need a lift after blanking, then have a go at fihsing off the shore or from a small boat using your existing gear- its fine. But come to the right place- Try fishing my patch- the Menai Straits- after you've blanked at Llyn y Gors.... The Bass are there in huge numbers at this time of year- just put them back alive, OK? Simon

I agree a lot of the time most beech anglers fish far to heavy. I mainly fish between Blackpool's North Shore and Fleetwood and all summer have been mainly using a Tip tornadoe ultra lite. this thirteen foot rod can cast a 2-3oz breakaway over 150 yards. But the main reason we use such heavy gear is down to the tidal flow how would you handle a river at 150 yards your bait would not be in the zone for more than 30 seconds. But in the middle of winter with wind speeds upto 12 miles an hour we can still hold bottom and catch them cod. as for the mackarel trips subsidising the pike boys(me included) why do'nt they catch them as most stop fishing for pike in the summer. And as for you Carp guys how many times do you see anglers with 3Ib test curve rods to catch carp of 5Ib. enough said I think

hey steady on, the three pound test curve rods are for street cred, not catching carp?

Thankyou Simon & Bryan for you comments.
Although written tongue in cheek, the article is supposed to have a grain of truth running through it. I am sure many of our Carp & Pike fishing Members would love to cast 150 yds, but as I have said before they wouldn't be caught dead using 'Beachcasting' tackle. (confimed by 'The Monk') Perhaps it is just me, but sea fishing doesn't seem to embrace new technology, the remark about swimfeeders loaded with attractant was meant in earnest. And why not experimemt more with baits? Please don't laugh, but couldn't lugworm or squid or mussel flavoured boilies be a consideration, if you are fishing in less than crystal clear waters? -Over to you!

As to swimfeeders Gemini do a Lead with a swimfeeder incorporated. And yes I have also considered the Bollie option especially in winter when peller crab are scarce and expensive. Rest assured I will be rying it this winter.