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Go on Charlies recommendation of the Fin Nor or similar, I have some rods that I will sort through and find one that you can have. I would rather you had a good reel and line of your own and have a rod from me for a christmas present. if you are not christian you can pi$$ off. Please don't tell Cerrie though as she thinks I haven't got enough gear. Cheers Ian

To be honest Dave the biggest threat is from the SBS. They train(f*ck about) in that area a lot as the hard is the base . Lots of doughnuts out there today, in more ways than one Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Many fixed spool reels in your price bracket have two typical problems, in my experience. The first is the roller bearing on the bale arm, which is best lubricated as soon as you've bought it, especially if you plan to use braid with the stronger tides and deeper waters round here. The second is the drag; you want something that can be tightened to give many pounds of smooth drag under heavy load, in case you connect with a conger, big ray, or the elusive cod, and the better bearings you have, the better the reel in simple terms. If you rinse the reel well with fresh water after each trip, it will give you a couple of years of use, else you can expect major corrosion issues after just one summer. For a rod, I'd go for something with rod rings compatible with braid. Personally I like a 2-piece rod of 8' with sections of 4' each, for easy transport in the boot of the car and storage. Something 6-12lb class would be fun with bream, plaice, etc, but would probably only hold 6oz of lead maximum, so not suitable for deeper water with big tides. A 20-30lb class rod would handle any cod you're likely to find around here, and have enough backbone for the odd lunking conger or hefty ray, with the downside of not being as much fun for the smaller species. They can handle over a pound of lead comfortably, and if you really wanted to push it, maybe up to 2lb for short periods, but believe me, it's no fun retrieving pouting or doggies with big tides in deep water. Many anglers use a 12-20lb class rod, but I find they lack backbone for bigger fish and tides, and tend to be less fun with the smaller species like bream, so I don't use mine very often. Any rod is also worth rinsing in fresh water after every trip, especially the fishy grips, the reel seat and the ring eyes. The rod might outlast the reel by many years, but my personal preference would be to spend a bit more than half of your budget on the reel, to get the best drag you can find. This might limit the rods available to you. Mike PS The braid, say 300m of 30lb, could set you back £30, so hopefully this is on top!

It looks ad though F Pontoon will soon be back to normal. They're reinstalling all the fingers.

Now Pete ! . . . You used the word there but didn't do the deed. What's the first tool that little boys use ? A stick ! Poke a stick in the non return flap to keep it open while you're away. There! No electrics to go wrong. No expense. More dosh for Cake ! Sorted ! Jim

Choices are vast But to get one rod to do it all, a soft braid rod in the 12-20 class would get response from small fish and able to cope with the odd large fish. I have a few Finn Nor fixed spools and they are great. the bigger ones have huge drag settings. The main problem would be the braid. I generally use 30lb, but small breaming reels are filled with lighter and deeper water reels are 50lb. Easy to change spools on a fixed spool, but the extra spool and two lots of braid alone, would use most of your budget

Can you not have the deck drain in to the bilge and pump from there if you already have auto pump setup? With simple screw in bung. Rob

Yep and the event is supported by PHC and Poolebid, no wonder the town is in such a mess with all that joined up thinking

We caught its twin at northaven today. Only the one.