Adam F

Any ideas where I can get a 60l blue barrel from? My last one came from http://www.smithsofthedean.co.uk/New%20Barrels.htm but whilst the barrels are cheap the postage is over

Hmmm, the wind has dropped right out of it on Sat for the moment - the sun that we have enjoyed the last few days wont be out, but hopefully it wont be too bumpy. If it stays I'll be down there at 7am raring to go!

Sat would actually suit me better, but Im trying to work with the weather windows. If the weekend open up, Ill go then!

A small window is sitting over Thurs / Friday at the moment, I am itching to get out - either Plaice fishing the Shambles, or if weather is particually good then offshore wrecking from Weymouth. Let me know if you fancy it?

Wow!! So it does. I could even see the mrs at work, so I cut the link as not to disrupt her!

Thank you!... ...bang on then, i'd say - all we need is some half decent weather.

....so what are the tides for easter weekend then??

Bob, Give me a call, or better still pop over, I have about 20 years worth of course and fly gear and I'm sure we can sort you out with a few basics. Ebay for the rest!

1st Trail-away of the year! Planning a trip down to Weymouth over the easter w/e. Havent decided on dates yet, open to suggestions, or could wait until nearer the time to sus weather. Plan - similar to usual, meet Town Quay slip at 7am, back in for 5pm ish, and a swift beer at the Spyglass. Anyone fancy it?

Good report Tom, I'll be interested to see it in the flesh. It sounds like the Grey's Longboat to me, to be honest, a little too long, and a little to powerful. I have been searching for ever for a decent 6lb class rod, that really is 6lb and was hoping this might be it! I'll stick with my 12lb Abu's.....

Personally, I find this the case with bream anyway, and is how I fish for them. Still using a std aberdeen, but I leave the rods in the holders and ignore the tap, tap that bream give, only picking the rod up when it is bent over. Jury is still out with me, re. circles - I do like them and do use them, but when fished side by side with a J hook, the results never seem to convince me.

Rozzetii Big Mouths from UK Hooks for 80% of my fishing - strong, thin and very sharp - 3/0 - 6/0 (they come up small) for bassing. I use normal black aberdeens for Bream, flatties etc I also have a box of mixed circles which get airing from time to time. All my hooks live in a 18"x12", 20 section box with a decent splash of oil in each section - none of them have rusted in 2 years.

Alun J & I had planned a Shambles trip today after the glorious week we have just had, but the worsening forecast put paid to that, so plan B.... .... a late start and on Gastronaught, we headed off up Poole harbour towards the Swash - OK, a poor 2nd to Weymouth but the sun was shining and tucked under Al's canopy it was a pleasent way to spend the afternoon. Fishing was slow, but Al managed to sqeak out a plump flounder about 3pm, before we moved inside the harbour for the last hour. I hadnt had a touch until now so a small schoolie was a welcome disruption. Almost time to go and a slower bite had me hooked into a plump Plaice of 1lb 12oz! Cheers for a nice day Al.

HA!!! ROLMAO !!

Terry, I doubt you want a z-step then. See piccy below. The answer would be a fixed toe step from Warrior - it just gives a small step to give you a help onboard without getting in the way. Adam

What if they are on seperate ariels? VHF on one vhf ariel, an FM/AM radio on another vhf ariel? Logic being I can have a radio onboard, plus a spare VHF ariel should the need arise.

Thanks Simon. I now may actually install a 2nd pump (rule 500gph) to look after my bait tank. I use it every trip in the summer and like to run it continuously to keep the bait happy, I too dont fancy running the big pump for up to 6/7 hours all the time.

Dom, You'll be lucky with the forecast - F4-5 NNW going F6 later tomorrow. The decent conger wrecks are at least 8 miles from Mudeford meaning that a half decent forecast is needed to get out to them. The closer marks are only worth bothering with at night. Adam

I use 30lb ghost green budget braid from tacklebargins.co.uk or more recently Dyneema X-Tension from uk-hooks.com, both are very similar, basic, 'solid' braids, no coating, dont fluff up etc. I dont wash my reels down very often and I have never had a braid 'go' on me in 5 years, in fact when I have become stuck fast, it is usually either the knot or the trace that breaks. ...Just to confuse you

How noisy do those who use these proper pumps find them for live tanks? Mine arrived today and it makes a fair hum when running, which I can live with for a deckwash, but all day running a bait tank might be a little to much.... My old 500 gph Rule pump I had on BW was whisper quiet, although it was muted out as it sat underwater.

MK1 sender, not boat. They have changed the sender units several times since they started using them. The old one was a float switch which increased the resistance to the gauge. The new one works on the same resistance principle, but uses a cylinder magnet on a SS tube, less moving parts and more accurate.

The fuel sender on OotB was found to be faultly after her first voyage, so called Warrior last week. Paul was very helpful, and despite me buying the boat 2nd hand, and having never spoken to me before was happy to chat for ages. Anyway he gave me loads of helpful info on the 175 and how they modified them over the past few years. Long story short I had the old MK1 float type sender. The never 10 stage electronic sender was the answer but it had a different fixing to the SS integral fuel tank. The next day he called back and informed me that the manufacturer - Wema UK could help and that he was happy for me to deal direct. A quick call to them found them equally helpful and the next morning a new sender and boss flange arrived in the post FOC!! More great service that often surprises me in the marine industry!! Anyway, now all fitted and working better than new!

Will a VHF ariel pick up an FM/AM radio signal?

Right, then - many of you have been waiting for it, and we will try to better last year when the weather put paid to fishing against the Burnham lads. They have confirmed and the dates will be as follows: Burnham vs Poole @ Burnham-on-Sea - 29th April Poole vs Burnham @ Poole - 13th May (our Bream comp) The exact format will follow shortly, but will be very similar to last time around. For those who didnt come or wernt members, basically this invloved meeting at Tesco's in Blandford about 4.30/5am, we then trail in convey over to BOS, where we buddy up with the Burnham boats for a day's fishing. Entry is probably