plaicemat

Bit like buses; none for a while and then 2 at once! Many happy returns Charlie and Dave. I assume Alderney will be your pressie, Charlie. Terry.

Trev, if you or anyone else fancies a mid-channel wrecking trip for pollock on Shogun, two of us are booked for Thursday 22nd May and I understand there are places available. Give me a shout and I'll make arrangements. Terry.

Oh, you young whippersnappers! Your day will come................in 20 - 30 years. You'd better just hope we don't catch all the fish between now and then. Got to go now, I feel an improvement in the weather coming and I've got to get the boat and gear ready. Terry.

Thanks for the bonus trip, Alun; I only phoned Tuesday night for a chat. After a very promising start, it all began to go to worms a bit, especially when the tide changed. Should we have started where we finished up so successfully? Who can tell, but it was a good finish to an unpromising day. Sorry I cocked up the netting of your big squid, I forgot that they go backwards! Terry.

Right, as nobody seems to want to keep me company on Stingray (note to self; must change deodorant) I'll revert to plan A and go for the free lunch. Good luck to those who are going. Terry.

Last year I used a standard pennel rig on a running ledger, short trace to keep the bait on the bottom, 30lb hook trace and size 5/0 hook fished uptide with a wire grip lead. Seemed to work for me; KISS. I also used a similar rig fished downtide (without the griplead) which seemed equally effective if cast well away from the boat because of the shallow water. At one stage we were about 2 miles out in 9ft of water! Terry.

Only slight snag for crew is that they will either have to make their own way to Burnham or get a lift as I'm starting in Oxfordshire. It should be worth the effort though as the met is looking reasonable and, if like last year, there should be enough fish about to keep us happy. Terry.

O/k, I am supposed to be at a family lunch at my brother-in-law's but I can't see us looking shabby in front of our Burnham hosts so, if there's anybody who would like to crew, Stingray will go. Failing that, I will try to get crew locally. Now I must just explain it to Dilys. Terry.

What the chuff are you going fishing for, Trev? Terry.

Large'ish polyform marker buoy (orange), suitable for alderney ring style of anchor retrieval, in perfect condition. Normally about

Looks pretty effective to me, Gordon, and it should improve with the 'lid' on. Terry.

Gordon, I'm pretty sure your braking system is the same as mine. To save me having to dismantle, let me have a shot of the back of your brake plate and I will put on the position of mine. Terry.

Nothing to do with fishing but fits the thread regarding the steering on the wrong way. I used to do some freelance work for a company putting on team building events for companies. One of the 'toys' we had was a Suzuki jeep that we could reverse the steering on. This had to be driven around a course with obstacles and it always amazed me how few people could do it, until I tried, that is. With practice it is fairly easy but without even a warm up lap, incredibly difficult. Terry.

Happy Birthday Chaps. Terry.

Anyone offering a ride, it will be much appreciated. Terry.

The last lot I did recently (28lb of lead used) I used the single burner gas stove I use on the boat. This is the one with a large gas cannister inserted into it and it did the job just fine. I think I paid

Alun, I'm coming down for the meeting Thursday night, I'd be happy to come down earlier for a spot of fishing. Let me know what your thoughts are. Terry.

Tie flys and rigs and dream! Terry.

The maximum engine for a Warrior 165 is 75hp. As Mike say's, either that's a mistake or be bloody careful when you wind it up! Terry.

Anything over 9lb is definitely worth putting in the keepnet. Congratulations, Dom. Terry.

I'm up for it again as crew. I had a good time on Enticer last year and would be happy to land some more rays. Terry.

I understand, Rich, that a licence for a Warrior size boat is about

What about veg oil or bio fuel in marine diesels. I know it's a pain in the backside carrying fuel to the boat but if the savings are there, perhaps it is an option. Terry.

About a quarter of what I paid for the others, Tom Terry.

Thanks for all that input, chaps, I have now sourced my big cigar floats. Tom, that sounds a good idea for a winter's evening entertainment, I'll have a look into it. Gary, I have some of those (as mentioned earlier) which I obtained from the tackle shop by the bridge in Ringwood. Although they support a lively mackerel easily, I do find them more unwieldy and put up a lot of resistance, even when reeling in. I'm sure it doesn't put the fish off but I just have more faith in the cigar shaped ones and that aids confidence. Probably misplaced I'm sure someone will tell me but there's none so strange as folk. Terry.