plaicemat

Go on, don't hold yourself back. You know it makes sense. Terry.

No, he's mostly a trout and salmon angler (by the way, nice one in the picture). We met originally in Canada, salmon and sturgeon fishing. If anything, his wife is even more fanatical than him. They are good company and fortunately have quite good English as Danish is a complete mystery to me. It is completely unlike any other languages I have studied. We were originally coming this month but the plans fell through when their work schedule changed. Looking forward to a new date but may have to put off 'till next year. Terry.

Hoorah!

Hopefully, picture included. Never done this before so may fail.

There is also a VHF radio with it, but not DSC. Terry.

Yes, Onslow, pretty much exact, except you seem to have a shallower angle (25 degrees) and the mid pressure setting, but if this works for your combination, that's cool. BTW, where in Denmark are you? We have friends in Lemvig who we are going to visit for a fishing fest and are looking forward to trying for sea trout from the sea shore. Terry.

I have the same set-up as Adam on my 165 and it works just fine. Terry.

Regretably, I can no longer justify keeping two boats (at least that's what my wife tells me) so the Microplus has to go. It's basically the same as the 501 cabin cruiser with no bulkhead on the cabin, allowing full access to the deck. This is a stable sea boat and pretty quick with the 50hp Mariner engine fitted (maximum recommended). This engine has only done two days since a full service and when last used, ran a treat. The boat is on a very tidy SBS trailer which has three virtually new tyres (incl the spare) which has done very little work since new. There is a Lowance X97 fish finder fitted, nav lights, anchor with about 100mtrs of warp, 4 rod rests, 2 x 25ltr fuel tanks with a changeover switch and two adjustable pilot seats. The cover is quite tatty; I don't use it and cover it with a tarp but any cover maker could run one up for it if it was wanted. All the hoops, etc., are there. I am looking for about

Charlie, go to Trim Tabs webpage and it will show the positioning. They fit very close to the outside edge of the bottom of the boat. No problem with the tranducer. Terry.

Jas, I would probably say that anything from the major manufacturers is going to handle most of what you want to catch. The blank forms the backbone of the rod, the rings need to be smooth and strong enough to handle the type of fishing you want to do, and the line of your choice and the reel fitting doesn't want to sieze up at the first sight of salt. If you look after it, the Shakespeare will probably give you years of service. Most of the rest is either refinement or flummery, or both. Most of us of a certain age can tell you about the equipment we used years ago which didn't compare to the cheapest kit about now and it still caught fish and gave us pleasure. Buy what you can afford and enjoy using it. If you make a choice, post on here and almost certainly somebody knowledgeable will give you an opinion. But not me. Terry.

Martin, Shhhh. Terry.

I hadn't realised you'd joined the 'wand wavers', Mike. Have you tried it yet? Terry.

Are you ever able to go during the week, Jas? Terry.

I am a paid up member of the band that use the Fladen Maxximus solid C rods and think they are a great sporting rod. Even quite a small fish will put a very satisfying bend in it but I have also used it for cod and pollock on wrecks. They come in various sizes and, although the r.r.p. is

Rich, I'm shocked! It's not like you to let something as mundane as work to get in the way of fishing matters. Terry.

Come on! Name names. Terry

Not as amusing, but factual all the same, once again in the late 50's, the people of Florida used to have their own sun tan lotion. This was, of course, before the days when a tan suddenly became dangerous. At about this time, Hawaian Tropic brought out their tanning oil which would, indeed, enhance the natural tanning process. It did not take Floridians long to work out their own product which did eactly the same; cooking oil and iodine. It was slapped on me on arrival and I can testify that it works. The only side effect is that in extremely hot weather, there is the unmistakeable aroma of cooking pork. Not unpleasant but slightly worrying. Terry.

Rich, I would just like to stick up for us in a small way. The U.K. is well known for it's unpredictable weather; anyone who has spent time in the mountains here knows how quickly the weather can change. Other places, like Florida and the landlocked mountains of Europe, have more predictable climates. As you say, the Florida coast has it's afternoon storms so the prediction is only of time of arrival and severity. In the Tyrol on Achensee, the wind actually turns 90 degrees around midday, hardly ever fails as I found during sailing trips there. Oh, for the luxury of predictable weather, but isn't that which makes the U.K. so much fun? Everyone complains that Britain comes to a standstill when it snows, whereas places like Austria still keep moving. Nobody realises, though, that the law there says you have to fit winter tyres after October and if we did the same, there wouldn't be the chaos. However, we don't get enough or frequent snow to make this worthwhile. Similarly, the benefits from setting up an early warning system around our coast with our unpredictable weather systems would be outweighed by the cost. I had three trips out of Weymouth earlier in the year with ideal met forecasts and got thrown about and soaked in each case. Similarly, I have cancelled trips because of weather systems building to the west, only to find that there were ideal conditions on the day. Just remember, in Florida, nobody says "Good morning, beautiful day". because their weather is so predictably fine, apart from a few glitches like hurricanes. Just be grateful for at least one topic of conversation. Terry.

Without wishing to sound pedantic, I hope you mean, here's Debs' (with apostrophe) otherwise, you're being very cruel to your better half! Terry.

I have to add that I was recommended to use copper grease. Not sure of the benefits but it works! Terry.

You're absolutely correct, my mistake (how big is that). Terry

Or, with a bit of lateral thinking, fix the two ends first and then work it round using a fulcrum to gain the last bit of stretch over the final bend. No experience but worth a try. Terry.

I hate to be pessimistic and join the negative brigade, Gordon, but I think you'll be lucky at

I think there's a degree of masochism in your makeup somewhere, Tom. Terry.

In fact, this summer I've caught more cod than in the winter on just one trip. Mind, that wouldn't be difficult; I haven't caught any winter cod for years and those were at home in Norfolk. Terry.