plaicemat

..........or pep the water up with some happy juice! By the way, I have now set the tank up with the outlet pipe facing in a clockwise direction with a pipe attatched and a fantail end piece on it and I am getting good aeration and a good rotational circulation of water. I'll see how that works before going down the road of plumbing. Terry B.

Thank you, Tom, back to the workshop. Terry B.

O/k, I've got a new plan, Stan. Now just a bit of clarification. Both Jimbob and guest Allan have quoted the fish swim in a particular direction. Unfortunately, one says clockwise and the other, anti-clockwise. Now, come on chaps, give a bloke a break, which is it? Terry B.

Rather defeats my original point though, Rich, which is to have a system without all the plumbing and drilling and to also make it portable between boats. If you're going to the trouble of the plumbing, I don't think you need the aerator. Terry B.

Tom, you can probably help me out here. My brother-in-law in the States tells me that he has a digital temp guage on his tank and changes some of the water before it gets to the critical temperature. Also, if the fish are looking a bit jaded, he opens the valve up and floods the chamber with oxygen, making the water go cloudy with the bubbles. Have you tried this and does it work? He reckons it keeps fish going most of the day. I don't know how big his tank is, however. Terry B.

The information I have from Florida (where it also gets pretty warm) is that the fish die from a lack of oxygen (many fish competing for a finite supply) and not temperature alone. If the water is oxygenated and the temperature is ignored, yes, they will die eventually but nowhere near as quickly as with no added oxygen. This is simply horses for courses. I'm not lauding this as the best sytem above others, I simply offer it as an alternative which seems to be simple to install and use. I don't personally consider it to be a hardship to change a bucket full of water every now and again, perhaps this is more difficult on a bigger boat. In a perfect world, everything is perfect but for me, the lack of drilling and machinery to go wrong outweighs the downsides. As I said, horses for courses; if others are happy with their system, it doesn't make this one wrong for someone else. Terry B.

You're right, Adam, that's why I didn't go for their complete system. There is a smaller 10 gallon kit for

Hopefully, this is what will happen in a short while. To answer your point about the cost of the bucket, what I have done is compromised by using their pump system and combining it with one of Adam's 60ltr tubs, which only cost around

Tom, I have just been introduced to the Tek-Tank system and have spoken to their 'boffin' and will be producing a short report for those who may be interested. As far as the warm water is concerned, the answer appears to be to remove a bucket of water from the tank now and again and replace it with fresh from the sea. Alternatively, they have the kit to plumb this system in, but, obviously at an additional price. My initial contact with the company was to try and find an alternative to the DIY (Adam) system at a price that is not exorbitant. This seems to fit the bill and the company are extremely helpful and their specialist extremely approachable. I will also be speaking to them about a discount for block purchase if enough are interested. Let me know what the take-up might be. Terry B.

Just to finish this topic off, many thanx to Billy and the Rich postal service, the appropriate rod ring has arrived and the rod is now as good as new. I'm now looking forward to using it to good effect and hopefully the replacement will last longer than the original! The power of PBSBAC and it's helpful members. Job Done! Terry B.

Or even a tweeker, given the oportunity! Terry B.

Glad you enjoyed Florida, Gordon. There is plenty of ad hoc fishing to be had, as you have found out and with a bit of research and local knowledge, the boat fishing can be great and not necessarily too expensive. I think I'll probably be down there November time when the deer hunting season starts. Hunting early morning, fishing later in the day. Great. Terry B.

Rich, regarding next week, I'll have to get back to you as the weekly schedule is not yet finalised. Terry B.

Cool! Now where did I put Grandpa's old tuna gear? Terry B.

Unfortunately, not the repeat red letter day that I was hoping for. My plan was to get back on the bream before they did their breeding thing and cleared off. Too late! The beggars have either already gone or were not playing in the neap tides. It wan't a question of slow, we didn't have a single one at Dancing Ledge The other species caught were, of course, welcome, but I do like a plan to come together. Added to all this, the engine seemed to be playing up. When I tried to start it, turning the switch produced absolutely nothing. Kept trying and eventually it fired up. This is a little disconcerting to say the least; who wants to be round at Dancing Ledge, with no-one else in sight, and an engine that will not start. Fortunately, each time it started after a few attempts and we got back o/k. I anticipated an expensive electrical bill (not my forte) trying to find a dry joint or loose connection. Hoorah! I must have caught the kill cord at some stage and virtually switched it off and having replaced it, all is well. I'm surprised it started at all under the circumstances, but I'm grateful it did. Unless someone can put me straight, I think that must be the end of the concentrated bream action and I must find a new target. Now, who's going to come out and teach me how to catch bass consistenly rather than the odd lucky one? Terry B.

What a great day! Good company (and bringing lunch), Good weather (what's that?) comfortable sea and a seemingly continuous supply of bream. Broke my PB at least twice and my new technique seems to work well and I even managed to catch more than The Harvester (you know who I mean) . Unfortunately, I'll miss the 48hr comp (collect wife from Heathrow Saturday and her birthday on Sunday) but hope to make another trip after the bream before they thin out. Now, who's free next week? Terry B.

Keep the envious remarks down, I don't want Dilys spotting them. I've convinced her it's normal to take a year off!

Thanx a lot, mate, your a star. I've been building and repairing rods for about 45 years and never had a problem sourcing rings before. My local stockists say they only go down to 2.5mm, which I find hard to believe. I don't like compromising on the end ring as it is the first in line from the fish and takes all the strain. I am therefore very grateful that I don't have to compromise. I have to say that I've never used my hot glue gun for this before. Just goes to show that we never stop learning. By the way, I see you're in Weymouth. Do you have any connection with Weymouth Angling Centre? Terry B.

Probably just a typo, Tom, but it is Terry Bartell (without the 'w'). Most dates are fine with me at the moment as I'm on an extended sabattical. Terry B.

I'm up for it if you can make my Warrior look good. Nice idea, thanx for the offer. Terry B.

O/k everyone, thanx for all that good advice. I have to admit, I hadn't thought about hot glue and I have a gun in the garage. I've managed to get a 2.5mm ring and will fit it by that method. Terry B.

Only trouble with packing out and epoxy is that it tends to be rather permnent, i.e., if I need to do it again, I can't remove it with the same ease, if at all, as I could with superglue. That's why I'm trying for the correct size before I resort to bodges. But thanx for the input. Terry B.

Nice thought, Mark, but they only go down to 3mm tube size. These Solid C rods are so damned thin!

Help! I'm having great trouble getting a new tip ring for my Fladen Solid C 10-20lb rod, which has shed it's liner. The size appears to be the problem, it being so small. It is a 7mm ring with a 2mm tube; I'm not too worried about the ring size being exact but, obviously, the tube size is fairly critical. I've tried my 3 local shops and no one can come up with the goods. I can get a 2.5mm tube but this would have to be araldited in as opposed to superglue and the problem would come if I wanted to repeat the operation. Anyone got any suggestions or contacts in the rod building business. I've even tried Fladen but haven't had the courtesy of a reply. Terry B.

How the devil are you going to get Phaeton into a campsite in the New Forest? Wouldn't a caravan be more appropriate? Terry B.