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guiding day with matt hayes

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Tortoise

Stephen Scaysbrook said:
Jim
I think you've finally flipped. Is this a sign of you being out of it with your dodgy back. Please get it out of your system before we next go fishing. By the way do you think you'll be right for Monday.
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I'm not sure why you are wandering off the point of this thread. If you have a sensible and meaningful contribution to make, then fine. If you wish to discuss irrelevant issues then this is not the place. And, there is nothing wrong with my back, I fell on my head. I might be going to Nottingham market on Monday to see if there are any tortoises for sale. When I was a kid, I bought grasssnakes and mice from that market, I think that there may have been the odd monkey for sale as well.
 
Tortoises

Simon King said:
Some great stuff there, Jim. I'll try and be gentle. :D

Herpetologist is the name you're looking for. Study of reptiles. It's easy to tell males from females, the males have longer, thicker tales and their belly is concave to help stop them sliding off the females during mating. They can right themselves if the ground is rough, not if it's smooth.

You might have had terrapins or turtles in your pond...........tortoises tend to drown although they do love to sit in shallow water and muddy pools. It helps them cool down or warm up (depending on the day) and helps to get rid of parasites. They have a skeleton (spine, skull and legbones) just like any other vertebrate and it's the ribs that have developed over the millenia into the external shell. Unlike most other reptiles, they don't shed their skin.

Sadly, I haven't seen or heard of the old lady in a long time, I hope perhaps a relative took her tortoise on?
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Herpetologist, isn't the name I was looking for and that sounds like a medical study of some disease. No, I'm looking for a name of someone who only studies tortoises. Anyway, what's in a name? I think that I recollect the concave/convex business in relation to mating. I noted in your earlier quote that your tortoises were not too fussy with what they mated with. Mind you, dogs are the same. Do you think that if two concaves or two convexes got together they would realise that things were not right and would move on. As for bone structure, I guess that over the years, tortoises have been X rayed to discover if they have any bones within the shell. Just one last point, if males have thicker tails how could you tell a big old female with a thick tail form a young male with a thin tail?
 
I don't think there is a word Jim. The group name is Chelonia. Any derivative would come from this.

Males have longer, thicker tails. The vent is closer to the tip of the tail than on the female, which is about halfway along.

You would have to have had some experience or several to compare to, but once you've seen an adult male and the relative size and shape, it's pretty obvious.

Two males will "joust" and the loser ends up on his back. Both the Ploughshare Tortoise and the Bowsprit Tortoise have taken this to extremes and have a long projection on the front of their shell to make it easier to flip rivals over.

Give it a few more million years and it'll be a sharp point with a barb on it.

Presto, the Fishing Tortoise. :cool:
 
Hi Simon. And a Merry Xmas.

Can you tell me if the Terrapins/ Turtles? that have a red flash either side of their heads and I see often sitting on bankside debris sunbathing in the Summer on both the Rivers Kennet and the Loddon in Berkshire are likely to survive this cold weather?

Largest seen probably 6inches across.

Were they the original Ninja Turtles inports?

Graham
 
Graham Elliott said:
Hi Simon. And a Merry Xmas.

Can you tell me if the Terrapins/ Turtles? that have a red flash either side of their heads and I see often sitting on bankside debris sunbathing in the Summer on both the Rivers Kennet and the Loddon in Berkshire are likely to survive this cold weather?

Largest seen probably 6inches across.

Were they the original Ninja Turtles inports?

Graham
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Terrapins I would say, I used to fish Tockingham Lake Nr RAF Lyneham and the lake had it's resident Terrapins, they used to 'sun' themselves on exposed logs in the Summer months. Survived the years when the Turtles were all the craze I guess, and then the kids got fed up with them and dumped them in the nearest lake.
 
Graham Elliott said:
Hi Simon. And a Merry Xmas.

Can you tell me if the Terrapins/ Turtles? that have a red flash either side of their heads and I see often sitting on bankside debris sunbathing in the Summer on both the Rivers Kennet and the Loddon in Berkshire are likely to survive this cold weather?

Largest seen probably 6inches across.

Were they the original Ninja Turtles inports?

Graham
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Hi Graham, All the Festive Best to You and Jane,

Yes, they're the Red-Eared Sliders/Terrapins which were the type sold on the back of the Ninja "craze". Although there are many other species out and about in the waterways now. They'll get theough the winter no problem, burying themselves in the mud and silt.
Fortunately our warmer weather is not warm enough to incubate their eggs.

Red Ears were banned from being imported in the EC several years ago (along with American Bullfrogs), but they still seem to get in here and there?

As with all these things, once something is "banned" another type is brought in so the more unscrupulous traders can carry on cashing in. These days it's the Yellow Bellied Turtle (which grows to 12 inches) and Mississippi Map Turtles among others.

Although I'd rather they weren't out there, they're not as bad for the environment (in this country) as it might seem. They're omnivorous scavengers, eating anything from worms to frogs to dead fish to eggs to plants. Maybe crayfish, I wouldn't be surprised? The adults are largely herbivorous.

Tomorrow will be my first day off in two weeks.

It's showing, isn't it? :D
 
Tortoises

Simon King said:
I don't think there is a word Jim. The group name is Chelonia. Any derivative would come from this.

Males have longer, thicker tails. The vent is closer to the tip of the tail than on the female, which is about halfway along.

You would have to have had some experience or several to compare to, but once you've seen an adult male and the relative size and shape, it's pretty obvious.

Two males will "joust" and the loser ends up on his back. Both the Ploughshare Tortoise and the Bowsprit Tortoise have taken this to extremes and have a long projection on the front of their shell to make it easier to flip rivals over.

Give it a few more million years and it'll be a sharp point with a barb on it.

Presto, the Fishing Tortoise. :cool:
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The jousting aspect sounds fascinating as long as they don't hurt each other. Should one tortoise flip the other on its back, how does the one on its back right itself, does another tortoise come and help? If you remember Robot Wars, I wouldn't mind a punt that the builders of Chaos2 got that flippin idea from watching tortoises.
 
Matty & Son

I hope that those of you who have read/contributed to this thread had a great Xmas and received lots of animal presents. I'm a little disappointed that a tortoise didn't turn up in my stocking, still we soldier on.

On an irrelevant topic Matty and guiding, which somehow managed to hijack this thread, Bob Robert's 5day/4 nights "Guiding" which costs £499 looks tremendous value compared to drinking tea with Matty for £500 a day.

I guess that most of you have seen it, but it is the first time that I have visited Bobrobertsonline. Five days of great fishing, fantastic hotel, including full board and some guiding represents terrific value for money. I would think that the hotel would cost that per night on its own, everything else is thrown in. To get an idea of the fishing itself, then the DVD (Vol4), Barbel Ways/Days will illustrate this. In my eyes, this looks terrific fun and for £500, a steal. Unfortunately, the course which is limited to 8, sold out within 24hr. I'm not surprised. You can even take "er in doors" . Maybe an opportunity for more swopping of tackle.
 
Jim, you can always try staying at Caer Beris and sample the fishing yourself. Peter does some good deals for short breaks and is always willing to advise about the fishing prospects.
 
Caer Beris

Steve Roffey said:
Jim, you can always try staying at Caer Beris and sample the fishing yourself. Peter does some good deals for short breaks and is always willing to advise about the fishing prospects.
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Many thanks, Steve. The whole thing looks great. I'll definitely investigate what's on offer. Maybe some like minded people, with a keen interest in tortoises, might like to get together. On a serious note, I wouldn't mind giving it a bash.
 
Too easy Graham, though I wonder if you were expecting some people to say someone other than Mr. Foxall? ;)

BTW my dad never put maggots on the hook for me, no-one else in my family was interested in fishing when I was young, it was only when I went to grammar school that I got the bug. Peter Smith and myself started fishing together over 50 years ago thanks to that happy circumstance!
 
Xmas Quiz

Graham Elliott said:
Amazing. Now heres a quiz for Christmas. Who said

"For those people who would use a guide, ask yourself punk, why would you employ a guide? To catch more fish and what then? Are you buying success? Surely a lot of the enjoyment is sussing things out for yourself. Remember when dad would put a maggott on the hook, chuck it out and tell you to strike when the float bobbed? "
or this

"I presume that a guide will sit you on a good peg, having prebaited the spot and set your kit up, over a £1.38 a minute cup of tea. Then thread on one of his special recipes and tell you where to cast. If you catch, then your guide will net the catch for you and have a photo taken of you both smiling together with the trophy. Yuk. I'm really sorry if I offend anyone with the above, but from my point of view, there's no pride in this experience."

I think they would be a PERFECT person to experience the break wholeheartedly advertised one before last above. Hopefully it would be video'd - underwater :D
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Hey, that's not fair. Think what you get for a £100 per day on one of Bob Robert's sessions. A cracking hotel with gourmay food, trout lake, and free passes on the rivers. From the info available you would not be in sight of another angler. I suspect that you would not see the great man until the evening. But if he happened to wander past where I was fishing, on a swim that I had selected myself, I would shake his hand, invite him to fish alongside me, supply him with some of my rigs, but if he wanted one of my Caer Beris sandwiches, I would "No" Bob Roberts, "No". The big plus point about the Caer Beris hotel is that you can take a pet along for a fiver, so we could bring along our tortoises and they could get to know each other over the course of the week. I'm not sure if the tortoises would be allowed in the dining area, but I'll make enquiries. Anyone fancy joining me for a week?
 
Ok Jim

Who said

"I'm not sure what the process is of becoming a celebrity angler, does it start by logging catches in the Angling Times on a regular basis? Apart from catching some decent fish and letting the World know about it, something else is needed. The guide needs to be no shrinking violet and would probably require an ego as fat as their wallet."

Which just goes to prove. You are spot on sometimes :p
 
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Hi all.

Just read this interesting thread,I am in the same business as Mr S King it seems, not on the animal side but in the production department .
This Xmas one well known celebrity turned down a supermarket advert despite being offered one million pounds whilst a colleague of hers/his did it for seven hundred thousand pounds.
Five hundred a day .... not worth setting the alarm for.....

Happy new year,

Mark.
 
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Well I got seven and a half hours with Matt for £3.

MHTF2.jpg


Brand new in cellophane at the local market today (...he had 20 or so of these).
​

It's a riot of stone-washed denim, oversized orange lensed fishing shades, sleeveless t-shirts and mullets all accompanied by a soft-metal guitar soundtrack. Beats post-Christmas telly hands down :).
 
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