Recent content by Mic Foot

I use a long sliding hair with a ethafoam disc under the hook to try and get it to sit upright, a swan shot pinched on the hair loop can also help facilitate this. Have had large numbers of barbel on very large baits with this rig.

Neil's right about the plant not always flowering when conditions aren't suitable and regrowing the next year until it flowers but in my experience it generally will flower, produce seed heads, disperse them and die in one season. The key to control is stopping it from producing the seed head...

The application of herbicides adjacent to water qualification is actually PA6AW. I should know I've just taken my 3 year refresher. I treat a considerable amount of giant hogweed in the Wey valley and suggest that treating it before the seed head has chance to form May/ June with a glyphosate...

I was fishing the stretch at the same time and Keith and 'The Pin's' results were very, very good. I have a memory that it was maples they baited with initially but that may be erroneous. I think the reason that they weren't bothered by bream (they were actually) is because I was catching them all.

Sheepwalk is now a CSAS water, Feltham piscatorials no longer have it. As for Taywood, the north lake is normally very coloured as it is still being worked bt does have a reasonable head of bream and tench as well as some sizeable 'roach'. The south lake is much clearer and has much the same...

I'm with John Walker on this one, firstly with his tip of softening the fluoro before knotting and using Airflo sightfree 3G http://www.sportfish.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/348x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/0/10059.1_1.jpg In my opinion it really is the best hooklink fluoro.

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When myself and some mates were trying to wade through the smaller shoal fish on a particular stretch of the Kennet some years ago we kept upping the bait size (with meat) until we were only picking up the larger fish. For barbel of 8lb + we found that four from a tin (large) was the optimum...

Sardine can definitely pick up the odd biggun. I used to use 45lb quicksilver and strike immediately fishing with a quivertip. Single hooks, I used large aberdeens, a little longer in the shank for a bit of protection if a pike was hooked. Quite eye opening what you would hook, turned up a few...

15.11 Thames

A few years ago I had several barbel up to low doubles from the Kennet on half a sardine intended for chub. Very positive bites indeed. I also had one on a declawed (probably not necessary) signal crayfish (and I now know that fishing crays, even signals is illegal). Mic

Me too, also the old AA roadside boxes were a useful source of very bright isotopes...ah the good ol days of scavenging tackle.

Absolutely shocked to get this news today. A true legend of modern specimen hunting but more than that a genuinely open, helpful and thoroughly amusing bloke, so sad. Condolences to his family and close friends.

Dr Nick Peat "Can I see your permit?" Could equally have been Pete Cranstoun.

Cheers for the feedback chaps but unfortunately this was over a year ago and I did make quite a few calls to various parties but met a dead end and although the advice of involving a small claims court probably had merit then its a little after the horse has bolted now. Drennan will...