Recent content by Paul Richardson

An old timer swore blind that early part of the season a lip hooked minnow on a bottom rig was a killer barbel bait Never tried it personally as castors do it for me and you need to catch them & then club rules etc.. Always fancied trying mussels as the lad on Andrews Knots catches some...

Knotless - god knows where moles knot came from?

I don’t want to sound flippant but honestly I don’t think barbel give two hoots about the hook kicking off when using the knotless knot on mono If it does bother you you can tie a supple braid hair using say 10lb Gardner trickster , whip it on with a moles knot and then tie the hook + braid...

A 2.25 tc rod will find a snag just the same as a 1.25tc rod. There is so much interpretation on ‘ backbone’ and ‘ power’ but really it boils down to how much weight you want/ need to cast to fish effectively Actions are again very personal - no rights or wrongs - Torrix are different to...

No idea why? System glitch? Maybe next season for me

Good luck Gary I’m getting close - think 129 in Ashfield Angling waiting list but to put things in perspective the end of the queue is 3723!!!! Then I’ll spend some time on the Trent

I went in a jungle’ swim this morning Very steep and took an age up and down bringing gear in Got set up and looked an amazing swim Just about to put a bait out and noticed insect activity- well more specifically I was about 3’ from a hornet or wasp nest and had plonked my mat over the entrance...

River was a horrid strained tea colour - never conducive with good fishing Had a lot of chublets and dace on castor and maggot Managed a modest but lethargic barbel Switched to pellet and managed another 2 shoal barbel Results were similar to most anglers on this stretch This morning has...

Why not chill out and go use it - it might fit your style of fishing perfectly ? I completely get the excitement and anticipation but I would suggest pace yourself and be realistic - opening week can be a real anti- climax on a lot of rivers if it’s all about getting your string pulled. Enjoy...

I don’t do a lot of float fishing but have used the CS10 4000s for quite a few seasons and had plenty of barbel and good chub on them Light as a feather, nice line lay, strong bail arm, good clutch and reliable - tick every box for me and I’ll use them for speci- waggler work on the far bank

It is shocking Wouldn’t you think the RSPB , the Otter fans and generally anyone genuinely interested in nature would work out seals in an inland river is catastrophic for the whole ecosystem? I feel your pain- we had a seal in the Swale and it was devastating but things did recover but..it was...

That makes sense??, lug a load of rock salt about , wait for it do what it needs to do, when with a spopper I can open the tin, and be accurately baiting in minutes. I won't mention caster. I'll pass on that thanks Jim. As always, everyone entitled to their opinion and I do use PVA socks quite...

How do you put tinned( wet) hemp in a PVA sock? I’m curious

Speak to Mark Tunley - definitely not ultralight but he made me a Torrix with a 2oz spliced tip that I didn’t know existed until I gave him the brief - lovely bloke

Alarm wise you can’t go wrong with Delks The original TXIs are always on eBay and have come down in price since the V2 appeared I use EV-Ds which are brilliant so long as you don’t need a receiver ( I sit on my rods so not required) Strangely they were discontinued after a short release ( I...