Recent content by Richard Bennett

Many thanks, Mark. That is exactly the sort of help I was looking for 👍

Thanks, Alan, that’s very helpful 👍

Returning to my original question after Jim’s multiple posts. Can anyone recommend somebody who is making and selling spoppers?

Many congratulations on your new PB, Bill and red letter day. I’ve missed your tench updates this year. Sounds like you’ve been hauling!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. Where is everyone buying their spoppers from these days?

Yes, there are barbel to very decent sizes in the Dee and there are under the radar specialist anglers fishing for them. However, as Joe has said, finding them can be like looking for a needle in a haystack and require hundreds of hours on the bank watching motionless rod tips. That's why those...

The Beaver Trust Instagram page has some interesting videos on it, including some night footage filmed over the course of a month where a pair of beavers arrive at the same spot each night to build a dam. I was astonished by the size of some of the branches and logs they were able to shift. It...

The vast majority of fishing tackle is manufactured in the Far East. Many tackle 'manufacturers' in this country aren't manufacturers at all; they are marketing companies.

According to the AT instagram page, there are some new Normark rods about to be released. Does anyone have any further info?

I think I may be in the minority when I say I don’t like these rig components. I bought a pack when they first came out and found the ‘rubber’ to be extremely hard, more like plastic, such that the run ring would not come loose even with substantial pressure from me when setting the rig up. In...

Many thanks, Neil and Tim, much appreciated.

Sorry to resurrect an old post. Neil - I’m thinking of buying a Westin T&C rod. What model do you have and would you recommend it?

Each to their own, I say, provided anglers have respect for the fish, venues and anglers who fish there regularly. Naming stretches or making it obvious where fish have been caught is a no, no for me. It shows a lack of respect for the fish, other anglers and encourages poachers and glory hunters.

My preference is to use coated braid but I was struggling to get day bites when using it. I changed to using mono during the day and started catching again. It could be a coincidence or it could be that the braid is more blatant on the riverbed.

I generally use coated braid at night - Korda Dark Matter or TA Tungskin. When day fishing, I’ve been using Asso Oblivion trace line. It’s a memory free, mono hooklength material highly rated amongst sea anglers.