Recent content by Tim Marks

Good work.

RODS SOLD. Pair of Harrison Chimera 3 rods. 12ft, 2 1/4 test curve. 2 piece. Chestnut tinted blanks. Built by Dave Lumb. His standard build: Full cork, Fuji reel seat (screw up). 15.5” cork below fitting and 3” above (shortish handles). 3 leg Fuji rings, 8 and a tip. 25mm butt ring, 2...

On the Thames we have used baits up to about 45mm and we still catch bream ! Tiger nuts are recommended as an anti-bream bait by carp anglers. But on the few occasions we have tried them on the river we haven’t caught any barbel on them. But then again we don’t catch many barbel full stop…..

Great stuff Richard.

That looks like a Ballista or GTI blank to me….. That also squares with the age of the Tricast Legend. Kev B’s more recent specialist rods were often called ‘Sniper’ - which were predominantly built on Torrix blanks

Very sad to hear. He was a great guy, a brilliant rod builder and one of the funniest people I have ever met.

Diverdave in Scotland (google it) does wader repairs /resizing /adjusting etc etc. He also sells a small selection of manufacturer returned reconditioned breathables at very low prices. He pressure tests them, fixes any pinhole leaks and then seam seals them so they are actually waterproof (not...

Use virtually anything - as long as it fills the crimp.

I use an improved Albright for proper combi-rigs. But the simplest way is to up the thickness of the nylon/Fluoro a bit and then crimp it. Then tie the hook knotless style with a loop of braid and you can add/change hooks at will. See the recent Korda video on ‘combi-rigs’ for more details.

Done. Keep up the good work.

If you buy stockingfoot breathables you can save money on boots by buying a cheap pair of walking boots from an outdoor shop. I took my (Vision) waders to ‘Regatta’ (other stores are available) and then tried various cheap rubber soled boots to get the best fit. I ended up with a pair for about...

The best Fluoro out there is probably still ‘Soft plus’. It is reassuringly expensive; but it is very good stuff. If, and that is a big if, I actually used it for barbel fishing I would start at 13lb and work up from there.

According to Darryl Peck (carp angler extraordinaire and Korda employee) the best braid for his combi-rig is called ‘slip d braid’. It is a newish Korda product; read into that what you will. Allegedly it is stiffer than ‘supernatural’. I tie my (occasional) combi rigs with 25lb supernatural...

That suggestion got rejected decades ago - allegedly for environmental reasons.

Local BBC news this morning is reporting another ‘attempt’ to build a new reservoir at Abingdon (near Oxford). To my knowledge this is the fourth time (in about 30 years) that this plan has been up for discussion. When is this country going to start taking water supply seriously ? The last...