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I wouldn’t want to cast a 6 or 8 oz lead with a1.5 test rod…… Try fishing a big river when it is bank high. PS I’m old enough to remember when standard carp rods were 1.75 test. They worked just fine with 1.5 or 2oz leads.

Shimano XR5000. Very light and not big for a 5000 reel. Daiwa 4000 TDR, or the cheaper TDM version.

This is the stuff we use; ID is 150mm. Other sizes are available.

I’ve had a KIS case for 30 odd years and it has taken fly rods all over the World. Pretty simple (original version was for skis) telescopic case that extends to about 6ft and inches. Lockable too. The latest ones can be pretty colours and have wheels on the end. I haven’t used mine for years...

The weather has been shocking recently. I unexpectedly lost access to both my prospective tench venues 2 weeks ago - but given the intervening weather I don’t think I’ve missed much. Now (also slightly unexpectedly) I’m close to securing a couple of other venues - so I might actually go...

I've used lots of braid too and use cheap Chinese stuff for saltwater fly fishing backing with few issues. Losing fish there through tackle failure is not an option ! I use Berkeley Sick braid for light lure fishing and it is fantastic. The braid I mentioned that broke at 7lb was very...

I would expect the mono to do exactly that - if it has been looked after. I have dregs of bulk spools left from the 90's that are still fine. Im amazed at the braid, the last spool I checked for a mate was labelled 30 lb and it broke at 7.

Mixed rods and/or reels; I couldn’t give a damn (if I use 2 rods). Same with rod rests, line spools etc. As long as it is all up to the job it can be battered and secondhand. I don’t want to look like a ‘specialist’ angler. The bit that actually matters (to me) is the bait, the rig and...

I use a huge variety of additives and have done for decades. I doubt I have used an un-flavoured maggot (for example) since about 1985. Flavours there can make a massive difference. These days I use mostly boilies and paste for my barbel/chub fishing; a function of not just the fact that they...

I’ve fly fished for very big fish in the sea and the technique there is to use the rod to cast; and then the reel to play the fish. So you play the fish with a low rod - that means that the butt section bends rather than (just) the tip. You regulate the pressure on the fish with the drag of the...

Completely correct. Try catching the big perch in some of the large reservoirs WITHOUT a serious sonar set up and you will struggle. The same logic applies to zander and pike on those waters. My (shared with a mate) sonar cost £1400 a few years ago and now it is totally outclassed by the...

You are absolutely giving them away at that price. Very good rods.

The best bet is probably as part of a decent house insurance policy. But cheap house insurance won’t do. Same with angling specific policies -they come and go; primarily because too many anglers are prats who claimed every year to ‘get their money back’ - so the insurer gives up after a few years.

At least the BBC ran an interview with Steve Backshall (spelling?) highlighting the pollution issue as part of the coverage of the race(s).

I had 2 of the original Simpson’s carbon Avons back in the day. Some of the best rods I have ever owned. They got nicked and were sadly irreplaceable ! I will offer you a pair of (rare) 2 1/2 lb test Harrison Chimera 12 ft rods for that rod. The Chimeras would make perfect Trent (or other big...

My first mat (probably mid 80’s) was a piece of foam nicked from a 25 year old bench seat in my Mum’s kitchen. I stuck it inside a green plastic 25kg pellet sack and it worked just fine. BTW the 2mm pellets from BP Nutrition were brilliant. Pity you can’t get them anymore.

That roughly squares with my experience - lots of bread fishing for roach and I’ve hooked 1 barbel (on the B Avon) in all that time. It was quite fun on a light trotting rod. I’d rather use a dead fish than a bit of bread……

12mm fishy bait for me; IF I can’t fish casters and maggots.

I try and fish with people who I think are better/more experienced than me - that way I’m constantly testing myself to be better and to learn ‘stuff’. If I fish with less experienced anglers I find it interesting that they often say ‘why did you do that?’ when I alter something. Yet I’ve made a...

I think it was Arnold Palmer. But he wasn’t trying to catch something alive, with a mind of it own that is driven by natural forces.