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New Review added.

Steve Williams

Steve Williams

Senior Member
Hi all,

I've uploaded a review by Anthony Pearson, on the Middy Meat Screw.

See Accessories - Barbel Fishing World Forums

Many thanks to Anthony for taking the time to write the review.



If anyone else has any 'Barbel related' items they would like to write a review for, they can send them to me, either by PM or email to be uploaded.

Please try to include photos etc, and they always brighten up a review.

Regards,

Steve
 
Thanks Anthony for submitting the review, and to Steve for adding it, along with his other recent one for the Korum Multi Mat.

Be sure to check the reviews area regularly as Steve will be getting new product reviews published frequently.

Cheers,

Andy F
 
I'm looking forward to the review of Gardner's Hydro Tuff mono - looks the business for my type of Barbel fishing!
 
I find these reviews helpful and appreciate someone taking the time to write them but is there any way you could open these threads to allow others users of the kit to comment? I do find that reviews from people that have used gear over a period of time more informative whether that is fishing kit or not. It would allow more impartiality and give people a better idea on how stuff fares over time and the conditions it was used in.

Anyone else agree? Andy, Steve, is this possible?
 
Hi John.

I appreciate your comments, but after a recent thread, regarding a review, it was decided that the best thing to do was to keep the reviews threads locked.

The last thing we want is the sort of unhelpful comments that appeared last time.

I can understand that some genuine posters would like make comments or add their views on items that has been reviewed, so I'd be more than happy to add a posters comments to a particular thread.

I can be contacted either by PM or email, and I'll add the comments to the relevant thread.

I'll stress that they must be 'genuine' comment regarding a review, whether that be an update or a difference of opinion.


Steve
 
Thanks Steve thats a useful suggestion hope people make use of it. I hadn`t realized there had been an issue on the review pages. Makes sense to ensure any follow ups are within the boundaries of common sense!

Cheers.
 
The only comment I would make about the subject of this particular review (meat screws) is something bought up elsewhere by a well known angler, which may be of concern to some.

There are several versions of these devices on the market, by various manufacturers. Some like this one are coils of wire, others are a plastic screw type. The problem bought up was that if these things are lost in any way (snap off's of any sort) with the meat/bait still on...then they constitute a very real danger to fish. If the bait with these inside is swallowed, then it's very likely the fish will be unable to pass the device (once the bait has been digested off of it), so consequently it may very well die of a blocked gut. Some may say that the same could be said of a hook....my thoughts on that are that many hooks can be (and are) digested/dissolved by the gastric fluids a fish has, given time. The plastic and stainless steel materials most of these are made from cannot be got rid of in that way.

I have no idea if the angler concerned had any proof of this happening, or was basing his condemnation on theory. Either way, it was enough to worry me into not using them....personal thing I guess.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Interesting. I don't use these types of devices so probably don't know what i'm talking about but wouldn't the fish detect it while chewing the bait in it's throat teeth and spit it out like it does other unwanted objects that might get sucked up?? They don't swallow big baits whole!
 
A very valid point and not one I'd heard of (or thought of) Dave. I must admit that any time I've caught a fish by this method the wire screw has always been clear of its mouth, with the hook in the lip. As such, any fish lost whist being played wouldn't ingest the screw. However, a baited screw lost through a break could be picked up by a fish as you say. The same could be argued when pike fishing and losing a deadbait attached to a pair of treble hooks from a line break. I suppose it's about probablilities and as you say, personal choice. After your feedback however, I'll refrain from using them in snaggy swims.
Anthony
 
Andrew Boyne said:
Interesting. I don't use these types of devices so probably don't know what i'm talking about but wouldn't the fish detect it while chewing the bait in it's throat teeth and spit it out like it does other unwanted objects that might get sucked up?? They don't swallow big baits whole!
Click to expand...

Are you absolutely certain about that Andrew?....and what do you classify as big? I am aware that barbel have pharyngeal teeth, like all cyprinids....but do they bother using them when consuming soft baits, which is all you can use these devices for? Sure they use them for crushing crayfish, mussels, snails....and some of my boilies :p otherwise the contents would not be easily digested....but I doubt they bother doing so with a 10<30mm nugget of spam, which is what these would mainly be used for....but I am only guessing, I must confess.

I know for a fact that carp (sorry :eek:) CAN easily crunch up tiger nuts, and sometimes they do just that. However....it is also a fact that sometimes they swallow them whole, and the same can be said for Brazil nuts :eek: Why, I don't know....but in common with most long term carpers, I have had enough whole nuts pooped out on/in my net/mat/leg/bank/hand to be utterly certain that they do :D. So....I know carp at least don't ALWAYS chew even relatively hard baits.....I suspect that the same can be said for most fish. Competition for food in shoaling fish causing the well known 'Eat it now and quickly....or loose it' syndrome? Pure ruddy laziness? Who knows?

None of this is scientific proof of anything, one way or another. However...it worries ME enough that I don't bother using something that may be risky...when there are plenty of safe alternatives. Having said all that, I repeat that I am not really strongly 'anti' these things....I just choose not to use them, and offered this up for discussion in a thread advocating their use, nothing more than that.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Steve Williams said:
Hi John.

I appreciate your comments, but after a recent thread, regarding a review, it was decided that the best thing to do was to keep the reviews threads locked.

The last thing we want is the sort of unhelpful comments that appeared last time.

I can understand that some genuine posters would like make comments or add their views on items that has been reviewed, so I'd be more than happy to add a posters comments to a particular thread.

I can be contacted either by PM or email, and I'll add the comments to the relevant thread.

I'll stress that they must be 'genuine' comment regarding a review, whether that be an update or a difference of opinion.


Steve
Click to expand...

I don't think anybody was being "unhelpful" when a previous thread of a review was aired on the main board.I found it "helpful" that it was ascertained that the reviewer had no financial incentive to promote the product in question.
 
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David Gauntlett said:
Are you absolutely certain about that Andrew?....and what do you classify as big? I am aware that barbel have pharyngeal teeth, like all cyprinids....but do they bother using them when consuming soft baits, which is all you can use these devices for?
Click to expand...

To be honest Dave, no, i'm not certain. I have spent many an hour watching Barbel chew on smallish pellets and boilies in the 6-10mm range - i tend to avoid BIG baits but i suppose my idea of big would be something in the 25mm + range. Why do they bother chewing on small food items if they can swallow big baits whole? The initial post reminded me of an era when a lot of clubs banned the use of plastic baits - incase the fish swallowed them - since been shown many times that Carp spit out such objects.

One thing is for sure - we are demonstrating why open comments on reviews are not the way forward. They turn into a thread and belong on the main forum!
 
Andrew Boyne said:
To be honest Dave, no, i'm not certain. I have spent many an hour watching Barbel chew on smallish pellets and boilies in the 6-10mm range - i tend to avoid BIG baits but i suppose my idea of big would be something in the 25mm + range. Why do they bother chewing on small food items if they can swallow big baits whole? The initial post reminded me of an era when a lot of clubs banned the use of plastic baits - incase the fish swallowed them - since been shown many times that Carp spit out such objects.

One thing is for sure - we are demonstrating why open comments on reviews are not the way forward. They turn into a thread and belong on the main forum!
Click to expand...

Hi Andrew

You ask "Why do they bother chewing on small food items if they can swallow big baits whole?" I don't know fella...I guess it's a 'fish thing' :p However, I can assure you that SOMETIMES they do. Come to that, why do they sometimes swallow stones? Gawd knows mate...but they do. Why do they take plastic baits at all? I don't know that either, though I have heard numerous theories. And I don't accept that they ALWAYS 'spit out' plastic baits....I am fairly certain that they sometimes do swallow them with no resulting problems at all. Medium to large carp for example would be able to pass fairly large plastic baits with no problems whatsoever, PROVIDING they were the standard fairly smooth and regular shaped items that they invariably are. No doubt the smaller species would also cope with the smaller sized baits that they are likely to swallow. The issue I was referring to was any fish being able to pass through its system what is in effect a stainless steel corkscrew with sharpish ends (no chance) and smaller fish passing a plastic spiral (not a lot of chance)

But, whatever grabs you Andrew....I think we have done this one to death now :D I have already said I don't have strong views on this, I merely threw it into the melting pot as an interesting point that had not been mentioned....and one which IS a serious issue for some.

I absolutely agree with you on the proper place for such debates, which is why I posted my comment here, rather than take advantage of the offer to contact Steve and ask him to append it to the review itself. As far as I know, there never has been any reason not to start a thread on the open forum to discuss an item reviewed in the review area.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Thanks Dave, i take your points on board. My thoughts were based on my own observations of fish eating ( and chewing! ) and clip from a DVD showing a Carp picking up and rejecting bits of plastic corn over and over again. I can't remember which DVD, sorry, but it was quite amusing to watch. There were two bits of sinking plastic corn and the Carp picked up one, chewed it and spat it out, turned and picked up the other, chewed it and spat that out, turned back to the first etc etc. In this instance we have an object buried within a bait that would not be passed easily if swallowed and so i do understand the concerns. Just thinking out loud really and i did state in my initial post i probably don't know what i'm on about! :p Nice to be able to discuss such things though. :)
Cheers
 
Andrew Boyne said:
Thanks Dave, i take your points on board. My thoughts were based on my own observations of fish eating ( and chewing! ) and clip from a DVD showing a Carp picking up and rejecting bits of plastic corn over and over again. I can't remember which DVD, sorry, but it was quite amusing to watch. There were two bits of sinking plastic corn and the Carp picked up one, chewed it and spat it out, turned and picked up the other, chewed it and spat that out, turned back to the first etc etc. In this instance we have an object buried within a bait that would not be passed easily if swallowed and so i do understand the concerns. Just thinking out loud really and i did state in my initial post i probably don't know what i'm on about! :p Nice to be able to discuss such things though. :)
Cheers
Click to expand...

Hi Andrew,

That sucking in/blowing out thing is pretty comical to watch isn't it? I have seen it many times, and apart from puzzling over why they persist in doing it so much with the same item, it has sent me into a frenzy of rig tweaking and feverish memory searching for 'Magic infallible non eject rigs' :p...........Still looking :D

On the other hand, I have seen carp zoom in, pick a bait up and swallow it instantly, and attempt to zoom out again....like it was on a mission, late for an appointment or whatever. Of course it never gets to make that appointment, because 'mistakes mean hookups' :D Mind you, it's nice to see the rod top attempting to keep the appointment for it :p

Odd critters fish......

Cheers, Dave.
 
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