cuzza

Sounds like the UK has changed completely since I left in July!!!! You had a very good exeprience of the roads over there. 88 on the motorways will land you a ticket sooner or later, anything over 80 is asking for trouble - that's not to say that people don't habitually do it, just like going 120 over here but the majority of drivers have points in the UK, so much so that insurers don't even worry about the first 3. Speed limit on single lane roads is 60mph but it's reduced to 40 or 50 even in the middle of no-where "for safety". There are speed traps (un-manned photo radar sites) all over the place and not just the ones marked on the GPS, the police don't even have to stop you they take a reading and a photo and send you the ticket in the mail, if you weren't driving, you have to name the driver, if you can't remember who was driving the owner of the vehicle gets the points. Everywhere you go on the motorways there are people driving at or just below the limit in the centre lanes with nothing inside them - overtaking on the inside is illegal but it still happens, the problem being that no-one expects it (because it's illegal) so it leads to some nasty accidents. You don't see many damaged cars because all vehicles have an annual safety test and a smashed light or even a blown bulb is an automatic fail. You're right about the weaving, some of the stuff I've seen on the 401 in particular is unbelievable! The other thing is cutting people up - every morning I sit at a light 200m from the highway on-ramp in the right-hand lane of a three lane road and I know that all the cars in the middle lane want to take the ramp but they don't want to queue up and as soon as the light goes green they just drive at a gap between cars Anyway enough of my ranting - did you get any fishing in???

What a terribly nice system - you get a lower fine and no points by going to court to argue about it!!! My only knowledge of speeding tickets is from the uk where you get 3 points and £60 as standard and if you take it to court and lose you still get the 3 points but you get a £1000 fine for your trouble too I assumed that taking it court for the sake of it would be treated the same here - another plus point for Canada!!!

I can't see how pleading not guilty, going to court and effectively admitting your guilt by saying you were "going with the traffic" is going to help you get a reduced fine (as a minimum you'll end up woth court costs etc. on top if you're found guilty, won't you??), nor can I see how the officer in question is going to 'help you out' now he's written the ticket for over 120, he's not going to admit any possible inaccuracies in their readings and it's part of his job to go to court when he's written the ticket, so I wouldn't bank on him not showing up although I guess he may have decided to quit so knows he won't be around in 12 months????? I don't like your chances but good luck!

Agree with you on the rods but a weight forward line is easier for a beginner to cast.

If you mean the lacquer on the whippings then clear nail varnish would stop it getting worse but the proper fix is to re-whip the rod eye and re-lacquer that.

Muddler's pretty much covered it but to add a couple more things that spring to mind, go for a medium or medium-fast action rod and assuming you're an average sized adult around 9ft long rated at #6/7 - if the rod has two numbers, put the heavier line on it, makes castinga bit easier and loads the rod better. I've got a 5/6 rod that's almost impossible to cast with a #5 line but fantastic with a #6. Any decent shop should be giving you advice like that anyway. Secondly get casting tuition as Dara suggests and think about joining a club. I joined one in Hamilton http://www.hafft.ca, they had a casting clinic last year and I hope they will be doing the same this year (my casting needs work!) and teach fly tying as well 2 and 4 piece rods - with modern composites, there isn't much difference apart from portability really, the action will be slightly compromised by more sections but the number of sections should have been taken nto account when designing the blank so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I thought you were talking about Halifax - there's a pub called the square and compass there I think

Match the hatch is a fly-fishing term - trout can become pre-occupied with a certain type of fly when a hatch is on and unless you can match what they're gorging themselves on you'll have a hard time catching anything. The hatches don't always last long hance the fish will become selecetive during that time to take advantage of it. I can't see a bass turning it's nose up at a perch pattern Rapala because the last fish it ate was a silvery minnow but it's probably worth using something with a pattern they've at least seen before and associate with food - all of which goes out of the window when you ctach on a flourescent pattern!! Edit - beaten to it!!!

Cool - have fun If you have a car and don't fancy shelling out for guided salmon fishing, look up Shimano Felindre Fishery. About 45 minutes drive from Cardiff and has some big rainbows in it, most fisheries will be able to lend you some gear (I'd epect that a fishery owned by Shimano definitely will!!!) but worth calling first, unfortunately trout season is over on the rivers and browns in lakes have to go back, no close season on rainbows though!

You'll have ticket fees on top of that to fish anywhere, you can't just walk up to a river and start fishing, that goes for the whole UK. You can see why I'm still like a kid in a candy shop with all the opportunities over here!!!! Prices are the same for non-residents, there's no distinction - if you're only going for vactaion, get an 8 dayer or even dailys depending on how much fishing you're planning, you can get it all done online and they'll give you a reference number, not an actual license http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homea...hing/31497.aspx Where abouts in Wales are you going?

Interesting to see the responses on this thread..... Ping, it sounds like you started out in the wrong direction, and hiring a boat ona weekly basis wasn't sustainable anyway, it also sounds like someone's taken advantage of your good nature which is a shame. There's a thread on here about someone who found a canoe for $50 from a web-classified site, why not go down that route? As a newbie, fishing time is what you need rather than a hotspot (if you need someone to give you one in order to continue fishing, IMO you're missing the point of the hobby) - find a lake near you that contains bass and give it a try. Secondly, get hold of a good book - I bought Roland Martin's book recently and it's very good, describing methods for most situations and how to fish different types of baits. The tip about joining a club is a great one, thanks for the pointer, Charles - as a fellow bass newbie, I'll be joining one of them

Not singling you out but aren't people like you the root of the problem? Those who are prepared to sign up (not sure about the mods getting any $$ for it) and take what they want from others without giving anything back? I understand people not wanting to say "fish here, with this bait, at this depth, on this rig" as trying things out is how you learn and become more competent but I can also see how it could be interpreted as unhelpful.

Makes sense, thanks

Out of interest why would you keep the female but preumably release the males?

I suppose it's better than the story higher up of dead fish being thrown away (notwithstanding it may have been out of season). Sounds like Mountsberg is a great fishery that needs a decent bailiff and a bit of breathing room. I guess the problem with making it catch and release is that the same morons who leave line and garbage all over the place will just ignore it unless it's enforced properly

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Jocko especially with the last sentence. Those fishing kayaks looks great - rod holder and all that I'm not meaning to moan about anything, being able to to drive 5mins from my house, setup by the lake on a nice evening and fish is brilliant, bearing in mind almost all fishing in the UK involves paying for a day ticket on top of your annual license - just trying to understand the etiquette really. Broke Back Fishing - I'll look for a pink cap next time I'm up at BPS

Cheers guys, pretty much as I thought, it's silly season and it's in the middle of town, guess I'll have to look around for somewhere a little quieter. Biteme - hope to see you down there at some point As for 3 in that slot - to stand next to each other, yes, but what's the point if you have to cast straight ahead time after time?

OK, went down to Oakville harbour last night, caught a couple of smallies in my first 10 casts (first fish in North America for me ) then it started to get busy and I think that's what killed it off as I didn't get another bite. Anyway, I have no problem with other people trying their luck and if it puts the fish off then so be it. I'm fishing in a 10-15 yds gap between the end of a line of boats and a load of rocks and some guy turns up and sets up in the space between me and the boats, if he'd had a 10ft rod he'd have tickled me with on every cast! To cap it all, every time I stopped fishing to change lures, there was a splash of this guys crankbait landing in front of me! Now I'm new over here and didn't want to cause a fuss so kept my mouth shut but had that been in the UK, I'd have made some sarcastic comment about already being married and asked him to give me some space. So, out of order of perfectly normal? I'm sure the answer is don't fish busy piers on a nice evening and tell someone you've caught fish , but i'd be interested to hear whether others think I'm being too precious. On the off-chance this was an OFC memebre, I'm not having a go, just trying to understand how things work here

LOL @ Clinch NOT Moistening knots before you tighten them stops anything coming undone and stops the line being weakened by getting too hot when you pull the knot tight.

I use the Uni knot for pretty much everything except joining tippets to leaders etc. and loops where I use a surgeons/ surgeons loop. What do you all use for loops for topwater baits and the like? You could try leaving longer tails on the knot, say about an inch, that's what I do with stop knots and they go through the rod rings better as well. That said, having a knot in the middle of your main line probably isn't the best idea as it's a weak spot.

Maybe on some parts of the internet, but in the real world 4x4=16 For the record, most of my fish go back - unless you're going to eat them seems kind of senseless killing them for the sake of a nice photo then throwing them in the bin.

Ummmmmmm

Nice fish Mike! Yeah, made it to Bronte last night - nothing doing but was a nice night just to be out by the water, also discovered I need some heavier lures to get better distance . Saw one salmon jump (on the opposite side from me of course!!!), no-one else was catching either which made me feel a bit better!!!

Thanks guys - will probably hit Bronte this evening now all my gear is unpacked Mike - Chinook sound good, is that one in your avatar? Probably a stupid question but to a Brit, a salmon is a salmon (not that I've ever caught one), we're not lucky enough to have variety!

Hi, as I've been lurking on here for a few weeks researching fishing spots etc. I though i should probably join up and introduce myself. I've just moved to Oakville from the Southampton in the UK with my wife having taken a job as an engineer. I've been a fishermen for the best part of 20 years and have dabbled in most things available over there, from pole fishing canals in the middle of winter through fly fishing for trout to a spot of sea fishing - things seem a lot different over here , different fish, methods and terminology (took me a while to work out what being "skunked" was ) but fishing is still fishing! Looking forward to going after some bass and getting back into fly fishing once the elbow I messed up lugging boxes while we were packing is better as well as anything else that's on offer. Have been looking around locally for spots to fish and thought I'd give Bronte Harbour a go one evening to get back into it and Lions Valley Park looks quite fishy in places. Was also thinking of giving some of the Halton Conservation places a try but they seem to get mixed reviews on here. I don't have much spare time for long trips at the moment with sorting stuff after moving but they'll come later If there's anywhere I'm missing, please let me know. Look forward to seeing some of you on the bank Richard