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OK, so last week's fishing was somewhat compromised by wife/dogs/family holiday/low water. It amounted to about 4 hours in a week. Naturally, a bloody great spate happened today, it should be fining down nicely by tomorrow morning.

Guess where I am going at 4.30am tomorrow for 3 unhindered days (I will blank).

Ah, fuck. Nope, it's a lever behind the reel foot which allows the reel spool to revolve freely, it engages to normal geared use as soon as you turn the reel handle or flip the lever back.

5 to 15 will just about stop a raging gudgeon, ok, maybe a 2lb trout in a small stream. I use a 30 to 80 for heavy duty stuff, I've had 15lb pollack and 20lb rooster fish on it (look them up, they're awesome!), it will also handle bass, pike and salmon. You're unlikely to be chucking 3+oz lures in a river, so something with an upper limit of about 40g or thereabouts should do you.

And @jupiz, that stream looks lovely, free fishing is the best fishing! On the glass in foot front: I once stood on a 4" nail in a plank up at the Darent, I'm not sure which was worse, seeing the nail emerge through my plimsoll or standing on the plank to yank it back the opposite way. Couldn't walk for 3 days.

So, unhappy hour for at least one of them. Hull 0, Strangeways 1.

Lots of the bird variety around here, which is probably why they're on the Sussex flag.

They WHAT!? I have just remembered I have an urgent meeting above the snowline in Nepal.

Not sure what those remind me of more, either the pods from Alien or the plant from Little Shop of Horrors.

Actual farmers will continue with their battered Hi Lux or Isuzu (with a Gator for wet periods). Estate owners will buy them purely as something different to turn up to a shoot with their chums (Twickenham attendance compulsory).

For someone who doesn't care, you seem to be using a lot of words to justify your interest in his work.

I haven't bothered replying on this thread before, because I am unqualified to do so. I have only watched one Hambini episode and thought that whether he was right or wrong, he is an unpleasant little tit.

I would suggest that you think twice about being an apologist for this person in light of the allegations against him.

In the meantime, I shall continue to take my technical advice from people like @gbj_tester who have a demonstrable degree of expertise.

Predictably not very good, that's England, ITV and Woodward.

My apologies to Ben Youngs, who I am no supporter of, you played well. Smith and Marchant made a difference at the end. Shame the forwards held on as per normal to cough up the penalty when the defence was already tied in. We might as well play Tuilagi at 8, that is what his skills demand.

@mespilus; it isn't really Borthwick's fault that he took his dream job, for which he is manifestly unqualified. The board should've rid themselves of Jones a year earlier and hired a coach with vision rather than a 'safe' pair of hands from within the system.

Surely Walsall have always been known by their full name of Walsall 0?

Losing bonus point is the only plus. Actually, they weren't terrible, Fiji were just better and incredibly unlucky against Wales.

Personally, I look forward to Eddie Jones being sacked. Much as I would like the same outcome for Borthwick, I can't wish for England (even the England picked by Borthwick) to lose against Japan.

The voices of reason prevail, thank the deities!

I would happily see him locked up to avoid anyone having to put up with his unfunny, sneering shtick.

@Bobbo, as an afterthought, I would avoid Wychwood coarse reels in general, this isn't tackle snobbery I have tried them and binned them within a season, their fly reels are fine (I have 2).

My go-to reels for everything from chub to carp and heavyish spinning are Shimano ST6000RB, these have the useful baitrunner (freespool) facility. I have 6 of these and none have failed in about 7 years. They're £55 new on ebay. I have got a posh 6000 Shimano for bass, pollack and overseas trips, but that is £200 which is what you pay for saltwater resistance, superb clutch and bombproof build quality.

Stella takes her roles of Mother Of 3, Senior Dog and Supreme Tyrant very seriously.

Pretty much anything that doesn't involve England.

Rock hopping is just fine, it's what I do, there's a fair bit of walking to be done so waders are less than ideal. You can always use summer waders, otherwise known as walking sandals.

@Bobbo, big pit reels are designed for chucking 4oz plus of lead at the horizon, they also retrieve line at a fearsome rate, they're also bulky bastards that wouldn't balance with a spinning rod. In short, useless for spinning.

There's hundreds of inexpensive spinning reels around, something around the 5000 or 6000 size range would be much better suited for heavy spinning.

The obligatory family photo on Rockford Bridge, everyone as good as new, traumas forgotten.

That's about right for trout only, they're lovely little fellas that go about four to the pound which I'm happy to leave alone. I have had a monstrous 2 pounder many years ago on a mepps. Upstream dry and nymph with a 3 weight in the glides and tails is the way to go. Meadow pool is the place to go, particularly as it has become seriously overgrown in the last 5 years, save it for your last 45 minutes in the evening.

What fascinates me is @kl's assurance that the Scots can rid themselves of team WindsorSaxeCoburgGrift. Is there still an edict as yet unrepealed that allows a Scot to wield a claymore upon bodies Regal at 11am on the third Wednesday of Bannockburn?

Every chance! Been coming here fairly regularly for many, many years. Hence I know probably as many of the salmon lies as most of the locals, very few of which are in the pools (the salmon lies, not the locals).

To illustrate; this was taken in my exact position 5 minutes before I caught the grilse, you try fishing a fly in this!

The pools, such as they are, average about 10 yards long and have all had 'wild' and somewhat chilly swimmers in them in the last 2 days (one with an inflatable unicorn).

No picture, was released instantly. Unfortunately, not enough water to spin and fly ain't happening anywhere on this river. Worm it was, 2'6" link to the 1oz lead, 18" link to the size 8 hook (keeps the two dendrobaena worms wiggling off the bottom in the current) bounced ever so gently into a known salmon lie. It's crystal clear, so 12lb fluorocarbon mainline and 8lb hooklink and one of my old faithful barbel rods that dealt with the 29 pound carp a couple of months back.

Cnut is the least troubling anagram of all time and aptly describes an entire inbred mob of entitled anagrams.

Nope, shanks weren't barbed, or they would've jabbed his palate and added to the fun (he's fine). There is no real answer other than taking better care, the rig had brand new hooks and was below the tide line, so could only have been there a few hours. In the case of the bass plugs, stronger leaders and not casting into snags.... All my bass plugs have been converted to single hooks to lessen the problem and allow the return of fish with minimal damage.

On the brighter side, I just caught a 5lb grilse about 20 minutes ago!

Hi all, congratulations to everyone who has actually caught something and commiserations to those who have lost one. I have failed to catch a salmon on Exmoor so far (this is unlikely to change), but please have a look at my post on the dog thread to see why we should all be incredibly careful with end tackle, I'm sure everyone on here is but this is a reminder of why we must never get careless.