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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.

Ps: Murphy and Stella right now, the other two are cheerfully farting and snoring on the sofa.

Bit of a day today....

I'm on holiday on Exmoor and was walking my lot along Bossington beach when my youngest lab, Murphy, started shaking his head violently. I thought he had something stuck between his teeth but no, it was a discarded double hook fishing rig with bait intact that he'd picked up. One hook was embedded firmly in his tongue, the line was wrapped around his leg and the other hook was flailing around. It was a mile and a half back to the vehicle, I have no idea about the local vets and that left me with limited choices.

I grabbed hold of the poor bugger, disentangled the line from his leg, praying that the other hook stayed free of him (and me) and burned through the line with a lighter just above the flailing hook. So far so good, but the remaining hook was still central in his tongue and beyond the barb, it was about a size 1/0, 2" long.

I wouldn't recommend this, but I decided to remove the hook myself, I have fished all my life and have had to remove hooks from myself so I know how much it hurts. We both had to trust each other, him implicitly because I haven't let him down before and me because I had both hands in a mouth that could easily lessen my finger count. The long and short of it is that the hook was out in about a minute, which is sometimes a lifetime.

Murphy was happy immediately, his tongue stopped bleeding within 10 minutes and he was completely back to himself by the time we walked back. Maybe I should have taken him to the vet once I'd found one, but the thought of a half hour walk with a fucking great hook working its way deeper, plus the trauma of the drive, vet visit and inevitable general anaesthetic outweighed this.

I needed a couple of pints at the nearest pub to calm down and now at 11pm still have a stress headache and a rational urge to find and maim a thoughtless cunt.

I imagine it was to tuck in a 24" wheel against the frame, the wheel would have had radial spokes, welcome to the wonderful world of 80s aerodynamics. Bet the owner had L shaped cranks as well.

Thank the deities that someone else watched the same game I did. Anyone sane watching France and NZ yesterday would realise the ever so slight gap between basic competence and England. The only useful thing emerging from that performance is that Ford is a lot better than bloody Farrell, but so is Murphy (my younger labrador) at 10. Backs continue to be an afterthought, Mitchell who had a decent game will beyond doubt be replaced by the creative genius that is Ben Youngs.

Long day driving down to Exmoor, consequently slightly grumpy, the win helped yet the game didn't.

Thank you, you're absolutely right, 1 degree is sufficient for ceramics, 2 for stone because of the irregular surface. The problem is generally not the 'from' but the 'to'.

Pardon the slow reply to the concrete question., I was driving to Exmoor. Tiles are not famed for their bendy properties and if they aren't perfectly aligned at every corner they look bloody awful. Thus, the slightest ridge in the concrete of even 1mm will bugger the entire surface. If the ridge hasn't been spotted it is evil incarnate to attempt to make the tiles match up and the whole lot might have to be lifted, probably sacrificing any tiles that have already been laid. The adhesive goes off in minutes and makes shit to a blanket look an insecure bond.

You can get away with slight deviations with stone, particularly when using a 25mm bed of mortar, but anything ceramic is unforgiving.

The woman who permits me to be her husband is a dental receptionist. One of the more junior practice dentists bought an Aston, the practice owner makes him park it in the village hall car park so that the suffering clients don't realise that she employs twats.

Just to play devil's advocate; why not get a mini digger in, dig a new hole and replant the original tree with rootball?

It will take a year to establish again and probably will look a bit sorry for itself during that year.

Those tiles are beautiful and perfect for a smallish space. They are a complete bastard to lay, they have to go onto a glassily smooth concrete base with a flexible adhesive or they'll crack. Forget the already expensive cost per metre of the tiles, it's the prep that costs the real money and the adhesive isn't inexpensive (you'll need twice the manufacturer's claimed coverage).

But, they are gorgeous.

It's pointless, heavy, unbalanced and ugly. Then again, so am I.

I would amputate rather than be seen with those.

I'm probably the only person on here who won't find your update dull, thanks for that! It looks to be well worth doing, only a slight colour loss and the bonus benefits you mentioned.

You must be a grumpy git if you have a specific knife for parking issues.

I threw a slug 150m last Xmas, it knocked on my door at Easter and called me a cunt.

In the 6th circle of hell, strange question.

Kill sister, reclaim watch.

It would certainly be a sliding something if oil was dumped on the peleton.

I forgot the single most important thing; if you're fishing alone tell someone exactly where you'll be and when you expect to be back. Keep them informed of any changes. The sea in its most benign mood ain't a reservoir.

Tip 2a, buy a fishing kayak, here's one that's hopefully going out on Friday.

We did a bit on saltwater fly fishing on here a few years back, heavy reservoir gear is a good start. Wash everything with fresh water EVERY time or it will die instantly. If you're tying your own flies, stainless steel hooks only, fry patterns are all you need, nowt fancy. Heavy leaders, 15lbs tippet is plenty light enough. Floating lines are your friend, don't even think about trying on a breezy day. Rising tides are better, make really sure that there is an escape option and no channels behind you where the tide can cut you off.

Here's some I tied earlier...