Tim Kelly

It's a real scary deal. I'm sure we've all had situations where a bait has come flying past us. If you're looking through a camera you're not going to have the reaction instincts that you would have normally to avoid the impact. Rather disappointed by MLF. They haven't responded on their facebook page. You'd think/hope it would be something they would be concerned over. I hope the camera man is doing ok and wish him a happy Christmas and a full recovery in 2017.

Nothing from their facebook yet.

Thank you. I will post something on their facebook page. I used to work as a photographer and remember how I was particularly scared of something happening to my eyes. Horrible accident. I can't imagine how the angler must have felt when it happened and ever since.

Nobody? Hope he's doing OK, it's a career threatening injury apart from everything else.

I'd happily pay to watch online, as I used to, but they don't value income from anywhere outside North America apparently, so I can't.

I always found the Matzuo sickles to be weak and prone to snapping at the sharp angle bend. Gave up on them a long time ago. The lil nasty's do the same job, but better, for me.

Does anyone know how the MLF cameraman is doing, the guy who got a jig or punch weight in the eye?

Poke the glue out with a pin or something if it offends you. Otherwise, just go fishing.

What a coincidence, I'm a Nigerian prince. This place is becoming like the UN. Is Glenn really Kofi Annan?

I guess that must be the case. TW used to be virtually impossible to order from if you were outside the US, you had to send them all sorts of information before they'd accept an order. They're better now, but I was surprised they didn't send an email explaining the issue, rather than just refunding the money and leaving it unexplained.

Well that was easy! Thanks for the tip. Amazon was easy, I must try using them more often!

Goodness know what the problem is, but neither paypal or credit cards would make the transaction work for them. I got a paypal refund within about half an hour from TW, sent them an email to ask why and they said they couldn't do it! Amazon is a great idea, I never think of them for some reason. I'll give it a go, thank you!

I've been trying to buy a friend of mine a reel as a christmas present and am getting nowhere! I live in the Uk and he's in the US. I have done it before with no problems, make an order, my address is the billing and his address is the shipping, but this year it's been difficult! I've tried Tackle warehouse, Cabelas, Bass Pro, Monster and Susquehanna without success. Does anyone run a tackle shop who would provide this service or know one that would?

Too easy to get politicians behind causes that appear populist and without any real chance of a meaningful backlash in the polls. Not many that aren't morally bankrupt.

Same over here. I do wonder where these people come up with their "scientific" evidence. You'd think the sportsmen out in the field week in week out would see a problem if there were one, but it doesn't seem to be the case. A lot of the evidence for a lead shot ban over wetlands here in the UK conflated wildfowl dying from the effects of being wounded by lead shot, and subsequently dying, with animals ingesting lead. Makes you very wary of scientific evidence and the motivations of those that use it in their cause!

We had a similar situation here in the early nineties with a few very vocal people claiming swan deaths were directly caused by fishing weights. They had x-rays of swans with lead weights in their gizzards, where they have grit to grind up their food before swallowing it, which had caused them to ingest the lead. While I'm sure it is not only possible, and that some swans died as a result of this, I seriously doubt it was a significant cause of swan or waterfowl death. Lots of swans are killed because they fly into electric power lines for example, and I'm sure you could find a lot more corpses under power lines than you would lead poisoned birds on the water. The trouble is, it only takes a very few, very vocal, people to start shouting and it becomes an issue. I would be inclined to resist all bans like this as they're not usually based on a significant risk to the animals they're aiming to protect. Many other human made threats are far more significant, but it's relatively easy to pick on something relatively minor and make the uneducated general populous agree that "something must be done". Politicians fall over themselves to line up with these type of causes, and so we end up wrapped up in pointless regulation and added expense which results in a few people feeling smug and very little difference to the animals!

Gami's are definitely a step up, even on the new EC hooks, but they are significantly more expensive. You need to pick and choose what's best for which application really. I like EC Lil Nasty hooks for ned heads, their standard jig hooks are perfectly adequate for most small jig applications, but the difference between the EC fine wire straight shank flipping hook and the Gami light cover straight shank is worth paying to me. It's a much sharper better quality hook for that job. Mustads are a good middle ground hook.

I Gave up waiting for the exchange rate to improve and bought the mould. Very impressed. I like the way the lead is sized to be a similar diameter to a TRD. The wire keeped works very well too. The only negative is that they need to be powder coated as there isn't enough lead round the hook and wire to keep everything secure, Powder coating it makes the difference and makes the whole jig strong and durable enough. With the Lil Nasty hooks they make a very sound ned jig. Side issue, the first batch of EC Lil Nasty hooks I bought were great. I ordered another batch from Barlows with the mould and they're not quite the same. The wire is softer and more prone to bending and I had a couple of misshapen hooks in the 100 pack, which I haven't seen from EC in a while since they started making better quality hooks. A little disappointing, but it still makes a great ned head that hooks so well you rarely lose a fish, and it's often difficult to get the hook out.

I have an even weirder one. I was fishing vertically for zander (walleye) with a friend on the bottom in 90ft. Our lures were no more than 10ft apart and everything was similar, but different lures and he had a wire trace. I was getting 5 bites to his 1. He swapped to the same lure I was using and still I was getting 5x the action he was. Eventually he took off the wire and put on a fluoro leader and immdeiately started getting the same amount of action as me. I was amazed. In 90ft of clear water I struggle to believe they could spot the wire, but it was the most controlled experiment in fishing I've ever witnessed. This was a very slow presentation obviously, so they could study the lures if they wanted to, and if fish actually do that! That experience has definitely made me more paranoid about line visibility with slow presentations, but I still happily use wire for moving baits as I think there's more of a reaction and less of an eating response going on there.

Sorry. Couldn't resist a bit of showing off. Don't start putting your smallmouth pics up or I'll start sobbing!

That's not a pike...... LOL

If you're using a moving bait, like a crankbait, I don't think a wire leader makes any difference as long as it's not too massive, thick and bent. A nice fine 50lb single strand with appropriately small clip and swivel is very good and I use it a lot where pike are a probability. For slow presentations, dragging soft plastics around the bottom or dropshotting I wouldn't want to use a wire leader, but also those presentations are less attractive to pike and pickerel, so there is less risk of catching them.

The SV has a slightly smaller frame, the same as the Tatula CT, and is significantly more comfortable in your hand, though the original Tat/zillion TWS is not at all uncomfortable. The SV would be your best option I expect as long as you don't need huge line capacity for your saltwater stuff.

Give them a call and ask them, or take the tip guide off and measure the blank with a micrometer.

I prefer mono. 6lb CXX works well for me. Light braid catches the wind too much.