stevetheangler

Yesterday, 21st, when I’d planned to go dropshotting on the canal was a day of rain and gales and so the trip out never took place… and today, although being gorgeous and being mooted as a possibility, is being declined as (a) I want to prep tackle for the weekend and (b) with the winds the canals are going to be full of fallen leaves which makes fishing tedious with them clogging the line and hook and needing to be cleared virtually every cast…

And, Friday, the second trip planned for the week has now been changed to Saturday – as I’ve remembered I’m due at the doctor’s surgery between 1230 and1330 for my annual flu jab… and Saturday is forecast a better day anyway :).

Yep, today I’m checking over Liz’s pike rods ready for the Saturday trip and looking for the spare reel spools of line … Liz’s reels  currently on the rods have 18lb mono fitted which is fine really but I’m sure there are spare spools of 40lb braid for them too somewhere. So storage box/shelves/cupboard searching is the order of the day.

Also had some 25mm poly balls arrive that I’m going to use to make pop-up balls – and already got some 20mm that arrived a week or so ago. So that’s another job for today – prepping those. I’ve bought glitter powder which I intend to coat the surface of the balls with – usually, the balls are painted drab/camo colours to hide them but I reckon a bright flashy finish may be better as it could work as an attractor. Anyway, as I say, today I’ll get the balls drilled and plastic tubing glued in the hole (to stop the attachment cord wearing and cutting), and then coated in a thin layer of glue, rolled in glitter and left to dry until tomorrow when I fit the attachment cords to them – simply braid passed through the tubing with small buttons fixed either side of the ball to act as retainers and with a 6” tail of braid left free into which a loop will be created at the end so that the pop-up can be attached to the end treble of the trace by a ‘lassoo’ around two of the points ensuring that the pop-up is always recovered.

Yesterday, I had 5 packs of 6”-7” smelt for bait delivered (£18 inc delivery) containing 17 fish which are now in the fridge… look forward to trying them on Saturday and hope the expense was worth it!! :D

Oh – and if you’re interested in tackle/accessory purchases then a mate has passed me this link – cheaper than eBay in many cases – some very good deals: http://www.aliexpress.com/   (See ‘Sports and Outdoor’)…..