Fishing Richie

Here is a useful link to the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain website: https://pacgb.com/fishing-for-pike/ If your water is a Club water it may have specific Rules regarding tackle requirements and possibly a stipulation when pike are 'in season' and allowed to be fished for. The normal considered 'season' for pike is from October 1st to 14th March inc. What needs to be appreciated is that these fish may look fierce but are actually very delicate and succumb to bad angling and bad handling very easily. For a complete novice it would be better going with an experienced angler to show you the ropes particularly when it comes to unhooking. Finally pike thrive on neglect so if you do strike it lucky do not post pictures etc all over FB etc. as you will quickly get a load of other anglers on your water which will result in the demise of you fishing. I have fished for pike for years and seen good fishing ruined many times by anglers publishing their catches. Rich

I appreciate that the new defender looks are very appealing but if I was looking at a commercial version I think a Toyota Landcruiser Commercial would make more sense both from a reliability and price point of view. The LC comes in a base spec with a manual gear box or Active Spec with an auto box and more kit The LC is available in both SWB and LWB

Here are few options : https://www.laddsguns.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=9 I have shot at North Devon, South West Shooting School and Ashcombe Adventure. All These are commercial grounds. The 1st 2 are caddied rounds as a rule and the 3rd one is Claymate. Also I have shot at Ashley clay shoot. They do Registered shoots as well as non registered shoots but they are not open every day.

I live in the West Midlands and have shot quite a few grounds within 75 mile radius of Birmingham which includes Coleys As a general rule the further south / south east I have been the price per clay increases. By contrast the further north I have traveled the price per clay decreases. I have shot at CPSA Premier Grounds to Sunday Club shoots and between 30p to 32p / clay is now average for the ground I visit. With the latest increase in cartridge prices the price of a round of clays is only going one way.

I think its like a lot of things. The real stuff out of a cask brewed at their brewery at Rock in Cornwall but the cans and bottles I think is brewed at Burton Upon Trent in the Midlands not far from me but many miles from Cornwall!!

No problem mate. Its a starter to get you going.

Have to agree with you there. When I went Coleys there was just as many old motors like mine as there were expensive metal like Range Rovers etc.

Jonty, Based on the fact that you are a game fisherman why not just take your salmon spinning rod down with you and spin / lure fish for the pike and zander. If you look on the Birmingham Anglers Association website under River Avon you will see their last section is called Mythe Farm. That's just above the top of you arial view picture on the right hand bank looking downstream. You can start there and just keep walking / roving until you find some fish. The river here is slow and deep. The area below that weir / sluice gates outside The Boathouse and above Mythe Rd is called something like Stanyards Pit. I do not know who's water it is but I have seen people fishing when I have passed through the area. I am not up to speed on the chub / dace or roach fishing but its probably better in the autumn / winter when the fish start shoaling up. The local tackle shop will probably be able to help you out. The only one I am aware of is: Bankside Tackle Unit 11, Highfield Business Park, Tewkesbury Road, Gloucester GL19 4BP Rich

I agree with Salopian on this one. Having shot Coleys several times I enjoyed it but did not rate it as anything out of the ordinary. This is the most expensive ground I have ever shot. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that it sets out to attract wealthy clientele from the Cotswolds. Also as you look at the cost of any grounds down the M40 towards London and £40 / 100 is the minimum going rate. I sometimes go and shoot Hailes Fruit Farm (not that far from Coleys) and they charge £30 / 100 which is very reasonable. As I posted before its the quality of the target setting that is as important to me as the price so I try to shoot as many grounds as possible. Rich

Completed where I thought relevant

Living in the West Midlands the practice clay prices seem to vary dependent upon the a couple of factors : The high end grounds with nice Club Houses , Gun Shops Cafe etc seem to be at 40p /Clay. At the lower end of the scale the ground with a large shed, basic tea making facilities, less staff and probably older equipment are say 30p / Clay. Local Club / Sunday morning shoots approx 28p / Clay I like to go and try as many different grounds as possible to see whats on offer but the rising cost of Clays precludes me from going to the more expensive grounds frequently. At the end of the day the Grounds facilities are of little interest to me, Its the quality of the target presentations that I go for. Just because the ground charges 40p / Clay does not mean that they throw good targets. The couple of local shoots that I attend on Sundays throw targets that make you think and you can see that the Course Setter has thought about each stand. Add to that that the cost of cartridges is 20p per bang then when you get addicted it can become an expensive past time.

I had Bridgestone dueler HT 687 on my 2005 Subaru Forester. They were very good on the road and on tracks and trails but were not so clever in the mud. They very good on overall mileage as they lasted for 40k per corner and were also fuel efficient. I did close to 200k on the above spec tyre. When I replaced them this time I have opted for Yokohama Geolanders AT which were the same price as the Bridgestones HT's. These are possibly slightly noisier and slightly heavier on fuel but they are definitely better on mud / off road. Currently not showing any signs of excessive ware. The car now has 210k on it.

Thanks for your insight Edd. Now I get an understanding of what one of my guns is worth as a trade in when the time comes and anything extra will be a bonus. Rich

I do not own this product or the Baretta one you mention but I have two of Phils bags and a gun slip and can vouch for the quality of his products. Very well made and durable whilst still looking smart. https://www.ogdensshootingsupplies.co.uk/cartridge-bags/range-bag-shotgun-shell-carrier

I have a Maxus with 28''' barrels. Due to the stock being short I have lengthened it with the spacers you can buy and it now fits me quite well. It fits in a 32''' gun slip ok but I do have an issue fitting it in the cabinet like Figgy due to the ammo shelf inside. I have measured by overlaying the Maxus on top of my Miroku MK38 with 32''' barrels (no extended chokes in either gun) and both are near as dam it the same length. As said above if cabinet space is the priority then 26'' barrels are the way to go but prior to me buying my Maxus I did some searches on here and it appears that the most popular barrel length for SA is 28'''.