Having grown up fishing commercials, I have been trying to mix things up a bit by fishing rivers and canals, this isn’t a post designed to knock commercials, I still fish them for silvers and have a great days fishing

Problem I’m finding on more natural venues is that I’m so used to getting a bite within the first hour (at worst) that I struggle to stay longer than 2 or 3 hours if I’m not getting any indication that there are fish around.

Is this normal? Should I be more mobile so I can move pegs easier?

I've been out of the fishing game for 20 years and need to replace my old pole elastics.

So, I googled & youtubed pole elastics and I'm confused about the marketing/media explanation of the benefits of paying £15 for a hollow elastic instead of the good old £2.99 Preston slip. You see... when I studied mechanical science at Uni followed by 35years in the industry, I learned all about tensile properties of elastomers, and It's a fact that cross-sectional shape does NOT affect tensile properties (for the same material and cross-sectional area).

I'd be interested in what's peoples subjective opinion and if they have any objective/scientific information to back-up their explanation please?
In the meantime, as a retired research & development test engineer, I will conduct some 'real' tests and let you know what I find.

I think we probably all know the sort, the type that come round every time you fish a place and chat to you, giving you tips on how it fishes and recounting stories of what they've caught. Personally, I love chatting to people on the bank and will always listen, taking in what they're saying. It can be a good way about learning things about a fishery if you're not used to fishing it. Although, I think maybe not everyone is so welcoming to getting advice and just want to fish? What do you think about these people, maybe you're one of them, and do you chat to them or gently ignore them and carry on fishing?

Hopefully a Bertie will grace my net but a pleasant evening regardless...

View attachment 20210815_183958.mp4

I'm not a long range caster. Don't have the rods for it to start with. I also don't feel like I have the best technique. I don't whip the feeder behind me to start the cast for a start, I let it dangle. But I have been impressed with my casting of late, I was amazed with myself yesterday as I needed to cast within 1 foot of a tree branch or I wouldn't get a bite. I managed to search along and underneath this branch without hitting it once (no clip as Barbel fishing). I've also fished this little weir by my house so many times I can land it where I want at short range under the tree. I think the further you go the more difficult it is to be accurate though, and needless to say, there are a lot better casters about than me. In general though, I think I can cast more accurate than I can throw at medium distance.