Bonzo

Jenny Morgan: That avatar would be great! Its a spitting image of me. not too sure if it can be used due to copyright. To all the other friendly people, thanks again for the warm welcome, I have not been online recently due to certain reasons which I will not go into. Oh yes, Broad Scott: The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band! I remember them. My nickname comes from an old dog I used to take for walks when my family went to our caravan at Dovercourt. A really lovely old mut with a wonderful nature, (does that describe me? Humm? MM: Thanks for the offer, will see what I can do about that. Had a nice couple of bream this year. They were that......................................................big! Best wishes. Bonzo.

Nice one JM and quite a few pounds bigger than my largest pike. The thing is that I believe that the Broads is loaded with good fish as are many other waterways. I respect the fact that the salt surges of late has confined the fish to the upper reaches but they are still catchable. With regards to pike I think patience is required. We see so many times especially around Wroxham open boats banging around just dropping their live or deadbaits in the water for a couple of minutes, giving up and going elsware. As an ex specimen hunter I am much in favour of laying a nice oily deadbait for a number of hours and waiting for the biggie to find it. Anyway, I am quite happy dabbling for bream these days, size 8 hook and a big dob of cheese. It works...................sometimes. Bonzo.

A problem can occur such as on the Southern Broads where a whole BA mooring is taken over by night fishermen. OK, yes a boat has the right to moor up, unfortunately there is a group of rather disgruntled fishermen who have been displaced from their swims of which they have heaved in pounds worth of groundbait. Will you get a quiet night's stay? I do not think so. Many times I have passed by such a mooring and ended up tied to the bank in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, the fishing a'int bad there in the middle of nowhere. Somewhat a plus? In reading this post please consider I am a considerate fisherman and a considerate boatowner Bonzo.

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody. I am going to put a picture on my profile soon. I just need to sort it out. Just watch this space. bonzo.

I agree ajb. Lots of people want a keepnet full to the brim with fish. I am quite happy to have a couple of hours first thing in the morning before anybody gets on the move and perhaps catch a couple of decent fish. If the fish are not co- operating I am quite happy to enjoy the morning with a cuppa and a bacon sarnie. In my later years just being by the water and having a dabble with my rather ancient rod is pleasure in itself. I have had a couple of decent bream this year so I am quite happy. Unfortunately this is not news to the angling press. In my opinion the Broads still offers reasonable fishing and what is more relevant lots of it is free fishing especially if you are on a boat. Perhaps we need another character such as Dennis Pye to catch a few biggies and send the pictures to the angling press. it may just fire off a new interest in the Broads. A nice herring deadbait dropped somewhere in Heigham Sound and just left there for a few hours might just do the trick. I am sure these biggies are there so come on all you pike specimen hunters lets see what you are made of. Personally I am sticking to bream. Tight lines everybody. Bonzo.

I can remember that in my younger days the Norfolk Broads was never out of the Angling Times and Anglers Mail. Good old Dennis Pye used to make sure of that. he was often seen on the front pages cuddling an enormous pike almost as big as himself. My favourite articles in the Angling Times were written by Richard Walker which inspired me to take up carp fishing. That is all in the past and I just do a bit of dabbling for some of the larger bream although nothing too serious. I still have my Mk 4 carp rods, both home made, one of them is made of split cane. I also still use my old 12 ft split cane float rod. I hope this brings back memories to some of the older members of the forum. Bonzo.

Hi there everybody. Just to let everybody know that old Bonzo has slipped his lead and from time to time is found loose on the Broads. If found and plied with good real ale he will often wag his tail. I enjoy a bit of not too serious fishing and often give a wave and a smile to passing boaters and canoeists. A nice pint in the Dog at Ludham Bridge is also enjoyed. I love the quitter parts of the Broads such as Hickling and Barton Broads and sometimes go down South for a change of scenery. Regards. Bonzo.