A carrying bag to put a bucket in? Sounds like a daft idea on the face of it. But the Aqua Bait Carryall is a bit more than that. Made from Cordura with a waterproof Nyplex base it has pouches on the outside to hold catapult, PVA tube, spod, or such like, and an inner soft 'tray' to take tubs of hookbaits. Not only that but it is supplied with a bucket with a lift out bowl.

Designed with the carp angler in mind barbel anglers will find this carryall as useful. I have disposed with the soft tray and bucket and replaced them with a smaller bucket of feed pellets and occasionally a second bucket of hemp. The plastic tray drops in on top of this holding tubs of hookbait.

When fishing the tray is lifted out and keeps all the tubs together and is a handy place to put baiting needles and scissors so they don't get lost in the grass. When open-end feeder fishing a bag of groundbait goes in carryall and a Preston Innovation groundbait bowl makes a lid for the whole thing!

My only minor complaint is that the handles are a bit too long for my liking, so I folded them up and bound them with tape to shorten them. Despite seeming unnecessary at first glance the Bait Carryall is actually a versatile, and useful bit of kit.

Price £29.99 More details from Aqua products on 0845 1259399 or visit www.aquaproducts.co.uk.

Posted March 2007, revised August 2007

This is the third digital camera I have owned in the last six years and it is by far the most suited to angling. The biggest boon is the flip round screen which makes framing self-takes a real doddle. Some may bemoan the lack of a remote release, but with an adapter bracket it works superbly with a bulb release.

Having 6.0 mega pixels the quality of the jpeg files produced on the highest resolution setting are more than acceptable for producing A4 prints and for publication in magazines like Coarse Angling Today. The 12x optical zoom range is good and fast operating, and the close up capabilities are excellent too.

I have found the pop-up flash more than adequate for night time fish shots, and great for fill-in flash too.

As well as the 2 inch flip round screen there is a digital eyepiece screen that makes it possible to see what you are photographing even in bright sunshine, and gives the camera the feel in use of an SLR.

The camera is easy to operate in 'idiot' mode (auto or programme) yet has plenty of variables for the more advance anorak wearing photographer to fiddle with! It will also accept telephoto and wide angle adaptors.

Build quality is what you would expect from Canon, and while not the lightest camera for its size it does feel solid and made to last.

Unfortunately cameras are discontinued so rapidly these days this review may soon be of an obsolete model.

A nifty little adaptor that is flexible enough to fit a wide range of digital cameras.

The only problem I have encountered is that the piece that the bulb release actually screws into can work loose and drop off. This is particularly troublesome in the dark. A small piece of tight fitting aquarium tubing pushed on the end of the vertical arm solves the problem.

It's probably a bit sad to get excited by a tackle box, but this new one from Wychwood seems to be just what I have been searching for. I find it better to keep my small items of tackle (swivels, stops, beads etc.) in small boxes rather than small compartments out of which they always seem to migrate when the box is tipped on its side.

Most tackle boxes either have fixed size compartments, or adjustable ones, that are never quite the right. The large Wychwood box has four compartments running from front to back (two narrow ones, one wide and one intermediate) each with dividers. The narrowest and widest have two removable dividers and the other one has one. This allows you to make compartments that are large enough for spools of hooklink material, boxes of hooks, rig boards, weights or feeders, as well as ones for little boxes filled with small items.

The plastic as robust and not brittle, and the hinges and catches have proved reliable too. Definitely a versatile box.

The large box is approximately 35cm x 24cm x 6cm. Best of all it costs less than a tenner. A smaller model is also available.

Dave Lumb

Posted September 2006

8 Compartment Magnetic Hook Box

Although originally designed for match size hooks this neat little box with flip-up lids to each compartment is great for holding barbel hooks up to size 2. If you are a roving angler it is slim enough to slip into a pocket, while it fits neatly into a tackle box too. Because of the magnetic insert in the base of the box hooks don't rattle about inside blunting their points, and they don't fly out when you open the lids or accidentally tip the box up with a lid open.

If you are that way inclined you can cut one of these boxes in two (the lids are in two parts that easily pull out) to take up even less room!

Four Compartment Accessory Box

This is similar in design to the hook box, but half the size and deeper - to take swivels, beads and suchlike small items of end tackle.

Dave Lumb

Posted September 2006

I can't remember when I bought this headlamp but it was shortly after they were released. Compared to the other Petzls I had used, even the smallest one, this was a revelation. Great battery life (expect to change the three AAA cells about three times a year if you fish three or four nights a week), tiny size, light weight, and the light from the three LEDs is bright without being blinding and natural - without that dark spot you get from normal bulbs.