Carp Catchers Blog

Just a quick reminder that your fishing licence expires at the end of March. Renew it early so you don’t forget, because if you get caught fishing without it you face a hefty fine and a criminal record. You need to renew your licence at your local post office or to renew online Click Here . Remember if you fish with three or more rods you will need two rod licences. I will post another reminder closer to the time.

Best fishes,

John

Here’s a real cracker of a carp caught by Terry Hearn. Terry caught this 43lb 8oz beauty on a Dynamite Baits Chocolate Malt & Tiger Nut Pop Up  while field testing the new bait. Nice one!

Best fishes,

John

During the colder months of the year many anglers tend to use different baits to their preferred summer baits. At this time of year a lot of anglers move over from their summer fishmeal based baits and start using fruity baits such as Mainline Hi Visual Pop Ups or Richworth Pineapple Hawaiian Freezer Boilies  . These baits which are brightly coloured and have highly attractive fruity smells are more likely to grab the attention and interest of the carp even if they are not particularly interested in feeding. That isn’t to say that carp don’t get their heads down and feed during the colder periods, it is just that the feeding periods tend to be shorter. High food value fishmeal baits such as Dynamite Baits Source Boilies still work well during winter too, with its highly attractive smell and high nutritional value being prized by the carp during the winter months.

It is also a good idea to change your pellet choice if you’re intending on using them in a larger quantity than just for attraction in pva bags as the high oil pellets which the majority of anglers use during the warmer months are less digestible during the colder months. Although you can still use high oil pellets if you’re only planning on using them in small amounts as pva bag fillers for high attraction.

Groundbait mixes in Dynamite sticks are also a valued bait in the carp anglers armoury with the use of fish oils for added attraction but its a good idea to change from the oils you would use during the summer to a winterized fish oil as the colder water temperatures will cause some fish oils to congeal and your Dynamite sticks won’t breakdown very quickly, it could also hinder the melting time of your pva mesh. You could also try Hemp oil as this is naturally “winterised” so doesn’t congeal in colder temperatures. 

Particles and maggots are another big favourite of many anglers during the winter months and carp seem to love them no matter what time of year it is.

Tight Lines

Dave

How’s this for hardcore. Customer Ian went around town on Christmas eve to celebrate the yuletide festivities, when he got home he loaded his van and went fishing. He was rewarded on Boxing day with this nice 20lb 8oz common carp. Ian was again fishing over a fairly big bed of bait for the winter, getting through 5 kilo’s of  Fresh Prawn Spicy Shellfish  Boilies . His rig consisted of 10″ of  ESP Striptease  tied to a Korda Longshank X Hook  with a snowman hookbait. Nice one Ian!

Best fishes,

John

The final new bait from Dynamite Baits, The Spicy Tuna & Sweet Chilli is now in. Developed for Dynamite Baits by Frank Warwick The Dynamite Baits Spicy Tuna & Sweet Chilli Boilies contain tuna meal, paprika, chillies and loads of other feed inducing goodies. Frank thinks the Spicy Tuna range is so good that he wanted to delay the general availability so he could continue to have an edge over the rest of us. We have the Spicy Tuna & Sweet Chilli Boilies in both shelf life and freezer form. We also have the Dynamite Baits Spicy Tuna & Sweet Chilli Liquid  Attractant and Pop Ups to match. For more information or to purchase please visit the main site via the above links.

A 42lb 10oz cracker caught by Frank while testing the Spicy Tuna & Sweet Chilli.

Best fishes

John

Here’s a report on customer Rob O’ Briens personal best. It was caught a while ago but Robs’ only just sent me the photos’ and report. Robs’ huge mirror carp was caught at Vallee lake in Normandy, France. Fishing to a drop off tight to an island Rob used a snowman rig tied with Korda Hybrid Stiff  to a Korda Wide Gape Hook   to trick the 50lb 2oz beauty. Rob fished over a bed of partiblend and pellet with around twenty  Cranberry & Caviar Freezer Boilies with matching hookbaits. The fish didn’t put up much of a fight according to Rob, but he was over the moon to see a carp that barely fitted in the net. Nice one!

Best fishes,

John

The Albright Knot is the perfect knot for joining mono to braid, which makes it the ideal knot for combi link rigs or leaders. Below is a step by step photographic sequence showing how to tie The Albright Knot.

Step 1

Form a loop in your mono or fluorocarbon.

Step 2

Thread your braid through the nylon loop

Step 3

Whip the braid around the nylon going away from the loop about 5-6 turns. if you

are a belt and braces person you can whip another 5-6 turns going back towards

loop but I have never found it necessary. The version shown makes for a neater

more unobtrusive knot.

Step 4

Thread tag end of the braid back through the nylon loop the same way it came in

Step 5

Gently tease the knot together

Step 6

Bed the knot down tightly, it is probably best not to moisten this knot before tightening

Step 7

Trim tag ends

Step 8

The finished Albright Knot.

Best fishes,

John

Here’s a couple of nice December mirror carp caught by customer Ian Smith. They weighed 18lb 8oz and 17lb 6oz respectively. Ians’ fish were caught from a silty spot over 5 kilos of  Nash Scopex Squid Plus Freezer Boilies  which just shows that carp will still feed heavily even in the coldest of weather. The rig Ian used was tied with a size 10  Korda Longshank X Hook  and ESP Striptease Hooklink snowman style.

Nice winter catch Ian well done.

Best fishes,

John

If ever there was a winter flavour, Chocolate Malt must be high on anyones list. Well for the winter anglers among you the new Dynamite Baits Chocolate Malt & Tiger Nut  Boilies are now in. The Chocolate Malt was developed by Terry Hearn for Dynamite Baits and is based on a birdfood recipe with added tiger nut and liver powders. Terry has been using The Chocolate Malt flavouring for his winter fishing for many years now so to see a bait that he has developed incorporating it, is very exciting. Because The Chocolate Malt is based on a birdfood it should be much more easily digested by the carp, keeping them coming back for more, time and time again. We have the Chocolate Malt & Tiger Nut Boilies in both shelf life and freezer bait, as well as pop ups and to really give your baits a boost we also have the Dynamite Baits Chocolate Malt Liquid Attractant . For more information or to purchase please visit the main site through the above links.

Best fishes,

John

Spinning Traces

The components used in this demonstration were E-SOX Titanium Pike Wire, Berkley Cross-lok Snap Swivels,  Drennan Micro Crimps and ESP Hi Performance Swivels. (See picture below)

As with the deadbait traces, a good pair of wire cutters and crimping pliers are needed.

Step 1.

Cut a 12 inch length of pike wire and thread a crimp onto the wire. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Now thread a snap swivel onto the wire and thread the pike wire back through the crimp. (See picture below)

Step 3.

Then using the crimping pliers, flatten the crimp in three central positions. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Repeat the past three steps with a normal swivel on the other end of the pike wire. (See picture below)

The finished trace should look like this. (See picture below)

The normal swivel can be tied to your mainline with the snap link at the other end being used to quick hassle free lure changes.

Tight Lines

David