Carp Catchers Blog

I’m sure this weather is driving all you fisherman out there mad, I know that it’s driving me round the twist. A good use of time in these circumstances is to sort your kit out ready for the coming thaw. Go through all your carryalls and rucksacks and give them a good spring clean. Clean your rods and reels, if your reels need a service now is the ideal time to get them done. Also sort through your tackle box and top up on anything you’re short of. Now is also a good time to tie up lots of spare rigs in the warmth of your living room rather than when your hands are cold and chapped on the bank. Roll on the thaw !!!!

Best Fishes,

John

The new Shimano Baitrunner DL 4000 FA and Baitrunner ST 4000 FA are now in stock. These are new mini Baitrunners with a front drag system from Shimano and are absolutely ideal for a multitude of uses, from small water carping, to stalking and floater fishing. They are also superb for barbel, big tench or roach fishing. The  Shimano Baitrunner DL 4000 FA is the upmarket one of the two, whereas the Shimano Baitrunner ST 4000 FA  although having many of the same features is aimed at the entry level market. For more information or to purchase please click on the above links.

For those of you looking for a big pit reel, we now have the awesome Shimano Ultegra 14000 XTB . The Ultegra 14000 XTB has stunning looks and will retrieve over 1 metre of line per crank of the handle. It is also considerably lighter than it’s predecessor. For more information or to purchase please click on the above link.

                  Shimano Baitrunner DL 4000 FA

                         Shimano Baitrunner ST 4000 FA

                         Shimano Ultegra 14000XTB

Best fishes,

John

For those thinking of buying new Carp Rods in the near future an understanding of test curves may be of help. Carp Rods normally have test curves of 2.5lb, 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.5lb there are others but these are the most common. So if a Carp Rod has a test curve of 3lb what does this mean? The test curve, in this instance 3lb, is the amount of weight needed to bend the Rod tip round to a 90 degree angle whilst the Rod is being held horizontally. The test curve of the Rod is usually used as a measure of stiffness of the Rod Blank and consequently its’ casting capabilities. As a basic starting point the stiffer the Rod the further it should cast. There are other things to take into account though before splashing out on those lovely new Carp Rods. The first thing to consider is your casting ability and also your ability to compress a Rod to its’ fullest extent. When a Carp Rod is fully compressed on a cast it is at its’ maximum backward arc and allows the furthest distance to be obtained. So if you can’t fully compress rods of 2.5lb test curve then it’s pointless buying rods with a 3lb rating. The other important point to consider is the Action of your new Carp Rod and I will explain its’ importance in a future blog. I hope this has been of some help to those of you new to Carp Fishing.

Best Fishes,

John

We’ve had lots of new stuff come in so I’ll give you a rundown of some of the new items. Bivvies:- The new Chub Tri-Lite Bivvy �and Trakker Aero-Lite Bivvy �are both now in stock. As their names suggest these bivvies are among the lightest on the market and they both look extremely stylish and well made. If you want a look pop in and I will put them up for you. PROLOGIC have released some really nice tungsten leaders and stiff tungsten rig booms we have them in stock now so check them out.

Carp Rods:- we are now stocking the new Century FG Carp Rod �and�they look the absolute�dogs danglers. At the other end of the price spectrum we have the New Ron Thompson Dominator Carp Rods these also look very impressive for the�price, if you’re in the market for a budget carp rod then have a look at these babies.

As usual at this time of year the Bait Companys are starting to release their new ranges and we will have the best of them. First up is Dynamite Baits,�their new range of�Fresh Squid & Octopus Boilies �and Fresh Prawn Spicy Shellfish �boilies are now in stock both shelflife and frozen as well as matching pop-ups and liquids. We also have Dynamites new range of liquid soaks/flavourings with added liquid Betaine. Betaine is one of the best Fish feeding stimulants of all time so get on it. Richworth Baits have released their new KG1 pellets to compliment their very successfull KG1 Boilie Range. The KG1 Range is in stock now but going very fast. We’ve also had a few new bits and bobs in from Cotswold Bait Creations including their PVA friendly Maize which looks brilliant for something that bit different in your bag mix. That’s all I’ve got time for this time, but there are�new products coming in all the time so I’ll keep you updated.

Happy Fishes,

John

I managed to get out Carp Fishing�on the last full moon(Jan 22) after weeks�being stuck in the shop. When I got to the lake there was a light south westerly blowing and as I stood talking to a couple of other anglers a couple of fish showed at the opposite end of the lake in the deeper water. Fish showing in January? almost unheard of on this lake. Loading my gear on the carp porter I got myself up there as quick as possible, excitement and anticipation building all the way, quite a bit of sweat as well as its a long haul from the car park. Sitting in the swim, which is called “no carp corner” a few more fish showed, that will do for me I thought and feverishly set up my Century NG �rods and got them out to the areas the fish had head and shouldered. No carp corner has been very good to me in the past, so I was really confident, two more fish turned over on my spots and plumes of bubbles came up, so they were obviously feeding hard�on the bottom in 24ft of water! I hovered over the rods expecting them to go any minute, then I hovered some more, then some more, whats going on?�I just couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t had a take, maybe they’re only slipping up after dark I reasoned, so as dusk approached the excitement and anticipation started to build again.

Morning broke(I fixed it again) and nothing not a peep from my alarms all night. What to do? I decided as the baits were in a feeding area I’d leave them undisturbed untill packing up time. I whiled away the rest of the day phoning Angela at the shop moaning about my lack of action, it was during one of these phone calls that I noticed the tip on my left hand rod pull round and the next minute the spool on my Shimano Big Bait Runner LC �was a blur “I’ve got a bite” I shouted down the phone as�I threw it on the bed and picked up the rod. The fish gave a good account of itself and went in the net first time, it was hooked bang in the centre of mouth an inch and half back and the hook was buried to the bend, so the rig and bait were working perfectly, deep joy. On the scales it went 30lb 8oz more deep joy a winter thirty, Rob the spod did some great photo’s as you can see.

I decided to pack up�as I’m not a greedy angler and was quite happy with my catch. What’s that noise? turning round my middle rod was bending round and the alarm was screeching like a banshee, picking up the rod I bent into another fish. This one fought a little more scrappily but again went in the net first time, not as big as the other one I thought and the scales confirmed it 23lb exactly bingo! Now the hookhold on this one was exactly the same as the�first fish, this was patricularly pleasing as this�fish was caught on maggots�and I’ve been tieing up loads of maggot rigs trying to get the mechanics the same as my boilie rigs,�bingo again maybe I’ve succeeded. The successfull maggot rig was tied using Rig Marole’s Hydrolink and Gardner Longshank Incizors.

Happy Fishes,

John

It’s that time of the year again and if you are like me and spend much of your spare time on the bankside, then you’ll realise that everything becomes that little bit more of an effort.� Long dark nights, freezing conditions and torrential rain, all contribute to that extra effort and commitment required during the winter months.� However, don’t let this put you off!

Although I would like to consider myself an all seasons angler, the months of December and January tend to be the period which I would usually put�my X-Flite Plus �rods to rest!!� This allows me to re-charge, re-tool and reflect on my year, and also plan the season ahead.� However, the recent mild weather conditions and south-westerly winds, have inspired me to continue fishing.� Continuing to do so has proved successful, following a recent session, the rewards proved that the extra effort is more than worthwhile.

I awoke to the dreaded sound of my alarm clock�and the even more familar sound of wind and rain, perfect!� I arrived�at the lake in�darkness to an empty car park, which isn’t uncommon given the time of year.� Knowing the lake well and where the south-westerly would be pushing, I knew exactly where I wanted to be situated.

The area in which I had settled to fish, ranged from 9-12 feet in depth, however some areas go too as deep as 30ft.� I rigged my rods with my trusty bait and 2 bait stringers and flicked them out to carefully chosen spots.

With 5 -�6 long cold hours without so much as a single bleep, my confidence began to decrease, as did the light levels and temperture.� I was certain that if I was receive a take it would have happened by now, the thoughts of a blank and packing up were drawing ever nearer.

However, my persistance proved successful! Completely out of the blue my right hand rod gave a series of bleeps, I was out of my chair and on the rod within seconds and leant into what felt like a decent fish.�My�Big Bait Runner LC �reels gave line on more than one occasion and after a heartstopping fight I was soon netting my prize, and what was an absolute stunner.� Although it wasn’t the biggest of fish at 18lb 4oz it was a pristine linear from head to tale.� Little did I know that this was to be the first of three!� With the biggest being at just over 21lb and the other at a respectful 19lb 10oz.� I called it a day and made the journey home with a big fat smile and eager to revisit the lake sooner rather than later.

Until next time be lucky and tight lines.��� James Kirk