Carp Catchers Blog

The 2012/2013 rod licences have now expired so don’t forget to renew your rod licence before you next head out fishing. They can be renewed by going into your local post office or applying online.

Here is the direct link to the post office website if you wish to renew yours online http://www.postoffice.co.uk/rod-fishing-licence

Another quick reminder to all you carp anglers out there who choose to use 3 rods, don’t forget you need to purchase 2 new licences, as each licence only covers you to fish with 2 rods.

Tight Lines

Dave

I’m sure a lot of you are aware of the problem with illegal importations of large carp into the this country and the risks it possess to our current fish stocks. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have released this short video to raise the awareness of illegal importations and the dangers involved.

Tackling Illegal Importations Video

Take a quick look, its a very interesting and potentially eye opening video to those of you who are unaware of what goes on with the importation of illegal imports.

Dave

I went down to Farlows lake recently for a short session. The lake was fairly busy, but there were a few swims available. After a good look round I settled on one of the open water swims on the smelly bank. The conditions were fairly mild and sunny with the wind blowing over my shoulder as I cast my first rod. I felt the rod down onto a clear area and placed the rod on my pod to allow the line to sink. My second rod was cast about 10yrds to the left of my first rod and placed on the pod also to let the line sink. As I set the indicator on my first rod I noticed the line was going to my left “that’s strange” then the penny dropped,  fish on!! After a fairly decent fight I slipped the net under a nice gnarly old mirror carp of 18lb 4oz.

Result!! It’s great to get a fish right at the start of your session. A 16lber folowed a couple of hours later and that put up a hell of a fight plodding up and down the margins like the monsters do, I just could not get its head up. Both carp were caught on my new sweetcorn rig and the hookbaits were Enterprise Pop-Up Sweetcorn . The hooklink was 25lb Rigmarole  Hydro-Link Silt  tied to size 8 Gardner Longshank Incizor Carp Hooks .

Customer Ian Smith has been catching again. This lovely chunky common carp weighing 30lb 2oz was caught by Ian from the Bluebell Lakes complex recently. Ians’ rig consisted of a 10” ESP Striptease  hooklink tied to a size 8 Korda Wide Gape X  hook. Fishing over a bed of  Nash Scopex Squid Liver Plus Robin Red boilies Ian popped a Nash Scopex Squid Liver Plus Robin Red  pop up hookbait an inch off the bottom. Nice one Ian a real chunky one that.

Best fishes,

John

The New Quest Baits range is now in stock. This Carp Catchers Blog will give a quick rundown of the products. Firstly we have the shelf life boilie range. The Rajah Spice  is proving very popular, based on a birdfood base with added robin red this is an all season bait with a lovely Indian curry smell. For those of you that like a fruity bait the Fruity Trifle  have a mixed fruit with cream smell and is also on a birdfood base. The Fruity Trifle feature a washed out red colour which may help to trip up those wary carp. The Surf ‘N’ Turf  has got loads of really sexy ingredients like Krill, low temperature fishmeals, anchovy extract, liver, caviar, meat products, and black pepper oil, but no added bulk oils so it can be used year round. Finally we have the  Liver B8 Boilies  which are a naturally dark brown colour and have a meat, liver, and blood base with no added bulk oils, making them an all season bait. The Liver B8 has no fishmeal in it, so if your water has been hammered on fishmeals this may be a good alternative. We also have the Quest Baits  pop ups in stock, The Fruity Trifle smell particularly nice and would be good for single hookbait fishing. To compliment the boilies we also have the Boilie Dip to match the above, which is highly concentrated so should be used as a hookbait booster and not a glug. To give your hookbaits a longer lasting boost, try the Quest Baits  pastes a really good edge in winter. For more Information or to purchase click on the above links.

Best fishes,

John

For those of you that fish the rivers or lakes that still observe the old close season, a reminder to make sure you get a rod license. Remember the penaltys’ for not having one are very severe. Licenses can be obtained at the post office,online or by telephone from the environment agency.The new season starts on June 16th so good luck all and tight lines.

Best fishes,

John

Yes this is a carp and one of 30lb exactly. Carp catcher and regular customer Eamonn used his favourite Mainline Cell Freezer Boilies  for a four fish catch including the 30lb mirror shown. All four fish were over 20lb and were caught over a bed of bait. Eamonns’ rig featured a size 4 Korda Wide Gape Hook  tied to a 24lb Drennan Carp Silk  hooklink which was cast to a silty area. Well done fella keep catching.

Best fishes,

John

Yes I know it’s not a carp but we feature all species on the Carp Catchers Blog. Regular contributor and customer went on a sea trip to catch some tope and boy did he. These two 30lb beauty’s were caught on dabs, caught earlier in the day. Rob reports that the sea was so rough he had to hold onto the gunnels with one hand as he was playing the fish. The skipper said that had the wind been one notch higher they would not have been able to go out. Rob has got his hands on a new syndicate ticket and is going on a French carp fishing trip soon so carpy reports and photos may be on their way in the near future.

Toothy critters aren’t they!!

Best fishes,

John

If  you would like to feature on the Carp Catchers Blog simply email your catch photo and a mini catch report to carp@carpcatchers.biz . The fish do not have to be monsters to qualify any size fish if you’ve caught it is worthy. The blog can feature anything of interest be it a theory on fish behaviour or a new rig email it to me. Do not worry about spelling or grammer as I will sort that. Come on guys let’s get talking and hopefully catching more.

Best fishes,

John

Best

We are now stocking a selection of the new Ace Terminal Tackle range. I wasn’t too keen to begin with but Max Cottis came in and demonstrated the range to me and I was suitably impressed. The  Ace Hard On Camo Leadcore   is very heavy and the diameter is a lot thicker than most so the abrasion resistance should be really good. It comes on a 25m bulk spool with two decent splicing needles and is available in camo weed, gravel and silt. The chod rig has become extremely popular of late and if you dont fancy splicing your own have a look at the Ace Hard On Camo Leadcore Helicopter/Chod Rigs  . There are three leadcore helicopter/chod rigs to a pack and you get a choice of size 8 Cyclops and Quick Change Cyclops Helicopter Swivels and are also available in camo weed, gravel or silt. For those of you that like to balance your tiger nut hookbaits the Ace Tiger Nut Drill  has a specially shaped tip to help prevent splitting. The tiger nut drill comes supplied with 5 cork sticks and replacement cork sticks are also available. The Ace D-Spool Line Stripper is a handy gadget for quickly stripping line of your spools and is designed to be used with a cordless drill. Finaly, most coated hooklinks have a camo outer but a different colour on the inner braid. Aces’ Camo Core  has a camo outer coating and the inner braid has exactly the same camo pattern. Camo Core is a soft coated braid which is available in camo weed, gravel and silt. This is just a selection of the new products from Ace for more information or to purchase follow the above links to the main site.

Best fishes,

John