Carp Catchers Blog

For you carp anglers who fish through the winter we have the new Baitcraft Snowball  and Super Tutti Freezer Boilies in stock. These baits are dedicated winter baits, that will work year round. We also have the Attractor Pellets  and Pop Ups  to match. For more information click on the above links to go to the main site. There will be a lot of new product information in coming Carp Catchers Blogs as we have loads of new stuff.

Best fishes,

John

Here’s a little Carp Catchers tip to help pin that mainline down on the lakebed. The Korda Sinkers  were developed to keep rigs pinned down, but try spacing out 3 or 4 of the large size along your maniline at the rig end to really sink your mainline. I’ve got them on my set up and they really work well sinking your mainline straight away, even quite heavy braided mainlines. For more information or to purchase please follow the above link.

Best Fishes,

John

These were recommended by a customer called Bob. The Drennan Grippa Stops  really do grip even low breaking strain line. So if you want a line stop that really grips the line give the Drennan Grippa Stops a try, I recommend them highly. For more information or to purchase please follow the above link.

Best Fishes,

John

Here’s a session report from little David who’s featured on the Carp Catchers Blog before.

“A couple of weeks ago I decided to give my rods a dabble at Welham lake as I was hoping to fish there this winter. After arriving I decided to fish peg 11 and started to spread 100 free offerings at 50yds range with Dynamite Baits  The Source Shelf Life Boilies after setting my traps over a shallow silt bed, all I had to do was sit back and wait for my alarm to scream into life. Whilst waiting for this “screaming take” I saw a gorgeous looking ghost carp patrolling round one of the lily pads to my right with a few hefty lookin mates too,I didnt have to think twice about moving over to peg 8 with the “carpy” looking lilys to my left this time finding much smoother patch with the marker doing the same again using my ever trusty Gardner Scorpion Stik  throwing out 100 free offerings,but this time a lot more spread out to get the carp moving more hopefully resulting in a take. A few hours past and I was starting to lose hope when suddenly that screaming take finally came. The minute I picked up the rod and started doing battle I could tell it was a big fish possibly one of the gorgeous looking mirrors I’d seen. After ten minutes the fish rose and I was amazed to see a golden carp on the surface heading towards my net, I lifted my rod ready to net my prize when Snap! then silence and after staring at my rod for a second I couldnt believe it the Big ,un had come off! After recasting my rod Ian and big David (Im little Dave!) came down and fished the swin next to mine,I told them about this beautiful ghostie on the end of my line. After having a talk with Ian and big David I decided to have a rig change and swapped to a size 10  Gardner Incizor  hook, hoping that the bigger hook would stick better in the fishes mouth an hour passed and it was time to go home,losing that fish was extremly frustrating but I was very happy to see that my tactics are working and I hope to reach my target by catching the big ghostie by next summer! I would like to say thank you very much to Ian and Big David they gave me some great advice both a couple of great fellas! I will try to keep you informed of my quest for the biggie im sure he’ll be in my net soon! ”

We’ll keep track of little Davids quest over the coming months.

Best Fishes,

John

Tying a zig rig is simple, all you need is a good hooklink material like the Ultima Power Zig, a strong hook and a small section of silicone tubing.

The rig components used in this demonstration were Ultima Power Zig hooklink, ESP Big T Carp Hook and ESP Silicone Tube .

Step 1.

Cut the Ultima Power Zig to your desired length.

Step 2.

Now tie a small overhand loop in one end for your hair stop and thread on your desired choice of pop-up or foam followed by a bait stop.

Step 3.

Then cut a small section (2-3mm) of silicone tubing and thread it onto your zig hooklink.

Step 4.

Now thread the point of the hook through the silicone tubing heading towards the bait and set the hair length at about 2-3mm with the tubing sitting at the top of the shank.

Step 5.

Now tie a knotless knot and don’t forget to whip the hooklink back round the knot once on the way towards the eye to prevent it from slipping.

Step 6.

To finish the zig rig off tie a figure of eight knot at the other end.

The zig rig is now finished and ready to use.

If you are not sure about any of the knots use the Carp Catchers Blog search bar to navigate to the relevant knot

Tight lines

Dave

Have you noticed how many 30lb plus common carp are being reported to the Carp Catchers Blog? Anyhow customer Martin Deathridge fished an overnight session on Bluebell Lakes Swan lake recently and was rewarded with the 32lb 4oz common shown below. Using a new bait on test, Martin fished over light weed at 60 yards range. The rig Martin used consisted of a 12” Korda Supernatural Sinking Braid   hooklink tied to a size 6 ESP Stiff Rigger  hook. Martins hookbait was a snowman with a 10mm Hi-Viz Mainline Pop-Ups  topper. Nice result for an overnighter Martin.

Best Fishes,

John

This Carp Catchers Blog is going to show how to tie the 5 Turn Twice Through The Eye Clinch Knot. The Clinch Knot is an improvement on the blood knot. It was devised by carp fishing pioneer Jim Gibbinson and is a real belt and braces knot. The 5 turn clinch knot is normally used to attach swivels but there is no reason it could not be used to attach hooks. Ok carp catchers lets get started.

Step 1

Thread your line through the swivel

Step 2

Thread it through again

Step 3

Pull the tag end through about 6” from the swivel and lay alongside the mainline or hooklink

Step 4

Whip the tag up over the mainline or hooklink back towards the swivel as per photo. Do this 5 times

Step 5

Tread the tag end through the loop created at the swivel end

Step 6

Thread the tag end through the loop created at the opposite end to the swivel

Step 7

Moisten and carefully bed down the knot. Cut off tag end

                                                                                      5 Turn Clinch Knot

Best fishes,

John

Ok in this Carp Catchers Blog we are going to look at some nice new products from Korda and Wychwood. First up are the Korda Ready Tied Rigs  these look really well tied and come with 9 different sized Extenda Stops and 3 Bait Hair Stops. There are three types of ready tied rigs in the range two barbed and one barbless. For more information or to purchase, please follow the above link to the main site.

Next up we have some new bivvies from Wychwood. The Wychwood Solace Flexi Rib Shelter  is ideal for short day sessions or for the angler who likes to move about. The Wychwood Solace Flexi 3 Rib Advanced Bivvy  is for the more regular session and has a zip out front panel, rear vents and a full groundsheet. Screw pegs and frame support system are also included. Both the Shelter and Bivvy feature Wychwoods new slotlock system which makes erection easier. We also have the Bivvy Overwrap in stock. For more information or to purchase please visit the main site through the above links.

Best Fishes,

John

 This Carp Catchers Blog is for those of you who use lead clips. New out are the ESP Adjustable Lead Clips  they come in three camo flecked colours and can be used in most carp fishing situations. For more information or to purchase follow the above link.

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