Carp Catchers Blog

Some new products from Korda this time. The new Korda Mouth Trap is a purposely designed chod hooklink. It is much easier to use than other chod hooklinks and does not need steaming to shape it. Mouth Trap has a really carpy olive tint to it which makes it blend in really well. For more information or to purchase please click on the above link. The Korda Kontour Fluorocarbon Mainline has been in developement for three years. It sinks like a brick, has high abrasion resistance and casts exceptionally well. Kontour is very soft in comparison to other fluorocarbon mainlines making it very user friendly. Due to its true knot strength, Kontour will be strong and reliable. The Korda Solidz PVA Bags  are manufactured at Korda to stringent specifications using the highest film available. The Solidz PVA Bags have a virtually neutral PH, melt rapidly are extremely robust and come with a Free Bag Loader. There is zero residue when the Solidz melt and they are completely aroma free. They come in four sizes so should be suitable for most baiting situations. Finally we have the Korda Skywinder Spod which is a modified version of Skyraider Spod. The Skywinder is designed as a boilie rocket or to deliver maggots at range. For more information or to purchase any of the above please click on the links.

                                                               Korda MouthTrap

                                     Korda Kontour Fluorocarbon Mainline

                                                       Korda Solidz PVA Bags

                                                       Korda Skywinder Spod

Best Fishes,

John

The Solar Quick Change PVA Bag System is ideal for anglers who use PVA bags for the majority of their angling. The system will ensure you don’t lose the bag on the cast while improving casting distance and accuracy. The system is designed to be anti tangle and works with any inline lead.

For the purpose of this demonstration I used a Korda Flat Pear Inline Lead, Solar Contour Super Supple Rig Tubing and Korda Size 8 Ring Swivels  was used between the helicopter beads for the rig to be attached to.

Step 1.

Thread your mainline through your desired length of the Solar rig tubing.

Step 2.

Now thread 1 of the beads provided with the Solar PVA System onto the rig tubing followed by the Korda Ring Swivel followed by another bead. If you’re using mainline straight through there is silicone tubing provided for the beads to the grip. If you’re using leadcore then please ensure all beads can be pulled free of the leader to ensure the lead will be lost in the event of your line breaking. Tie or loop your hooklink to the ring swivel.

Step 3.

Now thread on one of the sleeves provided and push the tubing securely inside.

Step 4.

Then gently push the insert out of your choosen inline……

…..and thread it onto your mainline.

Step 5.

Tie a Figure Of Eight Loop Knot  in the end of your mainline and attach the Solar quick change PVA bag clip like so.

Step 6.

Now pull the lead over the clip followed by the sleeve and rig tubing. The finished setup should look like this.

All you have to do to attach a PVA bag is to pull the clip out of the bottom of the lead and hook a PVA bag on before pulling the clip back inside the lead. Then just thread the hook through the mesh of the bag and your ready to cast out.

This set up is particularly well suited to adding freebies with the Mag Aligner Rig and really comes into it’s own during the winter months.

Give it a go.

Tight lines

Dave

The Atomic Tackle Maggot Rig uses the inline lead setup fished helicopter style allowing a large PVA stocking of maggots to be tied to the swivel at the base of the lead. This enables the hook to be secured to the PVA stocking so once cast out the PVA bag will melt leaving your maggot hookbait lying in amongst the other maggots.

For the purpose of the demonstration I used a Gardner Readymade Mag Aligner Rig.

Step 1.

Pull out the large ring swivel from the base of the lead.

Step 2.

Now thread your mainline through the lead. ( If using leadcore or a leader, you will need to splice or loop the swivel on)

Step 3.

Tie your mainline to the swivel, I would suggest a palomar knot. To tie a palomar knot double over your mainline and pass it through the eye of your swivel.

Then tie an overhand knot with the doubled over mainline.

Now pass the swivel through the loop made by the overhand knot.

Then moisten the knot, slowly tighten it down and trim the tag end.

Step 4.

Once the knot is tied pull the swivel into the insert in the base of the lead.

Step 5.

Now you need to either tie your rig to the swivel above the lead. If the rig has a loop in the end pass the loop through the swivel before passing the hookend of the rig through the loop and tightening as I’ve done in this demonstration.

The finished rig should look like this.

The large ring at the base of the lead is for the PVA mesh bag to be tied to, then all you need to do is push the hook through the PVA mesh to secure it for casting.

Give it a go.

Dave

A method that works well over a bed of scattered boilies is mesh PVA bags of boilies. Using something like  Korda Boilie Funnel Web , a tight mesh bag can be created that practically explodes in the water spreading your hookbait and freebies a few inches apart making the trap less obvious to wary carp. The method is to tie a mesh bag with three boilies in a triangular shape as tightly as possible to create the tension in the PVA, which is needed to throw the baits apart upon melting.  When in the water PVA tightens and pulls the boilies even tighter together before the bags burst and catapulting the baits in seperate directions. The triangles are better than the normal linear mesh bag over choddy bottoms as the hook sits in the middle keeping it clear of any chod. However they obviously will not cast as well.

To tie these PVA bags you need some Korda Boilie Funnel Web PVA, scissors and some boilies, these are air dryed Mainline Activ-8 .

Step 1.

Place three boilies in the boilie funnel web tube and allow them to drop out of the bottom into the PVA mesh. If you are using baits over 16mm then I’d suggest using the largerKorda funnel web size as you won’t be able to create the right shape with the larger baits in the boilie funnel web, for baits 16mm and under the boilie funnel web is best.

Step 2.

Now push the baits into a triangular shape and tighten the PVA holding the baits as close together as possible to create a bait triangle.

Step 3.

Holding the boilies in position tie off the bag, again trying to hold the baits as tight as possible. The tighter the bag the better presentation you will achieve.

Once you have trimmed the tag ends of the knots tied in the bag you should have a mesh bag that looks like this. (See Picture Below).

The mesh bag can be hooked on or alternatively you can thread the hooklink through the middle of the baits and pull you hook through to sit between the three baits, this can actually help the slow the rig down as it travels through the water so might be worth a go fishing over softer lakebeds and as I said earlier keep the hook clear of any chod.

Here is a couple of pictures demonstrating the presentation this bag will give your freebies.

The bag still intact.

15-20 seconds after contact with the water.

Give it a go

Tight lines

Dave

Regular customer Jonathan had a lovely zip linear mirror carp recently (I’m dead jealous). Here’s his catch report.

“As you know I have been fishing on the Wellingborough lakes ticket since April and I am not superstitious but my ticket is number 13! I have really struggled this year so thought the ticket must be to blame.

 Arriving at the Island lake on Friday night to find a westerly wind blowing there were a few carp showing at the bottom end of the lake. I chose a swim which would allow me to walk round and place two hook baits whilst casting the third rod to showing fish.

At 2am one of the rods placed on in the far margin spot received a drop-back which I lost (hook pull) after only having the fish on for a minute so I re-cast the rod to the spot.

 At 5am the rod cast to an area where I had earlier seen carp boshing, was away. This one stayed on and kited to my right, picking up one of my other lines which made netting it difficult. I went In up to my knees with trousers rolled up and it was in the net. The fish, a cracking zip linear weighed 32lb 14oz and hopefully sees a change in fortunes.

 Rig consisted of a size 10 Korda wide gape hook tied to about 9” of  Korda Supernatural braid on a clay Korda Safe Zone Safety Lead Clip, 2oz atomic dung bomb and 18” of ESP brown lead core.

 Bait was an 18mm  Mainline boilies tipped with a grain of  Pop-Up Sweetcorn  with about 10 freebees scattered around the hook bait and a small PVA bag of chops courtesy of a  Korda Krusha .”

Nice one!!

Best Fishes,

John

We are finally well into the colder months of the year now and we have already recieved a few cold snaps of weather over the previous two months with many lakes around the country freezing over for a short period. Only the most hardy of anglers will have dared grace the banks during these colder spells of weather but some of them may well have been rewarded for their efforts.

Winter carp fishing is never going to be and never has been easy by a long stretch but the captures made at this time of year can be far more rewarding. If your going to attempt a winter session then make sure your prepared for the coldest of winter weather. By now the water temperatures will have dropped considerably compared to the summer months therefore slowing down the carps metabolism to a creeping pace decreasing their need for food. The carp will not be that active this time of year with them generally hanging around in their favourite winter haunts, these are normally the deeper more sheltered areas of the lake but every lakes different so use the knowledge you know about your water to help you locate those fish. Dont rule out the shallower areas either, if the weather warms up a bit and the sun makes an appearance the shallower areas will warm up first and the fish know this. Try single hookbaits to begin with and move your rods around your swim to try and help you to locate where the fish maybe holding up, generally if you can catch one fish there is a good possibility of another if they’re interested in your bait. Bait application during the winter months can either make or break a session so don’t over do it unless your sure the fish want some bait, generally start of light with single hookbaits or pva bags and apply a little more if things begin to progress and fish start to show an interest, you dont need large amounts of bait this time of year. Ive had some of my best winter sessions with a tub of pop ups and a bag of stick mix.

If your planning a session this winter don’t be disheartened if you don’t catch as there will be many other anglers in the same boat, just get out there and apply a bit of thought into your angling.

Tight lines

Dave