Reel Value

There are times when you really think that some isn't worth repairing, but the idea of binning the Shimano Exage 4000RC filled me with dread. Not that it was an expensive reel judging what others will pay for a lure reel, but this one had been used for a number of years to catch alot of pike.

So, after getting a recommendation about a company who repaired reels from a the pit members, I decided to contact John at Reel Value and see what he could do.

The reel was sent off after agreeing a price for the service and with the understanding that the sticking clutch and bizarre handle wobble maybe able to be sorted.

Ten days later and I get a call speak to John will the news on the repair.

Well all I can say is it was returned and feels better than it was when it was new and the price paid from the repair and service, plus return postage/packing was under £15.00.

So it you have reel that looks like it destine for the bin give John at Reelvalue at call.

Catch Cult Edition 1 - Review

Well my copy of Catch Cult arrived in a "something for the weekend" brown envelope and with a great sense of joy it was opened and flicked through.

First impression is that we have a quality angling magazine in my grubby mites.

I have now read every article and it didn't disappoint me, in fact it was better than I expected.

The feel of the magazine is great, every time you pick it up, it has a newness to it, like when you get a new car. The editorial is no nonsense and there is a comfortable amount of advertising in it which in most publications is now the main focus of the publications.

The writers are mostly guys ones that I have heard of from my days as editor of the pike pool, from other magazines or books, but some are untried and fresh. The articles that stood out for me was
from the stables of Danny Taylor and John Costello, whom really went to town and produced exceptional pieces of angling literature.

One thing, is it a magazine or is it a book? No its both its a magbook, the readers digest of angling publications. Not as high brow as Fallons Anglers, and not tacky or over run with adverts like some of the mainstream publications, but a happy balance of quality articles, nicely places adverts and stunning pieces from a various angling disciplines.

Looking forward to edition 2 already, so a big well done to Messrs Shallcroft and Mumby.

Check out the website www.catchcult.co.uk

Spring is Here

Couldn't face an hour long drive to the lake, so opted for a river session instead.

I arrived on the bank, but the sun was already rising. Grabbed a couple of rods and set off for a long romp to the first spot which also acts as the breakfast bar. The rods were soon out, a mackerel tail on the float ledger and a coloured smelt on a float trotting with the flow.

The morning was cloudy, dry but with a strong wind blowing across the land and into my face. This immediately posed a problem. Whilst there was a nice flow to the river, the wind was affecting the float and blowing it back across the current, not exactly as I had hoped. I decided to wind in and have a cuppa and the porridge pot. Second problem, the wind was that strong, that even with the rucksack as a wind break, the stove's flame was being buffeted and blow out. So I settled for a cup of cold squash and a snack bar, not ideal but better than nothing.

After "breakfast", I went back to the trotting and managed to cast further across the river to the far bank in the calmer water. This allowed the float to trot for a fair while before it got back into the wind lane.
After a hour and nothing showing, the mackerel tail got recast and the stop knot on the trotting rod slid up another foot.

This chance to the trotting depth had a near instance result and at the end of the trot the float started to dance and dip before sliding away under the surface.After a short fight, a long lean jack was gloved out and soon unhooked. It had a distinctive bottom jaw, which it couldn't close properly. I suspect it was born this way and there was no obvious reason for the gap, but I know it if I catch it again.
The pike was also covered in leaches, not quite what I was expecting to find with the warmer air temperatures, just goes to show that even after 2-3 days warming up the water is still icey cold.

After this capture, I upped sticks and moved upstream, this was repeated all day without a sniff of action. I even moved to into a less exposed area, but alas this was still unproductive.

One thing I have been trying during my river trips this season is Eddie Turners "pike cloud" .

 You can use the cloud either on its own, on the bait or in small pva bags attached to hook each time you cast out the bait. I prefer the latter and usually pre tie bags before I got and put the bags into a zip lock bag to ensure no leakage into the tackle bag. Not quite sure what Eddie puts into it, but as the bag dissolves the cloud is released and creates a trial for the pike to see and home in on.

I my mind, it is another attractor that can only increase you catch rates on pressured waters.

At £11.50 a 150ml bottle, its not cheap, but if you careful with you filling/use, it does stretch to a high number of bags or baits.

Rod Porn

Fishing has been crap of late with no tench gracing my net for well over a month, but with the arrival of new rods for a big birthday, I needed to get out.

The new rod were built by Dave Lumb of D.L Specilist Tackle to my specification primarily for tench fishing on gravel pits and estate lakes.

Blanks are a coloured (burgundy) Harrison Chimera, 12ft in length and 1.3/4tc with fuji rings and reel seat, full slim cork handle, stainless steel collars and butt cap, plus a little inscription and gold finish to the whipping.

The rods have a old feel or classic feel about them, I suppose its the colour scheme which reminds me of some of the old Dawia Cavalier match rods of the late 80's early 90's. They have been paired up with some old school Aero GT 5010 baitrunners.

I've managed to get out twice now to use them and they are lovely rods and so far they been tested using 28-50g maggot feeders, 1oz inline lead and pva bags to distance of around 50 yards.

On the second trip, I targeted a large still water which has started to produce a few fish. So with an early morning start to beat the rain, I got to the water for the crack of dawn.

With the barrow loaded I trudged along the path to fish an area that has been kind to me over the years and I was soon in position and mixing up the ground bait ingredients.

Whilst the ground bait settled in the bucket and absorbed the lake water, the the rods, buzzers etc were set up whilst taking in the sights and sounds of the bird life.

With the gear setup, the baiting process began and I soon had ten tennis ball sized baits out to around 40 yards. This would be in easy reach for the new rods and should allow me to see any rolling tench or bream. The wind was abit of an issue to start with as it was blowing straight across the swim, not ideal, but it was due to shift during the day and blow staight into the bank I was fishing by midday.

The rods were tackled up, with a helicopter rigged open feeder, with caster/corn on a size 12 hook and a inline maggot feeder, double red on a size 10 on the other.

With the rods out and set up on the buzzers, it was time for a brew and breakfast, but with the wind brought the rain and time for the brolly.

With breakfast cooked, tea drank, baits needed freshening up, so the rigs were retrieved, reloaded and recast. The first effort was abit off due to the cross wind, but the second attempted was bang on the money.

I'm not one for sheltering behind the brolly on a chair, it frustrates me as I like to see what's going on, so for a while I stood in the rain and wind whilst watching Common Terns dancing in the air and Great Crested Grebes facing off each other with puffed out crests. When the wind dropped, the rain stopped and I could see a few bream porpoising over the baited area. With the sighted of the rolling bream, came the indication on the buzzers that they had certainly moved into the area.
But after an hour of rolling and line bites, all went quiet. Perhaps the hatching Mayflies had preoccupied them from feeding on the baited area.

I rebaited the area with five balls of ground bait, just in case those rolling bream seen earlier had infact cleared up.

Midday came and I started to get bored, seven hours without a proper bites make the old grey cells tick and I thought about rig/bait changes for the afternoon session.

The heli was replaced with a paternoster open-end feeder rig, with a 4ft hook link, 4lb line and size 16 hook loaded up with double reds. The second rod was changed to a method feeder with a short braided link, but with a size 14 hook and corn/caster combo.

Five more balls of bait went out over the revamped rigs and I turned towards the stove in order to started the process of getting another brew, but with the bobbin still settling, the alarm on the paternoster rig bleeped.
Soon the bobbin was rising, and I lifted into a fish before it had chance to hit the vanish.

The fish felt reasonable and for a short while, I was unsure what was on the end until the tale tail nod gave the game away.

This bream had a large frame to it, so a quick weight show her to be over 6lb, just.

 She was soon unhooked, quick snap for the blog and released. Rod christened, monkey off of back.

The feeder was reloaded, hook bait replaced and recast, just in time as the kettle and boiled. Time for tea.

With the brew warming the hands, the same rod was away and another bream was attached to to the line.

This time it was a male, similar in size to the first, but a bit more feisty and it gave a good account of itself.

Upon unhooking, the rig was in a tangle, which can be an issue with paternosters, so instead of unraving the mess of mono, it was cut above the knot and retired.

I half expected the bobbin not to settle, but it did. I had a few twitches and late in the day a third and final male Abramis Bramas came to the net.

With a impending storm on the horizon, and with everything just about dried out, I packed up and head for home.

Bankside Beverages

With the increasingly availability of small, lightweight stove and kettles for camping, treking etc,
I decided to switch from the faithful flask to the trusty stove. But alas the stove was a bit worst for ware and decided to go and buy a new one.

There is so many on the market, it is awash with these types of stove, but the prices ranged from £10 up to £100+ it is so difficult to decided on what I should get.

So I started to look about and not wanting to spend the earth I came across this little beauty from Vango a Scottish firm.

This a lovely little engineered stove with clever folding burner top and feet which mean the whole unit fits in to a small plastic storage box. The hose and fittings are all aluminium and it feels like a quality product. It runs off of a 220g screw in 70% Butane and 30% Propane canister

First time out and I noticed a flaw, no built in sparking device. But that's not a show stopper, so I resorted to the trusty matches/lighter. There is a nice adjustable mixer on the canister connector, which regulates the gas flow and the flame high.

It works a treat and boils small quantities if water quickly, which is perfect for the bank.

At under £30.00 its a steal and coupled with the other bits you need (kettle, milk, water, tea bags etc) the whole lot weighs no more than a couple of flasks.

So what about a kettle, well I do have a camping kettle,but its rather large and takes an ages to boil (well 4 minutes LoL).

Trangia Series 27/25 Kettle is the answer. I went for the 0.9l version with the folding handle and the vent hole.Trangia are a Swedish firm who have been making stoves and trekking cookware for 85 years and they come highly recommended.

Now all I need to do is make the tea!

Watch out, Watch Out Tackle Thieves About

Watch out, watch out there are tackle thieves about........ Keep you gear hidden, marked up, listed, insured and secured.There is a growing number of targeted thefts up and down the country. Mark up you gear with either a UV pen or one of these smartwater kits, at least it give you a chance of it coming back to you.

Funny Looking Perch

A change of plans saw me whizzing off to the tackle shop for bait for the following morning. I had planned to fish on the Sunday, but a 360 degree turn around of plans saw me fishing on the Saturday instead.

Having had a 2lb and a number of 1lb perch from the small club water, it was time to turn my attentions to a more challenging venue. Saturday morning soon arrived and I head off to the pool for some serious river perch fishing.

After an hours drive I was by the pool and set about setting up the rods and caught some bait.
The dace were very obliging today and I soon had a number in the bucket which should last me the day.

The morning wasn't as forecast and it became apparent that the brolly would be required, but I was hoping it wouldn't be as wet as last weekend.

Once the rain had abated, and with the alarms staying silent, I decided to get the UL lure rod out.
After the breaking of the last Abu Vendetta UL rod and being unable to get a replacement top, I've moved onto another UL rod, a Shimano Beastmaster. It the same casting weight, but Ive already found it to be more robust that the Abu.

The UL was coupled with the old faithful Biomaster 1000x reel with Sunline braid (20lb) and Knot2kinky wire trace (12lb). Now some of you will be saying, "but perch don't like wire" or "Fluorocarbon will catch you more". Well either way, it pike are present, they make easy work of anything other than wire, simple.

Anyway, I tried a number of shads and jigs, before the first hit came to a 3" jig worm on a 2g jig head. The rod doubled over and the clutch whizzed as a pike powered off into the pool, but with constant pressure, the tackle held true and a large single figure pike laid on the mat with the tiny lure engulf in its mouth.

Mr pike was told off for talking a lure intended for perch and was soon bad in the river. I continued with the lures and started picking up some perch to 1/2lb on on jig flies and shads. After a while the rain started up again and I went and sat under the brolly with a cuppa.
The wind was swirling around and it was making life difficult with the bobbins swinging on the chains, so when the dace baited rod alarm started beeping, I thought it was just the wind, until I spied the float sailing away. At first I thought it was a half decent perch on the other end, but alas a micro pike have engulfed the dace, but the size 6 specimen hook was neatly in the pike's scissors.

Micro pike was unhooked and told to go play somewhere else and leave the perch baits along, but I was starting to fear all the baits were going to attract pike and not the targeted perch.

The paternoster was rebaited with a dace and cast back out, then I returned to the comfort of the brolly and steaming cuppa. The rain had stopped and the sun ways trying to crack through the clouds, and with its first rays, the hawkers started flitting about the air above the pool.
The dace baited rod was away again, I had suspected another micro pike was the culprit and tightened up to the dipped float. It went solid and the head nodding fight of a perch was felt on the rod tip.

A spirited fight was upon me and a big framed perch came to the net. Nice. As I lifted the perch out of the net and laid it on the mat, my thought wander back to the 2lber from the weeks before on the still water, another 2lb? It certainly had the length judging by the pocket scales laid next to it.
The perch was slipped into the weight bag, but it only registered 1lb 4oz. I did recheck, the weight but notice that whilst the the perch had the length, it certainly did have the depth.

Still it was a handsome perch and come the winter it maybe a 2lb.

I fished on the rest of the day and whilst I did managed a few small perch on the worms and small lure, they became alot more finiky and I suspected that either the bait fish had moved out of the pool, or an even bigger predator had move in.

On a side note, the Drennan Super Specialist 25 litre rucksack has been put thought the passes since Christmas and I truly believe it to be one of the best small packs on the marked. Drennan certainly make good gear.

I must be becoming abit of a Drennan angler, because I becoming a firm fan of their super specialits 3m landing net pole and also of course the pair of 1.1/4tc avon rods. Its just a shame I had to buy them LoL

Tightlines

Quality Hand Made Lures

With my obsession to ultra light fishing growing and tackle box of small (under 10g) lure growing, I thought I would share with some of the best lure manufacturers out there.

Most of the lures I buy are hand made, why? Well they usually have been field tested to death and generally last longer, well unless they get caught in a tree or a under water snag!!!

So to start with the above picture is of some Martin Minnows ties on size 6 hooks with 5.5mm tungsten head, approx 1.5g weight made for me by Mart from the LAS forum .

They are exquisite and I really can't wait to use them. I've been looking at fly lures for my perch fishing for a while with limited success. Then these popped up and at £12.00 for 4, they no more expense that most mainstream lures. I look forward to using them.

Next up we have one of my favourite lure guys. Mark Houghton of MH Custom Lures . Mark has been making lures for years and have made a number of different lures for me, including some customer patterns.

This crank baits are one of my all time favourite lures for pike. They work about 3-5ft and give one hell of a wobble. I have several different patterns for specific waters and all catch pike!!

Mark haves an extensive range of lures from his beanies to his large 100mm baits. Check him out.

Next up is Matt Holmes of Fish Fooler  This guys make loads of different types of lures, including cranks, flies, jerk, etc,etc. His lures are awesome and are proven fish catches. I only have a cope of his cranks, but look forward to getting a few more of his handmade lures.

Then we have Barry Robinson, Robinson Lures . I won one of Barry sub surface lures last year and it has been hammer by pike.

Barry's attention to fine detail is great and the finish is mind blowing.

Finally, John's spinnerbaits aka bassmanjohn0 again from the LAS forum.

I've seen john's work for the last couple of years, and after seeing them and getting them for junior events/prizes, this year I had to have some of my own.

The two in the picture courtesy of John and are available from the LAS forum.

Saving a Few Bob

Well the topic of home made or recycling bits came up on the pit this week and it got me think about the accessories we buy for fishing.

Now I'm a tackle tart to some extreme and do like to buy nice new reels from time to time, but what about tackle boxes, holdalls etc. Do we always really need to buy new or buy a named box?

With the cost of fishing items rocketing from week to week and with manufacturers discontinuing excellent products just so they can bring out another product, are we fools to ourselves.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd share with you some of my best 2nd buys tackle buys, cheap stuff from non tackle shops and homemade stuff.

Used, but like new Shimano 6010 GT reel

Bought this off of a forum member who I knew, the reel was like new and in excellent condition. Bargain at £40.00

Used in excellent condition Nash Barrowlogix Quiver - £25.00

Again bought of of a forum member, this was in great condition and only used a handful of time. It will do nicely for the long session with mutliple rod on the barrow

New Asda 1.3l food container

Cheap as chips and will last longer.Bought one for piking last winter, no have four, two for pike (boat & bank), one for zander and the final one for cats £2.00 each

New Asda food containers 125ml

Bought loads of these over the last year for my bits and bots in the predator boxes to store swivels, hooks, sleeves, beads etc, etc, etc 60 for  two!

Homemade Float tubes

I got fed up of the plastic tubes and saw various length parcel tubes in the Post Office. Some after wrapping them in white duck tape, I now have three float tubes. One for large still waters, one for small still waters and one for the rivers. About £2.00 each
2nd hand, but new Savagegear XLNT Bushwacker15-50g lure rod

During a lunchtime walk into town, spotted a unwrap rod in the rack. Hey presto a brand new, but second hand lure rod. Only £35.00

The question also has to be raised is some of the non main stream gear as good as the branded stuff. Well the answer in some cases is yes. Look at Carp Zone for starters http://www.carp-zone.co.uk/

Vintage Creations

Looking forward to trying out these creations from Ian Lewis www.handmadefishingfloats.co.uk

Tackle Review - Crewsaver Lifejacket

I have just bought my first lifejacket for boat fishing.

I have always worn one when boat fishing, but have up until know borrowed one from the boat hirer or from friends.

This simply wasn't an ideal solution, so i bit the the bullet and after much deliberation, chatting with people in the know and after a web search, I decided on a Crewsaver automatic 275N lifejacket with harness.

This is the same one as I have been using on the last two occasions whilst out on the boast, so I know it suits my style of fishing and is very comfortable to wear.

Best price I found online was £149.95.

Ultra Light Lure Fishing - Abu Garcia Vendetta (2-10g)

This perch fishing lark has really bitten me along with my latest obsession lure fishing, so when the lads from the various forums started going on about ultra light lure rods and fishing for our spiky sergeant major fish, I know I had to get in on the act.

Well the ultra light lure market over here and in Japan is huge!!! It seems that every man and his dog are selling, testing, plugging these products. But over here it is the lads in the Lure Anglers Society that seem to be in the know.

So after scouting out some nice expensive rods and wishing  I had never started on this route, I plumped for a recommendation from a Yorkshire man and his terrier (Cheers Ady & Tike) for the Abu Garcia Vendetta UL rod.

At 2-10g casting weight and 5'6" its down there in the sort of rod I would have bought as a kid (remember those rods in glass fibre!!). But don't let that fool you, it a nice rod and make catching a 1lb perch very pleasurable indeed.

So field test under way, on the local farm pond where the perch grow huge!!!

So looks....its nice and shiny with its distinctive red and black livery, nice reel fitting to take a small (1000 size) reel and it even breaks down to two pieces to sneak into the car or hide from the wife.

Weight well, it really light as you would expect, and when you have a fish on the line it feels great and makes you hand on for dear life. I love this little rod and so does my 4 year old nephew who was very happy with his first perch on a lure.

Down side, well only one. I broke it third time out, when playing a very good fish, don't know if it was a blank flaw or  it might have been damaged in transportation, but the good news is that the rod comes with a 12 month warranty from Abu. So after a call to their customer help line and a chat with the shop I bought it from, the replacement rod is tackled up and waiting for another trip out.

I can see this being my go anywhere lure rod for perch, jacks, chub etc

So its a 7 out of 10, it would have been a 8 had the thing not broke on me.

Price at around 30 quid on various sites, but I got it from the excellent "Basstastic" based in Swansea.

River Season & Lures

The river season 2012/13  has finished and I for one am itching to get back out on the rivers on 16 June.

It feels as thought I have unfinished business with the river this year due to the amount of weeks I've lost to flooding and poor weather. The rivers have been either in flood, receding and coloured or ultra low each nearly unfishable. Then when the river has been prime condition, I've been at work, typical.

On the plus side, when I have been out I caught a few, mostly on lures bounced along the bottom, 6" Manns shads with 21g jig head being my favourite lure, followed closely by some midi S and Abu Tormentor.


Lure fishing has become more and more appealing to me over the last year, and of late lure fishing in the depths of winter. It been quite surprising that I managed to land more fish on lures than on deadbaits, and some of the pike have been of a good stamp.
The only draw pack is that I been caught with the lure bug and with the cost of each lure being from a fiver upwards, this obsession could bankrupt me!!

Of late, a new roving landing new has been bought, a nice Savage Gear XL folding net, this will of course double up as a boat net too, so its a worthwhilte investment.
I've also upgraded the rod too, a 2nd hand Savage Gear Bushwacker XLNT 15-50g 8ft which when bought was in  fact new and still had the wrapping on the handle. This rod is defiantly a upgrade over the old Shimano rod, which whilst being adequate for the occasional lure session wasn't quite up to the job for a seasoned lured angler.

MH Custom Lure - Special pattern

The lure box has also been filled with must colourful off the peg delights from Abu, Rapala, Storm etc, but it has also seen the addition of some handmade custom lure from the stable of Mark Houghton (MH Custom Lures)

Another fish on Marks' lures

Mark is an talented lure craftsman and of late has managed to get his lures in some European tackle shops

TL

Nash Peg One Roving Rucksac

Its rare that I review any of the tackle I use as its mainly bought after extensive field testing by me or others.

But on this occasion I feel it warranted. I have been after a mid-size rucksack for ages for the winter piking, as the Wychwood K1 with its metal frame is just too darn big and heavy, I thought I had found it when I stumbled across the BFW carp session rucksack, but it is too small for winter piking, so it was put into use as my summer fishing pack and has performed well last spring and summer.

So I then looked at the Wychwood Solace rucksack, but that was too small and it didn't fit in anything at all, the pockets were just not a decent size, so it was taken back.

It was during the start of the piking season, I saw a Nash Peg One Roving Rucksack

I was given one as a Xmas present after some very strong hints, and it was soon put into use during the last three session piking. The pack does not seem very big, but it has seven external zipped pockets of various sizes, a single zipped mesh pocket and a large internal compartment. 

It has been filled with my normal piking gear including a coleman cooler box, 1.5litre flask and camera and it still has room for other bits and bops if I require. 

The only draw back is the hard internal base, which when loaded digs into your lower back, but this was soon moved to be a pack plate and all was good. The build quality seem good and the two long pockets I use for 3 x BBB alarms and the smaller one for the unhooking gear. I have change by tackle box for a klip-it food container which fits in the front pocket.

So for first impression and usability, its good, but you have to wonder how much field testing was done, if they (Nash) hadn't identified the hard base issue. Perhaps they have??????

Wellies

Been in the market for some new wellies after the last pair of Town & County boots, which like the faithful Hunters, couldn't handle even a year of trudging the banks.

So where could I have gone, Hunter, Skeetet, Dunlop or even a pair of le Chameau.

Well I look at loads, but none seemed to fit the bill of an all rounder, but after a recommendation from a friend, I started to look at Muckboots.

Muckboot Co have been around for about 12 years and have grown in reputation for providing a quality range of boots. So armed with this knowledge I sent to find the pair that would suit me.

For me a welly has to be universal, both for work, dog walking and finally fishing.

I soon realised that there was three pairs suited for me

• Avons
• Tay 
• Tay sport

After trying on all three and looking at the spec, I decided that the Tay was the boot for me. It fits like a glove and feels warm straight away. I went for a size 10 and its still got room for a winter sock, even though I been warned it may not be needed until it get really cold.

I'm been using the boot now for a month and I have been mightily impressed with its level of comfort and performance. I used it on walks with the dog through the muddy woods, on the banks of rivers doing flood investigation work and out fishing, both on bank and boat.

The boot has not let me down and you even forget you wearing a boot.

The Tay do cost quite abit more than you standard welly boot, but if you after comfort, warmth and a feel of stability, then this is the boot for you and based on other reports they last for a considerable time .