Fishing For Tench

Tench have a thick set, deep, powerful body with rounded fins and a large broad tail fin like, with colour varying from a pale olive green to very dark brown green, they have a light golden to almost orange belly.

The eyes are quite small and are very distinctive as they are red in colour and are located on the side of their rounded heads, a single pair of small barbules are set either side of its fairly narrow mouth set with thick lips.

The fins are grey and appear almost black in colour at their margins.
Tench are excellent fighters, powerful and making good runs on well balanced tackle, often changing direction to seek the refuge of weed beds and lilies if present in your swim or the margins.

Tench fishing is very popular and whilst there are rods designed specifically for them, any rod with a 1.5lb test curve and a medium action will allow you to enjoy the powerful fight of the fish, whilst retaining some power to ease it away from potential snags.

For standard Tench fishing, use a mainline between 4lb and 6lb with hooklinks between 3-6lb, however if weed is present it would be wise to increase both so fish are not lost. Balance your tackle to the conditions and size of fish that you are likely to hook. Use strong hooks between 8 – 18 depending upon the bait used, size of fish and the nature of the swim being fished.

Location

Targeting and finding Tench in lakes is reasonable straightforward during certain times of the year as the fish are never too far from weed beds and marginal shelves, which provide both cover and feeding areas. They also give there location away at dawn and dusk, throughout the year by rolling. Obviously this is exaggerated during the summer and you may well need to train your eye to spot them.

Tench can produce streams of tiny bubbles when they are feeding and the movement of reeds and lilies and coloured water are always useful pointers. Binoculars can assist greatly when searching for these signs on large waters, especially if you can find a good point to use them from.

The tell tale Tench bubbles themselves are created when the tench forages in the weed and silt, sifting debris out before crushing its food, and the bubbles escape through the gills. So, if you see the tiny white bubbles on the surface, often produced in distinct meandering lines, you will know that browsing Tench are not far away. Sometimes despite these encouraging signs, the fish will be preoccupied on tiny natural baits, so either keep ringing the changes with small baits or move to a different swim where you may encourage the Tench to feed on the baits that you have with you.

Baits

Since their natural foodstuff are bloodworms, small crustaceans and microscopic foods such as daphnia, Tench are naturally attracted to worms, red maggots and casters, however they can be quite easily be tempted by bread flake, pellets, sweetcorn, luncheon meat, prawns, cockles as well as Boilies. The use of cereal groundbait, plain breadcrumb or with flavourings, will often encourage Tench to investigate. Tench also love hemp, which works extremely well during the spring when maggot is your hookbait. Try to use a fine groundbait with just a few freebies within as particle loaded groundbait will see the tench becoming pre-occupied and difficult to catch.

Fishing Methods

Since Tench are bottom feeders, the bait has to be presented on the bottom, fairly close to lilies and reed beds is always a good starting point: but fish a few feet away to give yourself of stopping the first run of a hooked fish as it makes straight for the sanctuary of the weed beds.

Float fishing

Using a waggler float and fishing an inch or two over depth or fishing the lift method are the best methods. Tench can sometimes ‘play’ with the bait, resulting in lifts and dinks of the float, but be patient and the float will eventually disappear when they take the bait confidentially.

Legering

Maggot feeders is great over a bed of hemp and open ended feeders plugged with groundbait that contains a free offerings of hookbait can work well as can ‘The Method’ or a semi fixed bolt rig with a PVA bag of pellets attached to it. Tench can be fussy feeders so keep alternating baits until you find what they prefer. Again, bites can sometimes initially be twitchy, but will usually end up in a confident take that will result in your indicator, be it a float, swing tip, quiver tip, or bobbin set on slackened of bait runners showing or sounding a positive take.

Tench are docile fish and are out competed for food on waters holding Carp. Waters that are rich in natural food such as weedy gravel pits, will produce an ideal environment and usually produce specimen Tench. Fisheries where Carp outnumber the Tench, and due to the aggressive rooting around in search of food by them may lead to the water becoming highly coloured and weed free, an environment which often results in Tench not having their staple diet freely available, leading to fish of a much smaller average size than would be found if the Carp were not present.

The Best Kind of Catfishing Bait

To land a very large catfish, the finest catfishing bait you can use happens to be exactly what the catfish instinctively feeds on. Virtually all varieties of catfish are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals; and as such they are also foragers, eating just about anything along the way. Given the indiscriminate appetite of the big "cats", fishermen have a number of different types of bait they can utilize to lure this kind of fish.

To land a very large catfish, the finest catfishing bait you can use happens to be exactly what the catfish instinctively feeds on. Virtually all varieties of catfish are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals; and as such they are also foragers, eating just about anything along the way.

Given the indiscriminate appetite of the big "cats", fishermen have a number of different types of bait they can utilize to lure this kind of fish. A partial listing of some of the more common types of catfishing bait are as follows: marshmallows, small frogs, live perch, minnows, stink baits, shad, crawfish, earthworms, minnows, grasshoppers, night crawlers, and chicken livers.

Live bait is generally more effective. It also makes sense to capitalize on the cat's powerful sense of smell by making use of stinky baits as well.

You will find that night crawlers and garden worms can be very effective as catfishing bait too. As one might expect, anglers are somewhat inclined to make use of garden worms to hook catfish simply because they're readily accessible and can be found almost everywhere. These baits can work so well that at times it seems like the catfish are simply lining up anticipating the worms. You'll be able to find mini crawlers at bait suppliers; on the other hand you'll really need to go digging for garden worms on your own.

While somewhat of a delicacy for us humans, shrimp and/or smaller prawns also work very well as catfish bait. Depending on their size, prawns can be used whole or, as a cost saving measure, they can be halved so long as each half is of the proper size for bait.

Despite the fact that prawns and shrimp can be used with their shells intact, they really should be removed. Frozen or fresh shrimp and/or prawns can be bought at your nearest seafood store when you're planning your fishing excursion, but keep your ears open because sometimes these stores have sales and you can get those items for a pretty good price. Soaking the shrimp and/or prawns in fish oil for a few moments will serve to give them a more powerful smell.

Another option for catfishing bait is to make it on your own at home. Homemade bait can be a very effective lure and it's hard to argue with the cost. An easy home recipe uses corn flakes and peanut butter. Blending together crushed flakes with a couple dollops of peanut butter creates and interesting mixture that makes fine bait. This excellent homemade concoction includes natural oils within it that discharge to help draw in the fish. Moreover, the peanut butter and corn flake mixture is practically impossible for smaller sized fish to take off of your hook thus avoiding the loss of bait on fish you have no interest in any way.

Bits of sweet corn can be good bait too. Just put a few pieces of corn on each individual point of the treble hook, and then wrap a little ball of bread around it so as to cover the hook. It will emit a sweet scent thereby tempting the catfish. Again, the smaller fish won't be capable of eating the bait. The bread enables you to land all the timid fish that have gotten that way from excessive catch and release.

An alternative for bait which cats without question love is cheese. Considering their somewhat limited vision, catfish can rely on their powerful sense of smell to help them track down and seize their food. That said any time you are making homemade catfish bait, ensure that your own mixtures include a powerful odor to attract the fish. Catfish usually are not picky eaters, so it is easy to make your own do-it-yourself catfish bait that should help the fish find your line.

Wade McBride - About the Author:

Wade McBride is a catfishing expert. For more great tips on catfishing bait, visit http://www.catfishingpointers.com.

Start Fly Fishing - Equipment

When taking up a new hobby, how you start can be the difference between finding enjoyment that lasts a lifetime and an unpleasant experience you don't wish to repeat. Fly fishing is no different and here you will find how we introduce and advise novice fly fishers through those first steps in the learning process.

Firstly, choose a fishery conveniently located for you. Resist the temptation to start on a river or reservoir. Instead select one of the many good quality small stillwaters. Such venues have plenty of space for casting, plus trout are never too far away, giving you a favorable chance of catching those all important early fish.

Having established where we intend to fish, we can select a small set of fly fishing equipment so you can go fly fishing. Our suggested list for beginners includes the following.

Starter Kit

• Fly Rod - Rated AFTM 6-7 weight
• Reel - Basic fly reel designed to hold 6-7 weight line plus 75+ meters of backing
• Fly Line - Weight forward 7 floating fly line
• Backing - Spool of polypropylene backing line, connecting fly line to reel
• Leader - Spools of 6lb and 8lb breaking strain fluorocarbon line
• Fly Box/flies - A small selection of flies to get started
• Priest - Implement for dispatching trout you intend to eat
• Forceps/snips - Combination for trimming line and unhooking fish.
• Landing Net - Means of landing your catch quickly and safely
• Floatant/Sinkant - Treatments to make line/flies float or sink as desired

This basic selection is all you need to get started. As with most things in life, you can pay as little or as much as you wish. Starter kits can be purchased from £50 or you could by top brand equipment costing over £1000, the choice is yours. However you can obtain the above equipment for £110 - £200 and have tackle that works well, is pleasant to use and flexible for the occasional foray to a river or reservoir once you have built up your experience.

To ensure you start fly fishing the right way, book a day's tuition with an instructor. We can't vouch for everyone, but our Cast & Catch days cover what you need to start and instructors provide guidance on suitable products. In addition to this, these courses coach novice fly fishers in basic casting and fishing techniques, where to look for trout and what flies to use. This ensures you know how to: -

• Select and set up equipment correctly
• present flies and fish them effectively
• land and handle fish correctly

To discover how to start the right way with Midlands Flyfishing go to fly fishing lessons. For details of fisheries we use and recommend in the Midlands see trout fisheries. Details of other waters located around the UK can easily be found using a local internet search.

The Joys of Night Fishing

I love night fishing. Most of the times it's because I don't get to go out and fish during the day because of my work, but now there's more to it than just the convenience. I've observed that night fishing offers you the same conditions as daytime, but with generally better results. Sometimes I can swear the fishing conditions are even better during the night, since there are fewer anglers to compete with for a good fishing spot, and less noise as well.

I've also come to realize that when you find a good fishing spot during the day, coming back to it at night will net you even more fish. Although I can't explain why, but the fish just seem to bite more at night. One little drawback though is that it's harder to see your line, but since you're getting a lot of fish, it's worth the effort. For this reason, perhaps, I've seen a lot of daytime fishermen turn to night fishing. When I asked one why, he just said it makes him look good because he catches more fish that way!

If you want to try night fishing, I say full speed ahead! But make sure that the weather forecast for that night is good. It's going to be difficult enough moving about and finding things in the dark; when you go out night fishing during bad weather, it just makes it worse and more dangerous. I know this sounds elementary, but you'd be surprised at the number of anglers who forget this very simple rule.

CURRENT MOON lunar phases

Here's one tip to make your night fishing even better: Watch the moon! You might be thinking it sounds a bit crazy, but try it and see for yourself. You'll be surprised at the things you might learn. One thing you're most likely to notice is that most fish hide in the shadows during a full moon. I can't tell you why because I don't know myself, but that's what I and my night fishing friends have observed, anyway. So now when you find some shadows on the water, you'll know where to cast your line.

If there are no shadows and the moon isn't shining down on the water, it will make your task of finding the fish a bit harder, but that doesn't mean you're out of luck and have to return another evening. The fish seems more likely to bite anytime it's not a full moon or if it's partially hidden by clouds. So now you'll know how to determine which fishing spot will be more likely to get you better results. If the moon is shining full and bright, go for the shadows in the water. If it's hidden or even nowhere to be seen, just go to your favorite fishing spot and expect lots of hits on the line.

I've heard a lot of anglers say that they only fish during a full moon, while others say that no moon is the best time for night fishing. What I'd recommend to you is to go out into the night and try both. You will get good results, whether it's a full moon or night. All you have to remember is to adjust your fishing technique and change your fishing spots, depending on how much the moon is shining during the night.

About the Author: Jasmine Stone

Want to find out about ferret training and ferret colors? Get tips from the Ferrets As Pets website.

Bread! As Good Today As It's Always Been

Bread is a bait that is as old as fishing itself and it is still just as effective today as it was when your grate granddad was baiting his hooks with it. It is readily available in many different shapes sizes and colours but for the fisherman plain white bread, either sliced or un-sliced, is  king  and the fresher the better.

Bread can be used to target virtually any species of fish of all sizes, from small roach on punched pellets of bread to monster carp on golf ball sized lumps of crust. It can be used in a variety of ways but perhaps the three most commonly used are as flake, crust and punch.

Flake

Bread flake is the soft fluffy white interior of the loaf of bread that when hooked correctly sinks in a slow and enticing manner that attracts a number of species of fish. Choose your hook size to match the size of bait you are intending to use. To hook your flake simply tear a piece out of the middle of a slice of fresh bread, lay the hook shank on it and fold the bread over the shank ensuring the point is clear before lightly squeezing it onto the shank leaving a soft fluffy looking hook bait. Because of the fear of the bait coming off the hook a common mistake is to squeeze the bread on too firmly resulting in a doughy blob of bread on the hook that doesn’t look appealing and is too hard to strike the hook through. Flake is meant to be soft and fluffy and should come off the hook every time you strike or wind in. If it doesn’t you are squeezing it on too firmly.

Crust

The crust of a loaf is a very buoyant bait that is devastating for surface feeding fish like carp, chub and rudd. For all but very small pieces of crust an un-sliced loaf is definitely best. Again choose your hook size to match the size of crust you are using but in most cases opt for large wide gape hooks from a size 6 up to a size 2. To hook the crust simply tear off a piece of crust push the point of the hook into and thread it through the crust, being careful not to split it. Bread crust softens very quickly in water so it doesn’t matter if the point is hidden because it will easily strike through the bait.

As well as being fished on the surface bread crust can be suspended at any distance from the bottom simply by legering it with the required length hook length. This is a particularly effective technique for big river chub or carp on stillwaters.

Punch

Bread punch is simply a small compressed pellet of bread that is punched out of a slice of bread with a purpose built bread punch and is a deadly bait for winter roach. The key to producing a good punch hook bait is the tool you use. It should have a sharp brass cutting head with a slot in it to enable you to get the hook into the bait, many tackle companies make good bread punches with a range of different sized heads to produce different sized pellets of bread. To use simply place a slice of bread on a hard flat surface and push the punch into it with a twisting movement to ensure a clean cut. You will then have a pellet of bread lodged in the head of the bread punch. To transfer it onto the hook simply push the point of the hook through the slot and into the bread. Again choose your hook size to match the size of the pellet of bread you are using with sizes 22 to 18 being the most commonly used and remember the pellet will swell to at least twice its size when in the water.

Bread as Feed

The two most common ways of feeding bread into the swim are as mashed bread or liquidized bread. To make mashed bread simply put some stale bread into a bucket, add water and mash it up with your hands after it has soaked for a few minutes. It gives a milky white mush with some lumps in it that is particularly effective when chub fishing on rivers. To make liquidized bread simply add slices of bread to a liquidizer and switch it on. The longer you liquidize it the finer the crumb that is produced so for big fish leave the crusts on and just give it a quick blitz but for a super fine crumb for punch fishing for roach on a canal tear the crusts off first and give it at least a minute in the blender. Liquidized bread is particularly effective in an open end feeder when river fishing for big roach and chub as well as being an ideal partner for punch fishing for roach. You can also add little extra's to your liquidized bread such as hemp, tare, corn even small bits of meat.

Fishing For Chub - The Basics

Naturally, the chub is a river fish, although the development of commercial fisheries has seen the species stocked in all kinds of waters nowadays, offering great sport to anglers throughout the country. It has even been caught in brackish waters in river mouths believe it or not!

The chub is one of the most widespread fish in Europe, occurring in every location with the unusual exception of Ireland, Denmark and the north of Scandinavia. The body of a chub is generally long and cylindrical, with a gray/brown tinged with green network of scales across the back working down to a lighter golden flank and a light belly. Its dorsal fin is a grey/green colour, with all the other fins being orange/red. The chub is renowned for its huge mouth.



Chub are found in nearly all rivers. Their habitats range from sluggish deep water to fast flowing shallows. In shady spots beneath overhanging branches chub wait for insects to plop onto the surface of the water. Chub will shoal in weed feel pools often with dace and roach. When hooked, the fish will dash to underwater obstacles, such as submerged tree roots and cause the line to become snagged.

A Great Chub Swim

Chub prefer to feed in clear water and not when the river is in flood or muddy. Still waters, especially gravel pits, are gaining reputations for having large specimens of chub.

The chubs’ natural staple diet consists of invertebrates as youngsters, although small fish and vertebrates such as small vowels are always on the main menu for the big boys. The chub spawns April to June among aquatic plants and stones in high oxygenated turbulent parts of rivers. There is some debate as to chub spawning in still water and whether it is right to stock them.

The chub is basically an eating machine. If it fits in its mouth, it will have a go at it! Natural baits have always been a favourite, especially on rivers. The stick float fished in conjunction with regular loosefeed of maggots casters and hemp. However, a big old black slug or lobworm free lined under an overhanging willow might just be the killer for that fish of a lifetime.

Ledgering is another great technique, with a block end feeder or even a crumb feeder. A big smelly piece of cheese, meat or steak. The main thing to remember when fishing for chub is that they can really eat some bait. so make sure that you give them plenty.

The specimen world has also had an effect on chub fishing, as many of the real big dogs are now taking boilie baits or large halibut pellets. Basically, a chub will eat anything. Wasp Grub, plugs and spinners. Chub can also be successfully targeted on the fly.

Commercial fishery chub also offer great sport, and are growing very big. They can be caught well with the usual carp methods, pellets, paste, but chopped worm and caster has seen several big match weights of the species.

Tackle up away from your chosen fishing spot. Movement and vibrations next to the water will frighten the chub away. Approach the water quietly and slowly. Don't become a large profile against the skyline but instead merge into the environment. Chub will swim close to the bank if there is no threat.

Watch for tell tale signs of feeding fish like dimples on the surface and swirls in the water. Cast your line gently and enjoy.

Fishing For Bream

The bream is a really deep bodied fish, with compressed sides, which give the fish a very thin appearance. Larger, mature fish have a dark brownish bronze back, a lighter bronze side, and an almost white belly. Many really big bream go very black. The smaller of the species are a much lighter colour, very silvery across the body with a white belly. These fish are known as Skimmer Bream, or ‘Skimmers’, and tend to start to go a darker colour at around 5 years of age. Bream have a protruding mouth, with their top lip coming over the bottom to give the fish a hoover like mouth suited to sucking food up of the bottom.


The classical way to fish for bream is on the ground bait feeder. This method is often used to target bream on natural waters, rivers and lakes. A simple paternoster setup is a well known bream rig, although a simple running rig is just as effective. Slide your feeder up the line or a quick change snap link swivel, then a bead, and then tie on a swivel. Your hooklink is then attached to the other end of your swivel. This running rig offers as little resistance as possible to the fish, and therefore they will take the bait much more confidently. A soft, light tip in your feeder rod, 1oz say, will also be a big advantage for the same reason, and will also aid you when fishing for finicky fish that only give you a small indication on the tip.


When fishing for bream on the feeder, the length of your tail is very important! It's always better to go for longer rather than shorter. A good starting point is around 3 foot. If the fish are hard to come by, don’t be afraid to try hookliengths of 5 foot or more, as these will give your hook bait a slow natural fall, and your hook bait will be well away from the feeder, where those wary shy fish may be sitting. A Hooklengths of 2lb to 4lb are best for bream, although heavier can be used.

Ground bait Mixes

Bream naturally have a really sweet tooth. All companies now make this classic sweet mix for bream, and all will do a similar job. One of the most important things to carry when bream fishing is BROWN CRUMB. It’s about a quid for a kilo of the stuff, and all bream love it! A 50/50 mix of brown crumb with another ground bait will produce a fluffy mix, sweet smelling which should catch you some bream! Mixes for the feeder should be a little on the dry side, which will enable you to add juicy baits like chopped worms, casters and pinkies to the mix without it getting too wet

A fishmeal mix with some brown crumb has accounted for some recent big bream catches, especially on heavily fished carp waters and commercials. Small pellets added to the mix are also a good fish holding bait, and some big bream have been caught using small boilies and pellets on the hook! Other good additions to the mix are additives such as Brasem or Sweet Molasses, both gorgeous smelling, available in liquid of powder form.

The feeder is by no means the only way of catching bream. Waggler fishing has accounted for some fantastic bream catches, as has slider float fishing. On canals and lakes, balling in ground bait to make a fish attracting noise can be effective for skimmers and bream. Bream on commercials can be caught very quickly if you get them feeding. Pellets and casters regularly loose fed, can bring the fish up in the water, which goes against the breams stereotypical ‘Bottom Feeding’ habits. Also don’t be afraid to whack plenty of line on the deck, and even some shot, this will ofter give you some cracking lift bites from bream!

The spring and autumn are classic months to fish for bream. Also, some of the biggest record bream have been caught at night, when they will feed more confident closer in. Hot calm conditions are not really favourable for Bream fishing, more of a wild windy day, where waves are on the water, and churning up the bottom tend to be when the best bream catches are recorded. Also fishing with a strong wind (preferably warm) in your face may also increase your chances of catching bream, as they are known to follow the wind.

New carp fishing accessory - Duck Sentinel

The DUCK SENTINEL Designed and developed by LINJAZRO which is a new Uk based company. Who's mission and passion is to design, develop and manufacture innovative quality fishing accessories.
The company founder has been a fresh water angler for over forty years and has gained considerable expertise and knowledge from fishing in many different demanding environments including United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East and United States of America.

DUCK SENTINEL was subjected to intensive development and testing spanning many months, involving several concept design changes. The feed back from several independent expert fishermen was incorporated into pre production models.  All of the development evaluation processes were conducted at different fishing venues within the UK. Various techniques were applied to the pre production models, including distance casting.  During the prototype and development stages of DUCK SENTINEL, every trial successfully protected the various different types of floating bait offerings from numerous wild fowl, both large and small, whilst enabling the Angler to keep the floating bait on station in the water and catch fish.

The body is transparent and not seen by fish. It is about the size of the palm of a man’s hand. The edges of the flotation discs represent a familiar pellet shape to surface feeding fish and act as an attraction. The DUCK SENTINEL has a UK Patent Number GB 2470988A and been designed to be reusable and offers minimal resistance to breeze and light winds.

Duck Sentinel is supplied with two (2) spare Floatation Discs.  Dumbbell line stops are supplied, but any small suitable line stop can be used.
Sufficient PVA string for a number of casts is supplied but any PVA string can be used to lock DUCK SENTINEL.

To use

pass main line into dome through outer lower eyelet, back out through next eyelet then back into dome via centre eyelet. Attach hook or hair rig inside the dome. A stop is required to set the distance inside the dome between the centre eyelet and the top of the offering (this keeps the line and hook out of the water) before attaching the chosen floating offering.

To cast, close the dome in half with the offering inside and the eyelets on the underside. When the floatation discs are touching each other wind a few turns of PVA string around the two centre tabs to secure in the closed position. The tab area must be kept dry and water free when applying the PVA string. DUCK SENTINEL is now aerodynamic and ready for use.

Cast to your desired location. Within seconds of landing on water, the DUCK SENTINEL will - self right. If the self-righting does not occur on contact with the water, a twitch on the line will do it. Deployment will normally occur within 30 – 40 seconds, depending on thickness of PVA string used and the number of PVA turns around the centre tabs.

Casting longer distances can be achieved by adding extra weight. Use a clear ball controller float attached by at least 1/4mtr of nylon line to the ventilation hole opposite to the eyelets. Retrieve main line to ensure the baited hook is inside the DUCK SENTINEL. When bait is taken, strike and play fish in normal way. The DUCK SENTINEL will be retained on the main line and not impede the fish retrieval.



Grab yours today visit: linjazro.co.uk

Carp Fishing Tackle Review: The Daiwa Infinity X BR Big Pit Reel - Model IFX5500BR

The carp is a fish species shrouded in myth, legend and lore. Highly regarded in many Asian cultures, the carp, in Western culture, often is kept in decorative ponds, as a sort of landscaping adjunct. To me, the carp is neither mythic nor decorative -- it is a worthy piscine opponent. The carp generally is regarded as a lesser sport fishing species, especially when compared to the more "noble" species like salmon and trout. Well, such for a lowly fish, it certainly is capable of putting up quite a thrilling fight! To be equal to the task, I need my carp fishing tackle to be in top shape. Here's some information about one of my favourite carp reels: the Daiwa Infinity X BR big pit reel, model IFX5500BR.

Key Features of the Daiwa Infinity X BR Big Pit Reel - Model IFX5500BR

BR stands for "baitrunner," a type of fishing reel that's similar to a fixed spool reel, with one important difference. When using a baitrunner reel, it's possible to bait fish with the reel's bail closed, while still having it completely in free spool mode. When using a baitrunner reel, the angler must adjust the free spool tension according to the type of bait used. As soon as the angler turns the handle, the baitrunner feature disengages and the tension then is adjusted by way of the main drag system, leaving the angler in full control of the fight.

 

 

More About the Daiwa Infinity X BR Big Pit Reel - Model IFX5500BR

When I'm facing an especially tough carp challenge, I generally find myself reaching for this well-made and durable reel. I've found the combination of the double-axis BR feature with a big pit spool configuration to be a particularly helpful and effective design. This Daiwa reel also has the popular Twist Buster II feature, a mechanism that dramatically reduces line twist by using a special collar which ensures the line always travels at a 90-degree angle to the roller pivot.

Final Thoughts on the Daiwa Infinity Reel

This reel is just loaded with positive features, including 5 ball bearings and a micro-pitch front drag system. It also has infinite anti-reverse and a large diameter ABS spool. ABS, by the way, is a type of highly strong and durable composite plastic that's widely used to make automobile bodies and outer cases for appliances and computers. The rotor is gyrospin balanced for the smoothest possible operation, and the 4.2:1 gear ratio delivers increased winding power when the angler needs it most. The reel comes with a spare, full-specification aluminium spool. Expect to pay about £375.00 for this superb reel, but do look for it on special offer at about £249.00
I've found the Daiwa Infinity X BR model IFX5500BR big pit reel to be beautifully engineered and a supreme pleasure to use. I'm pleased to rate it at 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars.
I've been fishing since I was 9 years old and nothing calms me more. To get the best deals on carp fishing tackle in the UK I happily suggest KeensTackleandguns. Their friendly staff are extremely well informed and are always extremely helpful. Check out their online fishing tackle store for more details or call 01656 722448.

Carp Fishing Rigs - The Combi Rig

The Combi Rig is a style of rig that has been around for many years. Originally starting from joining a softer braided material to a much stiffer material, such as Amnesia or monofilament in years past.

Then ever since the release of the first coated braided hook link material all them years back now, this type of set-up/material is now no doubt one of the most used by Carp anglers.

Combi-rigs are an effective way of presenting a hook bait in order to catch wary carp. There are numerous variations of combination fishing rigs that can be made up easily on the bank of a lake. The most common types are made up of a stiff length of fluorocarbon fishing line, with a smaller section made of a type of braid material. The braid end section is attached to the hook.

Combi carp rigs can be used on many different lake beds, from silt to gravel. and can be used for bottom baits as well as poups.  

This rig has many advantages, the first being that it combines both the subtlety and hooking potential of a braid and the invisibility of fluorocarbon. This is a rig which will help you catch many species of fish but carp and tench will fall to this rig the most often.

Monster Squid black - SPECIAL EDITION - OUT NOW

The Awesome Monster Squid in a new Black Special edition colour

Nash Bait have been producing black boilies to special order for many years and for those anglers looking for something a little different, black baits have long provided a real edge. If diving birds are driving you mad then the chances are they won’t immediately recognize black baits as food and pressured carp that may be spooking off bright colours will be straight on them and will consume the bait with real enthusiasm.

The awesome Monster Squid is now available in black,some of the counties top Carp Anglers highly rate ‘Squid Black’ as its been code named by those in the know. The forward thinking anglers amongst us who are already on ‘The Black’ are catching well and its already produced one or two elusive monsters - awesome!

Squid black Frozen Boilies - 15mm - 1kg bag
Code B9451 - Price £9.99

Squid black Frozen Boilies - 20mm - 1kg bag
Code B9452 - Price £9.99

Black Squid Pop ups - 10mm - 30grm tub
Code B2580 - Price £3.99

Black Squid Pop ups - 15mm - 30 grm tub
Code B2585 - Price £5.99

For more details and to find your nearest stockist visit: Nash Tackle

Carp Fishing Rigs - The Blowback Rig

The 'Blow Back Rig' is one that has become probably one of the most popular specialized Carp Fishing rigs used by today's Carp angler and one that I have been using a lot myself over recent times with excellent catch results.

The rig is constructed from coated braid, which is weighted to help aid its ability to sink and lay flat on the lake bed to help with cautious feeding fish. Also with the short stripped section of the coating near the hook, this gives the hook a bit more freedom to be picked up by the carp.

This braid is matched up with a long shank carp hooks and is linked together via a Micro Rig Ring running up and down the long straight hook shank, finished off with a curved section of shrink tubing to help flip the hook as quick as possible once in the carps mouth.

The idea of the construction of this rig is that with the ring on the shank of the hook this allows the hook greater movement and a greater chance of catching hold, due to being able to pivot within the ring itself. Having the ring starting low down around the hooks curve this keeps the weight from the bait where you want it, near the hook point.

Secondly once the carp has sucked in the hook bait and hook and then goes to blow the bait and hook out upon realizing what is happening, the bait freely slides down the shank first leaving the hook fully exposed to catch hold plus with the weight of the bait being transferred this pulls the hook down faster too into the carps mouth giving greater penetration.

A sure winner for anyone that uses this rig.

Watch Jon Bones, Deputy editor of Total Carp, as he demonstrate how to tie "The Blow Back Rig"