woodland waters

Woodland Waters Ancaster

I arrived to the lake at around 5:45pm  Friday Evening after a hard day at work. When I got there I had a quick mooch around the lake to see if there were any signs of fish and to chat to a couple of the locals. This particular time I didn't see anything so I decided to jump in a peg on the grass bank around the far side of the lake. 

The minute I pulled up I saw a fish bob his head out of the water, this made me confident that there would be something about and maybe a chance of a quick bite. So wasting no time I got the rods out the back of the truck and got them set up. With my left hand rod I fished a simple snowman rig with a pva stringer; I casted this rig out to open water where I had seen signs of fish. With my right hand rod I was fishing a stiff hinge rig and casting over to the right to an over hanging tree. This was the first time using the stiff hinge so preparation was key, checking it in the margins to make sure it sank slowly. The boom section was around 6 inches and the pop up section at around 1 inch. My plan was to mess about with different lengths etc till I found out what way I liked to fish the rig. I put around 20 boilies on the spot and left it while I got the house up and everything sorted! Once everything was set up I recasted both rods and introduced a little more bait ready for the evening!.

It wasn't long before I was laid on my bed-chair nodding off, so I decided to get my head down for the night and get an early start in the morning. A fair few hours later I was awoken by the beautiful sound of my left hand rod tearing off. It took me a second to gain my composure then 'bang' I had struck into the fish! It tore off then a couple of second later 'ting' it had come off I was gutted. I quickly retrieved the rig to check it to see what had happened and by the looks of it, it had just spat the hook out. Not one to beaten, I got it straight back out and then got back to bed!

Morning soon rolled around and I got both rods rebaited and back out on the spots. The day passed fairly quickly with fish showing all over but unfortunately the rods were motionless. Late afternoon I decided to grab a quick shower using the onsite facility's. Before I did I introduced around a kilo of boilies on both spots. I thought the fish might feel a bit more keen to feed with no lines in the water. 

I then went of for my shower, (I would highly recommend the shower block it was very clean and the shower was powerful and the water steaming hot), this made me feel refreshed after a hot day. I was on my way back and I stopped to take a quick look under the over hanging tree were I had my right hand rod positioned. It was clear to see fish had been visiting the spot because the water was all murky from were they had been kicking up the silt. I got back round to my swim and got the rods straight back out. I sat back and watched the water while cooking my tea, fish were showing all over and I was confident for a bite throughout the night, and boy was I right! 3.30pm my right hand rod melted off and I was hooked into another fish. It fought like a demon but as I got it in closer 'ting' yet again the hook had come out, you can imagine how destrought I was! To be honest I was that mad I retrieved the rig and put my rod to one side for the rest of the night and got my head down for a couple of hours.

 I awoke around 6 and got the rods back out again for a couple of hours as I was leaving at around 9. While I was sat there the thought of losing two fish was going through my mind and I was already planning my next trip. The hours soon went by and all was quiet so I packed up and went home with my tail between my legs.  

keeping guard! 

    

When I was pottering around at home on the Sunday the thought of losing two was again still in my mind and I planned to come down for a quick overnighter between work on Tuesday. 

I manged to finish work at 4pm, I already had my stuff sorted and packed into my truck so it was straight to the lake! I got there just before 5 and jumped into a swim called sandy corner which is close the island, it is a sandy area which goes out about 20 yards then just drops. I fished the same tactics as the weekend but with the stiff hinge rig I had heightened the pop up part to around 2 inches. I fished my left hand rod to the island and my right hand rod on the bottom of the drop off, I introduced around half a kilo between both the spots and sat back and watched the water. Fish were showing all over I was confident of a bite as another angler who was on the other side of the lake was fishing a rod to the island and had several runs.

 

 Darkness was coming in fast so a mate who had joined me got the BBQ struck up. As we was stood there chatting waiting for it to get warm my right hand rod melted off I have never moved so quick in my life. I struck into it this time it was nailed. It went on a mad run taking about 30 yards on its first run! I managed to gain control and it was coming in with ease, as it got closer it made a sharp left for a tree and I had no choice but to jump in so I could get a better angle to bring it back round. I managed to stop it from snagging me up in the tree and I got it close enough for my mate to net it! He lifted the net up to see what it was like and it looked a nice mid double, we let him rest in the margin while we got the mat and everything sorted out. Once sorted I went over to lift him out the water as I did I couldn't believe my eyes it was stonking. I knew straight away it was beating my PB that's when the shakes kicked in! I laid him on the mat and took a look at the hook hold it was about 2 inches back and nailed in the bottom lip, there was no way he was getting off! I got him in the sling and lifted him up to get a weight, I couldn't believe it when my mate told me it was 25.5llbs I actually made him lift it so I could see for my self, I was absolutely buzzing! I had got a new PB and managed to get my revenge from the weekend! After getting pictures I jumped back into the water to let this shear beast go back to the depths shaking like mad I let him go and what a moment it was. 

Knowing I had work early again in the morning I got the rod back out closely followed by some more bait to top the swim up. While I was sorting my rod my mate had got the food all sorted and it was time to eat and get to bed so we could be up early and packed away to get off in the morning. I can certainly say I went to bed with a big smile on my face and it just goes to prove a quick overnighter can produce the goods just as much if not more than a weekend on the bank!

new PB 25.5 of angry common!

        

Product Test Dinky S3

For Fantackletastic! 

Well following on from my recent reviews I have been given the opportunity by Fantackle-Tastic to product test the new Dinky S3 Buzz bars which are in the prototype stage and not even on the market yet! I feel honored to be able to do this and I certainly put them through their paces on my latest session!

The Dinky's are manufactured in Nottingham which is only a few miles down the road from me and are made from stainless steel which makes them super strong and gives them a lovely shiny finish. At the moment they only come in a 2 rod set up but hopefully will also be available in a 3 rod set up. As you probably guessed from the name "DINKY" they are very small and compact keeping everything close together, they come in various sizes which are, 4.5”, 5.5” and 6.5”. The sticks themselves come in various sizes which are 12-19”, 16-28” and 20-35”.

The first stage of the test was to attach my alarms onto the buzz bars. Normally I find this frustrating because the alarms never face fully forward without putting a serious strain on the bottom of your alarms, with the Dinky's I found it very easy and everything lined up with a little twist making it easy and sufficient to attach your alarms. Next was to put the stick which goes into the ground onto the buzz bars. With many different brands I have found it difficult to tighten and find sometimes they can slip and come loose. However with the great design, which I will come to shortly, it makes tightening and loosening easy and no messing around!

The second stage was to push the set up into the ground. In this circumstance I was setting up on hard ground but still found it easy to push the set up into the ground and once in, they were very sturdy. When I was pushing, they felt solid as though they could withstand alot of pressure unlike the cygnet snugs I'm currently using which feel weak and unsturdy.

Once in the ground I found I needed to heighten one end to make the rods sit how I wanted them to. With the great feature of the Trent-LoQ clamping mechanism it was easy and sufficient. I could also remove the key to stop any tangles and connect to my keys so I didn't lose it. I found this a very good idea. It also made everything look sleek and sexy which is what various anglers want with their set ups and with these you certainly get that!

Heightening device, key can also be removed to stop any tangles!

After all that I managed to start fishing. The sun was shining but at some points the wind was hacking into the bay I was fishing, but the Dinky's withstood everything that was thrown at them and stood solid not giving me any false indication unlike other products. I was also fortunate enough to get a take and they still stood strong and didn't move even when the rod was ripping round all in all I was very pleased with them and would most certainly change from my cygnet snugs to these. I would also recommend them to anyone who is looking to use buzz bars and not a rod pod!

The name small and sophisticated just like the product! 

sleek and sexy

sitting proud!

Wendy and Martin have written me a article explaining more about the company and things to come.



About Roe Industries

Star-Flite is a trading name of Roe Industries
Based on Martin’s 25 years experience of manufacturing and business management.  Roe Industries was founded in 2005 by husband and wife team Martin & Wendy Roe.

Initially the business was formed to support the needs of customers, in the rail, food and hydraulics industries, to whom it has supplied specialist control valves, food sensing equipment and various hydraulic components.

The company has invested heavily in technology and skills and now also supplies components for offshore projects, aerospace tooling, selected military specification parts along with precision assemblies used in cutting edge bio-sciences.
Concentrating on Computer Numeric Control (CNC) milling and turning.  Roe Industries offers the capacity to supply very accurate components from a single item right through to hundreds.  Complementing our machining skills and capabilities we also supply small precision fabrications and food grade specialist polishing carried out on patented fluid control valves.

Roe Industries has built its reputation on supplying a reliable service with high quality, competitive products. 

To demonstrate the quality of service and product supplied, Roe Industries has been awarded prestigious membership to the Guild of Master Craftsmen and to date is the only manufacturer of fishing equipment within the Guilds carefully selected members.


Star-Flite


Understanding the desires of today’s carp anglers, we have developed the new range of Dinky S3 buzz bars that are ultra-tight for the most conscientious of anglers.  The Dinky S3 buzz bars are all 2 rod fixed in sizes 4.5”, 5.5” and 6.5” making them
some of the smallest on the market.

The S3 bank sticks also come in 3 adjustable lengths – 12-19”, 16-28” and 20-35”.  The latter has been chosen to help not only still water carp anglers but also river anglers who want really reliable strong equipment when targeting big carp bream and barbel.

The S3 bank sticks are made up from 10 separate components.  Every machined component is individually hand finished and built into the final product exclusively by Roe Industries.  The main feature is the superior Trent-LoQ clamping mechanism that is exclusive to Star-Flite.  It comprises of 6 items that operate to give a massive clamping force on the adjustable rod even when your hands are cold and wet or even when wearing gloves.  This feature is of great benefit to all anglers including predator hunters in the depths of winter.  The pin is secured into the clamp housing so that it won’t fall out but can be removed and attached to a key ring, lanyard or even the zip on your bivvy.  Once the pin is removed, the bank stick offers a strong smooth, sleek outline massively reducing the chance of line becoming snagged in windy conditions.

New Products

As we speak the MKII Trent Launcher pod is undergoing final tests and developments and will be available in the market over the next few months. 
   
We will also be supplying ‘Planet bobbins’.  These are solid stainless steel hand polished to a mirror finish, with coloured anodised aluminium versions in time.

On the list for new products are; snag ears, stabilizers, goal post style Tetrad pod.

Hook Review Korda Wide Gape Size 10

For Fantackletastic! 

Well I'm back! As some of you may already know my computer had to go in for repair around 2 weeks ago. I've only just got it back so I haven't blogged about any of my fishing trips for a while but I have been doing well catching a few stunning fish. I will put the photos up at a later date! So on to the objective in hand, while I've been away I have been talking to a local tackle shop near to me, Fantackletastic ( Lincoln's largest interactive tackle shop) and they asked me to do a product review on the Korda wide gape size 10. So with this to do it was straight to the bank!

Well were to start? As I'm quite aware a few well known angler's have reviewed the Korda hooks but this is what I found/experienced. When taking the Korda hook from the packet it appeared to be fairly shiny. As part of my rigs I prefer to use a dull hook as I think a shiny hook can glare in the water making it easier for the fish to see. 

Up next was the sharpness test; I'm sure everybody does this when taking a hook from the packet. (Well I hope you do!) I found the hook to be fairly blunt in comparison to the RC Tackle Hooks I currently use. I had to put a fair bit of pressure on to it to pierce my skin. I wouldn't have expected this from Korda, being a global tackle brand. Compared to the hooks I have been using I personally felt the Korda hook didn't meet my expectations.

I've heard and seen on social media a lot of people slating the hooks from Korda saying they bend and snap easily. On my 24 hour session at the A1 pits I wasn't fortunate enough to hook into a fish but dedicated as I am on my way back I nipped down to the local lake to try hook a fish and put them to the test! And that I did. It wasn't a monster only around the 14lb mark but I can now say for myself that the hook didn't bend or snap and the hook hold wasn't bad considering the hook wasn't overly sharp. 

So the conclusion to my review is they are too shiny for my personal preference and they are not as sharp as the hooks I currently use leaving me feeling a hook pull is more likely to happen. The price difference is also an issue for me with the Korda hooks being £ for 10 and the hooks I'm using being £2 for 10 and the overall quality from RC Tackle Developments being to a much higher standard. The choice is easy for me!

I would just like to say that I will continue to be using the hooks from RC Tackle Developments and  everything said is MY opinion and based on my experience!

Korda wide gape size 10

   

RC Tackle wide gape size 10, as you can see much sharper than the ones from Korda

I would just like to say a big thank you to Fantackletastic for giving me the opportunity to do this. My next review is on the eagerly awaited Korda Krank Hook which has been released today nationwide. I will be posting within the next week. 

Short day session local lake!

 Haverholme Carp Lake 

Quick day session 2nd April 2014 and 5th April 2014 

 Hi guys sorry I haven't been on for a while, with 

work being so busy and not having much time for anything let alone fishing. I've still been keeping myself busy and trying to better myself within the angling community. I've recently been put on to a very good bait company called Carp Bait Solutions (CBS for short) and have used there bait on a mid week session this week and my oh my it speaks for its self! They do a range of boilies, pop ups, stick mixes and glug's. I was using there LO30 and I can say it reeps carp, it absolutely stinks and their matching pop ups make a great combination. I was fishing a local lake to me called Haverholme Park Lake. I had been going for a look around a couple of nights before and could see a lot of carp toping down the bottom end furthest away from the carp park, so when I finally got down there that's were I headed straight away armed with the LO30 I was confident in a bite.

I chose to fish swim 18 and was confident I would catch on chods as I have done many times before. I was using naked chod set up also armed with the pre tied chods from Rc Tackle Development by far the sharpest hooks around. I opted to use a 16mm white LO30 pop up on one rod and a 16mm yellow AS-1 pop up on another, casting them out into the middle of the lake and scattering 10mm and 16mm LO30 freebies around the spots.

10 minutes went by and whack the rod was off!! I struck into the fish and straight away it bolted to the lilly stems off to the right. I battled the fish slowly through the stems and it came free after a couple of minutes and it rolled over my awaiting net! I could see from looking in the net it was a nice fish. I got the fish out the water and got her on the matt looking at the hook hold it was bang on, no way was she getting off! I carefully got her on the scales and she weighed in at just over 14lbs. Not a monster but none the less a cracking fish!. 

LO30 doing the bizz

Other side!

After taking pictures and returning the fish I got the rod straight back out on the spot with another couple of handfulls of the LO30 around the awaiting chod rig! Well it wasn't long before I was hooked into another fish. To be honest it didn't feel like a nice fish, it was a very lethargic and coming into my net very easily, but I'm not going to moan it was another fish and bigger than what I first though! 

low double but look at those scales!

Other side!

All in all I was very happy with the way this session was coming together. I got the rod back out on the spot again putting a few freebies on the spot, everything went quite for a while then once again the rod ripped off this time it was the other rod, unfortunately I lost this fish in the lily stems! Gutted wasn't the word but hey you get back up and carry on. I had a few more bites in this session but they weren't really big enough to get the camera out for!

I planned to return on Saturday the 5th of April and I did just that. I was only fishing for a few hours in the morning as the Missis was at work. Again armed with the LO30 and the same tactics as during the week I choose to fish a different peg a little further up, number 21 to be precise. Again I casted both chod's out and scattered an array of 10mm and 16mm LO30 freebies around the spot. An hour or so later I got a single bleep on the delk which made me confident for a bite. I wasn't wrong a few moments later the bobbin shot up to the rod and the clutch started to race, I struck into the fish straight away it headed to the right, back towards the lily stems. I managed to avert him away and back out into open water, 10 or so minutes later I pulled him over the net and my heart stopped racing. I left him in the water for a few seconds to get his breath back and to give me a chance to sort the mat out and get my breath back myself! As I lifted him out of the water I could see it was a nice fish again, falling to a deadly combination of the naked chod rig topped with a white 16mm LO30 pop up and 16mm LO30 freebies! I must say I've had a few great sessions and hopefully there not going to stop but until next time folks TIGHT LINES!

Another mid double!

first session 2014

First session of 2014

Saturday 11th January 2014

Old Mill Lakes

Hello again Guys and Girls hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year its time for new challenges and experiences for myself as some of you may know my target water this year is Old Mill at Market Rasen im after a new pb and hopfully my first 30+ carp I will also be fishing a few other waters but mainly concentrating on Old Mill.

Anyway onto the fishing I got down to the lake around 9 half 9 I wonted to get hear early to get the whole weekend at them, I was fishing with a mate of mine called Rick Preston another keen angler. We got all our gear onto the barrows and got up to the lake from the car park, after looking around the lake we both decided to fish the middle bank which sort of separates the new and old side Rick chose to fish the old side and I chose to fish into the new side near were I had "ARNIE" last time I was down hear. I managed to get both rods in by 10 o'clock, my left hand rod I was fishing a multi rig tied with 15lbs N-Trap a size 8 wide gape from Rc Tackle and a bright pink fruitella pop up on the hair I also scattered around 50 whole boilies on the spot I was fishing, my right hand rod I was using the ever faithful naked chod rig which I got the bite last time I was down, im also fishing it with a bright pink fruitella pop up and 50 or so boilies around the spot. The boilies im using this year are from bad boy baits which Paul Heseltine scouted me and asked weather I would like to join the team and happily I did, im using the Carribean boilie from the range and im looking forward to using there baits this year!. 

Carribean from badboy baits

     

After getting the rods in I got the bivvy up and everything else sorted out then got the kettle boiling away. I got a couple of liners about 15 mins after the right hand rod went out on the spot this was a good sign for myself means there is fish in the swim. I sat on that till about half 2 were I put another load of boilies over the top of my recasted rigs. 

The set-up

Nothing happened and darkness was coming in quick so I recasted and baited with a few more boilies by then darkness had fell and I took shelter indoors!. The weather had took a turn, the wind had dropped but the frost was setting in, the hours past and everything was quite. Around half 9 I had a screaming run only to find out that a swan had picked my line up bloody things! so I reeled that rod in and recasted back out onto the spot, after I had sunk the line and put the bobbin on I settled back into the bivvy and tryed to get some sleep.

Everything was quite through the night with the temp dropping to around -4, I woke around 7 with a loverly frost on the ground I recasted and got the kettle straight on.

    

A couple of lads had turned up and I was speaking to them they was only on a short day session, they dropped into the pegs next to us one lad was fishing zigs and straight away he was getting line bites this made me think the fish were in the area. I gave it half hour he was still getting liners so I decided to put a zig on around the 4ft mark and fish it into 7ft of water, couple of hours pasted still no joy Chris had been round and spoken to me he said have a move around and try to locate the fish so thats what i did!. I moved a couple of pegs down from Rick fishing to the old side just to try and locate the fish, I gave it about an hour in the peg not even a liner I was confident there wasn't anything in the area so again I moved around into the old side this time fishing from the disabled peg which is the other end of the lake to were I was fishing just to try get an indictaion into where the fish were. I gave it an hour or so still no joy I came back around to my original peg near were rick was fishing I went to see him he had decided to pack up and get off he had work tomorrow, im now staying another night as I have no work on Monday so happy days lets see if we can get a bite!. I helped him pack away and get off he left around half 2 3 o'clock after that I got back to my original peg and got the rods back out on the spots and another load of boilies over the top, I had decided to sit on that for the rest of the night and just hope for a bite. I introduced a little more bait just before dark not much just a little  to top the swim up.

The morning after the night before well.... I was getting liners through out the night but nothing came of it but as for the rain well it certainly chucked it down. I woke around 7 just before first light I had decided to take a walk around the lake so that's what I did stoping in a few different swims to try get on the fish and get a last minute bite as I was leaving around 9/10 o'clock after a couple of hours trying different swims nothing came of it so I decided to call it a day even tho I blanked im sure im a step closer to catching one however I have enjoyed it as always and cannot wait to get back!

Tightlines!    

Sun set on the 1st night

Christmas Special

Old Mill

The Swim!

Hello again guys and girls on this session I was back down at Old Mill, Market rasen. I was meant to be coming hear Christmas day for 3 nights but Chris the owner was going away as it was Christmas and all so I decided I would fish saturday the 21st till Christmas eve as I needed to get my time on the bank. 

 

I got to the lake around 11 I already had an idea of where I wonted to fish so I got the gear on the barrow and pushed it up to the lake, Birch was the lake I was targeting. As i got there nobody was in the peg I wonted to fish so straight away I got over there. I stood and looked out at the water for about 10 mins just to see if anything showed as with the strong wind pushing in I would expect it to be moving the fish about. Anyway after being stood there seeing nothing I still decided to get set up hear. I quickly got the bivvy up and everything set out inside, got the bank sticks in the ground and got all 3 rods together. I was fishing 3 rods for this session to try cover all areas. 

On the left hand rod I was using a naked chod rig with a size 8 barbless choddy tied by RC Tackle  for the bait I was using Mainlines Hi-visual fruit-tella pop ups, smell awesome and there a nice bright pink. I used the same set up on my middle rod but was casting it out into open water. On my 3rd rod the right hand rod I was using the maggot rig I have changed a few things since I last used it. Its tied with 15 lbs N-trap soft down to a size 8 curve also from Rc Tackle on the hair I have tied a micro swivel to attach the maggots to with a length of floss, I also put this in conjunction with a pva bag of dead maggots just so I knew there was some bait around my hook. I managed to get all 3 rods set up and out by half 12 so i sat back put kettle on and watched the water for a while. 

 

Pop ups I was using on the chods

 

I gave it about an hour before I gave all 3 rods a recast, my left hand rod I brought in abit closer and more to the left just in front of the small island. My middle rod back out in front out in open water and the right hand rod over to the right closer to the far margin.

 

 

The time passed I had made my dinner and had a brew and was just sorting things out before it got dark around 4 o'clock the bang my left hand rod ripped off I struck into it and my heart started racing I was into my first fish after 5 blanks my hard work had finally paid off!. I carefully played the fish it didn't feel massive but was putting up a good fight! and I didnt wont to loose it. As I got it closer I got the net in the water and I saw the fish for the first time it wasn't an Old Mill chunk but a little stocky common never the less it was a fish, I finally got it over the net and it was in!. As i was dealing with the fish in the net another angler came over and lent a hand he had brought his scales so wen I got the fish out the water we weighted him 10lbs bang on even tho it was small I was buzzing!. We did pictures for Chris's records the returned the fish safely back to the water and the rod went back out on the spot with a few more freebies around it. As i got settled back into the bivvy it was dark by now, i sent the pictures to Chris and he confirmed the fish was called "ARNIE" stocked 2 years ago it was out last year at 3lbs so in that year it had put on 7lbs been on a right much happy days!.

"ARNIE" 10lbs

After all that i got settled in for the night the wind was really picking up at one point I thought I might have got blown away! and the rain was smashing it down making it hard to get to sleep. it was a quite night on the fishing front only a couple of liner but i could quite easily of been the wind. I woke up around 7 got all 3 rods rebaited and cast back out!. I had breakfast a loverly fry up always sorts you out in the morning and a hot cuppa.

 

The hours went by and everything seemed very quite i was sat watching the water hadn't seen anything moving but the weather was taking a turn for the worse, It eventually got dark I had recast all 3 rods and baited up for the night it was hard to get them on the stop with the wind being so strong but we got there! all was quite through the night I woke early doors with the wind howling and rain pouring down I had spoke to a couple of other angler who had walked round they hadnt seen anything and everything was quite on the other side of the lake around dinner I rang the mother and she had informed me that the weather was meant to get worst on the monday night so with this in my head i decided to cut the session short and go home I was happy with what I had achieved finally got myself a fish even if it was small but hopefully next time I can bag one of the chunks!.

 

 Tighlines