Catch Reports
Top Marks Fudgy!
Posted in Catch Reports on 11th July 2007Ageing carper Dave (Fudgy) Fuidge from Bristol has recently managed to bank himself a couple of whackers from a notoriously difficult low stocked Berkshire venue – so he tells us! Dave managed to spot a few carp showing in a different area of the lake and broke the habit of a lifetime by moving swims and putting himself in pole position!
A couple of kilo’s of Shellfish B5 boilies and matching B5 pellets were then presented over a silty patch at the edge of a big weed bed at 60 yards range. Just three DVD’s later and Fudgy was slipping the net under this awesome 38lb 8oz mirror, shortly followed by a cracking 31lb 4oz common. Good angling old fella!
Hard Hook Baits (Mike's view)
There are often times throughout the season when I find myself having to use hard hook baits. There’s nothing worse than reeling in after you’ve seen a frenzied amount of fishing activity over your baited area, only to find that your hook baits have been nibbled away by nuisance fish! Some venues are obviously more prone to nuisance fish activity than others, but it’s not just nuisance fish that can be a problem. Diving birds or even pick ups from swans will often result in ‘missing hook baits’!
Hard hook baits will alleviate this problem, in fact, I actually think it’s advantageous when a diving bird picks up my hard hook bait. It gives me confidence that my presentation is good, and as the bird drops the rig, I actually believe it straightens everything out and gives me a better presentation that I can achieve via casting. I can remember fishing at Frampton some years ago, when the only time I could seemingly get a bite, was after a coot had picked up and dropped my hard hook bait!
Top Tip
After you’ve made a batch of hard hookers, leave them out on a towel to air dry for at least ten days, preferably in a warm dry place. Once they have sufficiently dried out, put them in a polythene bag and add a small amount of ‘Boilie Glug’ or ‘Liquid Food’ and shake well. For extra convenience transfer them to an empty pop-up jar or similar before placing them in the fridge or the freezer until needed. If keeping in the fridge, make sure you give them a good shake every few days and top up the liquid if and as required.
