Catch Reports
Long Distance Whacker!
Posted in Catch Reports on 29th August 2009Eddie Johnson from Conwy, North Wales has been making the 480-mile round trip to St Ives lagoon in search of the Fat Lady on a regular basis, but last week he finally managed to nail his target fish! Arriving on the Monday for a 4-night session he introduced 4kg of B5 boilies close to a weedbed at 60-yards and continued topping up the spot with 1.5kg daily because he saw the odd fish show including what could well have been the big one.
On the Thursday morning Jon Mac, who was fishing next door joined him for a brew and as they sat there chatting, Eddie’s right hand rod burst into life! After a spirited scrap during which the fish weeded up for a while, Jon waded out up to his waist in water to finally slip the net under what was obviously a very big carp. The look on Jon’s face said it all - it was Eddie’s target fish – ‘The Fat Lady’ at a weight of 55lb 3oz! We know Jon’s time will come, but for now it was Eddie’s moment. Well done that man, and once again – top B5 bombing!
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.
