Catch Reports
Frogmore Leather for Barry
Posted in Catch Reports on 14th April 2011The famous Frogmore leather has recently tripped up on the B5 (again!) and this time to the rods of Barry Adl AKA 'Barry the Blade!! Barry used a customised version of the B5 to tempt the big leather, which weighed in at 37lbs exactly.
It's certainly not the first time this fish has fallen for the B5 (and won't be the last!). Barry has been trickling in the B5 in preparation for the spring feeding spell and knew that the high food bait qualities of the B5 would give him a massive edge over other baits being used - he wasn't wrong! Well done Barry from all at Essential HQ.
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.
