Catch Reports

Colin Hunt's 'em down!

Posted in Catch Reports on 07th November 2011

We've recently received a couple of belated catch reports from long term Essential Bait user Colin Hunt. The first from ealier in the year from a notoriously tricky Glos gravel pit where he used our customised B5 with Squid & Black Pepper to extract a gorgeous looking mirror known as Moonscale at a weight of 39lb 12oz.

More recently, Colin visited 'The Manor' in Oxfordshire and once again, using our B5 with Squid & Black Pepper was rewarded with another very big fish. This one, known as 'The Football' went 41lb 6oz and was part of a meritable six fish catch. It doesn't seem any fish is safe once the B5 hits the water! Good work Colin.


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.