DH FISHING |
Probably one of the most hotly anticipated reels in a long time, the Shimano XTD's are so sleek it's ridiculous. Infact, in a word, they're simply gorgeous. I finally decided it was time to retire the trusty Crosscasts and invest..... I simply could not resist!
If you shop around you can pick them up for as little as £120 per reel and in my opinion there isn't another reel that comes close in terms of aesthetics, even it's big brother the infamous Black Mag. Boasting loads of features, such as:
They are extremely smooth and the line lay is exceptional and if you wish to have a perfectly flat line lay, simply remove the spool and insert one thick and one thin washer that come supplied. For the best deal i'd recommend giving erics angling a call on 01430 440 034.
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I never could get my head around paying £13 a spool for hooklength material, maybe i'm just tight, but with so many options out there in terms of braided materials, i felt settling with one product was best for me. The Kameleon is a coated 'two tone' camou braid that changes colour every few inches to help it blend in to the lakebed and this is what makes it so versatile - not to mention the price is miles cheaper than many of the products out there at £4.99 (give or take) a spool and Suffix is a tried and tested brand that has been about for years! The beauty of the Kameleon is you can use it with or without the coating and the two tone colour means you can use it on light coloured lakebeds, but when you are fishing over darker stuff, the dark green sections blend in well - or you can do what i do and do the old marker trick and colour them in! This saves on having to buy 3 or 4 different colours of hooklink material to suit different fishing situations! I use it in 25lb, for all of the rigs i like to use and when stripped back i've found it to be nice and flexible, but not so much so tangles are a risk. Not once has it let me down. More recently i also decided to give the Camo Skin a go, also in 25lb and i have been equally impressed. The Camo Skin is slightly different to the Kameleon in that it has a continuous colour and i've found it to be slightly less stiff with the coating on, but just as easy to work with either way. So all in all, if you are looking for a hooklink material that won't break the bank and won't let you down then i'd seriously recommend looking at these or any other products from the Suffix stable. All good tackle shops will stock it.
Tight lines, Dan Whilst i have be edging my way in to world of Carp rigs it became apparent to me very quickly that the possibilities with rigs are endless, which lead me to conclude i needed to nail down a couple of specific 'go to' rigs for the lions share of my fishing - and what hooks to use with them. With hooks i'm open to trying different types from different manufacturers, but over the past 18 months i have settled on PB Products Chod Pattern, Fox SR's, Drennan Super Specialist's and Gardner Mugga's. I have found all four of them to be reliable for fishing Multi rigs, blow back set ups and KD's respectively. PB's Chod I've landed the vast majority of my Carp on these hooks throughout the past 18 months, as with my favourite rig being the multi-rig they are perfect for the job. I've found them to be very sharp and also quite resistant to blunting easily and as a consequence i've dropped hardly any fish at all on them. I have also found these to be spot on for surface fishing due to the actuely out turned eye, when sidehooking baits. They are also very well priced at £3.99 per pack. Fox Arma Point SR I got on to these hooks more recently having been advised that they were good quality hooks. Although the Arma Point's have been around for a long while they are one hook i'd never really got round to trying until now. So far i've been happy enough with them and i intend to alternate between these and the previous pattern purely from an experimental point of view. They are slightly more expensive at £4.25, which seems to be the going rate, but they do come in a neat little clip container. Drennan Super Specialist The Super Specialists are a hook that have stood the test of time and are a favourite with many. I bought a couple of packets early 2014 to give them a try, due to having one or two issues with other brands and on the occasions i have fished bottom baits, these have served me well and i've since seen no real reason to change. They are very strong and due to the inturned eye and point they are aggressive with or without a shrink kicker. They sell for around £3.90 give or take, so are well priced. Gardner Mugga's During 2013, in among the fish i was getting using the ever reliable multi rig, the KD was also proving effective from time to time, for presenting wafters and they are also good for solid bag fishing. Gardner Mugga's need no introduction and i found them perfect for the job. They are ridiculously sharp, with a needle fine point and i have observed the points do burr quite easily, but they don't half nail the fish. Can't recall losing one on them if i'm honest! At around £4.25 a pack they are again that bit more expensive, but very effective! Loads of different manufacturers make the equivalent of the patterns above and in my opinion for 90% of your fishing they are all you are ever likely to need and will cover a whole multitude of rig situations. Simple is best and there's no real need to over-complicate things. I'll be putting together another little post detailing the rigs to use with these hooks soon.
Tight lines, Dan. In the summer of 2014 i had a niggling urge to get myself a pole again to have the option to do a bit after the silverfish from time to time when to mood took me.
Due to financial restraints i needed something strong, not too heavy and fairly rigid at full length without costing an arm and a leg. After having a look in a tackle shop i settled on the Maver Strong arm 11m, which was suitable for both fishing for small Carp and Tench when needed an on the canal too. Having now used it for a while for different fish and purposes i've found it handles Carp and Tench well but it is also good whilst after the silvers on the canal, even at full length. For under £150 it really is a great little bit of kit for the pleasure angler who doesn't need to be fishing miles out, who needs versatility. The pole has very little flex in the walls and is rated to 20+ elastics, so is more than capable of handling those big carp that inhabit our commercial fisheries. Personally i have had fish to 7 or 8lb on it. It is most definitely at home on the canal though and i have found it easy to ship and use even when wet, which can cause some poles to be a real pain to use. Weighs 976g at 11m, although with the power kits fitted you'll be fishing at around 10.5m to allow for larger elastics. Would reccommend to anyone. Tight Lines, Dan As i've not got the funds to reach the higher echelons in the market, in 2012 i was on the look out for a pair of 'big pit' reels to replace my Shimano 6000 GTE-B's as i felt i needed the step up in relation to what i was doing. After looking around i needed something for under £60 ideally and i came accross the then newly released Crosscast S Reels and thought they looked ok for the money. Did a bit of shopping around and i was soon in possession of a pair. At first glance they're a nice looking piece of kit in my eyes. For £50 (if you shop around) you can't go wrong really. The only thing i don't like about them is the handles, but for the tackle tarts that is a quick fix as Crosscast X and Windcast handles with the hexagonal attachment do fit if you were that way inclined and wanted to convert. Of course they are not as mechanically advanced as it's Windcast Cousins and is certainly not in the same league as the higher value reels such as DD Whiskers, Entoh's, Tournaments, ISO's and Basia's. That said they do boast a few features commonplace in the Daiwa stable including; Aluminum spool, Digigear, Twistbuster, Infinite Anti Reverse, T-shape handle knob, Crosswrap and Advanced Locomotive Level wind. Plus it retrieves over 1m of line per turn of the handle. So after around 2 and a half years use mine are still going smooth and i've had no issues with them as yet. I've not serviced or cleaned them once either. So if you are after a reasonably priced 'starter' big pit reel on the market, i'd reccommend them. For those who want just that slightly better quality in the gubbings, the 'X' model is also well worth a look.
Tight Lines, Dan |