Joe Carass takes a close look at a new family of hooks that is already gaining favour with many top anglers on the match circuit… Even though I’m very young (well, compared to editor Dave Harrell) my angling career stretches over more than 18 years, and the original Preston PR range of hooks seems to have been available for as long as I can remember! There were many cult hooks among that range and I’ve had loads of success using several of the various patterns available. They were hugely popular but, as with all things, technologies move on and hooks can be produced nowadays that are even better than when the original range was first produced. So, having used so many of the old PR range I couldn’t wait to see what the lads at Preston had come up with in their new range. It comprises five hook patterns, which is quite a small range, but it complements the existing PR competition range of barbed hooks and the PR eyed range perfectly.
Given the rigours of everyday commercial fishing a quality reel line is a must these days, and this Berkley mono looks ideal. It is nice and smooth and casts very well. Supplied on 1,500-yard spools at a very competitive price, this will be ideal for the angler who has plenty of reels to fill with line. RRP: £10.
Dave Harrell runs the rule over the latest family of rods to come out of the Japanese tackle giant’s factory in Scotland… Every so often I find myself wondering if tackle companies can actually come up with anything new in terms of rod developments. The raw carbon fibre materials now being used haven’t changed significantly for a number of years so the only things that can be worked with are actions and cosmetics. This new family of six rods from Daiwa actually came about as a result of rods that the Scottish factory developed for the Italian market and, to use Daiwa’s words, they ‘break the rules of rod making. ’There’s no cork in sight on any of these new Airity rods as each one has a tapered butt section, which blends into its own sculptured handle and unique reel seat.
Dacron connectors are all the rage at present and these versions from Maver look great. They are available in three sizes to suit elastics from a tiny No1 right up to a 20+ Dual Core, so no matter what elastic you prefer there will be a connector here to suit. Supplied with three in a pack. RRP: £2.
When anglers of the calibre of Darren Cox and Steve Cooke work together to design a rod range you can probably expect something pretty good. Dave Harrell takes a look at their work… Match rod actions are something that have interested me for many years and having been involved in rod designs and developments myself in a previous career I like to think I know a bit when it comes to passing judgement on them. This new range of four feeder rods has been developed by Darren Cox and Steve Cooke, two incredibly successful feeder anglers in their own rights with a long list of match wins behind them on various waters around the UK, so as you can probably imagine I was looking forward to having a look at the finished products when they arrived at the Match Fishing office. My first reaction when I took all four rods out of the bags and set them up was one of surprise, as I’d expected to waggle another set of soft, parabolic through-action rods, which seems to be the current trend with virtually every rod producer.
Chard AC members fished the penultimate round of the Spring League in glorious conditions at Perry St Pond on Sunday. Perry St Pond, Somerset. 20 fished. The top weights were excellent and the top two in the league took the top two spots on the day.
Sensas is making big inroads into the commercial-fishery bait market and its brand-new range of soft pellets caught the eye of Joe Carass at a recent trade show – he just had to take a closer look. A nglers who fish commercial venues are spoilt for choice! Not only have they got hundreds of venues around the country to fish, they also have hundreds of baits with which to target the fish! There are many brands on the bait market these days and it’s often difficult to gain an edge over other competitors. Sensas has looked at this problem, and it would have been very easy for the company to re-badge some bulk-bought pellets and sell them on. It didn’t want to do this, however, and set out to design a range of soft pellets that would appeal to every angler who visits commercial venues… and that’s where the new commercial-fishery range of soft hooker pellets comes in.
With my busy schedule with work and with the Dynamite Baits festival coming up at White Acres, I decided to have a bit of time off this weekend. I did however manage to sneak a couple of hours in last night after work. I decided to have a short session at The Banks fishery at Barby, Jon, Tom and I had a walk around last week and I was really impressed with the venue. It is a 106-peg snake lake that is very diverse, there is a long straight that used to be an old canal and then the fishery turns into a very twisty snake lake with lots of little arms.
Well it has just been that time of the year when hundreds of anglers make their pilgrimage to sunny Cornwall (well sometimes anyway) for a crack at the White Acres festivals. I try to do at two festivals a year but after missing last years Preston festival due to work commitments (the one where sharing partner Lee kerry netted a cool £29K) I was really keen to get back. I have quite a good record at White Acres so I always give it my all to make that continue. The main thing about the ‘Acres’ is that you need a run of draws that give you a chance to compete.
It has been a while since my last blog, but it has been a couple of months filled with activity here at DHP towers! First we said goodbye to Dave Harrell who left his post here at Match Fishing to pursue other interests. This was a shock to us all and I know that many people will miss him. Luckily we have managed to snare Alex Bones, who I’m sure plenty of you will know for his hair cut, and the bit of fishing that he does occasionally! Alex will be a great asset to the mag and hopefully we can go from strength to strength and keep improving the mag! Anyway I have had an up and down few weeks fishing. Spawning fish have made lakes fish poor and go very peggy and I seem to have avoided the fish more than normal! I have managed a win and a second up at the Oaks but this week saw the frustration return!Saturday saw me on Cedar Lake.
