I picked up a metal detector from bigboyshobbies, So far all my free time has gone into metal detecting. I bought a Garrett AT Pro and I’m thinking about starting a metal detecting blog.

I have some new tackle reviews to get posted before the end of the season, I’ll do my best to get them live. Until then… it’s back to the treasure hunt!!

Give Enough Thought

Have you decided which fly fishing rod you should buy? Are you having trouble finalizing which is the one you want to go with? Sometimes, this could be a might task. You can have many thoughts in your mind like is it right to by my gut feeling, am I going to be sitting by the lake and fishing or going to be on my boat while I wait for my catch? You must consider how long your rod should be but equally important is the action that the rod can perform.

How Much The Rod Bows

Fly fishing rods are known for the way they bend. The more they are able to bend; it means that these fly fishing rods are excellent. You can do a simple check if your rod has the necessary bend. The measure for this is the more direct force applied on the rod, the rod bends more.

Does Your Rod Bend A Lot

If you have rods which bend very less, then these fly fishing are called fast rods. These are famous for their minimal bend. They give more momentum to your fishing. The distance covered is much too. You may love this fact when you start. But with time, this can become a problem and you may not enjoy fishing much. This is because the speed and the accuracy of the throw. These are some qualities only veteran anglers possess. So if you are one, then you know how to manage this situation. If not, then it could be a problem.

Midway Bending

Wondering what this is? Well the rod which only goes halfway to bending. These are also quite supple but only at the upper end of the rod. So you do not have to worry if you have the aptness of throw and timing but a little would only help you. You will have added up all this if you have been fishing for some time now and you know how to handle this rod.

Mild Bending

Beginners are advised to start fishing with a rod which has a mild bending to it so that they can practice their cast to perfection. On the other hand, a few feel that rods with maximum bend should be the choice.

Choose with your head rather than your heart to make your fly fishing trip an enjoyable and a memorable one. If not, you can get irritated and upset.There are many producers who have many unique fishing rods to offer in their sales outlets or through internet deals. So one may feel a little flabbergasted with so many rods and would be a little confused on which is their pick. The kind of fishing you are intending to you usually is the yardstick with which you decide a particular rod measures up or not. Now there are a lot of rods which you can buy to make your fishing easy and enjoyable.

I think in total I have around $700 invested in this rod pod setup. Most say that is an absolutely barmy amount of money to spend on a rod pod, but I can assure you, after my 5th use, this pod is going to last me a lifetime.

You can configure the matrix patriot rod pod pretty much exactly how you like, almost al’a carte. I went for the “super slinky” setup as I already had 2 slinky bank sticks and loved them. The pod comes in slinky (thinner, lighter) rock solid (thicker, heavier) and regular, which fits most size bank sticks (like solar)

You can also customize how many rods you want the pod for – this was a huge deal for me as I fish in Oregon and we are only allowed 2 rods, you can buy 2,3 and 4 rod versions of the snag bars for this pod.

Everything about this rod pod screams quality, and you would hope so to for the price. I can set it up in about 90 seconds, another huge factor as I don’t want to be fiddling with gear when I first get to my swim. As far as stability goes, even with the slinky version, it’s as solid as a rock. You need a coin to tighten the thumb screws, I’d recommend a British pound coin for this.

So far I’ve caught my 2 biggest fish (a 25 and a 20) whilst using this pod, with plenty of smaller ones too. Even on the hardest of takes, the pod itself didn’t move an inch, even with my rod bent at an almost 45 degree angle.

Another great feature for this pod is the “pod roll” basically, the whole thing collapses into almost nothing then slots securley into a heavy duty roll which velcros together and fits right into a standard size rucksack.

You can also purchase the stage stands. This allows the pod to be setup on just about any surface imaginable.

Some people say this is the best pod ever made and you need to spend money if you want quality. I’ve only owned 3 pods so far and this one is about a thousand times better than my previous, though it is on the heavy side. A must buy if your looking to buy 1 set of quality gear to last you a life time.

Korda exploded onto the scene boasting incredible innovation, intelligent thinking and some excellent fishing personalities behind them.  They have been responsible for almost redefining how a lot of carp anglers fish. I fell in love with korda thanks to Danny fairbrass’s sheer enthusiasm for the sport and the drive and determination to make it better.

Korda now have a tackle range any of the big boys would be proud of, boasting some of the finest quality end tackle on the market. Everything from hooks to spods, markers to PVA, these guys have gone 2 steps ahead of everyone else in this industry and made absolutely everything better.

Rather than reviewing each piece I own induvidually, I’m just going to list some of the best investments i’ve ever made with carp fishing:

Hooklength material: Korda softcoated, stiff, hybrid and IQ are without any shadow of a doubt my favourite hooklink materials on the planet. They are the only hook lengths that are in my tacklebox and go with me to every session.

Hooks: Well, what can you say – from the Korda Kurv to the longshank and widegape’s, Korda make the best range of hooks on the market, period. All coated with teflon and dulled down to not glint (like all korda end zone tackle) these are simply the best hooks available for carp fishing.

Toolz : Did I mention these guys are genius’s? I never leave home without my razorblades, Krusha, strippa and pulla.

PVA: Quality stuff in a variety of sizes, my favorite is the regular for making very small bags.

Bits: The Kwik change, Stick Kwick change, leaders, action packs, backleads, I own about 2 of just about everything they sell. The marker float kit including the stem, bead, lead and float is untouchable in the market place.

DVD’s: Big fan of the Korda team and everything they produce, obviously the favorites is the underwater series. If you haven’t watched it yet, go and buy it.

Personality: Ali Hamidi, I love this guy in front of the camera, would love to go fishing with him one day, really, really knows his stuff.

If your just getting into carp fishing and are looking for the best stuff out there – go with korda, along with Chub it is my number 1 recommendation for gear. You will not be disappointed.

]]> http://fishing-carp.com/korda-fishing-tackle-tools-dvds-and-pva-review/feed 0 http://fishing-carp.com/chub-vantage-framed-holdall-with-bivvy-table-review http://fishing-carp.com/chub-vantage-framed-holdall-with-bivvy-table-review#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:15:40 +0000 Sy http://fishing-carp.com/?p=73 It’s time again to review my latest and greatest purchase. I’ve just upgraded my holdall from the chub rigger bag to the chub vantage carryall. Let me just say firstly – this is the greatest innovation in carp tackle ever!

The chub vantage comes in 3 sizes and like all chub luggage, it’s all in the excellent carpy green canvas. I got the medium version, it also comes in large and extra large.

The medium version when empty is incredibly light considering it has steel bars and aluminum supports. It’s actually shockingly light at 18lbs. fully loaded with the usual bait, tackle boxes, lunch and thermos, it can easily top 50lbs so that that into consideration before purchasing.

Carrying it to the swim from my car is no fun, the steel support bars can really dig into you, though the extra padded shoulder strap is lovely, I think the next version of this bag should have much more padding around the back of the bag to protect from the steel frame.

Once you get it to your swim, the bag comes into its own, in under 30 seconds you can have it fully adjusted, flat on any type of surface and a brilliant table setup and ready to go. Once setup this bag is pure carp fishing luxury. The front gusseted panel zips fully open to allow access to all the gear inside the bag once the table is in place, those people at chub deserve a medal for this one.

My overall verdict: easily my favorite piece of kit so far. Well worth the pain of lugging it around, the table, adjustable legs and gusseted front panel are simply ingenious, its a very well made, well thought our product, yet again from chub and well worth the $169 price tag.

Final thought – unless you have a carp barrow, do not go for the larger versions. I can only imagine the pain the larger ones would inflict on your back and sides in transit to your swim! Buying a smaller bag will also force you to take less gear, how many times have you got to your swim after a half mile backbreaking walk only to realise you would never use 80% of what you had brought!

Royal carp sell some cooked sweetcorn that, for some reason, every carp in every lake I have fished go crazy for. It’s so good in fact that every fish I have caught so far in 2010 has been taken on this bait, on 3 different lakes.

They sell it it for $3 a tub, I still have half left from when I bought it 8 months ago, its just that good!

My rig and method for catching is incredibly simple. I make a very basic mono hair rig using a size 8 korda curved shank x upto a size 8 swivel,  on my mainline I thread a tiny (quarter ounce) lead, then small green bead. Tie the hair rig hook length to the swivel (preferably a Palomar knot) and your fishing. The best thing is the royalcarp sweetcorn looks just like your canned stuff but tastes and smells better and will stay on your hook or hair for a week if you wanted it too, even after playing fish, it just doesn’t ever come off!

2 grains of Royal carp sweet corn on the hair cast onto a scattered bed of regular canned sweetcorn and you will be catching in no time. My best results come from baiting the moment I arrive with 2 or 3 catapults worth, then topping up throughout the day every 30 minutes to an hour.

This rig and bait setup works so well because you can continually cast and bait up without making hardly any disturbance to the water and lake bed. If you build up your swim over a weekend you will get a lot of action, regardless of weather and water conditions.

I use a really, really cheap 10ft ultralight rod and small diawa spinning reel. after casting, tighten down to the lead and place the rod on a rest directly in front of you. Bites will be indicated by the line tightening very quickly, the tip curving around, or – the fish screaming off with your rod into the water(!) do not leave this setup unattended or you will loose your gear. (you could always use a baitrunner reel but I prefer striking the moment the line tightens, real instant action carping!)

This has been my “go-to” setup for 2 years now and has landed me hundreds of American carp on various lakes and ponds while my bottom bait rods have sat there and done nothing but blank for weeks on end.

Give this a try, its easy and cheap but cracking good fun. I was able to fish “match style” for carp in the late summer months last year landing 7 common carp back to back within 2 hours ranging from 4 to 8lbs.

I declare Royalcarp prepared sweetcorn the best bait of 2009, and even better so far in 2010!

I purchased the “Chub Snooper Shelter lite” from the bivvy section on a US carp gear distributor, thinking I was buying the “Chub Snooper bivvy”  When the shelter arrived and I got to use it for the first time I didn’t see the clip in groundsheet or the zip in front panel. These two parts only come with the Chub snooper Bivvy. The product I got was more of a day / summer shelter with no front panel or ground sheet.

Here’s the Chub Snooper Shelter Lite (distributors list this as a bivvy in the US):

And here’s the Chub Snooper Bivvy Lite

Be careful and check as to which you are buying if purchasing from a US distributor.

Now, the review:

I’m completely useless when it comes to erecting tents, or doing anything outdoorsy for that matter and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to erect this thing completely within about 5 minutes without any instructions (that aren’t provided by the way)

It peggs out very solid, The first day of use was 20MPH wind gusts and rain all day. The shelter kept me warm and dry and only began to bow when the wind gusts really picked up.  I’m now glad I bought the shelter version as it’s less weight to lug around with me moving into the spring and can see this shelter being perfect for warm summers nights (as long as there are no mosquito’s!)

I would definitely recommend this as the perfect day shelter that packs away to the size of a brolly, and weighs considerably less. If you’re looking for a weekend or long trip shelter, I wouldn’t go with the “bivvy” version of this product because there really isn’t enough room to accommodate a bedchair and all your other belongings inside comfortably.

Another fantastic, well made and affordable chub product.

Over the last 12 months the majority of the gear I’ve been purchasing for carp fishing has been from 2 brands, Korda and Chub. I’m completely sold on everything Chub now and will review the other products I have in my Arsenal at a later date.

The Chub snooper carp rods are absolutely incredible value for money. The jet black carbon blanks are just gorgeous and the gun smoke grey reel seats and treated but cap really give a professional finish to these rods. They are incredibly slim and light weight with a Japanese shrink wrap handle.

While casting short distances with these rods was a joy, they come into there own at medium-long rage. A few test casts with a 2 oz square pear from korda got me about 70-80 yards, adding a small PVA bag didn’t seem to make any difference to my ability to cast mid range.

Playing fish is an absolute dream, they have a lot of power in the blank but feel incredibly soft under the tip. This is the best all round rod I have used since beginning carp fishing in America. One of my fishing partners recently purchased a pair of greys which cost 5 times the Chub snooper rod and was simply amazing at the quality and craftsmanship that went into these $99 rods.

Go and buy these rods. You will not be disappointed.

This is a unique opportunity to get some great national exposure to your products and/or services. There will be 3 levels of sponsorship suiting every budget but sponsors will be strictly limited to 3 per year on an annual basis.

Today we secured our first Sponsor – Land Central. Land Central is a website dedicated to providing cheap land with no credit checks and low down payments. This is the ideal sponsor for carp fishing, why not check out there land for sale, see what they have on the lake or with existing bodies of water on the land. Its always been my dream to own my own pond or pay lake, stock it with some 40lb’ers and move in, one day that dream will become a reality. Thank you for the sponsorship Land Central!

For more info on the 2010 sponsorship packages still available, check out the sponsorship page. Tight lines!

After researching backpack type tackle bags for several weeks, I got my list down to Two possibilities, The Chub Rigger and the Korum Ruckbag. I pulled the trigger on the Chub Rigger because I could by it from a US based distributor (Waker Baits) and not have to pay $100 shipping to have it imported from EU.

This bag is ingenious. it has plenty of room for all of my tackle, it has a rig manager, a mini tackle box perfect for carp fishing tools, lots of storage in the bottom compartment which I find is perfect for bait.  It’s made by Chub, who in my opinion make some of the best stuff on the market for the price, I don’t think you will find a better bag than this.

I had it out with me last weekend through 8 hours of none stop rain. Everything inside stayed perfectly dry and everything about it just works. I’d highly recommend one of these bags if your in a similar position with just too much tackle and not enough arms to carry it all!