Angling Lines Blog

by Ian Gemson
Solid PVA bags are excellent for getting a wide verity of baits and liquids out into the swim with your hook bait. However, when fishing at range, PVA bags can be problematic. The first problem is making a solid bag tight and aerodynamic such that it flies straight and true. The second is ensuring the bag is strong enough to withstand the cast and landing in the water as well as melting quickly enough once on the lake bed. The Fishing Bag Company makes a PVA distance bag that overcomes all of these problems. Lets have a look at how to use PVA distance bags.

What you need
Three sizes of bags are available. Here we have the small and medium size conical distance bags. Notice the card liner in the bag – this helps support and hold the bag open whilst we are loading the bag with our bait in this case pellets. continue reading…

by Ian Gemson
The most important aspect of carp fishing, and possibly the one that gets overlooked the most, is bankside carp care. People spend thousands of pounds on the best rods, sparkly reels and expensive alarms and then buy small unhooking mats and inappropriate landing nets. We need to ensure the fish we catch are returned back to the water in excellent condition, suffering the least amount of stress or damage so that these fish can be caught and admired again by other anglers.

Before you cast your rods out into the lake you should set up your carp care kit. Being prepared to handle and treat carp once caught means that you never leave a carp unattended on the bank.

Let’s start with the landing net; a 42” or larger net with a deep and soft mesh is the least you should have. Make sure the net has a fine mesh as this will prevent the carp’s front pectoral fins from catching in the mesh whilst it is being landed. The landing net should also have removable arms which will make carrying the carp to the unhooking mat much easier.

A large deeply padded unhooking mat is essential to protect the carp as they are naturally buoyant in water and do not feel their own weight. Once out of water they feel every ounce, so a soft unhooking mat helps protect their body from damage, as and when they begin to struggle. Place the mat on flat even ground staying

continue reading…

Hi All
Saw this interesting article over on the Quest Baits site by Samantha on Snag fishing….

By Samantha

When fishing snags, tree lines or next to awkward features you will generally have more success if you place the rig tight under the tree coverage or very close to the snag during the day. The reason is that many carp, especially in pressured waters, tend to hold up tight under the trees or directly in the snags during daylight hours. This may be because there is noise and/or a disturbances, or probably due to the general angling pressure from fishermen. Whatever the reason, carp prefer to hold up in “safe” areas where they rarely get caught. In the past, I have placed effective carp fishing rigs up to 12 feet away from hanging trees when casting to the opposite bank, and on many occasions, have not caught all day.
continue reading…

Trevor wrote:

 Can you help… I’m fishing a place and need a line that sinks like a stone. Could you recommend one ?

Hi Trevor,

We asked Shaun Harrison and he suggested looking at one of the Fluoro Carbon lines. Shaun uses the P Line Halo when he wants a fast sinking line, whilst several of his friends use X Line.  Shaun says both are excellent quality.

Regards
Bridget

The 24th of February 2009 saw Michel Bigot’s Etang de Margot get a boost to its carp stocks. In total 70 large carp to 49lb and four Koi were introduced to this prolific venue, taking the total stock of carp to over 400 fish. The vast majority of the carp were in the high 20’s to low 30’s with the jewel in the crown being a magnificent 49lb common, what a superb fish! So now there are two very large commons in this famous lake including the lake record common of 66lb. Quite a target to go for!