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

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By Ian Gemson;

A holiday fishing in France has never been easier arrange, you only have to take a quick look on the internet to see there is a large number of different venues offering a wide range of accommodation and food packages to chose from. These holidays range from the most basic “Drive & Survive” to the all inclusive food, accommodation some even offer bait and tackle, for the UK angler there has never been so much choice.

I have been a very keen carp angler for many years but have never fished anywhere but good old blighty. Having spent countless hours talking to fishing buddies about their French carping exploits I started to feel I was some how missing out, for me the time was right to stretch my legs and try fishing outside my comfort zone “Look out France here I come”.

I started my search for an appropriate French venue on my favourite UK carp fishing websites, one name kept coming out time and time again “Angling Lines”. The feedback I was getting talked about the clear and easy to navigate website, with lots of useful information you will need to get the best from your trip as well as a very comprehensive pricing menu.

I was able to find lots of useful information about a huge range of waters offered across France and Spain. From the Angling Lines web site “Our Holidays” page I was able to easily see the geographical position of each lake, this is important to help you get a feel for how far you are going to have to travel once you land in France. I was able to read helpful and comprehensive write ups of all of the lake including pictures and videos enabling you to get a good understanding of the venue you are considering.

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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.
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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