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Friday, November 30, 2012

Check out the lastest TOKS Big Four video from the summer/autumn 2012 contest.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Rod protection articles and reviews.

A while back I did an article for the TOKS Newsletter about Thinking Anglers Rod Lead Straps. The article can be found here on packe 24-26. Rod Lead Straps Article I have been using these since may of 2012 and no issues at all with them. For the amount we spend on our rods this item protects your rods from the rig such as the leads banging against the rod in transit and also these are perfect for the inline lead users such as myself so you don't have to take the rig off.

The other item that just came out from Trakker that is very useful is the Trakker Hooks-Ups. When you break down your rods instead of hooking the ring with your hook to hold it in place you use the Hook Up. The hook goes up a groove and is held in place and there is a piece of soft foam inside so your hook doesn't get knicked and dulled. Now the photo shows the end plastic hook going around the ring but I myself hook the plastic around the arms of the eye to avoid any tension on the rings and this has been working out well for me.

I just wanted to post up two ideas that are relatively cheap to but that will ensure your rods don't get marked up or damaged from your rigs or leads in transit,

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Keeping warm while carp fishing.

For years I have sat on the banks in the early spring or even fall/winter and got to the point where I felt crazy for even being out there. A lot of lakes in PA won't allow shelters so when it rains or even gets windy the chill factor really kicks in. Last year for Christmas my mom got me a Mr. Buddy Big Buddy Heater

I got to try out the heater for the first time in the spring and was pleasantly surprised just how much heat this kicked out with no shelter. There is also an additional blower which requires batteries but I have not used it yet. The heater takes 2 small propane cans which can last you 3-12 hours and there is a low,medium and high to adjust to your needs. The heater can heat 400 square feet and also had a low oxygen shut off which will be a life saver inside of a bivvy in case you fall asleep. I did have the chance to use this in a bivvy and it kept me warm all night when it hit around 25F. For the money this is well worth the investment as it has already helped me many of nights. The other great thing is after leanding a fish or even getting your hands wet this heater will dry your hands quickly so on those cold nights you won't be freezing..


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The day that almost didn't happen turned out to be an awesome fishing experience!

Its time for a little flashback into may. The day was may 9th 2012 which was a wednesday. I did my usual day of work and when I got home it was a half decent day temperature wise but I was completely wiped out from work. I started working on the trash for the next days pickup. After that was all sorted I was even more worn out and I had all the best intentions for heading out to the lake to fish but didn't feel up to it. I am sure we all have days like this where we sit around and become a little lazy or just too tired to do it. It was getting later in the evening so I knew I didn't have a whole lot of daylight left even if I did go.




Well, I got off of my butt and loaded up my gear and flew out to the lake. When I got there I really wasn't too confident because a front had just come through and even though the temperatures were favorable it just didn't seem like it was an ideal day to catch a good amout.



Slowly but surely I got all set up and fired out some boilies I had made the previous week. I have been experimenting with CCMoore products and did a bait campaign making my own the previous week before and figured this batch I would use more attractors to see if I could use less quantity of a higher quality mix and catch just as many. I have really enjoyed the consistency of the products and how they have performed before. I figured using a few of their attractors should trigger a good feeding frenzy. I added talin and also the feedstim xp liquid to my base mix which can be seen here.

I started off before the rods even hit the water with a few catapults where I planned to place the center rod just to attract a few fish while I set up my pod and rods. I only placed a small amount of maybe 5-8 boilies on that spot. After I got my pod set up and ready to go it was time to see how these new more attractive boilies would respond as opposed to using a large amount with no attractors. I cast my first,second and finally my third rod out and in no time the 1st rod I had put in screamed off peeling line. The delkim told the story as a fish had been lured into the trap.
As soon as I got the fish photographed and placed back into the water I started to bait up my rod again and I was just about to cast out again and this time it was my far left rod with a run. This fish felt smaller but was very scrappy and a fun fight. After a small battle this fish found the net and unhooking mat and just when I had the photo taken my other rod shot off and I hurred to fold over my mat to secure the fish and ran to my pod.This fish had a good fight to it and I was laughing because in a matter of about 45 minutes I already had 3 good runs which is unheard of on my lake. I am usually sitting 5-6 hours before a good run.After the fish tired out I could see it was a good fish and landed this one. At this point I was grinning ear to ear.



During the 2nd and 3rd fish a few local friends stopped by for a chat and saw how busy I had become on the banks landing fish after fish. One was my friend who just started carp fishing and the other was a local fish warden who always stops by to see how the fishing is doing. After placing the 3rd fish back in I had to redo all 3 rods as I didn't have time to put them back in as they were scattered all over the bank at this point. I fired out about 15-20 boilies over the spot to hopefully lure some more fish in and got the rods sorted.

The day started out warm as I didn't even have to wear a shirt then it got cooler and cooler fish by fish.I knew it would be night soon enough so I kicked back and no signs of any fish in the swim. I was looking for bubbles or fish surfacing and nothing. I waited about 30 minutes and fired a couple boilies out again. About 5 minutes later I had a small beep. Then it beeped again. I hurried down to my rods and then it beeped a third time and I could still see some movement on the bobbin so I lifted up on the fish and it turned out to be a big one. It was having its way with me up and down the bank and was sure power compared to the other ones. After playing it out and it neared the net it was a great size and had me guessing just how big it would go. After I got it sorted the scale balanced out at over 35lbs and I was having one of the better days of fishing I have had in a long time. Here is a few shots of the fish








I slowly put the fish back into the water and headed back up the bank to put some more boilies out. By this time the sun was setting and I had just landed three 20+lb fish and the largest fish of the year so far while experimenting with baits and attractors and there effectiveness. I put out about 20 boilies after this and sat on the rods for a few hours. I had a few fish roll probably about 350 yards out but nowhere close to what I could target. Patiently I was hoping for more but didn't expect any more because this particular spot usually only gets you a few fish and then they spook off especially with the boat traffic coming through. A few hours had gone by and then a fish rolled over the bait and then another one. Anticipation was building as I thought another fish my take the bait. It was getting late and I had work the next day so I was shooting for one more before I had to pack up. All of the sudden my delkim signals and its a very very slow run almost like I had a turtle on the line just pulling slow. I ran down and set the hook and then it took off like a freight train just peeling line off of the spool and I was cautious to play the fish and not overtighten the drag as I had made that mistake in the past. Seconds turned into minutes and after a heated battle it was getting closer to the net. I put my net into the water and just before I turned on my headlamp the fish just started ripped out again. It was just like I started all over but the fish quickly tired. I turned on the headlamp and a very very large fish made its way to the net. I lifted the net up and yelled YES!!!!! It felt like another big 30lber had graced the net. The scale swung around and over 33lbs of a pure fighter had sealed the deal on the final fish of the night.



After I had packed my gear up I walked back down to the lake to reflect on what just happened. I went from almost not going fishing that day to experiencing one of the better fishing days of my life. We all like to kick back and relax and surf online and whatnot but the next time you feel like kicking back don't because it may just turn out to be the unexpected.

Having a great bait and attractors has definately changed my views as well. Total bait useage for the evening was only half a kilo of boilies to obtain these results. Picking the right ingredients and attractors definately put the fish on the banks. You can make your own or buy already rolled baits but having a proven recipe that is well tested is a big confidence builder on the bank.This session marked the 3rd and 4th thirty for me this spring and using this mix I went on to catch many more 20's and 3 more 30lbers which broke my old 30lb amount by double. I love to experiment but using great quality ingredients takes the guess work out of it. Until next time enjoy yourself on the banks.

Check out CCMoore for a large selection of baits and ingredients to give you the confidence and ability to put quality fish on the mat.
Check out the CCMoore catalog here!