Well it is that time of the year again when we are out hammering the fish left and right. So many companies and so many options for equipment to buy it can boggle the mind sometimes. I am a huge fan of using catapults for my everyday fishing. I do love a Spomb but I find myself using the catapult for when I want to get bait out insanely fast and accurate. As soon as I get to my chosen swim I pull it out of my bucket and fire around 8-10 boilies over the spots I plan to cast to. While I am getting all of my gear sorted I am drawing in fish with the few free offerings. I have had a decent amount of quick bites from this technique because as soon as I cast in my rods I had a bite within 5 minutes or so.
In the above picture you can see the Cygnet Wide Frame Catapult. First impression it looks similar to all of the other catapults on t he market. Like mentioned above since I use catapults all of the time I know what breaks on them the most. The band is the first thing to wear out usually on most. I have had around 5-6 catapults now from all companies so I have experience in what to watch for. This catapult comes with a standard pouch which is great for all around usage. I have used some companies and the pouch is so tiny that you wonder why they even made that small of a pouch unless you plan to only put out 2 boilies of course. They also make a large pouch which you can buy seperate.
The frame itself has a little give to it and that actually helps in getting maximum distance when firing out. It almost adds an extra spring effect to the elastic and long distances are a breeze. The biggest thing I loved about this catapult is the band. I am notorious for breaking bands right away due to heavy usage. This band from Cygnet is heavy duty and you only have to pull back a little ways to get the bait out. Of course if you are shooting for 60 yards plus you will have to pull back a little farther to achieve those distances.
In the video below I show the Cygnet catapult and also show it in action so you can see its performance.
Again as mentioned above the catapult comes with the standard pouch. This will hold roughly 15+ 18mm boilies. You can use larger particles, ground bait balls, method mix or anything else you can think of. The large the object the farther it will fly and the smaller items such as particles will only go about 20 yards if that. They also make a large size as well that will fit even more.
One other key thing that I must mention is a few companies make replacement parts such as bands and pouches for your catapult but many are somewhere pricey. The Cygnet lineup has very reasonable priced replacements which is another added bonus. They sell the bands and also both size pouches that you can keep as spares that way if you plan a trip far away you will have peace of mind in knowing if something happens you have a replacement and also those replacements didn't break the bank to have.
In closing I will say I have loved my Cygnet Catapult from the moment I used it. I am going on close to 3 months now and it is going strong. I have done a ton of sessions and fired kilos and kilos of bait out during those sessions and this still is holding up. I even baited 5-8 kilos with this for a prebait and that is usually a catapult killer and no wear at all! I am highly impressed with this and I am sure you will be as well. The other thing is the price is really great for a catapult of this caliber. Brian Wingard
Big Carp Tackle is the sole supplier of Cygnet Products in the United States and they can be found at the links listed below. You can see the catapult plus the spare pouches and bands.
