However, as we all know one of the main problems with frozen baits is its deterioration during session fishing.  When travelling to France you may expect there to be sufficient freezer space made available… but more often than not the freezer space soon fills, leaving bait unfrozen and unpreserved.

Well, I have found the answer…. vacuum packing!

For this I use an Andrew James Vacuum Sealer & it couldn’t be simpler to use.

Put the boilies in a vacuum bag & follow the instructions of the vacuum sealer unit, and voila, you have fully preserved boilies.

These can either then be frozen for an indefinite period or left unfrozen for at least a month plus.  Because all the air has been extracted from the bag, the baits remain fully preserved.

I’ve also used the vacuum packing on tiger nuts, hemp, maize, and seed particle mix. The secret to vacuum packing particles is to rinse them thoroughly, drain as much water off as possible then vacuum pack. Any of these particles can be frozen for unlimited time and left unfrozen for at least a week.

Why not give it a try?

Regards, Paul Cooper

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What sort of back lead do you use and recommend?

I use four different types of back lead in my own fishing so let’s look at the ones I use and the reasons I use them.

Captive back leads

Captive back leads – Apart from some homemade affairs the only captive back leads I have used for any period of time is the Fox version with the hinged gate system. I find these to be excellent to allow a free passage of line to maximise bite indication. This free passage is essential if you are going to be able to register drop back takes.

I find that captive back leads need to be quite heavy to allow quick bite registration. The first ones I purchased were 1oz (28 gram) from memory but these would lift up in the water on the take which would therefore lessen the indication on the alarm and bobbin.

Rather than purchase another set of back leads I simply cut off the weight, slid on a flat in line Korda lead then re-tied the original back lead on. The Korda lead gripped the swivel of the Fox Captive lead just as it would on a standard semi-fixed in-line rig. My captive leads were then just over 2oz and they certainly perform better and release easier than they ever did at 1oz. I also feel they actually sit better being less inclined to topple over with the added weight at the back.

The only other modification I made was to replace the bright green cord which they come supplied with. I just didn’t like to see it although there is the argument to be able to see it of course. I replaced mine with a subtle grey/black hollow fly line backing.

My standard back lead components

Standard Back Leads – By this I mean the free running type of back lead you clip on and slide down the line after casting. I have tried all sorts of different types and still end up making my own to the same design as I first made many years ago.

The ring on several back leads I have seen is too large. With most modern rigs shedding the main lead during the fight it is essential that the back lead if still attached can’t pass over the swivel and lead clip set up. If this happens you have effectively slid a disgorger into place!

My back lead set-up couldn’t be simpler and is relatively cheap to produce utilising 3 components available in most tackle shops.

1. John Roberts Low Resistance Leger Rings – There are many other makes which will do the job just as well.
2. Snap Links  – I usually purchase the Drennan ones but any snap link will do – they don’t need to be anything special or particularly strong
3. Standard Arlesey Bombs – Standard swivel bombs ranging in size – I purchase the cheapest I can find.

The Low resistance ring in simply cut with scissors to allow the ring to be clipped on the line. I find the plastic on the Roberts Green version to be very soft which will help to shed the back lead if required. The black version is tougher as are many of the alternates out there.

Flying back lead

Flying Back Leads – My minor claim to fame is being the first person to write about these in Korda’s very first catalogue! In the past I have used simple barrel weights and spinner body parts but now there are many different flying back leads on the market. I particularly like those which can be removed with a flat end to them which creates air resistance to assist them sliding back up the line during the cast.

Tube segments – This is something I came up with a few years back whilst fishing very close in for some ultra wary carp. My lead core wasn’t following the contours of the lake bed properly and the fish were picking it up on their fins and spooking out the swim. The problem was due to small indents in the lake bed where the carp had created mini craters through sifting through the silt. The lead core wasn’t soft enough to follow the contours and sink into these.

I came up with the idea of cutting some heavy rig tubing into short lengths and threading these on the line above the rig. It worked an absolute treat and basically formed a chain which followed the contours much better than the lead core could.

I now use this method in a lot of my fishing for pinning the end bits down. By wrapping a small piece of Tungsten Putty around the tubing you can make some superb mini flying back leads.

So, there you have it. These are the back leads I favour and would be interested in hearing what everyone else uses. Everything can be improved upon so let’s see if anyone can add to this?

Best fishes, Shaun

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Romuald Bayon

Angling started fairly long ago for me. As a child, I would follow my father every time he went tracking pikes by boat on French lake or when he went fishing roaches with live bait that smelt so lovely that it made you feel like tasting them. Being at the water’s edge makes me feel good and have a huge breath of air.

Then came that famous day on the river bank where we had settled for carp. There was a dazzling, start, a magnificent fight and, unfortunately, unhooking. This moment will be engraved in my memory for ever and that was the first of countless nights spent tracking Dame Carp on the water’s bank. I started on little brooks with superb fighting commons, then went on angling on great lakes and then on private lakes.

Today, I am 28 years and I am still looking forward to spending time at the water’s edge. Learning new techniques again and again, living new fishing situations. I am very proud of bringing my contribution to Quest Baits and being next to great anglers such as Shaun Harrison

See you soon at the water’s edge,

Romu

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Ever wondered just how far you need to cast past your marker float to ensure your lead lands on the marked spot?

Maybe you haven’t considered it before, but if you let your lead go down through the water on a tight line it actually swings in an arc… so potentially ends up closer in than you think.

So how much allowance do you need to make?

We asked Jim Kelly & he came up with the excellent spreadsheet tool below. Here’s Jim’s comments;

For most situations swing is negligible, it is only a factor in very deep water close in. The assumption is that the lead falls on a tight line. In real life there is also a catapult effect backwards due to line stretch. Energy is stored in the line and when released the line shoots backwards. This can be easily observed if boating baits out, put the line under tension and release. I have no way of calculating this as it depends on:

• Type of line
• Velocity of lead on impact
• Mass of lead

Feathering the line or dropping the rod tip on impact with the water will reduce catapult effect. Catapult effect can be an advantage on very silty/weedy waters as it slows the lead down and hence it doesn’t go as deep into the silt/weed.

Interested to find out?

Click here to open the casting swing calculator as a XL Spreadsheet file.

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October 2009 Danny Fairbrass lands Gigantica’s largest resident – the Giant at 72lb. He’d already had several 40’s and a 50 before catching the Giant on his final night. Just look at the size of this magnificent creature!

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I’m fortunate enough to visit a lot of Angling Lines waters, many of them very lightly or never fished before I get there.  Because of this the information usually available to the customer has yet to be compiled and I really am starting from scratch.  This blog piece is about how I tackle an untried/untested venue in France.

I try to research the venue at home and the first place I visit is Google to search for maps and photos of the lake.  I search for alternative names for the venue particularly on French angling and tourist websites. Most lakes have been fished at some time in their history and it’s amazing what you can find out with Google and a Babelfish translator.  My visits are a week at most but can be as little as three days so I like to be well informed

Next it’s Metcheck or my new favourite Accuweather for a long range weather forecast for the time my visit.  I pay particular attention to new winds, wind strength and atmospheric pressure.  Fish don’t always follow the wind, buts it’s always worth searching the windward side of the lake on a new wind.

On my arrival a talk to the owner or the bailiff is high on the agenda. Has he seen any fish, are they being fed and where?  These people probably saw the lake drained, could have dug it and almost certainly had something to do with the stocking.

Is it an open lake... will it be affected by the wind?

Then it’s a lap or two of the lake and lots of questions come to mind. Is it an open lake? Is it likely to be affected by the wind.   I carry a marker rod on my walk, what’s the bottom like, are there clear spots, bars, and drop offs that could attract and hold fish.  Is there an island or islands that would produce narrow channels or natural funnels to intercept fish?    I like islands and drop offs, carp love something to follow and they will never be far away.  Its difficult to put into words how you assimilate all that information and make your final selection, but the likely hood that on the day you will only have perhaps three of those clues available to help you narrow down your chosen swim.

On my first night I will usually bait lightly or use PVA bags.  I like a night to assess how strongly the fish are feeding and with the information gather through the night may even reassess my swim and move.  Once I’m happy the fish are feeding, that’s when I’ll introduce bait in quantity.

Zig rigs have caught me fish when all else was failing

I don’t generally introduce massive amounts of bait.  Many French lakes are heavily stocked compared with the lakes at home.  A shoal can move on to your tightly baited area, clean it out and move on.  I prefer to feed regularly and spread the bait over a fairly large area to keep the carp preoccupied and hunting for it.

I’m constantly scanning the water searching for fish rolling, bubbling in the margins, around weed beds and lilies, and for fish moving or holding sub surface.  Zig rigs are a wonderful tool when the fish are not too keen on filtering the bottom and have caught me fish when all else is failing.

On of 10 fish caught stalking in about two hours

I’m always prepared to move or change rigs and tactics. I don’t ignore fish on the surface and I always travel with float fishing tackle it can be deadly.  On one memorable occasion I stalked 10 carp including 7 twenty plus in just over two hours.  I have to maximise my short time on a water, its essential I have some measure of success, some trophy shots and a story to tell to make my articles informative and entertaining.  It can be hard work but I think the results bear out the effort, and as you can see there is nothing mysterious happening, it’s about collecting and analysing information and using a little common sense.

Tight Lines, Ron Key

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TAPE
Tape can be used to form stringers or for tying off the tops of solid PVA bags. Tape also has several advantages over PVA string. It doesn’t shrink in water. Due to its thicker profile, the tape holds strung baits better, great for long-range casting. Also, this thicker profile opens a bigger hole in the free baits, allowing more scent to be released.

SOLID BAGS
Flat, solid bags that can be filled with all manner of freebies, regardless of the size of bait used. Their disadvantages are that they are slow to form and tie, always pierce solid PVA bags with a baiting needle, as this will help the trapped air escape, preventing it from floating.

MESH
Made from woven PVA thread, this stocking material having an open weave, doesn’t suffer from trapped air. Usually comes in long lengths allowing bags of any size to be made up. The other advantage of mesh is that they are much quicker to make than their solid counterparts.

RIG FOAM
These buoyant nuggets are either hooked on to or folded over the hook before casting. Once in the water, they hold the hook off the bottom until the nugget dissolves. The hook will then gently settle on to the bottom of the lake. Rig foam is indispensable when fishing over silt or weed. When the rig is cast in, the lead will either sink into the silt or dive into the weed and the rig foam will help stop your hook from being masked.

PVA LIQUID BAGS
Small stamp size PVA bags that are filled with liquid, such as flavours, slimes or dips. This is a great edge when you are fishing single hookbaits. The liquid puts out a strong level of attraction into the swim, but the only food item is your hookbait. It can be placed on to your hook or placed inside any PVA for a extra edge.

Thanks, Samantha

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Archie with a superb Bream

There are many good groundbait mixes on the market, but to buy a bag each time you go fishing really bumps up your costs. This easily variable mix is one I’ve used for 20 years, its very inexpensive, and easy to prepare.

There are four basic ingredients;

• white crumb
• brown crumb
• maize flour
• bran

I buy a sack of each and store it in plastic bins; it lasts forever if kept dry. If two or three of you share the cost you will each get a couple of years worth or more at a very low price. These ingredients all have a job to do, as follows.

WHITE CRUMB…
This is a binder, the more you put in the stiffer the mix will become.

BROWN CRUMB…
Doesn’t bind as much, and is a more active ingredient than white.

MAIZE FLOUR…
Another binder, very fine, but when disturbed by rooting fish it clouds the water temporarily. This, and the two ‘crumbs’ can be obtained for you by your local tackle shop.

BRAN…
This overlooked ingredient is hardly ever used these days, but it’s vital to any mix. If you take a handful, soak it, squeeze it as hard as you can then drop it in the water, it will immediately separate. It will not bind, so, dependant on how much you use, you can control the rate your mix breaks down in the water. Bran is obtained from animal feed stores, and I recently paid around £7.00 for a 40kg bag¬… which is a large amount. Certainly enough to supply three anglers for 2-3 years of regular use.

QUANTITIES

I use cheap plastic jugs to measure out my ingredients, which have various printed measures on the side, including pints. I fill a jug with the dry powder up to the following marks:

BRAN                          1 PINT
BROWN CRUMB          1 PINT
MAIZE FLOUR            ¾ PINT
WHITE CRUMB           ¾ PINT

Well mixed together, this gives about 1kg of dry items. This is my standard mix, but if I want it to bind more I’ll reduce the Bran by a quarter of a pint, and up the White Crumb by the same amount. Vice versa for a looser mix, and you could juggle about with all of the ingredients to obtain different mixes if you wish.

Add to this dry mix the additive of your choice from the Quest or Archie Braddock range, at the levels recommended on the container, using Xotic for perch, Supaspice for roach, etc.

To a 1 kilo dry mix I add three quarters of a pint of water, using the same jug. Mixed well and left 20mins to absorb water, it will give you a fairly dry mix, to which you can add river water when fishing, if needed.

Before adding the water I stir flavour into it, adding 5mls of Red Surprise to the three quarters of a pint of water. I use this flavour not only because it’s a proven perch attractor, but because it’s a ‘thin’ flavour which disperses into the water faster. My Perch Magic I reserve for dipping worms into, and for treating the dead maggots I use in my Choppy Mix. I don’t supply the trade now, except for my local shop Walkers, 0115 9301816. You can come direct to me, but I would need a cheque with order. There are of course many other flavours you can use, but the two mentioned are the only ones on the market developed for, and exhaustively tested on, perch.

Tight lines,
Archie Braddock.

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One of many winter doubles that has fell to the boilie / bait band combination

The situation above closely mirrors that of one that I found myself in many winters ago whilst fishing on the Lower Severn below Worcester. I was fishing trimmed down boilies on a short hair and was getting lots of sharp pulls on the rod tip but only caught one barbel in the 8 hour session.

Now obviously there were plenty of barbel in the swim but the rig I was using wasn’t effective enough to catch them. The water was cold (around 6ºc) and because of this I was sure the barbel were not feeding properly but were merely picking the bait up in their lips without getting pricked by the hook (because of the hair being used).

Now I had caught a lot of good barbel through the Autumn on banded pellets.  This got me thinking of using the bands for the boilies as well, so that the bait was right next to the hook. This would mean that hopefully the barbel would not be able to mouth the bait without getting pricked by the hook.

The switch worked like a dream and on only the second time I used it I caught 11 decent barbel in an afternoon on the Lower Severn on a day where there was very little else caught.

This is a method I now use on one rod all the time whilst barbel fishing and it really is very versatile.

If I use the bigger John Roberts clear bait bands (on a Korum size 10 or 8 S3) then I can use a trimmed down boilie or a 14 / 16mm pellet without having to change the hook. If I use the smaller brown bands on say a Korum size 12 S3 hook then I can use a barbel / chubby chop on its own or easily mould a paste wrap around the bait (my favourite!).

All the bits you need

Getting the band onto the hook (I thread it back through itself), can be a little tricky but with a little practice becomes a lot easier. Start off practicing with the bigger bands (to make things easier). I want the band tight on the hook so that it cannot move and then after ‘tying’ the band onto the hook, I use the band has the hair.

Thread the band onto the hook

Thread the band back through itself (a stringer needle helps)

Use the band has the hair

Add a wrap of paste - perfect!

Use the larger clear bands for boilies or pellets without changing

So there we are a simple little method which I believe has definitely given me an edge over the hair rig in cold water conditions.

Cheers, Pat Gillett.

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