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The Quest Baits Team

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Our easy to use 'Ultrabrite Pop-Up Mixes'

Last week I posted a catch report to our website and mentioned that I had caught the fish on an ultra light aerodynamic home made long range pop-up.

This has caused a fair bit of interest with anglers asking me how they can make their own. So here goes…

Everything I used apart from the eggs are available in the Quest Baits range.

First off I separated the white (albumin) from the yolk (yellow bit) of a normal hens egg. By doing this and only using the white of the egg for pop-up production you ensure the finished pop-up is much more buoyant than one made with both the yolk and the albumin. This is important to me as I like to use small baits particularly when distance casting but don’t like to drop my hook sizes to suit. So, by separating the white from the yellow I can ensure they will be as buoyant as possible.

So, with the white of an egg in a glass bowl (I usually only ever do one egg hook bait mixes) I added some of the Magnum White liquid flavour blend. I find it is difficult to go over the top flavour wise with pop-ups as the carp never get to actually taste them so I tend to add the flavour at a higher level than you would for a bottom bait – in most cases when utilising synthetic flavours as part of the attractor system this will also help to stabilise the finished baits (last longer before they go off).

With the egg and liquid sat in the bowl mix them thoroughly with a fork and now is the time to add the pop-up mix. We do three different Fluorescent pop up mixes as well as a plain one (creamy colour) which allows you to add a dye if you

My fish from last week on a customised hook bait

wish.

Simply add a little bit of pop-up mix at a time and keep whisking away with the fork. There really is no need at all for measuring exact amounts, just keep adding the mix until you feel it is the right consistency to roll.

Once you are at this stage you need to decide whether you are going to roll them on a rolling table or by hand. I nearly always roll my pop ups by hand when rolling for my own use. This way I can roll different sizes as well as different shapes.

I like to roll pop ups in elongated egg shapes. These are great for casting being more aerodynamic than a standard round pop-up but retaining maximum buoyancy due to the longer shape.

You really can roll them exactly how you want them. Sometimes I will put a flat bottom on them for use with snowmen rigs. The only limitation is your imagination.

It really does surprise me that so few anglers bother to make their own hook baits yet the hook bait is one of the easiest of baits to make.

I fish bottom baits a fair bit and by adding a small amount of pop-up mix to my normal base mix I can counteract the weight of the hook easily. Making the hook bait lighter than the freebies but still appear to be a normal bottom bait. These really do fool the carp.

So by simple stages of adding pop-up mix to a normal base mix you will soon find you can achieve so much more than you ever will when simply limiting yourself to off the shelf baits. Similarly by juggling between full egg and just the whites of egg you can vary the buoyancy of your pop-ups. I would never make large pop-ups with just the whites of the egg as you end up needing far too much clutter on your hook link to anchor it down.

Hope this has inspired and given you a few ideas about producing your own hook baits. Remember I have said so many times in the past that I purposely fish with different hook baits to those of which I am feeding simply because I get more takes that way. Making your own hook baits gives you just that. A different alternate bait totally exclusive to yourself. You can make them any colour, any flavour, any size and any shape.

Happy mixing.

Shaun

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Words and pictures courtesy of Pat Gillett:

I was in France a couple of weeks ago and a discussion I had with the lake owner really got me thinking about the way my fishing has changed (in terms of bait usage) over the last few years.

I was first introduced to the Quest range in May 2006 whilst fishing a lake in the Limoges area of France. It proved to be a very tricky week due to various reasons but by using the frozen Special Crab (in very small quantities) I managed to winkle out 9 quality carp (with 7 x 30lb+), these included 2 x 38lb+ commons, 2 mirrors of 47lb+ and a then P.B. mirror of 49lb 14oz, to say I was impressed with the bait was an

38lb 8oz common

understatement.

I had always put my own base mixes together and enjoyed making my own baits, believing they were better than those that I could buy (because I always knew what was going into them), but this became very time consuming and so if I could find a good ready made bait, then I was keen to try it. I carried on using the Frozen Special Crab on my syndicate lake with excellent results and then used it through the winter for my barbel fishing. The results on the various rivers in a number of different conditions were outstanding, this was the bait for me!

The following season the Frozen Special Crab kept on working, but I was then introduced to the Rahja Spice Shelf Life’s. Now I would never use shelf life baits has I believed them to be totally inferior to Fresh frozen baits. Up until this point (2007) most of the shelf life’s I had seen had been little more than ‘rock hard highly flavoured balls of preservatives’, something I would only ever use has a last resort. But with travelling

abroad more regularly (and all the problems that this can entail with frozen baits), we were keen to have a look at the Quest Rahja Spice Shelf Life’s, to see if they were of the same standard as the fresh frozen. I really was pleasantly surprised, these shelf life’s smelt good (without being overpowering), had a great texture (exactly the same has a fresh frozen) and perhaps most importantly contained no artificial preservatives. These baits were obviously going to be a winner and so it proved with a large number of big carp being caught from lots of different venues (including my P.B of 55lb 4oz) and in all weather conditions. A true all season bait.

I have also used the Liver B8, barbel chops and special crab in the shelf life range and taken good fish on all of them. I have been well and truly converted, so much so that I don’t bother with frozen baits for my carp fishing any more.

I still believed however that frozen baits were better for barbel fishing, has I felt they gave off better flavour leakage and thus created a better flavour trail in the current. However after using the Special Crab frozen

One of many double figure barbel I have caught on Rahja Spice shelf life baits.

baits since 2006 I fancied a change, and so in the Autumn of 2011 I decided to use the Rahja Spice Shelf Life’s on the rivers for barbel.

Once again, the results proved to be instant on all the rivers I fished, with many double figure fish gracing my landing net. An added bonus being that I could use them straight out of the bag (I had always boosted

the frozen special crab). I look forward to the new river season to see if the success of this bait goes on.

So in the space of 6 years I have gone from an angler who wouldn’t use anybody else’s bait, to an angler that would only use fresh frozen to one that is supremely confident in using a range of shelf life’s, I really have come full circle!

So much so that I would be happy making the bold statement : ‘if I could only use one bait for my carp and barbel fishing – it would be the Rahja Spice Shelf Life range’. Sounds like an advert for Quest, but it really isn’t it is a statement I firmly believe in.

How things have changed in 6 years !

Cheers,

Pat Gillett

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11lb 2oz

rod signalled a short ‘jabby’ sort of bite that upon striking was met by a very solid resistance. As is the norm for the Upper Trent barbel, it fought like its life depended on it (really think these are the hardest fighting fish I have ever caught). This one turned out to be quite a chunky fish of 11lb 2oz and fell to a trimmed down 10mm Rahja hookbait

covered in a very thin paste wrap. The same rod was away again at about 7.20pm with what was obviously another good fish, the same hard fight ensued with this one making a couple of long unstoppable runs.

Same rod was away after a re-cast 11lb!

Once in the net I could see that the fish was longer than the first one, but hadn’t really got much depth to it, it was still a good fish though and weighed in at 11lb exactly. A nice brace in two casts!

That proved to be the short feeding spell for the evening and no more bites were forthcoming before I packed up at 9.40pm when the air temperature was about 7 Deg. C.

It packed a big bite!

Whilst packing my landing net away I noticed there was something stuck in it. On closer inspection with the head torch I could see that it was a tiny little dormouse, that was getting its legs more and more entangled in the mesh the more it panicked. I spent a while gently untangling it and had just about got it free when the little bugger showed it’s gratitude by biting my finger (so much for my good deed for the day). You wouldn’t think it looking at these tiny little animals but they pack a fair bite!

Saturday March 3nd – Upper Trent Went back to the same spot to see if that big un’ may still be about. I fished from 4.45pm till 10pm on a crystal clear night where the moon was that bright it was almost like fishing in daylight (never great conditions). Had two bites, one ‘bream’ like bite on the upstream rod which turned out to a barbel of 9lb 10oz which unusually for the Upper Trent also fought like a Bream! The other bite was a slow pull round on the downstream which resulted in the first ‘bite-off’ I have had in years. That was the only movement on what was a very quiet evening, but at least the Rahja had again saved a blank!

Wednesday March 14th – Upper Trent I had the afternoon off to have the last evening on the river before the season finished at midnight. Conditions were not great with low clear water, bright sunshine and high pressure, but I was
hoping for some action after dark as the water temperature was still showing a very positive 9.4 Deg. C. Just has it was going dark it went really foggy, this turned out to be a freezing fog and by 7.45pm the rods and everything else were white. Carried on till 9.30pm but with only a couple of sharp chubby type raps I decided to call it a day. The air temperature was now 0 Deg. C and I guess it had been for a while. So a disappointing end to the river season (I’ve never really done much good on the last day), but looking back it has been quite a productive season for the relatively small amount of time I have spent on the banks. Also thanks to Shaun I have added another excellent barbel bait to my armoury, that is the very successful Rahja Spice, which has proved to be an excellent barbel catcher on several different rivers and in many different conditions. Roll on the next three months before the new season starts.

Saturday March 24^th to Friday March 30th – Le Monument Lake – France. For the first time in nearly 2 years I had a week off work, really needing a break, and a trip to France would be just what was needed to ‘chill out’ and recharge the batteries. To get the most out of a French trip it is always important that the venue you pick meets the criteria that you are looking for. This was to be a trip with 2 work colleagues and the venue needed to meet the following : 1. We wanted exclusive use of the lake for the week.We wanted a food package provide 2. We didn’t want to have to drive too far when we reached France. 3. The lake needed to be in a nice quiet location. 4. The size of the fish was relatively unimportant as long as the above 4 points were met. After trolling through various websites we finally came upon a lake which I thought looked perfect, the lake was Le Monument on the Angling Lines website. It is a 5 acre lake in the middle of the Brittany countryside, that did a full food package

One of the unusual stone features in the lake

and was only 165 miles from the port of Caen, with the added bonus that the little feedback that was present suggested a decent average size fish of 25lb +. Choice of bait wasn’t really a problem has I have always found the Rahja Spice to be pretty instant in all the lakes I have fished in France. So I took a mixture of 10mm, 15mm and 20mm shelf lifes with a couple of Kg of the Magnum White to try if needed. Arriving at the venue at about 11.30am we were met by Mark Walsh (the owner) under cloudless skies with an air temperature already of 23 Deg. C. Mark gave us a quick tour around the lake and left us to it. I then spent the next couple of hours walking around the lake with a marker rod to see what I could find. The lake was more or less split in half by a large central island. It proved to be relatively shallow with depths ranging mainly from 2 to 5 feet with the odd deeper area.

Looking along the Island

The first night I just fed about 20 boilies over my 3 rods (all in different spots), not wanting to put much bait in until I had more idea of where the fish were feeding. Apart from a couple of bream, nothing else happened, but I saw a couple of fish roll in the area between 2 of my rods so I was happy enough where I was. After seeing these fish, I introduced some more boilies, plus hemp and lake pellet. With the really high pressure and high temperature I would keep 2 rods tight to the island (in 3 feet of water) and try my third one in more open water and at 6 ½ feet deep.

My first fish came at about 7.30pm on the Sunday (a mirror of 24lb +), and was followed by 2 more the same night, all the fish coming to one rod tight to the island. The same thing happened the following night and so a feeding pattern was beginning to emerge. With this in mind I decided to reel all my rods in at 12pm, introduce a bit more bait and then not recast the rods again until 5pm. This ‘rested’ the swim for a good while

My largest fish of the week 33lb 3oz

but also meant that I would be making no disturbance before the start of the first feeding spell.

This worked well through the week, and by feeding the 2 island rods consistently I got them both producing well, whilst the open water rod only produced 1 fish all week. The whole week was ‘wall to wall sunshine’ (with temperatures of over 30 Deg. C) and amazingly for the time of year, I never saw a cloud all week.

I ended up with 20 x 20lb + carp (with 6 x 30lb +) and a catfish of 26lb. All the fish being caught on the Rahja Spice shelf lifes (first time they had been used at the venue), and all between 8pm and 8am.

30lb plus beast of a fish with plenty of growing potential.

The 2 guys I went with were really new to French carping and so found the fishing a lot harder and ended the week with 4 & 5 fish respectively. Coming back on the ferry, this seemed to be the norm for the week, with a lot of anglers struggling for 2 or 3 fish for the week at a wide variety of venues.

The week was just what I needed, we were very lucky with the weather, the lake was set in lovely surroundings where all you could hear for the most part was the sound of birdsong and the food package was superb.

I came back totally ‘chilled out’, and hopefully I will get back there in the future.

“Kill nothing but time, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!”

I saw the above quotation under a picture of some guys beach fishing in Africa, apparently they are lyrics from a song. Perfectly sums up our fishing to me.

Cheers, Pat Gillett

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The lake had been fishing slow lately but by 6 o clock that evening I had already landed one. Having quite a sleepness night I was tired but happy! Landing 5 fish to 20lb the Pimple Pops had done just what I had wanted them to do!

I was surprised that I had 5 fish and nobody else had caught. Obviously they had really switched onto the bait and the pre baiting had helped. The Squid Berry and Ghurkka Spice go really well with each other colour wise in a baiting combo. Having a double take at 1 o clock in the morning with one being 20lb and the other 17lb proves that.

The day had flown by and the second night was here. Using the same tactics as the night before I was confident for a bite.By the morning I hadn’t had a touch but thats just how carp fishing goes! Still urging for another fish I was determined to try what I could to get one. Having a circular shaped corner of the lake in my swim which was reed fringed was excellent to try and get some fish taking dog biscuits off the top. With the sun slowly rising the carp did too! With no surface gear I wasn’t really prepared so I decided to tie up a short zig that would sit just under the surface in the shallow margin. Shortly after the rod being placed on the spot it was off, the plan had worked and resulted in stunning little mirror, a lovely way to start off the morning. Sadly I had no more bites but 7 fish was enough for me! Only 2 fish came out by other anglers so Quest Baits came out on top again!

Lee.

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I keep hearing people saying how mild a winter we are having, can’t really agree as since the start of the new year there haven’t been many occasions when I have thought the conditions were good for a bit of barbel fishing. I have detailed the few trips I have had below:

Tuesday January 10^th – Upper Trent

I finished work early to try and cash in on the small window of opportunity that the current very mild temperatures have presented us with. The only thing I was conscious of was that with the river level dropping 0.6m in less than 24 hours, we may have missed the best feeding spell and the best chance of a big fish. But I was still keen to get out, has at the moment my fishing time is quite scarce and the forecast was for cold weather returning again in a few days time.

I was fishing at around 4.15pm and decided to use the Rahja Spice shelf lifes to see how they fared in the winter (did well on them in the Autumn). I set up with a feeder carrying 5oz of lead which was loaded with the mini pellet mix. Hook bait was 1 and half 10mm boilies totally ‘peeled’ and then wrapped in a thin layer of matching paste.

The river had a good flow has expected, but because of the recent ‘flush’ through there was very little debris being washed downstream, making the fishing relatively easy (a refreshing change on the Upper Trent).

All was very quiet with no fish rolling or topping (quiet surprising given the very mild air temperature), until about 7.45pm when the upstream rod signalled a very strong take. This proved to be a very lean barbel of 6 or 7lbs which at least saved a blank. At exactly the same time my mate had a barbel of similar size. These proved to be the only bites until we packed up at 10pm. So a very short feeding spell indeed!

My concerns of being a day too late were confirmed by a mate of ours who took a cracking barbel of 14lb 11oz from the Upper Trent on the Sunday evening when the river was at its peak level.

Thursday January 12^th – Lower Severn

Had a day off work to have my first trip of the year to the Lower Severn. Arrived at about 12.30pm and was disappointed to see that the river level had dropped incredibly quickly. You could see from the tide mark of debris on the top of the bank that a few days previously the river had been carrying about 10 feet of extra water, now this was down to about 2 feet of extra water. This can often mean the fishing will be difficult has the barbel very often will have gorged themselves in the high water.

However the water temperature was excellent for this time of year showing 8.2 Deg. C. With this and the fact that there was going to be a sudden drop in temperature (I am sure the barbel can sense this), I was hoping they may have a bit of a feed.

I have not really used the Rahja Spice on the Lower Severn before so I was keen to try it to see if it would score as well on here as it had on the Upper Trent and the River Dove. I set one rod up using 1 and a half 10mm baits has hook bait and one rod carrying a 16mm pellet has hook bait. Both rods were fished in conjunction with the mini pellet mix. I was fishing for about 1.00pm (incredibly the air temperature was 13 Deg. C) and apart from a couple of knocks nothing at all happened until sunset. Normally I would have moved, but nothing really looked any better, and with the water level dropping so quickly, the banks were treacherous so I stayed put, in what was a relatively safe swim that had produced well for me in the past.

I stuck with the pellet on the one rod and rang the changes in presentation on the rod carrying the Rahja Spice. Just has it was getting dark the pellet rod produced a small barbel of about 5 1/2lbs. This was following by another of similar size almost straight away to the rod on the Rahja Spice. I had scaled this right down to a single ‘peeled’ 10mm boilie with a thin paste wrap.

A nice sunset over the Malvern hills and the barbel were just starting to feed.

The temperature really started to plummet under the clear skies and with an early start for work in the morning I packed up at 8.45pm (when the air temperature was 2 Deg C with frost over all the gear). Another 2 nice barbel fell to the tiny Rahja Spice hook baits in this time, these were fish of 9lb 6oz and 10lb 3oz the latter of which moved the rod tip no more that 2 inches.

So quite a productive first trip of the year and another river where the barbel appear to like the Rahja Spice.

The largest of the trip at 10lb 3oz

Friday February 17th – Upper Trent

First barbel trip for about a month and with the Upper Trent carrying just a little extra water (1.13m according to the environment agency) it seemed the ideal place for a quick after work session.

I started fishing at about 4.00pm on what was a really mild afternoon (12 Deg. C), and with a steadily rising water temperature of 7.4 Deg. C, conditions couldn’t really have been any better for mid February, add this to the fact that there were no others anglers about and it was ideal.

The first rod was fished upstream to the back of a snag and the second was fished only 10 feet from the bank about 30 yards downstream in a 10 feet deep hole (this stretch is averages about 4 feet deep). The upstream rod was presented with a single trimmed down Rahja Spice boilie and the downstream rod carried 2 x 10 mm baits with a paste wrap.

After about 30 minutes the downstream rod signalled a ‘3 feet twitch’, I picked the rod up and everything went solid, leaving me believing I was snagged up, but after about 10 seconds the ‘snag’ began to move. The fish moved slowly out into the river going upstream and right across to the far side with no great speed but immense power, it just felt like a dead weight. Now I was using fairly substantial tackle (2lb t.c. Greys barbel rods and 12lb line), but I was making absolutely no impression on this fish and for the first time in many years I felt totally ‘under gunned’. The only thing I could think of was that I had hooked a big river carp. After 7 or 8 minutes with the rod bent double, applying maximum pressure just trying to get the fish to move I finally started to gain some line literally an inch at a time. After a few more minutes of full pressure (I actually felt the corks creaking) I finally got a glimpse of the fish, it wasn’t a carp but was in a fact a large barbel. This strange fight continued for about another 5 minutes with the fish not really making any runs but still feeling particularly heavy. I now had the fish within 12 feet of the bank but was still struggling to get it up in the water, I had the feeder out of the water a couple of times and could see it was clear and from the couple of glimpses I could see of the fish it was definitely facing the right way, I was just starting to gain proper control when the hook pulled out. To say I was ‘gutted’ would be an understatement.

Its hard to tell when playing a fish but I would estimate that I had this fish on for at least 15 minutes, from the glimpses I had it was definitely 14lb plus (on length alone) but it felt a hell of a lot heavier. It actually gave me the shakes for a while (adrenalin & physical exertion). I am just wondering now if maybe it was hooked in the pectoral or underneath the head so that I was unable to exert the correct pressure, even if it was I would have loved to have got it on the bank just to see what it weighed (I have landed 40lb plus carp on similar tackle in half the time). The fish on the Upper Trent are so nomadic that it is very doubtful I shall bump into it again, which makes it harder to take. If you lose a big fish in a lake you know you will probably get another chance as the fish will still be in the lake, on a wild river like the Upper Trent that fish could be 10 mile away now.

I was ready to pack up there and then, but carried on till 10pm (still 11 Deg. C) in which time I had a barbel of about 8lbs and a bream of a similar size.

Thursday February 23rd – Lower Severn

A strange day this one, had the day off to try and take advantage of the current mild spell. The river was still low but had got quite a bit of colour to it, the water temperature was showing 7.8 Deg. C so there really should have been a good chance of one or two barbel putting in an appearance.

Due to the amount of road works it was 1pm by the time I started fishing but with the really bright sunshine I wasn’t to bothered by this, has I didn’t expect anything till the sun started to drop.

Well a pretty uneventful trip that resulted in just 3 chub (all after dark) by the time I packed up at about 9pm, these all fell to the Rahja Spice 10mm’s. This stretch used to be good for a barbel or two in at any water level, but over the last couple of seasons it would appear that you are virtually wasting your time if there isn’t at least a couple of feet of extra water on.

Looking at the various websites it would appear there was an influx of extra water the next day which really brought the fish onto the feed, once again proving the importance of timing. Still it was a really pleasant day to be out (air temps up to 16 Deg. C) and was certainly better than sitting in the office all day.

Cheers,

Pat Gillett

“Kill nothing but time, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!”

I saw the above quotation under a picture of some guys beach fishing in Africa, apparently they are lyrics from a song. Perfectly sums up our fishing to me.

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The French anglers were really patient with our translation attempts.

I’ve just returned from France after attending the Montlucon Carp Show with Quest Baits boss Shaun Harrison.  Montlucon is the biggest show in Europe and possibly the world; with almost 18000 anglers passing through the four halls this weekend. I was there from Friday to Sunday and didn’t manage to visit all the halls.  There’s a massive array of bait and tackle on display with contributors from all over Europe including many from the UK.  Those of you who are used to the UK shows are in for a bit of a shock.  With a champagne reception before the show opened and brass bands and groups and a disco on the Saturday night it’s a refreshing change with a real French flavour.  Many anglers bivvy up and stay for the whole weekend.

Shaun during a rare quiet moment.

In partnership with Carpe Concept we introduced the French carpistes to the range of Quest Baits and for many of them to a uniquely British way of fishing.  Discrete fluorocarbon combi rigs with small hooks, cut down baits, tiny Pimple Pops and small pva mesh bags of crumbed boilie, Maximum Action Pellet and Micro Feed.  The tiny fluorescent Pimple Pops (6-8mm needle friendly pop-ups) created quite stir and flew off the shelves and were the first things we ran out of.

Shaun showing his Magnum White rig which has caught a lot of fish this winter.

Our lack of French was not a problem, a bit of homework translating the names of the baits and ingredients and some frantic arm waving and grunting and I’m sure we got through.   It was great to meet Seb’ and the Carpe Concept team and share some French hospitality, although 34 of us turning up at the Buffalo Grill did almost bring the place to a standstill.

We also introduced the new Quest Bait boilies; Magnum White and the soon to be released Squid Berry.  I’ll be returning to France on an Angling Lines field testing trip at the beginning of April and both of them will certainly be in my bait bag.

The next Montlucon Show is in two years time and it’s certainly worth considering for a completely different weekend break.  Maybe see you there next time

Cheers Ron

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Ron with a 12lb 7oz winter barbel

Words and picture from Ron Key:

I’ve  just checked out the 14 day forecast on Myweather2.com and its looking very promising. After this weekend, atmospheric pressure will start to drop and air temperature will slowly start to climb for a few days at least.  From past experience this is an ideal time to grab a bag of boilies and head for the river. So if you as suffering serious withdrawal symptoms from an ice induced lack of carp fishing; head down to your local river for a spot of barbel fishing or have a go at the ever obliging chub.

My preference is for open ended feeders crammed with Quest Baits Maximum Action Pellets, Micro Feed, and crumbed boilie.   The Quest Glugs are an ideal additive to increase the pungency of the swimfeeder contents and create a flavour trail in the current.

This is all held in place with plugs of fish meal or marine halibut groundbait.  Fished this in conjunction with an apple cored boilie on the hair wrapped in paste and you ready to go.

My favourites Quest flavours for chub and barbel are Rahja Spice, Special Crab and Chilli Chocolate, there are Maximum Action Pellets to match them all and I really like the Spicy Micro Feed too.

So what are you waiting for get down to the river, it’s got to be better than the telly

Cheers Ron

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English based company Quest Baits Ltd supply bait in many different countries but up until now have not really pushed to get a foot into the Dutch market but this is now about to change.

I was talking to Quest Baits owner Shaun Harrison about this and he explained that Quest Baits had been very fortunate in its growth and have always been able to sell everything they make so haven’t had to go out to find new markets.

He explained he had websites in different countries but now felt it only right to start exploring some of the other countries close to the U.K. Quest Baits now have a much larger production and storage capacity than ever before.

So, having struck a deal to allow F.N.E. Trading in Amsterdam to distribute the range through the Netherlands he was delighted to hear that they would be showing a good selection of the Quest Baits range at the mighty Carp Zwolle fishing show.

With visitors from all over Europe this is the place to be, if you want to promote your bait.

Being a Quest Baits consultant Frans Nestor from F.N.E. Trading invited to come along and help out at the show. I travelled through a very icy Holland to get to Zwolle and be at the Carp Fishing Show on the 4^th & 5^th of February.

My job? Share my experiences on Quest Baits with the many visitors.

Together with a couple of other enthusiastic people we worked hard throughout this weekend in an effort to make the visitors more familiar with the boilies, pellets, pop-ups glugs & dips of the Quest Baits range. A range of baits which is distinguished by the use of pure ingredients, as you yourself would in the kitchen.

The reactions of visitors to the stand were very positive and resulted almost every time in interesting conversations on people’s individual view on carp angling.

The highlight of the weekend was the introduction of Quest Baits newest addition to the range, the Magnum White. Tested in England with very good results by Shaun Harrison and a few selected friends.

Looking back on this weekend, I think it is safe to say that Quest Baits made a great debut at the show and we’ve made good progression on promoting it!

Best wishes

Patricia

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Hi,

We are off to Lords lake in May, and was hoping for some advice on what bait to use and the size you think best, ?

Also I am looking to re-line my reels, have you any recommendations on the best line to use, all help greatfully recieved.

many thanks,

Bev

i caught this one on Ghurkka Spice in Slovenia. I'd use it anywhere in the world.

Hi Bev,

It’s a refreshing change to receive a question from a female angler.

I’m afraid I haven’t fished Lords Lake but if I were visiting it in May I would take a couple of baits with me so that I could ring the changes. Almost certainly in May I would have a  fish based bait with me. Something like Special Crab or the new Squid Berry which will be released in March.

As an alternative bait the two most instant ones on waters where they are used for the first time seem to be Rahja Spice and Ghurkka Spice. Both are very different to each other. The Rahja utilises human grade spices and smells like an Indian Curry whilst the Ghurkka Spice is more coca nutty with a more gentle spice blend. I would be happy to use either of these spice baits anywhere in the world at any time of the year. Here is a link telling you a little more about the boilies. http://www.questbaits.com/results.php?category=1

I did a Google search for Lords Lake and see that Angling Lines have it on their books. I’m guessing you have seen this on their site http://www.anglinglines.com/Lords/

Here is a video link of how I tackle new (to me) waters in France which is still very relevant to my fishing now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsdWCc-fRSU&feature=player_embedded

Regarding line I have bench tested literally 100′s of different lines over the years as I had 25 years working in a busy fishing tackle shop so was sent lots of different things for assessment. Rarely did manufacturers claims match up to the tests I did with the lines. All the lines would be tested fairly the same way. I had to test lines that I certainly had no intention of using but still needed an unbiased opinion when asked about them.

The one carp fishing line that has stood head and shoulders above all others that I have tested has been the P-Line Extrusion (also called Evolution in some countries). I have used this myself for several years now. It lasts on the spool for a very long while, casts nice and has incredible abrasion resistance and superb  ’actual diameter’/'actual breaking strain’ ratio.

After deciding a few years back that this was the best line I could find I have continued to use it and mention to people about it. Line is a personal thing though and most will tell you such and such is better. Interesting though and refreshing assurance for my personal line testing methods is that Terry Eustace (Gold Label) invited various British Carp Study Group members to take their favoured lines with them one night to a B.C.S.G. meeting and he put them all on his line testing machine.

Nothing compared to P-Line Extrusion.

Never pay a lot of attention to what line says on the label as it is rarely accurate.

P-Line 0.34/0.35mm breaks consistently over 20lb knotted. 0.34mm is the sort of diameter you buy when purchasing most 12 and 15lb labelled spools and is my standard carp fishing line.

I hope the two bits above are of help.

Best wishes

Shaun Harrison.

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