Its been a while since I updated this blog...the twitter & blogging keenies will tell me off! But quality not quantity is my watchword. However, contrary to popular belief I have not been sitting in my armchair at home. I like to get out by the lake or river on most days of the week even if I am not actually fishing its good to watch the water and see whats happening. This always pays dividends when you actually puta proper session in. As I am lucky enough to have my own lake I get some great feedback on fish behaviour and feeding times from members of the syndicate. Its invariably the case that when one venue switches-on, other fisheries follow suit. This is ofetn a good indicator of river fish getting their heads down too.
I went off to France for the usual annual pilgrimage - a couple of times this summer too. I did not do a full week's holiday on my last trip as high pressure prevailed and the fish had turned off. Oh yes! It happens in France too, despite being told by the lake owners that carp like High Pressure conditons? (I have never heard this before...I must get out more!). Managed a few lunkers though up to 66.8lb, ( see below),which is actually a PB for me...there is life in the old dog yet!
Interesting news from the bait workshop is that we have considerably renewed interest in our Bio Shellfish base mix and custom made Taste boilie ranges. Although I make limited amounts of rolled bait, 'The Bio' really seems to be doing the business this year. Quite a few people are unaware that Bio forms the basis of the highly successful A.S.A.P. which I think is discontinued?Anyway this original recipe cannot ever be copied. The same applies to other classic recipes such as 'Rapido', Barbel Search4 and believe it or not 'Ashlea Pool Mix'. We still make all these baits to order. I never stint on the quality of our products and especially the powders and flavours. We always throw away time-expired ingredients...I wonder if all bait companies do that!
Have just started going out to a couple of new river venues for a few barbel sessions. Instead of short trips after work, I have actually taken off a few whole days and really concentrated on locating fish before casting a line to them. This paid off recently with a good catch of 3 x doubles in a day after 4 hours of watching and very light pre-baiting with small taste4barbel boilies.
Please keep an eye on this blog page. I hope to be a bit more pro-active over the winter with forthcoming bait news and events from a few river trips. Good fishing for now...its barbel time!
