Quest Baits Blog

Martin Vaughan wrote:

I’m off to Spain next week to fish the river guadiana (the orellano). Being a bit of a novice I’m after any advice you can offer on rigs. What coated braid would u recommend, length of leadcore & hooklink ? Its a guided trip with Extrema Fishing and all i have to supply is end tackle so any tips or advice
would be gratefully appreciated.

Hi Martin,

I assume you will be targeting Carp rather than Catfish. Not knowing the river in question makes answering a bit vague but here goes.

I would certainly recommend a strong braided hooklink such as 25lb Silkworm or similar, if you prefer coated braid then you won’t go far wrong with Korda Hybrid.  In my experience river carp certainly aren’t rig shy and basic heavy gauge set ups will suffice. 

I would use hooklinks of at least 18″ and about 4ft leadcore leaders.  Assuming the reels are supplied then I would imagine they will be spooled up with line around 18lb.

Hookwise I would suggest size4 minimum and would recommend either Korda LongshankX (tough as old boots) or Rigsbiz R2 hooks. 

There is no need for clever blowback rigs or even shrink tubing as a basic no knot knot will be fine.

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White Out on the Mangrove

by Jim Kelly

Winter carping can be one of the most sole destroying pastimes imaginable. What with the long cold nights, freezing days and with little chance of a fish anyone would be mad to fish through the winter months – wrong winter carping can be one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of carp fishing, if you get it right!

 The fish are normally at their best weight and in excellent condition. The million dollar question how do you get it right in winter?

Firstly my definition of a winter carp is one caught between 1st November and 1st March just to make it clear. Now that has been cleared up what makes the difference between success and failure?

I have winter fished for carp for well over 20 years, with some spectacular successes and some dismal failures. The problem with winter carping is that there are few rules.

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By Jamie Simpson

Ok so I thought this piece may be helpful to anyone who has little or no experience of fishing in France.

Travelling to France for a fishing holiday can be a daunting prospect, yet the draw of large Carp and a slightly warmer climate is almost impossible to resist.  I thought I would just put a little list of things that may help and hopefully a few other bloggers can add to any that I miss or have overlooked.

• Always carry a High Vis jacket, emergency breakdown triangle, spare bulbs etc as this is a legal requirement in France now.

• You will definately need your drivers license, insurance document and ownership document.

• A silly one but you wont get far without your passport. continue reading…

My mirror fell to the new bait on test, Surf ‘n’ Turf which was attached to an unusual take on the chod which I have been playing around with.

Rather than using beads to hold the hook link in place, I have been experiencing a lot of success by using two air-dried 10mm hookbaits threaded on to a TF leader and a 3 oz distance lead.

Alongside this I presented a small PVA bags containing a dozen whole and broken freebies. I was the only one to catch during the trip and to do so during the snow make the experience even more special.

Samantha Collins-Ratcliffe

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