Quest Baits Blog

Alan Dobson wrote:

I will be going to France fishing in 2 weeks time – the lake is Roseau large lake. The lake is known for special crab and fruity trifle which my mates will be taking. I would like to try something else would you be able to recommend anything else. I went last year and took special crab and fruity trifle so I know this works well. What do you recommend? I await to hear from you.

Roseau Large Lake

Pat Gillett replies;

I can highly recommend the Rahja Spice Shelf Lifes.

Alongside my good mate Paul Cooper I went to France three times last year (end of March, 1st week May & 1st week in October) and used the Rahja on all occasions.

Because of the varying times of year we ended up encountering a lot of different weather conditions. (Because of the time of year you are making your visit there is a good chance that you will also face a variety of weather conditions).

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Roger Mills asked ;

Hi Shaun, I have booked a few days at Olivemead lake in May with my Grandchildren.  There are a few 30s in the lake & I understand the minimum line allowed is 15lb, The largest line I have ever used is 12lb. Has anyone any advice on the best 15lb line to use? I perfer not to use braid.  Regards Roger

Hi Roger,
I would guess that you will have a lot of different answers to this one, as it comes down to personal choice and what you have confidence in.

For many years I have used the Gold Label Tackle Pro Gold line (not the pro-clear). This is a line which is underated strength wise, by this I mean that although it states a breaking strain of 12lb it actually breaks at about 18lb even when knotted.

I have found that this line has excellent abrasion resistance and knot strength having landed carp to 49lb 14oz and catfish to 64lb 8oz on the 12lb b.s. (it really is tough as ‘old boots’). I also like the low visibilty weed green colour, which has it states is not very visible in the water.If you must use the 15lb then i would not hesitate in buying the nearest breaking strain in the pro gold.

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by Pat Gillett;

One of the things that I have noticed in carp fishing during the last few years is the increasing amount of gear that carp anglers seem to be taking with them. In fact it seems that some anglers feel almost naked if they haven’t got at least a barrow load of tackle. I can appreciate the need for all this gear if you are going for a three or four day session especially at this time of year, but I am seeing guys with barrow loads of gear in the summer and they are only stopping for a day or a single night. I am sure that taking too much gear costs anglers a number of fish as it makes them very reticent to up sticks and move swims even when they can see fish on other parts of the lake.

When going for a day session my gear is cut to the bare minimum and I can fit it all into a 45-litre rucksack and small bait bucket (which will include a few Quest Baits boilies, matching paste & pop-ups, a few pellets & a few floaters). Add a lightweight 3-rod quiver, lightweight chair and an unhooking mat and that should be all you need. With this amount of tackle you can have your rods reeled in and be moving on to fish in another part of the lake within 5 minutes. continue reading…

By Pat Gillett
 

I suppose one of the main things that differentiates river fishing for barbel from say Stillwater carp fishing is the fact that in many cases fish stock wise no two seasons are the same. Now don’t get me wrong I do like my carp fishing and up until ten or twelve years ago I used to fish for them throughout the year. The thing with most carp waters is that after a season or two it soon becomes apparent what the fish stocks are and unless fish get stolen or you get the odd new fish coming through these stocks are not going to change. Obviously this is not the case with the barbel on the rivers as they are free to wander wherever they want to.

My barbel fishing last year really brought home to me the way certain stretches can vary from year to year. Now I usually start my barbel fishing around about October onwards, preferring to fish for other species for the rest of the year (which I believe keeps your fishing from getting ‘stale’ – variety is the spice of life and all that!). Last Autumn / Winter I fished the Lower Severn, the Upper Trent, the Warwickshire Avon and the river Dove and on all of these rivers the barbel stocks were significantly different to previous seasons. continue reading…

Andy Stansfield wrote;

I’m going to France end of April just found out now its a boilie and fake bait water what do u think would be best to take with me? 

Hi Andy,

I can highly recommend the Rahja Spice Shelf lifes. Went to France three times last year (end of March, 1st week May & 1st week in October) and used the Rahja on all occasions. Fished through sleet, snow, freezing conditions, fog and red hot days and found that the carp still fed on the Rahja.

So it really is an all round bait for various water temperatures.

I had always been of the belief that frozen was better than shelf life but after using the Quest shelf lifes I wouldn’t bother with all the hassle of trying to keep frozen baits fresh when going abroad. The shelf lifes will catch you plenty of fish and as long as you don’t get them damp they will last months.

Regarding artificials I would look no further than the Enterprise Tackle range of fake baits. I have caught plenty of fish using the fake maize over hemp or pellet.

Also well worth a try for something a bit different is to use a piece of fake corn on top of a standard boilie bottom bait. Keep the swim topped up on a little and often basis ie. after every fish.

If you go in all guns blazes and put loads of bait in to start with you could ruin your chances. If the fish aren’t feeding straight away you will end up with a load of bait in your swim which you can’t take out.

Have a good one, Pat

Dear Shaun;

I just got some of your bait and am very pleased with it. Yet to catch with it but I’m sure it will bring results soon. I am fishing a 3 acre lake which I have caught plenty of fish from with a good stock of doubles and 20s. It is shallow with most areas being 3-4ft or less. The bottom is mainly silty with some harder areas in places. There is a large island in the middle of the lake.

On recent sessions I have been having terrible problems with birdlife picking up the bait. It is mainly tufties. This problem even persists during darkness. I never had it quite so bad before, admittedly this is worse in winter time. Do you have any suggestions how to combat this?
Many Thanks, Cliff

Hi Cliff,

I have faced this situation myself on one or two waters. It is always worse in the winter when there is not so much natural food about for the tufties & coots so they are obviously looking for something else to eat. Also in the winter the water tends to be much clearer (unless it’s overstocked) thus making it easier for the tufties to find your bait.

There are a couple of things you can do which may help you:

1. Bait up when you are not fishing and in different parts of the lake. The water you are fishing sounds reasonably small and so by baiting up different area’s the carp will still find plenty of the bait and soon get a taste for it. I have found that the Quest baits are pretty instant anyway. continue reading…