Quest Baits Blog

I have had a lot of success in recent years using my own hook baits and in particular my own pop ups made with cork balls. I have no problem with ‘off the shelf pop ups’ for the majority of my fishing but making my own gives me several distinct advantages. Firstly, no matter how long I leave them out there I know they will remain as buoyant as when they first went in; this is particularly important when using rigs that require high levels of buoyancy such as with a chod rig or rigs specifically designed for pop ups. If I needed to I could happily leave my hook baits out for days knowing they will not sink or become heavy. Secondly, they allow me to tweak flavour levels, add different attractants or even change the colour of my hookbaits to make them stand out. I’ve never understood the obsession with making hook baits exactly match every loose fed boilie – I want mine to stand out so they get picked up quickly. Thirdly, in my opinion a cork ball pop up, by virtue of being so buoyant, behaves differently; by carefully adding the right amount of shot or putty to my rigs I can get them to behave exactly like the other baits out there and the rigs I’m using become very difficult for the carp to detect. continue reading…

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Hi all,

just a quick report after coming back from France where I fished for a week. It was a really tough week with really cold temperatures and hardly any sun! I had to resort to wearing four layers most days as the North Easterly wind that’s been around for ages was really nasty.

I was fishing into thick tall weed in 12′ of water and it was impossible to find the clear spots without full sun, making life really hard. The sun came out briefly Monday afternoon, I found a gorgeous tiny gravely spot and had this lovely 37+ common from it.

I then spent two days trying to find that spot again with a prodding stick. I had two takes off it and had this 32 common – fought like a demon – just look at the paddle on it. Lost the other one and managed a 28 from open water. There were some really big fish caught that week on the lake but I wasn’t lucky to get in amongst them.

Home made rhaja spice pop ups did the job. With a lot of time on my hands I was playing around with a rig I’ve been developing for a while now. I tied a few up on the bank for use on a weedy water when I got back. I really liked the look of what I’d come up with and was itching to try it when I got back. Next time I’ll let you know how I got on, suffice to say my season just got better and better.

Tight Lines,  Elie Godsi

Following on from Shaun’s earlier blog about favourite tackle items I had to think long and hard about what I really valued in my kit. There are some items that are more obvious – I love my rods and reels for example – but I wanted to come up with something a little different. Sitting with too much time on a session I realised there were two bits of kit that stood out.

Firstly my tiny Primus stove. I love kit that’s compact, well designed and does the job. This little beauty screws into propane / butane canisters, has a self ignition switch and fits into the palm of my hand when folded. No matter how little kit I carry I can always have a hot cup of tea or hot food.

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The second items is these amazing braid cutters from PB products. I promise you once you have tried these you will never use anything else. You can dangle the thinnest braid in the air and it will still cut them with no tension, it’s like magic! Great design – in my opinion the best there is out there.

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Oh and I have had two trips since the last blog. Managed 4 doubles the first time out and a double and a scraper 20 the second trip. Not bad on a water where one or two bites a session is good going.

Tight lines, Elie G

I managed my first overnight trip of the year last week and I must say it felt great to be back out again. I don’t know about you but I love the whole camping out thing, sleeping in the fresh air and waking up by a water all set up and watching for carp. The weather was really cold with ground frosts at night. Not many fish showing even when the sun was out in the day but one or two are beginning to come out. I suffered a very frustrating session with two hook pulls – not a great start to the season – but on the positive side I managed two takes on what can be a very difficult water. It’s a publicity ban water so I can’t say that much but I did photograph a very large fish for a mate of mine – a new PB for him and he was understandably over the moon.

So I thought I’d write something about remembering that it’s not all about catching personally. I know I had a big hand in my mate catching and landing that fish and I will always be part of that special memory and capture. I may not have caught anything but so much else was going on I came away a happy and contented man. Tawny owls hooting, cock pheasants cronking their territory calls and buzzards gliding and ‘mewing’ overhead. I also saw something for the first time which is amazing really after all these years – a pair of swans actually mating. I’ve seen them courting and their love dance is really beautiful – but never actually mating. Isn’t nature great? When they finished they made it clear what they thought of my fishing – the picture says it all!

Elie G

Part 2 of Elie Godsi’s excellent article.  Part 1 is here.

There are as many different forms of contact as there are forms and methods of fishing. Consider the bob, twitch or slide as a lifeless float tip begins to dance on the water’s surface. One instant it is there and the next, as if by magic it can completely disappear.

Or the almost unbearable agony as a pair of rubbery lips finally breaks surface, nudging and prodding at the floating dog biscuits one by one but ignoring the hookbait.

When touch ledgering at night; the rod, the line, my arm and me, all merged into one: that electric moment when I get a sudden sensation of a rod springing to life in my hand. If all goes according to plan, the bite, the strike and that wonderful solidity of contact become one seamless experience.

And of course, oh joy, the sound of a buzzer waking me up instantly from deep sleep at three in the morning. continue reading…

Elie Godsi with 47lb+ of Laroussi Joy!

Let’s face it, for most people fishing in general is viewed as a bit weird and quite boring; for the outsider, carp fishing lies somewhere between the quaint and the full blown anorak. To us it might seem self evident why we are obsessed with this species, with fishing in general. Yet it can be so hard to explain to the uninitiated, to get beyond the many stereotypes and common myths about angling. People think we just sit motionless for hours sipping tea and catching nothing (though sometimes, all too often, we do); that we really do heave in old boots (I’m sure this must have happened to someone somewhere). Yes, we do own overgrown green umbrellas and yes, wearing waders looks funny.

When trying to explain why I am so passionate about my fishing, there are certain aspects that are easier for people to relate to and in my experience this is usually the best place to start. I can wax lyrical about the therapeutic and replenishing nature of being near water and my need to immerse myself in natural places. And I do. I can discuss the primeval need for the hunting instinct to gain expression in a modern junk food instant gratification superficial hi-tech world. I can speak genuinely of my need for peace and solitude; ‘getting away from it all’ is something almost everyone can relate to and I am usually on safe ground here. Above all else, it is easiest for people to relate to fishing as an essentially sedate pastime. Perhaps the most unshakeable myth about fishing is that it is largely uneventful and therefore relaxing if not utterly boring. This is however, exactly where the credibility vacuum lies: we all know just how exciting fishing for carp can be but how could anyone normal get excited about a fish? continue reading…