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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Which bait and size do you think I need for my Laroussi trip in April?

Shaun Harrison answers:

Definitely take some Rahja Spice with you. It has been a firm favourite at Laroussi for many years, particularly in the smaller sizes too. The Laroussi fish like 10mm’s but it is worth mixing the bait size a little. The lake record has fallen to Rahja Spice on more than one occasion. If I were going this coming year I would also take an alternative with me to ring the changes and that would probably be the Ghurkka Spice. I know they both have ‘Spice’ in their names but are very different to each other hardly sharing any ingredients at all other than the obvious eggs and chilli.

Hope this helps
Shaun

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Marwan Abed

maali-saleh@hotmail.com

Message:

Hi all,

Being lost two years in the web sites I realized that there is a lot of talk around Fishing but there is a little about fishing process itself . As a river carp and barbel angler in the Euphrates ( Euphrates is a large river pass through Syria) I face a problem when legering with fairly heavy lead (let’s say 1 to 1 3/4 onz ) With soft bait ( as a paste or luncheon meet), the problem is that after one or two Tugs (short bite, thirty or forty CM ) the bait break apart and the hook becomes Bait less so there is no chance for long pull witch might enable me to strike and set The hook, , Can anybody tell me how to deal with this or where to find such tactic information.

I know that maybe a hair rigged boilies is a kind of solution but what if I still like To fish with paste and luncheon meat ,also I cannot resort to bolt rig because it require Heavier lead ( above 2 onz) .

Best regards

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Pat I moved to Grantham Lincs last season. I would like to fish for
some Trent barbel (upper Trent) with the chance of a fish or two. I’m
around 40mins from Shardlow and I see the Derby Railway club has some
water there.

Richard

Pat Replied:

Hi Richard,

A young looking Upper Trent double

There are plenty of barbel in the area you mention. I haven’t personally fished the Derby Railway stretches but I do know there are good fish on there. Because I haven’t fished it I can’t really comment on the issue of car parking on their stretches. I also think you have to pay extra for fishing at night.

I would however have no hesitation in recommending the Burton Mutual Angling Association who have in the region of 8 to 10 miles of the Upper Trent in the area you are looking at. I have fished a few of their stretches and the parking is fine and always has been. Burton Mutual also have around 6 to 8 miles of the River Dove, again with mainly secure parking.

Because of the vast amount of water available you can be sure of some quiet unspoilt sport if you are prepared to do a bit of pioneering and not just follow the crowds.

A typical River Dove double

It is always worth a try in the winter as long as you get the conditions right. In fact I would say that the Upper Trent is probably easier to fish in the winter than earlier in the year, has you don’t have the problem of weed debris coming downstream all the while. Also be prepared to fish 5 or 6 hours into dark as the Upper Trent barbel can be very nocturnal (Burton have no extra cost for fishing the rivers at night).

The Upper Trent barbel fight exceptionally hard and because of this I would recommend using a rod of at least 1 3/4lb test curve coupled with a minimum of 10lb line.

All the usual methods will catch these fish, at the moment I am doing well with the Rahja Spice Shelf Life’s and the mini mixed pellet mix. I like to use 2 rods and to ‘ring the changes’ on one of them to see if I can find something that outscores everything else.

I would suggest checking the websites for the 2 clubs mentioned (Burton also have a Forum you can look at), to see which you think suits you best.

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.

Cheers,

Pat Gillett

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Hello Shaun! The next question from me.

The last time I go fishing a small lake and have caught some large carp. However, the bait completely taken over after 4-5 hours by the strong smell of rotting sludge. What kind of bait and flavors suggest that the baits can retain the smell for a long time? I think that is much more able to catch more carp breed.

Thanks in advance for your answer!

Best Regards: Gergely Pataki

Boilies soaking up liquid before baiting in a silty lake.

Shaun Replied:

Try soaking the baits in liquid before you go. The water from cooked hempseed is excellent for this or simply use lake water. By leaving the baits to soak up the liquid before baiting up they won’t be able to take so much of the silt/sludge smell thus retaining more of their own original smell and taste.

I usually fish around a bit though and try and find the areas the silt doesn’t smell so strong, you will usually find the carp prefer to feed in the less smelly areas. Slightly shallower areas should be less silty as the deeper areas act like a sump and collect the old leaves etc.

Hope this helps

Best fishes

Shaun Harrison

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Are your shelf-life baits nutritionally good for carp, particularly the Rahja Spice. I’m a day ticket angler that hasn’t got much time to fish so want a bait that a carp wants to eat straight away. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Shaun answered…

A winter carp from Dallas, Texas. The first time they had ever seen Rahja Spice

Hi Dave,

I can only comment on our own Quest Baits range but the whole of our range was put together with the desire to offer the carp a little something back in terms of nutritional benefit.  Our shelf life baits contain exactly the same ingredients in exactly the same quantity as our fresh frozen baits – apart from the type of egg used. The shelf life baits are actually slightly more calorific than the standard fresh frozen versions.

It is now a couple of years since I last used one of our fresh frozen baits preferring the controlled stability of our shelf life versions for my own fishing knowing that the bait won’t be wasted if conditions dictate I don’t need to be feeding much. It is as easy for me to take baits out of the freezer storage as it is for me to take baits straight off the shelf and if I honestly thought I would catch just one more carp per season by using the fresh frozen versions I would do.

A big fish from an ancient mere. The first time this fish had ever seen Ghurkka Spice boilies.

The Rahja Spice you have mentioned would be one of my main choices to take to a water that has never seen our baits before. It is very different ingredient wise to a lot of what is used in baits and the carp simply accept it as a food source from day one without the need for pre-baiting and weaning the fish onto it.

I would happily take any of our range anywhere in the world but to be fair the Rahja Spice and more recently the Ghurkka spice have been the two first baits I grab when exploring new venues.

I hope this helps.

Best fishes

Shaun Harrison

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Hi there,

I’ve been fishing big rivers for a number of years now and there’s still one aspect that continually trips me up. In my case it’s the ability to hold carp in my area on the St Lawrence River in the US/Canada. Shoals of up to 200 fish averaging low 20′s pass through the swim on a regular basis – lets say hourly. The ability to hold this shoal for longer than it takes for them to clear out the bait is almost impossible. In the past I have dumped 120Kg of maize off the side of a boat in to 24ft of clear water – 4 hours later it had all been polished off.

It’s clear that quantity of bait makes no significant difference to holding these transitory fish in one location. My thoughts turned to creating ‘distractions’ in the area through widescale use of bicarb of soda, this creates a relatively short-term fizzing and bubbling and may hold the carp due to their inquisitive nature. How I could delay the breakdown of the bicarb to give longer term attraction still troubles me today.

The final thought I have is around the ability to leave a long term attractor in the water. With the development of Gel Baits I’d hoped that the ability to leave a semi-permanent scent trail in my area would hold the fish, I fear that the quantity required would financially outweigh the benefits.

So, in a long-winded way, I’d be interested to hear of other ideas outside of piling in the bait that might be adopted to hold these large shoals long enough to pick off a fair few fish before they move on.

Thanks

Marcus

Answer from Shaun

Lots of bait or keep moving?

Hi Marcus,

From what you have said I doubt very much you would hold the fish for very long. You won’t stop the carp from doing what they have always done on the river systems and that is to graze over large areas. Even if you could introduce enough feed to hold them in an area I doubt very much you would be able to introduce enough of what they require fore a balanced diet and then they will soon be roaming again to search out the food items needed.

I certainly wouldn’t encourage you to introduce the bicarb to the river system. Yes carp are curious but will still move on if the food isn’t there for them.

All you can really do if you want to sit in the same swim is to bait with very small items of bait which take the carp much longer to clear than Maize etc. Small pellets and seeds are the most convenient to use.

Surely you are better off adopting a more mobile approach and move with the fish keeping one step ahead though. This is what I would look to be doing and catch them with minimal bait as they pass through then leapfrog again.

Hope this helps. I would be interested how the other Bloggers would tackle this situation.

Best fishes

Shaun

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Hi there,

I’ve been fishing big rivers for a number of years now and there’s still one aspect that continually trips me up. In my case it’s the ability to hold carp in my area on the St Lawrence River in the US/Canada. Shoals of up to 200 fish averaging low 20′s pass through the swim on a regular basis – lets say hourly. The ability to hold this shoal for longer than it takes for them to clear out the bait is almost impossible. In the past I have dumped 120Kg of maize off the side of a boat in to 24ft of clear water – 4 hours later it had all been polished off.

It’s clear that quantity of bait makes no significant difference to holding these transitory fish in one location. My thoughts turned to creating ‘distractions’ in the area through widescale use of bicarb of soda, this creates a relatively short-term fizzing and bubbling and may hold the carp due to their inquisitive nature. How I could delay the breakdown of the bicarb to give longer term attraction still troubles me today.

The final thought I have is around the ability to leave a long term attractor in the water. With the development of Gel Baits I’d hoped that the ability to leave a semi-permanent scent trail in my area would hold the fish, I fear that the quantity required would financially outweigh the benefits.

So, in a long-winded way, I’d be interested to hear of other ideas outside of piling in the bait that might be adopted to hold these large shoals long enough to pick off a fair few fish before they move on.

Thanks

Marcus

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Hi guys,

I have been specimen fishing for a number of years, but I still struggle with settling on a bait I am 100% confident with !

My reason for this is I am restricted (like many others) to very short sessions on a variety of waters, sometimes only a couple of overnighters a month! While I understand the importance of giving the fish good nutrition in the long term, I feel that maybe attraction is what I need in the short term, am I right in presuming this ?

I feel I need to settle on a bait I can trust!

Any advice would be happily received !

Cheers
Pete,

Reply:-

Hi Pete,

a 30lb Mirror this April - the very first night these fish had been fed Ghurkka Spice

When I put baits together for the Quest Baits range instant attraction is as important as the long term nutritional benefit. Like you many other anglers simply do not have the time or possibly justify the cost of having to establish baits and wean the fish onto them. To my mind baits should work from the off anyway giving plenty of attraction and stimulation but the the added bonus after they have been eaten for the fish to have benefitted from the experience.

If I was to recommend a bait from our range now for you it would be the Ghurkka Spice and for further back up to prove it is not just sales hype by me Carpology magazine have independent Tank Tests carried out each month by James Anderson BSc (Hons). The July 2011 issue saw 14 boilies tested from 14 different bait companies and the Ghurkka Spice wiped the board with the highest marks in both tests the ‘How do the fish react to the smell of the bait’ and the ‘Do the fish actually eat the bait’.

James actually wrote…

“I’m going to mention the Ghurkka Spice from Quest. Quest boilies have been constantly high performers in the Tank Test series and always seem to really get the carp going. I’m not sure why but the level of enthusiasm the fish demonstrated for these baits was clearly up there with the best boilies tested this month. Prolonged aggressive feed stimulation for the majority of the fish in the tank”.

What more can I say?

Best fishes

Shaun Harrison

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Hi guys,

I have been specimen fishing for a number of years, but I still struggle with settling on a bait I am 100% confident with !

My reason for this is I am restricted (like many others) to very short sessions on a variety of waters, sometimes only a couple of overnighters a month! While I understand the importance of giving the fish good nutrition in the long term, I feel that maybe attraction is what I need in the short term, am I right in presuming this ?

I feel I need to settle on a bait I can trust!

Any advice would be happily received !

Cheers
Pete,

Reply:-

Hi Pete,

A 30lb plus mirror the very first night the water had been fed Ghurkka Spice

When I put baits together for the Quest Baits range instant attraction is as important as the long term nutritional benefit. Like you many other anglers simply do not have the time or possibly justify the cost of having to establish baits and wean the fish onto them. To my mind baits should work from the off anyway giving plenty of attraction and stimulation but the the added bonus after they have been eaten for the fish to have benefitted from the experience.

If I was to recommend a bait from our range now for you it would be the Ghurkka Spice and for further back up to prove it is not just sales hype by me Carpology magazine have independent Tank Tests carried out each month by James Anderson BSc (Hons). The July 2011 issue saw 14 boilies tested from 14 different bait companies and the Ghurkka Spice wiped the board with the highest marks in both tests the ‘How do the fish react to the smell of the bait’ and the ‘Do the fish actually eat the bait’.

James actually wrote…

“I’m going to mention the Ghurkka Spice from Quest. Quest boilies have been constantly high performers in the Tank Test series and always seem to really get the carp going. I’m not sure why but the level of enthusiasm the fish demonstrated for these baits was clearly up there with the best boilies tested this month. Prolonged aggressive feed stimulation for the majority of the fish in the tank”.

What more can I say?

Best fishes

Shaun Harrison

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