April 2008

They say time flies when you are having fun. If this is the case I must have been having a load of fun here at Quest Baits! For it seems only a very short time ago I was sat in freezing conditions in the bivvy at the new syndicate water, battling against huge winds in the ever expectant hope of one of the bobbins creeping up to the rod to signal another carp has found the hook bait.
Yet here I am, it’s 7am and I’m sat in shorts, with the door open wide and the fresh morning sun streaming through the window and the nice aroma of fresh filtered coffee emitting from my cup! At last, Summer is well and truly here and what’s more, the car is loaded outside for an early get away this afternoon before the week-end traffic gets too hectic. At last I am able to get out on the banks again simply due to finding a couple of waters where I am able to take Brook my ever faithful dog.

I’m not so sure about the ‘fun time’. Hectic time yes! There’s been all sorts of things happening here at Quest Baits since I last tapped out the words to the previous newsletter. The shop accounts we opened up all over the country have made it so much easier for you to get your hands on the bait and it’s so nice to receive catch reports from new customers trying our baits for the first time. I can’t begin to tell you the immense amount of satisfaction I get out of reading some of these reports. New personal bests, multiple catches first time out and a change of bait did the business, are all things which make the manic periods here all the more worthwhile.

We have also been out on the road again at a couple of shop open days and it’s been great to meet some of you who have made it along. The Chapman’s new shop opening in Hull was unbelievable with the amount of customers who passed through their door. Bridget and myself were there for the full three days and really knew about it by the end of the week-end. The Hull shop is well worth a visit if you are passing. As far as tackle shops go it is huge and the staff all seemed really knowledgeable and helpful including the staff from their Scunthorpe branch who were on hand to help out over the week-end.

Next shop open day was Total Angling near Shrewsbury, another cracking shop who have got right behind Quest Baits and buying into the ‘giving the fish something back’ theme. This time our Quest Baits consultant/field tester team member Samantha made the epic journey up from Cornwall to Shropshire with her partner Scott to lend a hand chatting and helping out with the customers. It’s great to see more and more female anglers coming into the sport. Samantha has been putting some incredible catches together and she is not on her own. Only the other week on my new syndicate water Claire Byrne from Ultimate Angling in Hitchin Hert’s (who also sell Quest Baits) was busy amassing an incredible catch of ‘big carp’ whilst partner Richard looked on.
Liver B8 has certainly lived up to expectations since its release in March. Just look at the catch reports on this bait is sure to become an all time classic.

As for my own fishing? Well, as usual I can’t sit back and enjoy catching the fish on the baits I have already tested and proven. The nature of the beast means I need to be testing different ingredients and developing baits for the future. With the early ingredient tests completed on tank fish and the fish in my garden pool I am now out fishing with slightly different versions of the same bait. Things are looking good at the moment and a few fish are coming my way. The new water I joined is a mile and three quarter around the bank and the carp can get out of range in every swim. This combined with me still needing to do a lot of learning of the fish movements and feeding spots etc has mean’t some very interesting fishing for me. The times I have managed to get on the fish I have caught them. Brook is loving the week-ends out and insists on getting in on the photographs each time. With self take photography it’s difficult to stop her.

So, another month rolls by and plenty of things happening here at Quest Baits. This is a very exciting stage in our development as more and more customers start to appreciate the benefits of actually feeding the carp something the carp benefit from and what is more finding out the carp will keep coming back for more.

Thanks for all the support given to us by both the tackle shops and you the individual customer. By way of reward we are now offering you FREE CARRIAGE – YES – FREE CARRIAGE on orders containing 15 kilo or more of boilies. Our computer system struggles to know who is entitled to free bait and who isn’t. So, you will be charged the normal carriage rates but we will add goods at our discretion relevant to what you have purchased completely free of charge to cover the carriage amount.
Until next time as always

Best Fishes

Shaun Harrison.