The new boilie for 2009 – Surf n Turf

May 2009

I love this time of the year, everything is seemingly new, fresh and growing and the thought of all of those sessions to come in the warmth rather than huddled away trying to keep warm leaves me feeling quite content with life.

Not only this but the carp are real active and before the mass amounts of weed found in most waters these days start to put in an appearance it is well worth keeping a ‘roving rod’ on the go and use this to cast at any possible signs. I have lost count how many productive areas I have found in this way by simply leaving the fish to show me where they want to feed rather than me thrash the water to a foam with the marker rod.

The Surf ‘N’ Turf released at the beginning of March has quickly established itself as a major carp catcher and the telephone calls and emails received have been great making all of those long hard hours more than worthwhile.

More recent releases have been the Micro Feed and the Maximum Action Spod Mixes.

The Micro Feed is a brilliant product even if I may say so myself. I have been playing around with this for a long while now and it is so versatile for adding attraction to your swim from flavour spread and the obvious visual aspect. First glance and it looks like coloured fish spawn which is an obvious edge in the weeks to come when carp spend many hours gorging themselves on spawn. Don’t think it is only for the warmer months though, I have caught a lot of cold water winter fish using the Micro Feed too. By adding a little lake water you can actually ball this up for catapult baiting and for medium range method work too. Micro Feed will still break down into separate spawn type particles even after being balled together. Originally I had wanted to call this ‘Shaun Spawn’ but then allowed myself to be talked out of it!

Maximum Action Spod Mix

The ‘Maximum Action Spod Mix’ gets its name from the Maximum Action Pellets it contains. This is an instant spod mix which will remain in the spod until it hits the water. I see so many anglers spodding away and leaving a long trail of bait all the way through the swim where your lines are going to be running. This is a far from ideal situation if the fish you are trying to get feeding are wary of lines. Most of the waters I fish these days the carp are paranoid about lines and if they come into contact with them they quickly leave the area.

You can add your own bits and pieces to the Maximum Action Spod Mix if required although it works great on its own. Preparation is simplicity itself simply cover the mix in boiling water before you fish then leave to cool. It will be ready to use once cool. The 2kg tubs we sell (99p) are perfect for mixing up a bit at a time and if you purchase it in the 2kg amounts you get the bait supplied in one of these.

Well, my fishing time has been very limited these past few months and I have had to force myself to put up with very short session fishing on my local waters. Having said that it has been hugely enjoyable popping out for just a few hours at a time and getting the rods bent and has given me the opportunity to do a little experimenting with some bits and bobs bait wise.

However, over the Bank Holiday week-end I managed to get away on the Saturday afternoon to Grenville in Cambridgeshire and after a rather frustrating Sunday morning with carp on my baits but no takes forthcoming I decided to move for my last night. This was a bit of a gamble to take as the carp had definitely fed on my baits in the first swim but had wiped me out, moved on and the strengthening wind made it impossible to get any more bait out to where they had fed.

In the new swim I was able to bait up how I wanted with a mixture of 10, 15 and 20mm Surf ‘N’ Turf boilies with a handful of different colour and flavoured boilies too simply to add extra visual appeal then I spodded a very sloppy mix of Surf ‘N’ Turf Maximum Spod Mix with extra pellets added.

Well the gamble paid off with my most successful night on Grenville to date. Seven carp hooked and five landed with the largest going 31lb 8oz which proves that Bank Holiday weekends are best spent on the bank!

Until next month – Best fishes
Shaun Harrison