Mike’s Diary
From Spring 2010...
Posted in Mike’s Diary on 10th March 2010The latter part of 2009 was a particularly difficult time for me personally and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all my friends, family and customers alike for their help and support following the passing of my father. There were times when I never thought I was going to make it through, but your wise words of wisdom and encouragement have helped me more than you will ever know.
It was almost six months before I could even bring myself to look at my gear, but I was told by more than a few that I would eventually find the path back to fishing, and they were right. The last few days of the season at Frampton were beckoning and I just wanted to be there under the stars and waking up to the sound of birds singing. Anyone who lives and breathes carp fishing will completely understand that. Catching a carp was secondary, it really didn’t matter, I just wanted to be there, “doing it!”, as my old mate Jon Mac would often say.
I then spotted a carp! Then another! Then another! All of a sudden, and for the first time in ages, I could feel the enthusiasm flooding back into my veins and with the arrival of a new southerly wind and a massive fly hatch, I was presented with an opportunity far too good to miss!
The fish were moving very close to the shallow margins, so a length of camo netting was quickly installed to screen any bank side movements. My trusty B5 corker pop-ups were tied on in eager anticipation and a few loose scatterings of freebies were presented amongst the patchy weed. The situation didn’t warrant lots of bait due to the fact that they were on the hatches, but presentation was key, therefore feeling the lead down for that satisfying ‘donk’ was all important.
The rest is history as they say, and I managed to extract five magnificent carp from their weedy home over the next 48-hours, including a couple of stunning thirties. At long last, I was now well and truly back in the zone!
Mike on Bag 'n' Stick Liquids
The main function of liquids is to boost food signals in and around your baited rig and increase the chances of fish being pulled into the area. Stick Mixes, Method Mixes and Ground bait can simply be mixed together with water, but by adding a liquid food as well, you will be increasing the food signals coming from the bait. On many occasions I’ve witnessed carp being pulled down from the upper layers on to the baited spot, and I have no doubt that this has been due to the liquids sending out attractive food messages through the water column.
Of course these liquids can be used for a number of other useful applications as well. For example, coating pellets with these liquids will disperse quicker/better messages of food than pellets used on their own, and a single Pop-Up launched out into the middle of nowhere will undoubtedly benefit from being soaked in a liquid for a few hours first.
I can honestly say that these Bag ‘n’ Stick Liquids have caught me a number of ‘bonus fish’ when I’ve been pretty much convinced that I would have struggled without using them. There will be a time and a place to use them, but ignore them at your peril!
