Catch Reports
Essential Exclusive Stunning Big Fish Trio!
Posted in Catch Reports on 05th April 2008Long term Essential Bait user Martin Finan has just banked one of the most remarkable trio of big carp ever reported in the UK!! The Glos big fish specialist arrived at his local gravel pit late evening and introduced 3kg of B5 boilies to the margins of an island at 80-yards, but decided not to cast out until first light. The lake hadn’t produced a fish for two months, but within the first couple of hours Martin managed to bank a 27lb 8oz common, shortly followed by this stunning 54lb lake record mirror!!
On leaving the venue Martin baited up another area of the lake where he’d spotted some fish and returned a couple of days later for an overnighter before work. It wasn’t long before he was into another very big fish, but unfortunately it managed to dislodge the hook on some branch debris. However, the disappointment was short lived as during the early hours of the following morning he managed to bank another whacker, this one going 41lbs exactly! Off to work a happy man!
Just 3-days later Martin was back at the venue again keen to extend his run of big fish. On this occasion he decided to fish towards the opposite end of the lake and at long range between two islands. He baited on dusk with thirty 20mm B5 freebies scattered around each rig and at 6am the following morning he nailed his third big fish from the venue in close succession with this awesome looking 45lb mirror still wearing its full winter coat! Martin also finished off that last trip with a 31lb 10oz mirror!
Martin would like to express his thanks to all the guys on the venue who assisted with the photography and for sharing the moments with him. Mike and the Essential team would like to give special thanks to the management for their support and understanding with the pictures and publicity, which will remain exclusive to this site only.
Hard Hook Baits (Mike's view)
There are often times throughout the season when I find myself having to use hard hook baits. There’s nothing worse than reeling in after you’ve seen a frenzied amount of fishing activity over your baited area, only to find that your hook baits have been nibbled away by nuisance fish! Some venues are obviously more prone to nuisance fish activity than others, but it’s not just nuisance fish that can be a problem. Diving birds or even pick ups from swans will often result in ‘missing hook baits’!
Hard hook baits will alleviate this problem, in fact, I actually think it’s advantageous when a diving bird picks up my hard hook bait. It gives me confidence that my presentation is good, and as the bird drops the rig, I actually believe it straightens everything out and gives me a better presentation that I can achieve via casting. I can remember fishing at Frampton some years ago, when the only time I could seemingly get a bite, was after a coot had picked up and dropped my hard hook bait!
Top Tip
After you’ve made a batch of hard hookers, leave them out on a towel to air dry for at least ten days, preferably in a warm dry place. Once they have sufficiently dried out, put them in a polythene bag and add a small amount of ‘Boilie Glug’ or ‘Liquid Food’ and shake well. For extra convenience transfer them to an empty pop-up jar or similar before placing them in the fridge or the freezer until needed. If keeping in the fridge, make sure you give them a good shake every few days and top up the liquid if and as required.
