3.5 lb TC Distance Carp Rods (Various)
There are so many rods on the market now days it is very difficult trying to find the one that suits you and suits the job you want it for. At Fishing Adventures Wales we have been able to look at some of the rods right across the market from £10 Cheap starter rods right up to £500 professional rods and to see what exactly they do and how they can help the angler. Please don't be fooled you don't have to spend a fortune on rods to ensure they are good as I found out myself. Like any other fisherman that wanted to get into the carp sport I thought the more I would pay the best quality I would get but I soon realised it wasn't all about the money but actually about how the rod performed. As this is a magazine I am not allowed to slate down manufacturers of the rods and tell them exactly what I think of them but I can at least give you an example as to what I mean. When I started out on my journey around the lakes rivers and fisheries of Wales I decided to get myself some cheap rods the first i will call XL and the second was CK and the third was Nash H-gun. After being on the back for several fishing trips I decided to use the XL and do a bit of distance fishing and when I tried to throw out a 3lb weight at distance the top end of the rod snapped in half completely leaving me rather angry. I then decided on choosing the CK rod which was only a 3rd of the price and that did the trick with ease. I tried exactly the same cast with the Nash N-Gun and again had no problem so it looked like the XL rod that was in the middles of the price range was useless. At first I thought it could have just been a fault in the rod and my bad luck so I rigged up my second XL rod and fond the same thing happened again but this time it was only a 2 lb weight.
We are now seeing a complete change in the evolution of the carp and specimen rods as more and more fishermen are looking for the action of the smaller lighter rods and still want the strength of the big rods so now more and more companies are releasing rods of 3.5 lb TC and upwards to 5 lb TC for spodding and other applications. My favourite so far has to be the Korum 3.5 lb TC 12 Foot Carp & Specialist Rods unfortunately they are still rather expensive but I am slowly believing you get what you pay for when it comes to your main tackle.
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Nash Multi Mat
Again they have now come up with so many different weigh slings and retainers for carp and specimen fishing it is difficult to know what ones to get. The trouble is it is a MUST at any venue as people found fishing without the safety mat or sling will be removed from the water and banned until they get the correct equipment. You can buy cheap ones on the maekt that will do the job nicely for as little as £10 but if you are into your fishing and want to take care of the fish then a multi mat is the way to go. Not only does it act as an unhooking mat and retainer sling to rest the fish in the water but also acts as a weigh sling to get the size of your fish and helps when you need to return it to the water. The prices are slowly coming down so it wont be long before you can get the latest multi-mat for under £20.
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Korum Multi Shelter
With more and more fishermen turning to the sport of Carp and Specimen fishing we found a huge need for bivis and tents as more people seemed to like the idea of fishing at night and first dawn so they could target the large fish and capture their personal best of the year. The only trouble with many of these bivis were that they were set in their ways. OK you can remove the door so that you can see out and also some had mossy nets to keep most of the bugs out but when you only wanted a day session or a quick overnighter it seemed like a lot of hassle having to put up your bivi time and time again. Korum decided to come up with a new design that still incorporated the pram hood technique for quick erection but they also wanted it to be able to adapt to the fisherman’s needs. This shelter can be used as a simple umbrella style shelter with a complete open font so that you can stay in comfort and sty out of the wind and rain. This also extends into a two man shelter so if fishing in a group if a couple of friends decides to join you they could also fit in comfortably with all the tackle and then they took it one step further with their new zip in design where it transforms into a large 2 man full bivi including ground sheet for the dedicated anglers. Not only was this big enough for 3 people but also large enough to store all your tackle away under cover. A truly remarkable bit of kit.
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