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Good morning to you all, so as I defrost in front of the fire i shall regale you with a tale of carp, rain and mud! (I’m like a cut price Terry Hearn!) This tale has its foundation in last week, when I found myself once again ensconced in a stuffy hotel room for a “preparation course” ahead of my final exams next week. Chatting to wifey on the phone, she asked why I didn’t take any fishing gear with me, I explained how there wasn’t any time to disappear to a lake for a few hours, so wifey suggested that I get an overnight trip in as she is working and daughter is at nursery and I probably won’t be missed! Still, as the wifey and I have another baby on the way, due in the summer, opportunities to get the rods out are going to become few and far between, so I prepped the gear, my daughter and I rolled some bait and on yesterdays dawn I was gone, heading for zombie sheep lake. In arriving, I found the lake looking grey, sullen and foreboding. The water level was up by a good 2ft, meaning one of the islands had disappeared completely, and the other, only a few sorry looking branches poked above the water! As I was alone, and the wind was piling in, with this being a rather barren landscape, with little to stop the howling wind between the Russian Steppes and my bivvy, I chose to set up on the back of the wind, tucked in behind a sorry line of bushes that did at least act as a wind break. It wasn’t raining, so I took the time to have a lead about to find my usual spot albeit from a different angle. Happy with my spots, HMS Jenny (my bait boat) was launched into the chop, where she gamely battled the waves to deposit two pva bags of boilie crumb, pellet and maggots onto the spots. With that, I was fishing. Both rods being Fox Horizon X3S’s to Fox EOS 12000 reels, to lead core leaders, 3 1/2 oz leads fished as helicopter rigs to fox cortex braid, ESP Clawhammer hooks barbless size 6 fished slip D style. Bait was my usual Premier Superaminos with belachan, shellfish and salmon oil with added robin red, I tend to just keep feeding the same bait all year through here and still keep having bites, plus it helps keep it established for next year. A good quality bait gets better with application in my eyes. With the rods out, it was time to set up house and have a cup of tea. As I was crouching down by the rods, watching the water for any subtle show that there may be fish about, my right hand rod tightened up, so the tea was flung to one side and I snatched up the offending rod, on hitting it, the rod took on its battle curve as the battle was joined. After a spirited 20min scrap, where it bored remorselessly around the flooded margins, it finally rolled over and hit the net. I checked all the fins were flat, popped the hook out and rolled it up in the mesh for the short walk up the bank. As it is rather steep on this side, with all the rain, it was like an ice rink, and I managed to slip over, landing on my bum with a carp in my lap! Still, the fish was undamaged so I laid it on the unhooking mat and unfurled the net. I was faced with another rig in its mouth! Hanging from the scissors was a pink boilie, attached to a rig, safezone leader and a 4oz lead that had no chance of discharging from the lead clip as the tail rubber was jammed on tight! So I unhooked it for the second time and held it up for the happy snaps at 28lb exactly, he was in rude health, I don’t think the other rig had been there long as the mouth was not torn, but I treated both hook holds and let him go, a 4oz lead lighter! I felt that he could be the start of a few, to get a bite so quickly, but alas, it wasn’t to be. HMS Jenny continued to battle the waves to deposit my baits back out there, the rain closed in and started hammering it down, I discovered a few leaks in my bivvy that will now need attention, the bank became a quagmire and it soon became a challenge to stand upright without slipping, let alone walk anywhere! So diving into the stand of trees, I picked up a carrier bag full of pine needles, pine cones and twigs, which I made a path from my brolly to my rods, now I had a grippy surface again, I got my head down and had a peaceful nights rest! This morning, I awoke and redid the rods, or at least tried to! HMS Jenny, my indefatigable little Amazon special bait boat, finally gave in. Her props still spin, she splashed bravely through the waves, but when it came to drop the baits, the hoppers refused to release, the motor working the release mechanism had given up the ghost. HMS Jenny was like a WW2 Escort Corvette who’s used its last depth charge, it can sail gamely on, but not a lot else! I chose to stick on a stringer on each rod and cast them out for the last hour or two, whilst I slowly packed up. Sat on my bedchair, looking at the bags that needed packing away, whilst trying to drum up the enthusiasm to make a start, my left hand rod registered a rapid drop back! I leapt off my backside and promptly landed back on it again as my feet shot out from under me in the slimy muddy bank, and I landed flat on my back, picking my self up I watched the embryonic take fizzle out, I’d missed it! This proved to be the motivation I needed to pack away and go home. With the barrow loaded, I slip and slide my way back to the car park, load the car and head for home. This proved to be a more mentally challenging session due to the conditions, and it did cross my mind to pack up and go home, but I gave my head a wobble and stuck it out. Besides, a 28lb common in February isn’t a bad reward! Now time for a hot bath, get HMS Jenny in dry dock and see if I can get her back to her little bobbing best!

And my biggest common came on a white shrimp cork ball...... ....... so it's settled..... yellow, pink, orange, white, and match the hatch are good for big commons. And mirrors. 🤣

Made a couple of 1 egg mixes with the AA Baits super buoyant fishmeal pop up mix, my sausage gun was perfect the last couple of times but I think this mix just expanded a bit more, so the sausages came out a bit big and I ended up with some pillows and odd shapes, but never mind flavour wise they are pretty banging one is scopex, black pepper and bergamot and the orange ones are banana scopex, black pepper and bergamot. They are very buoyant though, and one is holding up my rig nicely next time I will make some matching wafters and I'll have made enough hookbaits to last a life time.

" On a side note, I read in this thread about yellows for commons. Well, I nearly always fished yellows as my hi viz hookbait and nearly always caught mirrors. " Well that's blown that theory then , emmcee , Just don't tell Kev. as he's after a big Common ! . 😁

When i first started out carp fishing i met a bloke on a lake i fished in the Colne valley. If I recall, it was before the hi viz hookbaits were all the rage was about but they were starting to appear more and more in the shops. Anyway, this bloke was a margin fisher, made his own bait but all in pellet shape. His hookbait though was always a hi viz pellet so he could see it better in the margin. He'd catch a few fish but he saw that the hi viz hookbait would be ignored mostly when one or two carp were on his spot but readily taken when 3 or more were feeding. I think most would agree that carp are easier to catch when they are competing with each other. He wanted to catch though when they weren't competing. One day i watched him bait a spot with his homemade pellet and slip in a hi viz one as well, the difference being the hi viz one was a freebie and his hookbait was a match the hatch (clever angling I thought to myself). His catch rate more or less trebled by making that change. When he couldn't get a margin swim he'd fish pva bags in open water and fill the bag with his pellet and one "decoy " hi viz pellet and he caught plenty. On a side note, I read in this thread about yellows for commons. Well, I nearly always fished yellows as my hi viz hookbait and nearly always caught mirrors.

Dark moody and damp February session

Pretty sure he’s gone in to some level of detail about the process and how long it takes. Also in to how the cure works on the baits and why. I thought I recognised your style and tone from the other forum. end of the day, you don’t think they are worth £22 a pot, plenty do. Personal choice eh. As I’ve said, can’t deny the baits catch plenty of fish and they are used by plenty of sponsored anglers on the sly, or more recently publicised that they use them. This speak volumes on its own when people that get free hookbaits chose to buy something different. plenty more expensive air balls out there that are nowhere near as effective based on catch reports. Massively publicised in mags and things, SHB is irregular social media and a paid for thread on a forum and has an incredible customer base. Again, that says a lot. Enjoy your fishing as you say, probably don’t focus on continually trying to discredit SHB. Especially when you obviously have no idea about what goes in to creating the baits 🤷🏻‍♂️

That's a can of worms Kev, I'm sure someone will be able to assist but I used Co pilot to try and understand bio active ingredients a bit better. Still don't properly but this is something I learned which may help 😱 😂

I did start a thread on this back when I had a Yately ticket (& more than 3 people posted on here🤔), must have been around 2018-19. My take away was scope baits seemed to catch slightly more commons, yellow was favoured, but not a given. Although, my mate did the lake record (Slate grey (along with a few named ones) with a yellow topped Cell snowman.

I've been buying some bits for the upcoming year. 12 cans of ngt bargain gas 28lb katran wild carp camo line And I have had to remodel the spinner rig as some key parts have become less easily sourced. So I've been on JPrecision and ordered some gape x hooks and some different kickers and bait screws and bits to play with. I have used kranks before and seem to remember them giving decent hook holds. I looked at alternative rigs even made a nice soft hinge rig , but it all seems too much faff 😱

Hinders pop-ups are 7 quid and a bottle of their pop-up glug is a tenner so you're actually not far off after inflation.

Thanks for the input chaps.

Can’t stop it. At least they’ll get a good hookbait to use instead of rubbish. But Mark doesn’t push his baits apart from the other forum and posting catch reports on socials. He doesn’t need to. The baits do the talking. Can’t deny how good they are in the right hands, even in Mediocre hands to be fair. Think you’re the only one classing them as a “wonder” bait though so keep your point going.

Over thinking imo. Crack on. Personally prefer bigger baits but I have used PJPU 13mm with size 4s in the past and caught, on a fairly tricky water too.

Just my thoughts, didn't realise this thread was started so long ago and now has sparked to life again! As for the 'company' involved: 1. Can't deny any of the carp pics posted elsewhereare very impressive. 2. Are those venues actually available to the 'average' angler?... I very much dought it 3. Can you question the blokes comittment in early days? Deff not as I believe he had some great catches from the Thames. 4. He provided some valuable 'insights' into tiger nut, maize and other stuff preparation. However, should a certain company appear to have so much influence, on say, another forum? I don't think so. It appears this company are now planning to ditch the web site in the coming months and sell direct to shops instead, probably an economic consideration? Anyway, just my personal view.... I don't need to say this to the long standing members on here, but no one will convince me a so called wonder bait will ever be replacement for location and hard work on any venue, Sorry, mini rant over 👍

Hi, Is a size 4 Korda Choddy hook on a hinge rig too big for a 14mm pop up? There's no issues with the pop ups I'd like to use, they're super buoyant. I've previously fished this rig with a 16mm hook baits so using these 14mm ers makes the hook looks a bit too big! Am I overthinking this and the set up I intend to use is good to whack out in the pond? Thanks

Thank you

If anyone’s interested, I’ve edited my catch pic above with a full catch report.

😱

The NGT canisters if you are talking about the 500's are actually some of the best gas canisters out there. The ones to avoid if possible are Coleman!

That’s barren lol congrats on the fish

It is a tad open, the rains hammering down now and I’m under a brolly and storm sides! The hot water bottle is working overtime tonight!

I bought 20kg of S7 and failed to catch anything but 3 tench from St Ives, might have been out my depth at the time though. So possibly not a fair reflection. Their hookbaits never seemed to set the world on fire for me either though. But might again be me.

Personal experience is years and years ago now so probably not much use. Tried the switch when first released and found it poor compared to fishmeals. a friend has done extremely well on the bug in recent years.

You're a hard man ,Ouch . No natural cover in view , and the wind wipping across . I'll just stay indoors , and cheer you on . 😁

sorry i should of been more clear, its a slightly different design from the other 2 alarms - whereby a circuit wire keeps the back cover close to the main cover, i'll post a pic next time i do a battery change...

Obviously you’ve not seen the hookbaits yourself. None of them are bright colours, like fluoros. The coloured ones are pretty muted. The white is an off white, washed out pink, yellow is a dull yellow, even the orange isn’t fluoro and washes out pretty quick as orange always does. So depends on what your definition is of “bright” is. they’ve also sold hookbaits that are white, yellow and Red for years and years. Whatever grievance you have with SHB, you’ve not seen the hookbaits, used them nor know much about them despite what has been posted by SHB themselves. Kinda makes anything you’re saying moot tbh. zero credibility in trying to put people off using SHB. im sure you’ll be back here in a year under a different username or on the other forum saying the same things once again, all whilst the hookbaits are catching fish up and down the country all year round for thousands of anglers.

Is this the right room for an arguement? LOL

The colour doesn't affect the process which is what you were questioning originally though. I guess it makes them more saleable as most pop ups are bright. I take it you have read the part about the process though? Also you are now calling them liars, even though you don't really care. 😂 So you can't recommend any but having not tried them you are keen to slate specialized hook baits. Also you spelt your best mates name wrong It's Bryan Jarrett. 😉

Hi, Does anybody use a size 8 swivel instead of putty and a size 11 swivel for their hinge rigs? I can balance mine perfectly with a size 8 Korda PTFE ring swivel (cutting the ring off with crimp tool) and an ESP large balance bead. I would like to know if anyone else has had success using it set it up like this or something similar using different components? Thanks

Thank you.

It's written on the website.

With repect mate, from another forum I dip into, this bloke not actually shared anything about a 3 week process? Maybe you know better and would share? Anyway. guess the guy will have made loads of dosh from his well documented elsewhere exploits on gambling winnings 😀 Think I will dip out of this thread now, probably going to be a lot of his 'fan boys' his phrase defending the 'company', coming on here if they even know it exists? Just for others, don't be taken in by a lot of bullsh*t about bait, been going on for sooooo many years.... just do your own thing and enjoy being out on the bank 👍

I really don't follow your logic then, you are disagreeing with people purely about the cost. When you read the process they go through it doesn't seem that expensive to me, especially when you are comparing it to a tub of off the shelf pop ups that need a bait spray, glug or whatever to make them standout ? Some pop ups are overpriced I agree but these actually go through a 3 week process other than just rolling and boiling.

That’s just reel porn … I’m surprised the mods let you get away with it

Yeah it's good stuff I've used it before, I've also used katran though and just fancied giving the heavy stuff a go. I remembered how cool it looked on my reels 😱 😂

I fish a very snaggy venue that has all manor of junk on the bottom, so after good advice i went onto Hydro tuff and never looked back, does just what it claims

No publicity, sorry… and not at all that big compared to some.

Still the only one mentioning the term “wonder bait” 😂 Tbh I’d rather pay £22 a pot of SHB, a food based base with cork chunks for buoyancy and whatever processes used to cure them, clearly effectively, than £45 for a pot of airballs like over at the baitroom. Depends what you class as a rip off or whatever agenda you have eh 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’ve caught plenty of carp on pepperami, I’ll still buy SHB because 1. They suit my fishing and 2. I have confidence in them getting me a bite if I put them somewhere in the area the fish are.

Actually mate, sorry to disappoint you on prices, my fishing mate at the time was a best mate of Brian Jarret (ex Hinders Bait when in a glorfied shed), so pop ups and glugs at mates rates 😀 Anyway, the pop ups were probably the cheapest avaiable back in day, and glug was probably a Gycerine based 'flavour' who knows? Deff in those days, nowhere anything like rip of prices now..... To pre-empt, any replies, YES, they were a 'wonder bait' for me and others at the time,,,, were they 'double or triple or whatever cured' of course not 😂 Believe what you want, it's still the ability I had at the time to be on a venue to study fish movements etc and shared knowledge that caught me a few lovely fish..... Oh best not mention Chum Mixers before flying rats invaded.... not sure how much that bait cost!!

I'm not saying you won't catch on other colours BTW, more that if you are targetting a big common using a visual hookbait such as yellow might not be a bad idea.

I nearly always used a 13mm or a 15mm with a size 4 although now I'm a home roller they seem to vary in size so will use a size 4 for whatever size I pull out the tub 😂 I use a size 4 trig hammer xt btw which is a pretty big hook. I wouldn't worry mate will be fine.

No one ever said it was? So not quite sure what your entire point is. also to answer point 2. The big common from a club pit has been caught on SHB multiple times over. It’s a club ticket. Plenty of day ticket and easily accessible venues amongst the catches. Can’t understand the point you are trying to make about venues tbh. Makes no odds on if they are effective or not. People might look at the fish and go “I’d love to catch that I’ll try get a ticket”. But no one goes “SHB is catching those fish, I’ll get a ticket so I can use it on that venue”

To answer both questions at the same time. @framey Yes purchased directly from them, I believe shipped direct ex factory. @elmoputney When I buy bulk spools of line I normally expect it to have 2 ends not 4. Funnily enough this happened once with Berkeley who instantly refunded me and despatched a replacement which I took to be great service. When I tried to bring attention to this latest problem I first went to the contact us section of the website and the way the page behaved when I hit send just felt as if nothing had happened so after 5 days without any response or acknowledgement I emailed direct from my email and again after a week still no response, Last attempts via phone with full mailbox constant response has soured my opinion with the company. Cheers Ian

Targeted ads, I'm quite tempted by the cat!Although I can't see any l8nk on how to get my hands on it??? Weird

yep, got my account banned on there during the scamdemic time, though i had no interest in shb at that time, i remember him really having a go at peeps big time for not getting jabbed, quite a few got banned for being so called conspirloons ..fast forward today and the truth is finally coming out, even in the msm.....

Just fitted my new rod locks ready for spring - hopefully no more flying rods 😆