BlackHawk «

Posts Tagged ‘BlackHawk’

What A Road Trip!

August 17, 2010

Good Evening.

I have probably just covered more miles in my van in the last week, than I did in the last eight months in Italy! I have literally driven the length and breadth of the UK, visiting a few of my sponsors to have meetings about the coming year, and to pick up some new products too. I even had a chance to wet a line for a couple of hours, so that was an added bonus, and the hardcore road trip all started last Tuesday.

I left Wiltshire with a short 150 mile drive to Sheffield. I had a meeting planned with Dynamite Baits the following day in Nottingham, so Martin Ford, and his lovely wife Caroline, put me up, once again, for the night. This makes three nights in the last year, and I may have to give them the vote for the best B & B in the North! Last time I stayed with MF we popped down to his local water to have a dabble. It proved unsuccessful. This time round we popped down to see if we could sneak one off the top. I had a slight chance after getting them cagily taking DB mixers of the top in the ripple, but once again we left without getting the net wet. Martin swears he catches every time he pops down for a couple of hours, so either I jinx him, or he is a liar!!

The following morning, and with my bait-sponsor meeting done and dusted, it was then time to clock up another 120 miles, and travel north-west to Lancaster, to stay with my good mate Matt Dent. Matt recently wrote a two-part Orellana piece for International Carper, and is someone I met at Cassien in 2008. After popping to a couple of rivers to check for salmon and sea trout – (he is an Environmental Agency worker), we nipped out for a few pints at his local, where I managed to persuade a George Formby impersonator to play “When I’m Cleaning Windows” at the weekly open-mic night. I had a very early start the following day as I had to drive east towards Northumberland where SONIK are based, so I got quite a shock when I noticed the time was 1.30am!

With four and a half hours sleep under my belt I left Lancaster and was soon driving across the top of the lake district before veering right and cutting cross-country towards Newcastle. I made good time covering the 130 miles and was in the north-east by 8ish. The Little Thief (Chef) breakfast went down well, and before I knew it I was sat having a coffee in the Blyth based company office belonging to SONIK. After discussing a few products with them and looking at some new things in the pipeline, I left armed with some new rods, including the SK3 2.5lb tc carp rods, and a 9ft 2.5lb tc margin rod. The SK3′s are perfect for close range snag fishing of which I am a big fan, and I look forward to using them as soon as possible.

If you remember reading my early blog chapters about Cassien in 2009 when I fished at Aviron, you might recall a female came to visit me for a week. Well…it just so happens that Heidi, the shower girl, lives in Newcastle, so I figured it would be rude not to look her up, and a wise decision it was!

The following morning dawned, quicker than I would have liked, and I was back on the road again, heading 150 miles down the A1/M1 towards Sheffield. I had a meeting organised with Trakker, and I was keen to see how the pictures for the catalogue had come out – very well as it turns out! I picked up some new products whilst I was there, and within thirty minutes I was back on the road, covering the short 50 mile trip towards Nottingham.

I had some bait to pick up, so a healthy amount of the Fresh Fish, Mussel and Oyster boilies, were carefully loaded onto my van. I will use these on my way down to Spain, as I have a few waters in mind that I would like to fish before crossing the Spanish border. In Spain I will be back on the Carp-Tec range.

After the bait was on board I now had to make it over to the Forest of Dean – another 120 mile journey! Through the magic of the Dynamite Baits website, an old school friend had tracked me down, and it was twenty-three years since we had seen each other! My friend James has three children, two of which are mad-keen match anglers, and in fact, Ethan and Blake had a match the very next morning, so after a quick chat with my generous bait sponsor, the two young lads were kitted out with matching DB caps, and a few bags and tubs of match fishing bait. Naturally they were chuffed to bits, and I must say a personal thanks to Chris and Jonathan for sorting that out.

Two happy chappies!!

Four mornings after beginning my road trip I arrived back in one piece at my parents house in Wiltshire, after covering approximately 1000 miles. Where am I now you may ask? In Surrey of all places, as I still have a few important things to do before I return to France, including a meeting down in Southampton with Ross Honey (aka WCC promoter) to discuss the upcoming carp-competition. One of my other sponsors Edgar Brothers Outdoor have kindly agreed to supply some great products for the event for the Marshals and for prizes. These will include products from the BlackHawk and Surefire brands. I am really looking forward to the event – in fact I can’t wait!

Well, this will be the last blog till I return to France in a week or so.

See you then, in the mean time ”enjoy” your carping, wherever you may be!

Jake and the dogs.

Tags:BlackHawk, Dynamite Baits, jake langley-hobbs, SK3, Sonik, Surefire, trakker, WCC
Posted in Vacation Blogs | 12 Comments »

What an Incredible Storm!

May 14, 2010

Good Afternoon.

The post is a bit later today due to the events of the last twenty four hours. As dusk fell yesterday evening a storm was brewing in the mountains. It built up over a very long period and was quite a spectacle to admire as it grew and grew. Every two minutes the whole place was lit up with bright flashes and this was followed by long rumbles of thunder. The rain never appeared till after dark and then it seemed to come in waves for the next few hours. The amazing thing is – the storm never seemed to pass; it just hung over the mountains for hours and got more and more menacing as the night progressed.

I had a hunch that it wasn’t going to happen last night as the storm built up. Don’t ask me why, but I just felt the sudden change in air pressure might put a halt to the proceedings. I was right and not a take occurred during the evening or up until early this morning. I stayed up very late last night, till 4am in fact, sitting at a table in my waders, in ankle deep water, drinking coffee. The storm was fascinating to watch and I knew that if I went to bed a take would inevitably occur. Sure enough after retiring to my bivvy in the field, and lying down, the first take developed after twenty minutes.

The storm was still lurking around so I gingerly made my way to the carp in the boat. The time was now 5am and the rain had eased a little. After I had dropped my anchor to keep me steady, a strong carp then powerfully took line as it did run after run, the end result was another long, compact, scrappy common. Typically the heavens then opened and it absolutely chucked it down whilst I was out in the middle of the lake. Fortunately I am wearing my BlackHawk shell jacket and this keeps me 100% dry. It is great to wear a coat that you are confident in when you are faced with such bad weather and it makes these wet episodes much more bearable, as when you take the wet jacket off, everything is bone dry underneath. It certainly helps keep the moral high. I released the carp immediately, dropped my rig back in position, and returned to the swim, albeit very slowly in my slow running boat. My friend took his engine back last night as he needs it this weekend, and mine is about to give up the ghost so I am struggling with power.

Another take came almost immediately from another spot; another common was on the other end, and once again I dropped the rod back and returned to the swim. It was hard to return in the all important straight line to my pod, as the cross winds were quite strong, but I got back somehow and put the rod to bed.

An hour later the rod that produced the first carp this morning was off. This time ‘another’ mirror was found hiding in some lilies, so I applied some pressure, got the fish moving again, and eventually slipped him in the net. Three carp in three hours – that was almost enough for me. My boat was so slow by this point that I did not drop the rod back in position. Had my boat had the power I desired then the rod would have gone back on the spot, but there was little I could do really, and as I was shattered, and I still had two rods out, I returned to the swim.

Two canoeists appeared in the distance travelling round the far edge of the reeds. I heard a beep from my ATT and went to look at the rod in question. I could see that the canoeists were both caught up in my line. I thought this was rather odd as surely the line would have sunk. I could see them struggling to get through the obstacle so they turned around and disappeared out of the bay. That’s one way to get rid of boat traffic I guess. My line was now snagged, I was now feeling rather annoyed (!), I just wanted to sleep, so I left the rod where it was and went back to bed. This morning when I went to retrieve the rod, I found my rig in the reeds. It freakishly seems that I must have had a take, just as the two canoeists appeared over my line. The fish must have pulled the tight line up to the surface (and also the debris on the line probably didn’t help either), and the canoeists then travelled into the braid sitting on the surface. What a pickle and what timing! Nevermind – these things happen, don’t they?

Not surprisingly my energy levels are now zapping slightly. The work load has been immense and although I am nearly at the finish line, I must find the strength to continue till the end. It doesn’t help when your vital equipment lets you down, but these are just small hurdles that you must sometimes overcome. The bivvy move was a very wise idea and everything has remained dry inside, including the dogs beds and food, so they are both happy. I took a picture of the mirror this morning, but unfortnately the battery in my remote is fading, and it decided not to function today. I used my timer instead, but I did not do a great job with regards to the light, so I apologise, as it does not do the fish justice really!

Carp no32 and mirror no5, which is rather unusual for a short session at this lake!

One of my Italian friends has just been down to scrounge four winning pop-ups for the session at his lake!!

I wanted them and now I have them. A prototype of Korda's 42" 40lb Safezone leaders.

Where there is a will...there is a way!

The swimming pool social area, complete with the all important canopy!!

Back tomorrow.

Jake and the dogs.

Tags:ATT, BlackHawk, jake langley-hobbs
Posted in The Italian Job! | 2 Comments »

Sunday Greetings!

April 11, 2010

Good Evening.

It was great to get away for a few hours yesterday afternoon as you can probably all imagine! Emanuele arrived shortly after 11am, so I quickly helped him get to the swim, with the aid of my 6HP engine, and we soon had all of his equipment off loaded. He began to set up his bivvy and other kit, so I left him to get on with it and then drove back to my base. The distance is only 42km but it’s a slow route and took over an hour. The drive was enjoyable though and it was a lovely sight to see people out and about, doing their Saturday afternoon pleasures. I suddenly realised how nice it would be to have some fishing company for the week and I was thankful that I had changed my mind earlier that morning about Emanuele joining me. I do think being stuck in the woods for three weeks was starting to affect me!!

On arrival back at my base I had a very refreshing hot shower and sorted out my new Sonik gear. This was quickly loaded into the van, a double-quick shop at the local supermarket saw me armed with some food supplies (minus cigarettes), and I was then on my way back. I was looking forward to returning and getting the rods back out, and during the journey I thought about how I would approach the new area. There were plenty of attractive distractions sat outside cafes and bars, but the carp were at the forefront of my mind and I made the decision that I would return with a new stress free attitude and just try to enjoy it, and not worry too much about catching. The smoking has been easier than I thought and although it’s early days, I know I can achieve my aim.

Back at the swim I was informed of some exciting and unexpected news. There is an Enduro being held at this lake next weekend which I knew about. It meant I would have to stop fishing for the weekend, as two anglers would inevitably be set up in my swim. I had already been told I could stay where I was and once the competition had ended I could then resume fishing. Emanuele knows the organiser and a pair have suddenly dropped out. The question was would I like to fish? I have never fished in an Enduro before and the idea sounded quite exciting. I asked Emanuele if he was up for it and he nodded his head. That was it! We are now confirmed as entries and next Friday we will be competing in a 48 hour Enduro being held at this very lake. I can’t wait to be honest and this could be the beginning of future WCC plans!?*

This changed our plans all of a sudden and we immediately decided that we would fish for the next few days on a trial and error basis to see if we can find a good carp catching solution. It means we get some practice in and as we have not fished together before, it also means we can get used to each others funny ways of which I am certain I have more! There is a possibilty I may stay on after the Enduro has ended; I will wait and see what happens over the next week – carp wise!

Today has been a social affair and we have had a few guests. A BBQ was made and enjoyed by all, including the dogs, and there is a very relaxed air in the camp. I am looking forward to the next few days and after the week of sun we have had, things must surely start picking up soon.

My new SK4′s have been attached to my reels and my hook baits are now all dropped in place. I am fishing at a variety of ranges to the reeds to my right. I have decided to fish directly over the growing lilies while I still have the chance; they are only just growing and it means I can get my hookbaits really close to the reeds as a result. In a month the whole bay will be completely covered and this won’t be possible anymore, and it does look extremely carpy by the reeds. I am fishing all my rods ‘locked up’ as I am using braid, the distance I am fishing is ranging from 300-500 metres, and if I fished with a baitrunner on, the carp would only smash through the reeds and would be snagged for sure. It will require a bit of gentle walking, backwards and forwards, if a take occurs, to get the fish away from the reeds, and after twenty or so seconds have passed, I will then take to the boat. I have had an episode before in the past when I took to the boat too quickly and by the time I got to the carp, it had shot back into the reeds. I could see it waiting for me as I arrived and fortunately it shot out in the right direction. The result was a bronzed 20kg common.

We have decided that we are going to fish till Thursday and then we will begin to sort through all of our equipment for the Enduro. We obviously have stuff we can share, and we need to lighten the load considerably as we might have a very long boat journey to our designated swim, as there will be a draw for pegs. As for my dogs, they are thrilled at the idea of competing, and they too are discussing tactics; who can steal the most boilies probably!

I will leave you with some pictures as they have been lacking of late.