Good Evening.
The rods are out and I am all set for my first proper session. By proper, I mean no leaving the swim during the day-time, and spending at least a week in pursuit of a whacker. The clock has just struck six pm Spanish time, darkness will shortly fall, and I am eagerly awaiting the first night back in my favourite spot.
The fantastic thing about no longer being a consultant for Dynamite Baits, is I am now a free agent for trying new tactics with regards to other bait companies products. Most importantly I am not looking for a new ‘deal’ or another consultancy, as I don’t think I really warrant one any longer. A sponsorship deal is not just about free stuff after all, and you must give back something in return, be it words, promotion, or plenty of jaw-dropping carp that were all caught on the next big bait of the moment, soaked in the next big gloopy-glug of the year! I am very grateful for my short, one-year period with Dynamite Baits, for the support, and the help, over the time I worked for them, and I wish the company all the best in their new situation with Rapala, and would like to personally thank Mick P, Dan W, Steve C, and Pete C, for making my time with Dynamite an enjoyable one.
I would like to point out now, that I am still using Dynamite Baits boilies on two of my rods this evening – because they work. All their pop-ups have been nailing the Sierra Brava carp but, enter a new contender from Vital Baits. As my readers will know, Nicky from Vital was present at Sierra last week, and he kindly left me some samples to play around with. I love fishy baits, and his SB-X and K-12, both hit the right chords as far as fishy baits go. Well textured, not overpowering, but smooth fishy notes, and in my eyes – the bait colour is very natural looking, and would pass off as the carp’s everyday food. Happily the pop-ups are bound with cork dust, which I love being present in pop-ups; so ‘tonight Matthew’ – I am fishing one rod with a 20mm SB-X pop-up, fished over a kilo of the 15mm boilies to match. Game on – lets see if Vital can deliver me a 40lb common similar to the one Nicky had last week.
I am also trialling my Meccanica Vadese Nick’Ettos during this session (see earlier post). I have decided to just use the front stick complete with buzzer bar, and my rod butts are secured in place, on the sandy bank, incorporating two bivvy pegs. These prevent the rod lifting off the ground, but allow the angler to slide the rod butt out, and then continue to play the fish. This technique is commonly used at Rainbow, where ‘locked up’ fishing is the norm.
The weather today has been great, blue skies and warm sun, then the clouds and wind moved in, and as far as fishing weather is concerned, it couldn’t have looked any better. The rain has kept at bay, which is always nice when you are setting up, and in my Armo bivvy, behind me, is my gas heater, burning away. It is not cold outside by any means (okay, you wouldn’t want to be out there in a t-shirt and shorts), but my bivvy does resembles a warm sitting room – how pleasant, and on that note, I bid you all farewell for the evening!
Cheers
Jake and the dogs.
