Starting the Season off 2017

by Martyn Russ

Well with a very quiet year last year due to hospital appointments and a very slow start to the season this year its nice to see that the other members of Club F.A.W. have been out braving the colder weather and winds and managing to catch some lovely specimens.

Its been nice to watch as 2 club members Anthony and Shane decided to take on a new water whilst waiting for the main lake to re-open after being closed for spawning. Pentwyn lake is a small lake situated in the centre of a small park in Pentwyn in south wales and as a lake it has suffered over the years. Firstly someone drove a car into the lake a few years back and the fuel spilled out of the car poisoning the lake and killing nearly all the fish.

The lake recovered for a while and then last year it suffered from white spot that wiped out 90% of all fish in the lake leaving a few good size carp and some smaller little silver fish which are slowly recovering. Anthony and Shane decided to target the carp that were left on the lake and started fishing it this Winter into Spring. It wasn't long before they both noticed that all the fish seemed to have very small mouths and that they were feeding off the bottom due to the silt containing a lot of rotten vegetation and smelling foul.

They noticed they were able to catch the carp in certain areas and on certain baits and rigs such as double or triple corn over a small scattering of freebies, small zigs just under the surface about 1 ft down and so on. It was nice to see the 2 of them go through the process of working out the baits and tactics over a period of different sessions and how they worked out what times of the day and night they would feed and where they could be found in the lake. That's what water craft is all about.

I couldn't complete an update with out mentioning the other members who have also been out hard at it trying to catch those new personal bests. Scott Whiting and his son Bobby B has been hard at it visiting different venues with some great results and also many a blank session, but it paid off in the end resulting in loads of stunning trophy carp on the bank.

Also out newest member to the club , Ashley Butler, has been hard at it up at Riverside Fishery in Caerphilly in Wales and managed to get himself a couple of lovely carp including a stunning ghost common weighing in at 15 lb.

Its nice to see the members getting out and catching those stunning carp and i am looking forwards to when our local lake re-opens for the new season and i can get out and get some fish on the bank. All the members have been showing how much they love the sport and i look forwards to seeing what else they catch this year.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines Guys! 

Rig Marole Skinfull Hooklink Product Review

RIG MAROLE SKINFULL 25LB BROWN COATED HOOKLINK REVIEW

By Anthony George Potton.

Key Features:

Skinfull is low diameter 

Abrasion resistant

Clear coated sinking braid

Very strong and supple

Colour:Brown

Available in ..15 lb,25 lb Brown 15 lb,25 lb Green 

Rigmarole pride themselves on making products that are finely tuned to the needs of the modern carp fisherman and quality tackle that will not let you down. It's a low diameter , very resistant against abrasion and i have used this on one of my "Ronnie Rigs" and proof that its excellent in the toughest of lake bed's i used it on my local gravel bottomed lake and works really well came back in through out my session and lasted the whole length without any abrasion or clear coating coming off . This is a very strong and supple clear coated braid with great movement .

What i find so unique about braid is it has the same colour braid once stripped back as it shows through the clear coating and this is something i've not experienced when buying other leading brands of braid on the market as most coatings are coloured , which once stripped back reveals a white stringy coloured braid .
So this then would make it less visible once on the bottom.

Not only could you use this as a subtle boom on a Ronnie Rig i also think its got the capabilities to be used in various rigs including combi rigs, Blow back rigs and I'm even confident it would withhold a stiff hinged rig. Giving you a more subtle option on uneven lake beds as apposed the the stiff boom on the hinged rig.

So all in all this braid is very adaptable and versatile, i personally would use this in a lot of my rig making, as in water its pretty much invisible to the naked eye and blends into its surroundings well .
So if your looking for a good quality braid to suit most of your needs this is definitely the one for me and many anglers alike as it easy to tie and flexible enough to make even the toughest of rigs well as being quite a stiff braid its also has the qualities to produce  nice and neat knots weather its to a swivel or in a over hand loop or figure eight knot. 

So if your looking fro a good quality long lasting braid that won't let you down i would put this among a list of my own personal favorite and would adapt to many carp anglers either novice or experienced as its very easy to use.

"Watch out for more product reviews and the latest fishing news 
from Club F.A.W"

Tight Lines & Wet Nets