2017 - February Update

"I found the fish, although they were the 'wrong' kind…"


It's taken a long time for me to get enough together to write about for February, as I didn't manage to get out fishing anything like as much as I would have liked - I either bailed on sessions because I knew there were other things that I needed to do or just didn't even get round to planning a trip in the first place! Writing and filming have been even slower than actually fishing, but I've managed to do a bit of everything last month, even if you haven't been able to see the results of it all yet!

Fishing

The couple of trips that I did manage to fish were short overnight sessions - the first being a midweek one involving a hack up the M5 in evening rush hour before the return trip the following morning (this time being before the traffic had really started). I'd just treated myself to a new Deeper Pro+ fishfinder so was eager to try it out to see if I could find the fish to cast singles to for the night - I did manage to find the fish, although they were the 'wrong' kind, in a number of large shoals of bream! Despite getting the baits out into likely looking areas based on the fishfinder info and past experience the rods remained motionless all night, and much to my frustration when I reeled in I found this that the Korda helisafe had popped apart (despite me setting up properly the night before and double checking!) Therefore not overly impressed!!

Session two of the month was a Sunday night session which meant that I managed to get down the lake a little earlier and have a wander around whilst it was still light for an hour or so. This time I fished a lake on land by one of the driving ranges near work with the hope that it being better stocked I'd have a better chance of a bite - again no such luck, but in part I suspect this was something to do with the colder weather that pushed in around the same time!

With limited time out on the bank it did give me a chance to sort out my kit hanging around various parts of the garage in the evenings, some of you might have seen the new rod storage I posted pictures of - making good use of the spare pieces of laminate flooring we didn't use when redoing the living room floor!!

Writing 

Even though the fishing hasn't gone particularly well I can say that I've done alright with my writing - if you haven't read my profile for AS Baits (who are providing the prize for the March 2017 bait competition) then head over via this link to have a look. Even if you're not interested in my waffle about them you can at least see some of what they have to offer and some of the cracking fish that have been caught on the bait!

I've also managed to pen this piece (agree it's a little later than I'd planned as it's nearly time for the March update), but I have at least managed to keep the promise of writing an update each month so far! There are also a few other pieces in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for them - the first being the profile on next month's bait competition provider..

Filming 

If you thought that the fishing front of February was bleak, then the filming part of it was even more so! I have managed to add a few bits and pieces to the archive, but nothing worthy of putting onto YouTube yet - they ended up being the types of footage that bind together a longer piece, and I'm sure they will see the light of day at some point during the year!

Overall, it's been quite a quiet month - although I did manage to get out a few times it was definitely a case of enjoying the peace and quiet of the banks rather than getting my hands on an ice block of a fish, and I didn't manage to get anything up for your enjoyment on YouTube. I did enjoy putting the piece together for AS Baits as part of the March competition, and look forward to writing my next couple of pieces over the coming month.

With Spring just around the corner I'm looking forward to the longer hours of light and the fish becoming a bit more active and hungry - and therefore increasing the chance of them slipping up and me finally getting a fish on the bank!!

I hope the start of the year was good for you all as well, and that March (so far) has been kind to you and the rest of the month will continue to be so.


Tight lines,

Rob.

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

AS Baits

"A top quality bait with results to match.."

With the March 2017 bait giveaway being a couple of tubs of pop-ups from AS Baits, and maybe not everyone knowing about the company, I thought it would be good to give you guys a bit of background on the company, baits, and some of the results being had on the offerings!

Who are AS Baits?!

More of who is AS Baits?... Ade Summers is the man behind the company and has been making bait since the early 90s. Since then people have been catching consistently using his boilies that have been honed on waters around the shop in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. All the bait is made in his working bait shop where you can visit and see it being made and of course, see all the baits on sale!

What bait do they offer?

There are four ranges of baits currently available from AS Baits - TNT (Tiger 'n' Tangerine), TNP (Tiger 'n' Plum), Inferno (hot and meaty), and Thistle Mix (a fishmeal with fruity plum aromas, named after the syndicate it was specifically designed for). All boilies are available in 10, 12, 14, 16 & 18mm, and all except for Thistle mix also available in 20mm.

All the boilies are complemented by pop-ups, wafters, sticks mixes and hookbait glugs, with TNT hookers and dumbells also available. Ade also produces a high leakage spod mix which is a wicked red colour!

So what's been caught on them?

In a simple word - plenty! With a mention in CarpWorld a couple of months ago after a brace of 50lb fish were caught from Etang de Vaumigny over TNP and TNT boilies, and plenty of catch reports on the Facebook page it's hard to argue with the results - I know from one of the lakes that I fish that this bait really does the business as it counts for around 75% of the catches throughout the season, and the bigger fish in the lake really love it!

What do I think?

I know these baits work, and Ade really is a bloke who knows what he's talking about when it comes to bait and a really nice fella t'boot! I've been able to see the number of fish being caught on them on the lake, and all the photos on either the website or Facebook page show just how good the bait is! My favourite being the TNT because of the light colour and sweet smell, although a mix of TNT and TNP is a great combination due to the bright red TNP grabbing the attention of passing fish.

On a light note - make sure you use the Inferno baits in a well-ventilated space, and definitely wash well after use! It's been well noted on the lake I mentioned earlier that you can tell if someone is using these baits due to the aroma around the back of the swim!! This isn't really a bait to leave in the kitchen at home!

If you want to know more about AS Baits, then visit the website, or go to the Facebook page via the following links

ASBaits.com

Facebook.com/ASBaits

or if you are in the local area then why not drop in to see the shop which is located at

Shop C5
Canal Wharf
Stoke Prior
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B60 4JZ

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

2017 - The Plans!

So New Year, new start!

I know it's almost the end of the first month of 2017 and I'm only just getting around to writing up what the plans are for the year, but I've been off on honeymoon for the past couple of weeks (even though the wedding was in September!) and so the reality was that I wasn't doing anything apart from relaxing and having a good time - meaning that anything to do with fishing, writing or filming was well at the back of my mind!!

I've decided to break down the targets for the year into three categories; fishing (duh), filming and writing. They are all things that I want to do more of over the next eleven months, but we will see where time takes us!!

Fishing
No point in having a fishing blog and not putting anything about fishing into it!

The main plan for this year is to get a bit more variety into my fishing, last year I spent nearly all the time I actually got on the bank targeting carp from various waters, although at the end of the year I did actually go for a couple of sessions spinning for predators (although these weren't at all successful!).

In 2017 I'd like to fish for and catch:

• Pike
• Perch
• Bream (by design!)
• Tench
• Roach
• Carp

It'd be nice for me to be able to put a weight on each of those fish to achieve by the end of the year, but I think the best plan is to get out there and try and catch at least one of each of them first before putting a weight on it! Maybe this is something that I'll revisit in the middle of the year if the plan is going well!

Filming
This was one of the things that I really wanted to do more of in 2016 - I started off the year by creating a couple of videos for YouTube from short day sessions that I did, but then didn't get out bankside enough to feel like filming the few sessions that I did do.

I'm aiming to put together a monthly vlog to accompany this written blog on what I've done during the month fishing-wise, and to see how I'm getting on against the targets I'm setting myself here - the first of these will be live on YouTube at the same time as this blog post goes up, so if you want to see my talk about my targets this year, and go into a bit more detail on some of the challenges I'm setting myself then click here!

Hopefully, with these monthly videos it'll give me a bit more confidence with the camera, and after being in front of it, so there will be more videos going up during the year actually showing sessions as I do them. Keep an eye on the Facebook page as well, all going well (me being able to work the technology) there will be a few 'Facebook Live' videos whilst out and about too!

Writing
Last but not least!

The plan is to make sure that I write something on here at least once a month - an update of how I'm getting on against the targets I've set myself, what I've been up to in the month, and maybe the biggest piece of angling news that has broken during the month!

I'll also be trying to post a few more pieces as well, similar to my post on boats and about litter, although these will vary depending on whether I feel that I have anything to add to the matter rather than just writing about it for the sake of it!!



If you feel that you've got something that you'd like to contribute to the blog, then drop me a message via the Facebook page and we'll try to put something together!


If you got to the bottom of the post then a big thank you! Keep an eye on here, the Facebook page and the YouTube channel for new content and competitions throughout the year!

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

Rob