This week sees the start of the second new feature with Johnson Ross, The Tackle Surgery.
This is your chance to send in any tackle related questions for the lads at Johnson Ross to answer. If you have any burning questions, get them across to us now on the Contact page! Jason, Aaron and Pete sent in the following questions with Jason kicking things off with a question about the new Korda Heli-Safe.
Jason asks:
I would like to ask the surgery their thoughts on the new Korda Heli-Safe lead release system.
I am a big fan of fishing the naked chod, particularly in lakes with heavy weed. Traditionally I have dropped the lead by connecting it to the fluorocarbon mainline with something like 2lbs mono and securing it with some PVA tape for the cast. This has always worked well and allowed me to play fish much more safely in heavy weed.
Although I think the drop off system is a much more convenient solution to this problem, my question is….. With the objective to drop the lead to eliminate weed build up around the fish/lead, how effective is the new Korda product at doing this, as it looks like something that will still catch on the weed?
JR:
A good point, you will never eliminate weed build up completely as it can catch round your swivel on the actual rig, when fishing the naked chod you are still using a bead of some description to shield your clip/swivel that attaches the lead, you have to use sometjing on there to stop your chod rig swivel compressing against the knot to the lead swivel, the new Heli-Safe is no bigger than anything on the market currently.
Aaron asks:
I have seen that Fox and Spomb have got into bed with each other. Having seen pictures and a little information about the new “Spomb”, I am unsure what additional value/application there is with this product over the traditional Spomb … is it worth buying if I already have the original?
JR:
This is something a lot of people have asked. The new Impact Spod from Fox is indeed made under licence from Spomb, not simply a copy cat product. There are a few benefits to the new spod:
1) The release mechanism on the front is completely enclosed so that when filling it, you won’t get any bait in it which will prevent it opening on impact. It also means you can load it quicker as you can “scoop” bait from a bucket rather than having to hand load it.
2) The side opening door means you can load 75% of the spod as opposed to the Spomb which can only be 50% loaded.
3) The side opening means that if you sweep the rod back when the spod lands you can create a “trail” spread of bait rather than just one “dump”.
4) It genuinely floats so you can see it easily in the water and get it back if you crack off.
We think this is a big improvement of the Spomb, but will not replace it, there are uses for both. However, we do feel the Impact Spod has certainly taken the Spomb to a new level.
Pete asks:
With Carp fishing becoming more popular than ever, I often get asked advice on what gear to get for people looking to start/get back into fishing. The main problem people face is cost – it’s not the cheapest of sports! So my question is, what would you recommend as a decent all-round setup for someone looking to get into carp fishing on a budget?
JR:
Wow, that’s a hard question to answer as there is such a choice on the market, to be honest, we as anglers have never had it so good with tackle choice. The gear available today is so much better than ever and you can get great products at great prices, take for example rods, todays £50 rods are as good as you got 10 years ago for £100, great free spool reels are available from £35-40 each.
I couldn’t really outline a complete set up here as it would take forever, however if looking for a 2 rod set up you could get everything you need to get out catching fish from around £200-£250, it really just depends on how far you want to go with it.
Tackle Surgery Winner
This edition’s winner of Mainline Hybrid boilies is Aaron Murphy! To be in with a chance of the next edition’s prize, simply ping all your tackle related questions across and you could be the next winner.
