Month: February 2010

In Praise of – Solar Spikers

Do you love to fish D-Rigs but hate tying lasso knots in floss ? Do you have issues in melting the floss with a lighter when it is dark and windy ? do you just think that there is a “better way” tm ? well for those of you who think that there should be, there is the Solar Spiker. In effect they are a small device that you can incorporate into any “D” style rig to allow quick and easy baiting no matter what the conditions are. They are so ingenious I am surprised that no one has copied them as they are really quite simple. Continue reading “In Praise of – Solar Spikers”

Out zander fishing with www.fishingamsterdam.com

As you can see from the post Winter Wonderland it is cold, damn cold at the moment. This has led to me being housebound for 2 months unable to get out as the lakes have been frozen. Due to this I have been going up the walls suffering from fishing related “cabin fever” so much so that my wife ordered me to go fishing at the 1st opportunity. As I had been out with Juul from FishingAmsterdam.com before it seemed the logical choice if I wanted a 1/2 decent chance of catching a zander to book with Juul.

The date was set and I was full of anticipation, at 07:40 sharp I arrived at the pre agreed meeting spot to be presented  with a cup of hot coffee and a croissant, not a bad start and it bode well for the day. Juul discussed the options as to the quarry and as zander were on the menu ( figuratively) we decided to start on them and then around lunch time swap over to pike as the day brightened up a little.

We arrived in the Ijselmeere before 08:30 and after a short journey began to fish for zander using the vertical jigging technique ( some of my UK readers my be unfamiliar with this technique so look back here for an article) and rubber stick baits. Alas the day did not start out all that productive with only a few missed takes. Zander at any time of the year are finicky biters but in the winter they practically just nudge the bait. You end up striking at the slightest vibration in case it is a zander just inspecting the bait.

One of the things I really like about Juul is that generally he will also fish as well ( depending on the number of guests) which means that if he is not getting takes then you know that the area is devoid of fish. This is quite a confidence boost as with zander it is easy to start to think that you are doing something wrong… some times there are  just no hungry fish in the area. Anyway a brief move to another hot spot saw us again jigging away waiting for a hungry fish, and before long there was the telltale gentle pluck on the lure, and I was in.

People often say that zander don’t put up much of a fight and sometimes they are right, however not today each zander put up quite a scrap and they continually dived and dived for the bottom but each were eventually beaten by the net.
Continue reading “Out zander fishing with www.fishingamsterdam.com”

Review – PB Braid Pliers

I bought the above cutters on the recommendation of a mate who owns a tackle shop in Holland. He was madly enthusing about them to a customer standing in front of me and in the demonstration he picked up a section of 4lb braid ( thinner than cotton) and was happily snipping off 1 and 2 mm sections. After seeing this I decided that I had to have a pair and I have to say they are just that good. If you want a pair scissors that will cut almost anything ( including the shank of a hook apparently – though I have never tried) and then go back to cutting fine braid, these are for you. Normally when a really successful product appears on the market other tackle manufacturers are quick to leap on the band waggon and product their own version. Strangely PB products are still the only manufacturer that supplies this kind of cutter.

Verdict – buy them I have had them for 1 season and they are still as sharp as when I bought them. They can go from snipping wire traces to snipping fine braid and never miss a beat. Buy a set for each tacklebox they are that good.