-
Posted 09:12, 11 March 2013
- OK, so we’re back to freezing cold E/NE winds that are kindly letting us know we are not quite out of winter’s grasp just yet, but over the weekend we got a brief window down here when the winds went SW and things warmed up a beauty. Sure, it’s March and I was hardly expecting an epic session on the bass, but I have to say that when Andy and I got to our spot on Sunday afternoon, hopes were at least moderately high of a sniff or two……..
- If only we had had those conditions around the back end of last year was all I could think. Perfection ? Had to be close. Great clarity, almost no suspended weed in the water to do my head in, a pretty big swell for the south coast rolling in, one awesome looking spot that I have some pretty high hopes for this year, but as I said, it’s early March and one has to accept that around here it is hardly the time of year when one would expect bass to crawl up your line in their eagerness to be caught. There is always a chance though is there not ?
- Well there might well have been, but Andy and I had not even a sniff. Not even a ding on a rock that one could possibly mistake for a bass hit. You will be pleased to know that I did my customary get too close to the waves thing and caught one right in the face – which was nice. As much as we never saw a sign of a fish, I do personally think we are in with a shout around here as and when we lose these infernal cold winds. I am also looking forward to getting out and smashing a few wrasse on plastics as well. I did see some mullet moving around in our local estuary when I was walking with my family on Saturday morning, and I take that as a good sign.
- What I did end up doing on Saturday afternoon was mess around with taking the middle trebles off the hard lures I had with me. I used to do this to my Flash Minnows a few years back and I don’t quite know why I have not tried it on all my lures that have three trebles on them. Give me all the stuff you want about (carefully) handling bass for photos and then releasing them for example, but I personally just don’t think I need potentially nine hook points going into a fish that I am going to put back however big it might get. I have tried those specialist single plugging hooks and I am sure they work just fine, but for some reason the ones I have used seem to rust up too quickly and too badly.
- Does removing the middle treble hook adversely affect the lure’s action ? Well I know that a few years back I messed around with replacing those awful trebles that come with the awesome Tackle House Feed Shallow and having a few problems getting it right, but for the life of me on the lures I took with me on Saturday afternoon I could not see or feel any difference in how the things were swimming. OK, I was not getting the clearest view because of the swell, but they seemed to be doing ok to me. Any of you have any experiences with this ?
- Aside from me not really liking treble hooks anyway (and I have worked with some operations abroad that won’t allow them to be used because of the damage they do to the fish – face it, they do), but then having to accept that these lures seem to need them, like you I am sure I need from time to time to replace various treble hooks on my lures that have either got damaged or have rusted up that bit too much for me to feel comfortable using them. There is no getting away from the fact that treble hooks cost a fair bit and if I can minimise my hook replacement costs by putting one set less on a lure that comes with three then I kinda like that as well.
- Any hook whether it be treble or single that I use for my lure fishing has the barb(s) crushed. I have brought this up many times before and I still stand by my personal belief that no true sportsman would contemplate sticking potentially nine barbed hooks in a fish that they purport to love and respect so much. I also still stand by my belief that it’s anglers losing fish on barbless hooks and not the lack of barbs, but I also accept that many lure anglers don’t share my beliefs and that’s just fine. Don’t damn me though for sticking my head above the parapet. I am though going to continue removing treble hooks from my lures unless I start finding of course that they are being adversely affected.
- Who was profoundly worried by the England rugby performance yesterday ? An Italian side we were expected to comfortably put away but if you ask me we were scarily close to actually losing to them. The idea of going to Wales to play for the Grand Slam on Saturday I will admit is making me more worried than it was, but a part of me feels that perhaps this young England side are actually performing at their best when their backs are against the wall – as indeed they will be on Saturday. Whatever the case it’s going to be a monster of a game, and I can’t wait (nervously)…………..
-
Posted 09:10, 8 March 2013
- I fish with and work around a lot of different anglers and guides through the course of what I do and I guess I would class myself as a bit of a people-watcher, in that I do tend to watch and I suppose analyse to a certain degree. It’s my nature and it has always fascinated me why some people are just naturally better at other things. Why for example is Tiger Woods blessed with all that natural golfing talent when countless millions are so obviously not ? Sure, I guess he works his backside off and one could of course argue that he is not the player he once was, but why is he such a good/naturally talented golfer and say Jimmy Anderson such a good/naturally talented fast bowler ?
- Can one draw comparisons here with fishing ? Well I reckon you can. The saying goes that 5% of anglers catch 95% of the fish, and although these figures are pure conjecture, I do in fact believe the concept behind the saying. There are golfers out there who might play once, twice or even three times a week for example and just never seem to get above a certain level. If we call fishing a sport or at least a pastime then I personally believe that some anglers simply have more natural ability than others.
- OK, so fishing is of course somewhat different to say golf or cricket because there is that one big variable for us – fish, or indeed nature. A golf ball is moved by the wind or affected by extremes of temperature, but it doesn’t have a mind of its own like a fish. A golf ball does not need to feed or seek shelter. So while I do subscribe to increased natural ability being present within some anglers, I would never for one second discount the element of luck and/or chance in fishing.
- I used to fish a lot with a number of local anglers who could not have been kinder in taking us uni students almost under their wings and helping us out so much, indeed I am forever in debt to these people. I got to fish with and learn from some incredibly talented anglers who are so wired into their local environment that at times it would almost blow my brain, but even then there was one particular guy who to me stood out above even all this natural talent. My theory was in fact that this angler almost didn’t realise how much he knew if that makes sense.
- He was almost fishing and doing things without thought it looked so natural. Now of course he has to have been thinking and analysing all the time to get as good as he is, but when you watch the guy fish it’s like watching a golfer with a completely natural swing – something you are born with. So much knowledge, so much thought, so much skill, yet it all looks so effortless and natural. I can but dream…………
- But does the fact that an angler wins lots of competitions make them more talented than the rest ? Well as much as I personally have zero interest in competing with my own fishing, you can’t deny that a competition angler who wins more than others has to be doing a lot right and secondly I believe has to have more natural talent or ability than the other anglers he competes against – otherwise even with the fish/nature factor why would this man or woman be winning more than the rest ?
- Surely you have come across anglers now and then who seem to go fishing a lot but actually catch relatively little for all their efforts, but at the end of the day if one is deriving pleasure from the act of going fishing then does it actually matter ? Not for one second am I saying that one person is a better person than the other, rather it just interests me how some people just seem to have it in them to be naturally better anglers. Does this then hark back to the underlying hunter/gatherer instinct that whether we like it or not is within us ?
- Whatever the whys and wherefores here, I happen to think that with hard work, an open mind, a willingness to listen and learn, plus that ell essential dedication, almost anybody can make themselves into a pretty handy angler. But how many of us in reality are that good at listening and learning ? Take a group of people though, put them through exactly the same fishing experiences and I bet you that one or two will just naturally become better anglers than the rest. The next question then is what actually is a better angler ? More to come from the recesses of my brain in due course, but all of you have a good weekend – come on England on Sunday when they play Italy. Let’s be going to Cardiff next weekend on the hunt for the Grand Slam. Be still my beating heart !!
-
Posted 06:30, 6 March 2013
- Business is what it is, and the fishing industry is no different to others out there, and from time to time one might come across various business practises that could be referred to as “copying”, but for this blog post let’s talk about “imitations” instead. You know when you see a new item of fishing tackle that might bear a striking resemblance to something you have seen before ? Is imitation really the highest form of flattery ?
- Many of you I am sure have come across cheaper fishing lures for example that rather closely resemble various high-end lures. I have seen some of the trade catalogues that come out of various countries which are full of these direct copies and it’s pretty freaky stuff that “imitating” can be done so freely and I guess so often without any repercussions. I understand completely the appeal of good looking lures at cheap prices and of course we the consumers want cheaper products, but from an ethical point of view one must surely wonder sometimes.
D53034(1).jpg)
- I bet if you did a poll of a hundred keen and up to date bass anglers in the UK or Ireland that the Xorus Patchinko II (140mm, 27g) would come out on or very near the top as the most talked about and successful surface lure of the last few years. I don’t mean that every angler uses one, rather that if you spend a bit of time reading fishing magazines or on the internet (forums, blogs etc.) there is a good chance you will have heard of this missile. If you haven’t used one then you are missing out because it kills. Sure, sometimes I just don’t want a surface lure this (comparatively) heavy that lands so noisily, but holy cow does it cover some water and the bass love it.
- My understanding is that the Xorus Patchinko II was designed by one of the Ultimate Fishing registered bass guides and then put into production by the French based company under their own brand Xorus. As to where it’s made I have no idea and quite frankly I don’t care. All credit to them I reckon for designing such a killer bass lure, and also to the people who then sourced it to sell here in the UK.
- And so we come to the new Savage Gear SG Panic Prey (13.5cm, 26g). If you haven’t seen one yet then have a look at this link here. So how does one describe this lure ? Well let’s be generous here and say that it certainly looks to be at least “inspired” by the Xorus Patchinko II. OK, try as I might I can’t see any meaningful difference between the two – I have both lures here and I have briefly cast them/retrieved them against each other and I can’t notice any differences in how well they cast and how they behave on the retrieve. Give me some time and perhaps I might, but for all intents and purposes this new Savage Gear casts and fishes “pretty much like” the Xorus Patchinko II. What I can’t comment on is how the Savage Gear “imitation” might perform on the bass-catching front when compared to the tried and tested Xorus Patchinko II, but I see no reason why it won’t hammer fish just as successfully.
- From the consumer’s point of view (you and I) it’s some pretty good news is it not ? For around half the price we can now get a potentially serious bass catching machine, and the price of around £10/12 Euros of course opens this kind of “high performance” lure up to anglers who for whatever reasons will not or cannot spend around the £20 mark on a single lure. I can’t comment on whether this Savage Gear “imitation” will last as well as the Xorus Patchinko II, but even if it doesn’t it’s half the price and one has to kinda say so what ? But from my limited knowledge Savage Gear make some pretty serious fishing tackle so I must assume that this Panic Prey surface lure will last just fine. It sure looks well-made.
- How about from the retailer’s point of view ? Well I have no idea what margin a dealer can make from selling either a Patchinko or a Panic Prey, but don’t for one second think that just because a lure retails for much more that a dealer/tackle shop is automatically making a load more money on it. I would guess though that a tackle shop can make an acceptable margin on the Savage Gear lure and if their customers want to buy them then a tackle shop is going to want to sell them. What happens though if a shop puts the two “different” lures on the shelf side by side ? Who buys what ?
- Now what I am categorically not trying to do here is to have a go at Savage Gear because as a company it is no way unique what has happened here, and to be fair if you are into your lures (who, me ?) then they are a pretty easy thing to pick up on – I have picked up rods in the past say that to me have felt somewhat “inspired” by another one, yet because a rod can be made to look so different this might never actually get picked up on if an angler never gets to use the other rod that might have helped “inspire” the cheaper one. I have also used other items of fishing tackle that I have found out later on down the line have perhaps been heavily “inspired” by other items. You can’t tell me for example that the whole ultrabook PC laptop thing was not heavily “inspired” by the Apple Macbooks.
- Think about where the Xorus Patchinko came from for a second and then think about how the designer of that lure might have arrived at their inspiration. Was the Patchinko itself “inspired” by another lure and the guide/angler/designer then thinking that they could come up with something that better suited their fishing ? Look how many minnow-type lures are out there for example, and tell me a lure designer is not looking at other models and working out how they think they could change and improve upon them. Don’t you yourself sometimes use an item of fishing tackle and think about how you might change/improve it by implementing certain elements from another bit of gear that you like ? There is a chance of course that somebody within Savage Gear simply came up with the Panic Prey design and had no idea that it then so closely resembled another lure until it hit the shelves and anglers noticed the “similarities” ?
- This kind of thing happens and will always happen. We are consumers and we want cheaper products and companies are going to service that demand in a number of different ways, and not for one second am I going to talk about any legal ramifications here because I know absolutely nothing about it. One side of me can’t help but think it’s a bit of a shame that such a reputable company brings out such a close “imitation”, but the other side of me as a consumer of course loves the fact that I now have access to two “variations” for very different prices. What is right and what is wrong ? Well we all know what is ethically right, but this surely is the world we live in is it not ? Look at the rumbling horsemeat scandal as a classic example, or those hideous, flabby things masquerading as fresh chickens in our supermarkets. Food for thought ?
