The Futures Bright...
By Colin Walford
Winter is fast approaching and it’s quite often a time that people will start experimenting with alternative hook baits. I for one have had a few thoughts on this, so when John threw me a couple of pots of the new Flouro Range Pop ups and told me to ‘go and play’, that’s just what I did.
The very first thing I did was stick my nose into the pots. I’d already had some input into the flavour levels that we wanted to use in the hook baits and after a few sniffs, I knew we were onto a winner!
The two flavours are a little different to anything else out there at the moment, which follows the ethos we have here at Scattered Baits. Being a little bit different will often catch you an extra fish, so with that in mind and John wanting to release a winter flouro hook bait range he realised that the flavours would be the way forward to help our baits stand out again in the market place. And so Bubblegum and Orange and Pineapple were settled on and to be released was the Flouro Bubblegum in Orange and the Flouro Pineapple & Orange in yellow.
After getting home from the Open Day at the Tackle Box in Dartford I was itching to get out and use them, we had a hell of a lot of interest in the range and I was interested in how I would incorporate them into my fishing. So a short overnighter was planned for the following week with my mate Lee at a local venue. First and foremost, that same evening after the open day, I tied a couple of stiff rigs up and tied on one hook bait of each flavour in 14mm size. These were balanced out in two different tubs in the kitchen, the idea to keep an eye on the reaction of the hook baits in water over a period of time. I wanted to know (as we can’t watch our hook baits out in the lake), whether there would be any discolouration in the bait, how much swelling there was and what sort of leakage we were getting from them.
After a good 24 hour soak, I was really pleased to find that the hook baits where in tip top condition. They were still hard, there was no discolouration at all and the swelling was minimal in the extreme! Now to get them in front of some carp and check out their reaction and see how far the baits could be pushed.
As I said, there was a quick overnighter in the offing with Lee. We arrived at the lake and I chucked him a bag of Flouros. Two of us fishing with them were going to help. Lee picked his spots and fished one of each over a couple of pouches of Aquatix Anchovy and I opted for an Orange and Pineapple on one rod and an anchovy pop up on the other. Not long after setting up, a few fish showed in the lake behind me, and as I was talking to one of the regulars, more fish started to show and bubble up just 30 yards from the bank.
A change of plans were in order so I quickly reeled in the rods and checked the hookers. An Orange and Pineapple 14mm on a Chod Rig was dispatched out to where the fish were showing. The other hook bait at the time was a balanced Anchovy pop up, cut down into a barrel shape. Both hook baits were cast within five yards of each other bang ‘on the money’. Well within five minutes, the rod with the Orange and Pineapple Flouro attached was ripping off! The result was a 16lb mirror that was nailed on the size 6 Gardner Chod hook. I was over the moon about how quickly id managed to buy a take and how quickly the fish had responded to the little bright yellow peril!
That night, fish were still in my area and after a quick change of tactics on the other rod by changing over to a choddy and a 14mm Bubblegum Flouro I nicked another bite. This one was in the dark, so I knew that it wasn’t the colour that the fish had responded too it was the smell. It meant to me that the levels in the baits are right, but unfortunately this fish fell off at the net, and as always when you lose a fish, it was a better one. Still, such is! A little while later, Lee had a take, this time on the O and P which resulted in another 16lb mirror.
After that little result, I wanted to take the baits onto the back lake at Sutton, which is where I plan to do most of my winter fishing this year. The fish seem to still be catchable throughout the winter on here judging by past years angling, so I’m going on there hoping that this is the case, but armed with the Flouros knowing that they might get me an extra bite or two. I’ve managed a few nights on there so far and it was on the 2nd of these after a change of swims that I had my first bite. Again, it was after dark and only 2 hours after moving, the result being a fine looking common of 28lb 12oz which was nailed on a critically balanced KD rig. This was fished over a light scattering of SS range 14 millers, but I have no doubt that the fish homed straight in on the hook bait. It was so well hooked!
Over the winter I will be trying to winkle a few out and my plan is to solely use the Flouros, whether fished as singles or over the SS Range. I can see as the water gets colder, I will mainly fish them as singles, but I will be fishing them with 100% confidence! I will keep you updated of my progress and I know John, Dan and Ryan will too as they look to their winter waters in search of cold water chunk!
Cheers & Tight Lines
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