XI-Match Hollow Elastic
XI-Match Hollow Elastic
If you loved Brownings Hybrid Elastic then you will love the new high quality Hollow Elastic.
It has a stretch factor of more than 700% making loosing fish from hook pulls almost impossible, even when they catch you by surprise and head out into the middle of the lake in a split second. Its outstanding buffering properties allow the angler to fine down that little bit more, keeping the bites coming and putting more fish in the net at the end of the day.
Coming in 6m lengths it allows up to three kits to be fitted and unlike many other hollow types of elastic has an incredible long service life span. Each size is colour coded for instant recognition.
Alex Reynolds
Autumn Feeder Fishing For Silvers
Autumn Feeder Fishing For Silvers
Fishing for skimmer bream might not be everyone’s first choice but I love them and they can be life savers when the water temperature drops.
Open mind
Today I’ve come to a local club venue, one that regularly holds matches and where in the depth of winter bags of silvers can exceed 40lb, however anyone that has fished for skimmers will already know that they can be somewhat frustrating. One day they will be crawling up the rod, the next creating no pattern and registering the tiniest of bites. Knowing this is very important and you have to approach each session with an open mind as well as bringing along an array of baits if you want to get the best out of your peg.
Natural baits
The standard selection of hook bait I take when I know skimmers are the target consists of dead and live maggots, preferably reds, casters and worms. Pellets do pay a part in hookbait during the warmer months but once the water temperature drops I prefer natural baits, however I do add a few small pellets into the feeder along with chopped worms and a few dead maggots. The groundbait I tend to use early winter is Sonubaits Super Crush Green that I mix before leaving home with bottled water, before passing through a sieve a couple of times to make it light, fluffy and very fine.
Timing casts
At the start of each session I like to clip up and make half a dozen accurate casts simply to activate the swim. I then get into a routine of casting every three minutes and hope that the skimmers will turn up fairly quickly. When they do bites can come quicker than three minutes, however when the water is really clear and cold I may push each cast to a slightly longer period, yet with skimmers it’s more of when will they turn up than will they turn up so it pays to be positive.
Long and traditional
Bites can vary from steady pull rounds to the shyest of taps so I prefer to use a braided mainline and have loaded my Black Viper Compact reel with Cenex 0.08mm Sinking braid and have teamed this up with a 12’ Sphere Medium Feeder, the perfect rod for feeder fishing for skimmers. As for the rig it’s a simple running feeder set up with a few tweaks. Firstly I still feel that when skimmer fishing its best to have quite a long hook length and mine is a couple of feet of 0.16mm Cenex Hybrid Power down to a size 16 Classic hook which is the perfect size to allow me to alternate between worm, caster a double red dead maggot. Further up the line is a short twizzel boom and the free running feeder link comes to rest against a small Stotz shot that protects the knot to the twizzel boom. The feeder bead that runs on the braided mainline has a short length of stiff line from it down to a link swivel and both knots are protected with a short length of clear tubing. This acts as a boom and reduces tangles considerably and the swivel link allows me to swap from different sized feeders throughout the session.
Peas in a pod
As expected today’s session has seen double red dead maggot produce most bites and as on many occasions the bites have been really shy but the braided mainline has exaggerated these allowing me to read the conditions and keep in touch with the fish. Unfortunately the stamp of skimmers has been quite small today and have been like peas in a pod, all around 6-8oz but once they got their heads down its been one a chuck letting me build a decent bag of fish.
Tim Bruce
Tim’s Tackle
Sphere 12’ Medium Feeder Rod
Black Viper Compact Reel
0.08mm Cenex Sinking Braid
0.16mm Cenex Hybrid Power Mono
Size 16 Sphere Classic Hook
Xenos Jet Feeders
Tim’s Bait
Dead/Live Red Maggots
Casters
Worms
Micro Pellets
Sonubaits Super Crush Green Groundbait
New Video - Feeder Fishing for Skimmers
Look out for this new video over on the Browning Official YouTube channel (find it here).
This week Tim Bruce looks at how to catch skimmers on the feeder as we head into winter. These small bream can be relied upon to feed in even the coldest winter conditions, making them great weight builders in winter matches.
Warm and Stylish - New Browning Bobble Hat
Bobble Hat
There’s nothing worse than a cold wind catching the back of your neck, it simply chills you to the bone, making concentrating on the job in hand, catching fishing almost impossible. That’s why protecting your neck and head is vitally important now that winter has arrived and Browning Bobble Hat, which is made from a comfortable, knotted elastic fabric, will keep you warm even on the coldest of days.
The thick breathable fabric allows good air circulation and the elastic, one fit size allows it to be pulled down protecting the neck area or folded up for additional warmth exposing the Browning logo which stands out from the standard Browning colours.
Alex Reynolds
New On The Box Video Out Now
This week we join Nick Crooks and Tom Noton at Hallcroft Fishery in a much-requested ‘On The Box’ video with Nick talking through his autumn / winter tactics on this brilliant venues whilst Tom ask the questions that really get to the nitty-gritty of Nick’s approach.
Hit the play button below to watch now, or find the video on the Browning YouTube channel.
Xitan Carryall
Product Spotlight - Xitan Carryall
Ever since getting a Xitan Combi Bait Bag I’ve been keen to increase the amount of Xitan luggage I have, as it’s absolutely superb and exactly what I require.
The Xitan Carryall offers many of the features the Combi Bait Bag such as reliable hard wearing zips throughout, the same durable wipe clean material, completely waterproof, sturdy and great for placing on sloping banks, grab handles on both ends to name just a few. Instead of the two top compartments that the Bait Bag offers, the Xitan Carryall has one much bigger easy access, zipped, flat top opening main compartment, great for storing and transporting all sorts of tackle. The carry handles have been replaced with a comfortable, padded, adjustable and removable shoulder strap and it boosts three external zipped pockets for even more storage. Another unique feature is the rigid nylon runners on the base which prevents wear caused by sliding across van/car floors.
Once again, a must for the modern day angler, looking for practicality, affordability and a range of luggage that has many unique features as well as looking absolutely stunning.
Size – L 72cm x W 37cm x H45cm
Tim Bruce
The Xitan range has proven to be extremely rugged. Here we have the carryall and bait bag.
Catch Carp Down the Edge
Catch Carp Down the Edge
In match conditions or on practice sessions when it’s bright, commercial carp tend to head for any bit of cover, and every swim has cover right down each side, albeit sometimes sparse. Today I’m on the Match Lake at Blind Lane Fishery for a practice session before a match and not only is it busy but the bright conditions aren’t going to make it easy. I’ve picked a swim that has some cover from the sun down each side and these will be fed and rotated regularly.
Today’s tackle
The pole I’m using is the fantastic Sphere Zero-G F1+, a great all-round pole and perfect for bagging up on carp down the edge. This is teamed up with 1.8mm Blue Black Magic Gold Power Elastic which has a rating of 14, ideal as these carp fight all the way to the net and there’s a very good chance of hooking something quite large. What I love about this elastic is it powers up really quickly once a fish is hooked, slowing it down progressively and getting it under control quickly. I’m using Cenex 0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono and 0.14mm Classic Mono for my main and hook length with Sphere size 16 barbless CPF LS hook. The left hand margin is the deepest around 5ft and I’m using a 4×14 float with the shot strung out which doubles up if I want to go straight out in front where I will be feeding corn by hand on a regular basis. The right hand side is far shallower and I’m going really tight in to the cover with a 4×8 float shotted with a bulk six inches from the hook.
Something different
As for bait I’m using something different, shown to me by team member Alex Roberts, and although it will be corn on the hook, I’m feeding ground down maize pellets with a little Champion’s Choice Big Fish Groundbait added; a combination that creates a really enticing cloud and one Alex has had some great success using. I also have some liquidized corn which will be fed, like the dampened ground maize through a small pot to keep it nice and tight.
Thick and fast
As expected the conditions and activity of other anglers has seen it take time to get each margin going but although carp have been coming regularly it’s not until around a couple of hours in that they start coming thick and fast. Some days you get some real lumps down the edge but today they are relatively small, the biggest maybe 4lb but come lunchtime I’ve put together a tidy net of carp and feel confident with my approach for the forth coming match.
Gary Ford
Gary’s Tackle
Sphere Zero-G F1+ Pole
Black Magic Gold Power Elastic
Cenex 0.16mm Hybrid Power Mono
Cenex 0.14mm Classic Mono
Size 16 Sphere CPF LS Barbless Hook
4×8 & 4×14 Pole Floats
Gary’s Bait
Sweetcorn
Champion’s Choice Big Fish Groundbait
Ground Maize Pellets
Liquidized Corn
Black Magic Uni Reel Line
Black Magic Uni Reel Line
This great value new line from Browning is ideal for tough feeder and float fishing.
The brown colour is almost invisible in water, especially when silhouette against the lake bed. Designed with excellent abrasion resistance and knot strength, this is a tough line that can stand the rigours of feeder fishing for big fish.
Available in a range of breaking strains from 4.5lb (0.17mm) to 12.6lb (0.27mm) on great value bulk spools.
Find out more here – https://tackle-box.eu/en/p/2388017/
Catch Roach to Hand
Bag-up with Autumn Roach
Having never fished Watmore Farm Fishery just outside Yateley in Hampshire before I did a bit of homework and tapped up my team mate Colin Sheppard, who fishes the venue regularly for some information. Colin talked about the quality silver fish it contained as well as the numbers of carp that he had been catching on the Xenos Feeder Slow Sinker, a method I’m yet to try, but must. He also mentioned that the venue was deep, well over 20ft in places and that it was a great winter pole venue for the silvers and being a bit of a sucker for float fishing it seemed the perfect place to fish the whip to hand, a tactic I love doing but rarely find the right venue to enjoy it.
Slightly stronger rigs
A quick plumb up in my swim found around 10ft of water at 5m, so with plenty of depth in close and with no need to head further out my Black Magic 5m Tele Pole was perfect as it would leave enough line between the flick tip and float as well as enough line overall to effectively swing fish to hand or land if needed. It’s also extremely light, just 150g and has a rapid tip action making it the perfect tool to hold all day and hits those lighting fast bites if needed. When fishing to hand its best to fish slightly stronger rigs than when using a more conventional pole, just because swinging fish to hand constantly does take its toll and has no elastic to cushion the fight if a bigger fish is hooked. My rig consists of Cenex 0.14mm Hybrid Power Mono and a Cenex 0.12mm Hybrid hook length with a barbless size 16 Sphere CPF LS hook attached. My float choice is an alloy stem 1g rugby ball shaped Tamgi attached using three rubbers and although I started using a bulk and two droppers soon realised that stringing No9 shot out in a shirt button fashion with them getting slightly further apart as they neared the hook was far better.
Sitting comfortably
Just a little tip when whip fishing is not to have a line that’s the same length as the pole. Ideally when swinging the rig out or bringing fish to hand you don’t want to have to alter the position of your hand so the rig should be couple of feet shorter than the length of the pole.
High percentage of bites
Bait for today consists of maggot, casters, worms and my favourite groundbait, Champion’s Choice Black Magic which I’ve mixed up on arrival with a whisk and then riddled a number of times to create a light, fine, fluffy mix. Not quite knowing what to expect I spent the first hour perfecting my rig and bait application and after missing loads of bites striking as soon as the float moved found that waiting for the line to follow after the float disappeared was best, resulting in a high percentage of bites producing fish, mostly roach, odd rudd and occasional better perch. I also found that the fish responded to plenty of bait as opposed to the ‘little and often’ feeding over the top of three balls of groundbait introduced via a feed cup at the start. What the roach wanted was a handful of maggots being fed by hand, followed by my rig that was swung over the top and then a small ball of groundbait again fed by hand. I must admit that it all seemed a bit clumsy but it was working, the mild weather probably contributing to this, however I’m sure when it gets really frosty and cold accurate baiting from a pot will come into play.
Odd 2lb roach
Most of my catch consisted of roach in the 2oz – 5oz range, perfect for speed fishing on the whip. A couple of better roach around 12oz also showed plus a much bigger one lost and Colin Sheppard tells me that the odd 2lb roach is caught, ouch, oh and a bonus perch. I only fished for a few hours and thoroughly enjoyed the session and although I stuck on the maggot knew that in future a caster or worm approach would defiantly be worth a go for those bigger roach and perch.
Justin’s Tackle
5m Black Magic Tele Pole
Cenex 0.14mm and 0.12mm Hybrid Power Mono
Sphere size 16 CPS LS Barbless hook
1g Tamgi Pole Float
Justin’s Bait
Red Maggots
Champion’s Choice Black Magic Groundbait
Casters
Worms
Xi-Match Hollow Elastic
Xi-Match Hollow Elastic
Introducing the new Xi-Match Hollow Elastic, a brilliant new hollow elastic with the X7 stretch that we love, and available in great value 6m packs.
A very durable elastic, available in colour-coded diameters from 2.1mm (rating 8+) to 2.9mm (rating 16+). The long-life of this elastic means you have to change it less often, even when fishing big weight venues. The long 6m length means three one-piece or two two-piece kits can be elasticated from a single pack, making it great value too.
The next generation of Browning’s brilliant Hollow elastics that are widely used right across Europe.
Find out more here – https://tackle-box.eu/en/p/6357021/
