Reel's......

Are you a Baitcaster, or Fixed spool??

Wow!! Again where the hell do you start??

I mostly use Baitcasters for 90% of my fishing, but do use Fixed spools for my ultra light missions! i use a small 1000 size SHIMANO Catana, great for chucking small spinners and plugs into small streams and canals. I also use Shimano Stradics for my other lure work, i mostly use 4000FA front drags with a 6000FG for my sea fishing! these reels are very smooth and work in all conditions!! not even salt water stops these cranking tools......

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Baitcaster's are my passion, i have loads and use all of them whenever i get the chance to use different kit. But the two reels that really do get a hammering are my SHIMANO Calais DC201b and Chronarch 101psv both of which are SHIMANO JAPAN imports, these are made of superiour materials than standard shimano kit and have lots of quality features that are exclusive to these Japan models..... My Chronarch is a very small all rounder with 7ball bearings and full Titanium build (screwless bodys) this is the true meaning of smooth casting!! its silent and is a joy to use.

My Calais DC is in a league of its own!...... this reel is SHIMANO's flagship top shelf baitcaster!! 11ball bearings full mirror finish, power grip2 the whole works! it has four electric braking modes, with eight settings for each mode! it really is top of the game when it comes down to lure fishing.... nothing else any where in the world comes close to what this reel does! check pictures of this reel in my other posts. but as i say its all totally a personal choice as to what you use and when! this is my style, you have your own and i bet it works for you just as well!!

Super Duper Shads

Weapon's of choice!

I have used sooooo many lures over the years and there is so many i can go back to which have all done me proud!! but...... if all else fails, you can do allot worse than crack out the RAPALA Super Shad Rap!! ill post allot on hear about various lure etc. but love or hate this lure its caught them all! every serious lure angler from weekend warrior to pro own's one of these lures, or all of the range if you have no sence like me! ha ha

Now this beauty is on the shelfs in floating and countdown, meaning we can exploit these masters of big fish catching lures to our best!! the colours are endless natural and wacky.... so dust it off and wack it on ya trace!! who knows that monster may show up and Super Shad rap is Deffo on the menu.......

April Hols....

First week in April, Bring it on!!

Every year me and Terry take the the first week in april off for some well earned after spawning preditor action!!

This year being one of the best, we did'nt catch any reall donkeys but had more than our share of decent doubles..... we mostly fished the Exeter canal, from start to finish! This canal is a real killer at times! you can fish it one day and rip the place apart then on the other hand some missions can see only a few chases!! but we have always done very well!! my biggest fish in recent april sessions being a cracking 30lb 4oz!! with plenty of big teen's and the odd twenty showing its croc head! fishing this water needs to be approached with a very open mind!! most anglers turn there noses up at exeter canal due to its frustrating ability to make ever angler think he/she must have forgot to put the hooks on there tackle.... these pike are mean and very aggressive, and will smash you very close in and chase like a cat with a toy!!

Lure choice is a very personal thing, but we have caught on most stlyes and patterns!! but anything that has a bait fish profile will do the trick!! just keep working them fast/slow, deep/shallow..... think like a fish ha ha.

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Through the week.

We caught plenty of fish all through the day, between us we averaged 7-8 pike each day. most fish bein around 7lb to 9lb with fish that size chasing all day long!! if we caught every pike that chased of hit out lures we would of bagged 20-25 fish every day..... we fished exeter basin at the quay, on the wednesday fishing some of the shallow stretches finding our way to a mooring bay that is allot deeper than the previous stretch, we have caught well here before and strate away Terry hits into a fish that storms off going crazy! i crack open the net, expecting a beast to be shocked by a fish of 10lb 2oz!! what a fight!! After seing that i was ready for action, but struggled to get a fish! with only one strike!! while ill entertained the tackers Terry was in AGAIN with another good fish this time it stormed for the weeds and roots, tailwalking head shaking making a good show for its self..... it took some power to stop and once tamed it was in the net! another double this time dead on 11lb. Then very next cast he wacked on a FISH-TECH pike 9inch, i then realised that i was in trouble as i didnt have this beast of a lure!! and on this very next cast his rod smashed over, line peeled off the baitcaster then i saw this massive head shaking! this pike was very pissed off! it bolted off to the left where a lovely bush waited to snag the braid! so it was action time i got the net ready and only had a couple chances to net this fish as this was a horrible swim..... Terry put the brakes on and got the pike to the surface and i managed to get the net in place, we got her on the first attempt "few!"

once we got the weigh sling out and scales ready we new it was going to be the biggest of the week, it was'nt the 20+ but i knew we had a 15lber in my arms and yes, it was 14lb 12oz..... once the pictures had been taken it was slipped back! i kid you not i had not even managed to sort the net out when Terry shouted again!!....... the sod! this time blagging a 10lber again! all from one swim..... hat off to you Tezo, you done us proud and really showed me i cant always get all the luck!! ha ha

Beast from the Gutter!!

A Nice surprise!!

well my good mate Terry told me of the Taunton canal was fishing well just after new year, so needing no arm twisting i jumped at the idea of fishing this very VERY shallow canal in the middle of the town!! god i wasnt ready for the state of the place!! shopping trolleys, prams, bikes...... it was a bit of a gutter ha ha BUT!! i could not believe the small jacks that happily terrorise these waters!!

I done some investigating for this water, and Knowing that this water held only small jack's (5-6lb being a monster!!) only took a light rod, and 101 baitcaster!! we caught jacks almost intsantly, lots of 1-2 jacks everywhere! BUT saw some good fish moving around with some 2-3lb perch which opened my eyes!! then Terry managed to sneak in a pike around 5lb behind my back, giving me that extra push to pull a right monster out!! (6lb ha ha)

Soooo i whipped out a secret weapon, a 7cm RAPALA countdown in Clown. . . i actually got this lure free from a "how to fish" Rapala vid aound 15years ago!! it is battered and broozed. we got to a really deep corner, which Terry said the week before that looked really fishy! i was minding my own business when Tezo said he had a chase by a tacker!! so i looked over while still reeling in my lure, when all of a sudden it went solid!! thinking i'd hooked a bike or shopping trolley i said a few chosen words!! then saw this monster of a pike charging off with my little plug wedged into its mouth! after about 5mins we netted the monster. i was comlpetely shocked as this water "only has tackers"

Ill leave you guys to enjoy the perfect end to a good day tacker bashing!!.......

People and Places

Fishing Friends.

Im lucky enough to have some really good friends who all have the fishing bug like i do!! I have fished since the age of 4-5 and living right next to the Grand Western canal has helped me meet lots of very interesting people...

My Dad and Brother have always been keen to join me on our missions, either Piking or sea fishing we have done it all..... with soooo many funny memories and heart break when real monsters of the deep got away, or landed fish of a life time!! Still every time i go fishing with my close friend Terry ratigan, i still get the buzz that i got when i was young both of us pushing the others limits..... Fishing partners-- friends for life!! also meeting other Anglers who share my passion is always a joy to see what every one is doing and seing them catch well!! its all part of Fishing, you may not catch all the time but who cares!! its all about getting out with friends......

Tackle talk!!

Tackle Talk....

Well where do i start!!

there is soooooo much gear out there at the mo!! here in the UK we are very behind in tackle terms! we seem to be stuck in a rut!! we have sooooo much to learn from the far east!! Japan and Oz are at the cutting edge of what tackle needs to be today!!

Im a bit of a tackle tart and have numerous reels and lures imported from the far east, and in my eyes if you want the best the look no further..... personally i only use SHIMANO reels and rods as these are THE best in the market today!! even my shimano tackle is imported as UK kit is still no where near there Japan models.

Braided lines are the way forward, i personally use Berkley whiplash-30lb for most of my everyday rubber chucking, but step upto 65lb when whipping out my big gun rods when fishing large Dawgs, plugs and shads!! Trace wise i use standard 7 strand wire for general traces, but step upto solid leaders for the big boys!!

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LURES!!!!!

Well this is even more confusing!!

The choice is endless... I have hundreds of different types and styles starting from tiny ultra light RAPALA's to massive Fish-Tech shads and Bull dawgs! most of my lure fishing is using mediam sized lures as most of my local waters are fairly shallow between 2-7ft deep. so no need to get to fussy!! most fast working lures such as X-raps, Shad raps, jointed divers most surface lures through the summer. Plus spinners and spinner baits all in various colours.

Then you have the Big gunz!! im talking 9-15inch lures from various companys around the world... Jerkbaits, Shads, Bucktails, Dawgs rubber and wood/plastic!! with every style and type with its own action....

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Rods and Reels.

As i said earlier, im a big Tackle tart ha ha!

Using Baitcasters for nearly all my fishing apart from very ultra light!! for general purpose i use a 15-3ogm casting rods, matched with either 101 or 201 sized baitcasters, my favorites are ranging from the SHIMANO Chronarch101b's and Culcutta101ti's to my pride A Calais DC201b

all imports from japan.

Rods for BIG lures are either by FOX or TFG with SHIMANO diaflash for fixed spool.... Mostley between, 6ft and 7. with the longer 9ft rods for big water/sea fixed spool work, ranging from 50gm to 200gm casting weights.

Looking for Memories

Hunting Lunkers..... An Obsession

For many years now i have struggled to find anything else that has given me the joy of fishing!!

Lure fishing is where my heart lies, ill go in search for any fish willing to give me the kick's i need from a heart stopping strike from a Pike,Perch,Chub,Bass and a few other species that most anglers think would never hit a lure!!

Ill be posting on here after most missions, keeping you Plugged on what is happening in the wonderfull work of Lure fishing!!

Cheers

Danny Parkins