Preston Innovations N-10 Hook Review

After recently purchasing and using these hooks on a couple of occasions I felt compelled to write a review on them and share my honest opinions with you. 
First off I would like to say I'm not one for changing things just because something new comes along, much preferring to stick with what I know and feel works for me. I only normally look at other hooks if I start having problems obtaining my regular patterns or feel the hooks I use no longer meet my requirements and the former reason was why I had to look for an alternative pattern. 

Anyway being caught out at the tackle shop and with little insight into other options available I spent a few minutes looking at possible alternatives and came across the Preston Natural range and having previous experience with their PR311, 322 and 333 hooks thought I would look at the range a little closer. I wanted a nice light round bend hook for pole work on both the river and the canal mainly for Roach, Dace and skimmers and the N-10 looked to be about right for the job. I decided to give them a try and bought them in sizes 22 to 16, at this point I wasn't sure where my next outing would take me so I tied a few of each size in readiness for my next trip.

Hemp and Tare Fishing On Rivers

Once the initial early season Bream and Skimmer catches tail off with the increased temperatures, light levels and water clarity things start to get tough on our rivers.
Yes you can still catch a few fish early and late with maggot, casters and worms but you are often plagued with Bleak which unless you are targeting them in a match can be somewhat unwelcome. When faced with these conditions at this time of year it is time to turn our attention to Hemp and Tares. These baits are most commonly associated with Roach but on some days will attract other species such as Chub, Dace, and Skimmers.

Cooked Hempseed and Tares

Opening Session of the River Season 2018

After what seemed to be a very long three months away from the river, June the 16th finally arrived. Having Joined the newly formed Nene Anglers Club a coming together of 2 existing clubs namely (Black Horse and Warmington AC) I planed to start my Season on the River Nene between Elton and Nassington. The weekend before I had joined a working party clearing some swims along the stretch and was almost busting a gut to get at it.

Ground bait Review - Bait-Tech Pro Natural Range

Well I have to admit to being pretty much unaware of Bait Tech before the start of this current river season and having pretty much exclusively used Dynamite baits ground bait for a good few years. Yes I had seen the name about but assumed it was just another supplier of Carp baits. Anyway having seen a couple of videos on YouTube while searching out info on The Great Ouse and Middle level main drain a certain Steve Cowley, AKA Steve's Fishing Channel kept referring to Pro natural ground bait.

This led me to look into Bait Tech and their product range, I read various articles and watched all of their YouTube output until I was fairly familiar with what I thought I could incorporate into my own fishing. 

River Nene, Stibbington - 5 March 2015

Well as luck would have it the weather was good for my midweek trip to the Nene at Stibbington although a little windy. On arrival I had a quick look off of the bridge and as I suspected the river looked in great shape with some flow and a nice tinge of colour. The wind was from the WSW and so would be pretty much in my face so I figured that I would sit either just up or downstream of the bridge as this area is the most sheltered. Anyway after a quick look I decide to sit just above the bridge as this was by far the most protected from the wind.




My Office for the day

River Welland Stamford 15th Feb

Well its been a very long time since I last shared my exploits with you so apologies for my absence but in my defence I have been though the mill recently. Hopefully that is all behind me now and I can get on with my life and of course, the fishing.
So with the weather on Sunday not to bad for the time of year I decided to have a short session on the Stamford Meadows section of the river Welland.
On arriving at the river it had a lovely green tinge to it but it was hardly moving at all so I wasn't sure how things wood pan out. Having very rarely fished this section before I decided to head to the downstream end of the stretch and away from most of the people that were about enjoying the pleasant afternoon sunshine.

A lovely Green tinge or what...

 

I'm back

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted anything on here mainly due to the fact I haven't been out too much since the end of last season. The fishing locally hasn't been too good and I haven't really been enjoying it if I am honest but over the last few weeks things have picked up and I have rediscovered my love of angling.
My most recent trip was to Ferry Meadows lakes in Peterborough which as most of you know is home to some huge shoals of Bream. Having not fished there for a number of years it was almost like going to a new venue, anyway I decided to fish peg 32 on the high bank on Gunwade lake as there had been reasonable catches of Hybrids from this area recently.
Fishing the waggler at about 16m over groundbait I was soon into a few fish and although I was not setting the world alight it was steady sport non the less.
After a couple of hours I probably had 5lb in the net and decided to do something different to improve my catch rate, I started loose feeding with maggots and casters and altered my shotting pattern to give the bait a slower fall through the water. It wasn't long before the float started holding up as the hybrids were coming up in the water to intercept the loose feed and I soon started slaughtering them. The average size was about 4oz with the odd better one up to 12oz and if you start to catch a few of these the weight soon builds up. Anyway my rhythm was soon broken by a Mallard grabbing my baited hook as I cast in and me having to set up again but this time I set up a lighter rig and set it up shallower. It was only a few minutes before i was back in the swing of things and after another hour or so I decided to call it a day.

19lb of float caught Hybrids and Roach

The end result was 19lb of float caught Hybrids with a few Roach putting in an appearance and all in all not a bad day, interestingly there where 3 anglers fishing the feeder and all struggled for a few fish and none caught a proper Bream. It just goes to show there is more to the lakes than just the Bream that most people go there for, why not do something different for a change and you never know you may just like it.
Cheers Mark