'Fiiish Black Minnow'

Fiiish, not Fish. Count the i's. One... two... three of 'em.

Quite why we didn't tell you about them when we got home from the show in Nantes last year, is anyone's guess. But thankfully, we got a massive slap in the face this year and I would be a sod to keep them from you any longer.

Fiiish are a French lure manufacturer based in Brittany. Brittany is certainly one of the capitals of (sea) bass fishing in Europe, if not the world. All over France, sport fishing has caught on massively in the past decade and bass are top of the target list. This has lead to a major tackle revolution - specifically lure fishing tackle. While it's fair to say this is starting to happen here in the UK, the French have quite a lead on us. While the French still rely on tackle from other parts of the world, as we do, the extra experience (and demand) has lead to home-grown tackle - designed in France for the French market. This is important to us Brits. There is no question about the quality and performance of tackle from countries like Japan, of course not, but one thing that sets French tackle apart is that it is designed for the very same fish (probably the 'actual' very same fish) in very similar conditions to our own. To me, watching what the French lure anglers are up to is a no-brainer.

We came across Fiiish and the Fiiish Black Minnows last year at the Salon Europeen des Peches en Mer in Nantes - a huge saltwater fishing tackle show devoted almost entirely to lure fishing. Despite the fact I'd never heard of them before it was apparent that these lures were highly sought after by French anglers. There was a big buzz around the Fiiish stand, even without speaking the language, you could taste it. My slant on the interest was that they had been reviewed by one of the many bass/lure specific magazines available in France, and they had received much praise - and a heap of good bass.

The range of lures isn't massive - although slightly extended this year. The Fiiish Black Minnow is a soft body lure featuring a robust paddle tail, on a very nice, articulated jighead. The range has now been extended to 6 sizes of lure body - 70mm, 90mm, 120mm, 140mm, 160mm & 200mm. Each is available in up to 4 colours, including a silver, olive-back combo that I often fall for. The jigheads are available in three designs and up to 9 weights, ranging from 3g to 120g. I'm making this sound more complex than it is - find the diagram hereabouts to make more sense of the range.

Hooks to fit each articulated jighead are available separately to complete your favourite build. Or you can buy a complete lure, with a spare lure body in a single pack for ease. I felt there was more value in purchasing a 3-pack of bodies, a 2-pack of jig heads and a pack of hooks but the pre-made bundles make sense also.

This year Fiiish have expanded their product range with other items including lure rods (cool looking but too early to consider seriously yet) and clothing. The Fiiish Bass Logo is about the best you'll see on a hoodie - I bought one. They could be an even better seller than the lures!

Uber cool fishing brand for sure and I'm pleased to have learnt that Top Water Lures are importing them into the UK about now - so expect your favourite lure retailers to stock these super special lures very soon. I'll leave you with a video to whet your appetite. Enjoy the footage. Bon appetit!

More information here: www.fiiish.fr (Google does a half decent translation into English)

The Savage Gear Sandeels in Dirty Silver are arguably the coolest of the mainstream sandeel imitations available on the UK market today. I really think these lures will give the already popular Sidewinders some competition this year.

As usual the Dirty Silver version features the same quality, hand-poured material and build, in a very realistic sandeel profile and action.

Monster Tackle have the new colour in stock at present, in both the 12.5cm & 16cm sizes. Priced at £5.49 & £5.99 respectively, each pack contains 2 bodies and the appropriate jighead for a perfect match. Buy them here

Two of us have been before - last year. It was a hugely enjoyable event for us (despite not speaking good French) and looking back, was hugely influential in the style of fishing we have taken part in for the last 12 months. Mainly, but not quite exclusively, this was the major shift towards ultra light lure fishing, or to give it its more popular title, LRF - or Light Rock Fish.

Simply, I can not remember another event that has changed my angling style by so much. It was a real eye-opener and that is why we are making the pilgrimage again this year, with one more disciple.

Having said that, the lure scene in the UK blew up in 2011 and there are now several, first class dedicated anglers, websites and tackle shops of our own. It will be interesting to see if the divide in knowledge is quite so vast this year.

On to the tackle.

Inevitably, at last year's show, with so much amazing new tackle on offer and very little understanding to make educated purchases, we bought a lot, but without any real logic - the tackle caught the angler not the fish. However, a year on and dozens of hours now under our belts, 'some' of that tackle still shines today.

What follows is a list of the tackle I bought last year, that I will continue to use and recommend again and again (most of which I'm glad to say is now available in the UK).

Ecogear Shirasu Fine Head Jigheads

One of the first jigheads that really gave me confidence in catching small (sometimes microscopic) fish. The hook is extra fine and super sharp. Hooking even small fish is a doddle. The fine wire can be ping'ed out of snags or straightened and gently reformed which means you're fishing more often than tying knots. I like the 'stand-up' profile of the head, especially for fishing artificial worms on the bottom - a deadly technique. It presents the worm like it's burrowing. Very natural.

Daiwa SW Rock Fish Jig Heads

Yes, I'm a Daiwa addict, but these LRF specifc jig heads have the best hook up rate of any I have used. The wire is more brittle and I have snapped at least a couple in use but the increased stiffness means hookups are amazing. The head itself may look at bit odd but after using them solidly through the year (until stocks finally depleted) I am sure that the large eye and luminous finish act as strike triggers, driving fish wild. I've caught fish on these when I've been sure I've lost the bait.

Reins Rockvibe Shads

We fell in love with the Reins brand well before we'd got the first one wet. Such a cool, trendy brand - we had to get involved. Now, brand aside, my first opinions on the look of the Rockvibe paddletails wasn't favourable. But looks aside I have learnt to love these lures. The material used in manufacture is super soft. While this means that you'll get through a few, the action is fantastic. I've used the 2-inch in Pearl White and the 3-inch in Sardine. I'll be replacing stocks of both for the 2012 season. My favourite cast and retrieve lure. Swims on the drop.

Reins Saturn G-Tail

Another first class lure from Reins. While I prefer the Rockvibe in visible action, there's no denying the fish I've caught on this lure (2.5-inch in Lemon Pepper); 4.5lb Bass, Mediterranean Dorado (unfortunately not landed - but still) & 8lb Pike. So many firsts & PBs on ultra light gear. Can't say more than, it catches!

Owner Red Mosquito Hooks

These hooks stayed untouched in the bag for ages but part way through my 'journey' I seriously got into Dropshot and these hooks played a big part in that. I've used other hooks for this purpose - both dedicated and carp hooks - but I keep coming back to these. Owner is quality. Each hook in the pack is perfect. They're sharp, strong and I'm sure the red colour helps as a strike trigger - good for a hook.

Illex Gambit Straight Jig Heads

I love the Illex brand but don't see too much of it here in Britain. The Gambit Straight jigheads are an oddity - unique from my perspective. The spike, featuring a barb, holds the lure in place while a hook with a shallow gape stands proud. Definitely not suitable for weedless situations but otherwise you can be sure of ultimate hook rates. I particularly like the tiny versions. I've found they are great with 1-inch paddle worms for small Perch and other baby predators.

Garbolino Magister Micro Lure Rod

I bought my first dedicated LRF rod at the Nantes show. It was early days and despite the draw of many super sexy sticks I went budget. The decision was made easier by the superb action the rod had. It is steely. Not something I ever expected from a rod with a 1-7g rating! I've since learnt that this is the way the French build their rods. The Japanese equivalents have slightly more flex. Pros and cons to both, but for me, it's been perfect. Guides are small and light, leaving the crisp action intact. The fittings are decent for a budget rod. I particularly like the hook clip that also doubles as a dropshot weight holder - a nice touch that I'd miss on other rods. The price? Sub £60!

These lure rods look fantastic in pearlescent white and while they were instantly reminiscent of a whole batch of modern spinning rods coming out of France and Japan, when I looked at the price tag I was pleased (read shocked) to see the recommended retail price was between £69.99 & £79.99. I know we won't do the look of these rods justice here online, but at that price point they will fly in the shops I'm sure. Set to be hugely popular on looks alone.

There are 5 rods in the range to cover shore and boat fishing with lures. One neat feature was the addition of separate ratings for vertical jigging on three of the rods. It shows that Savage Gear have really thought each rods use.

The Savage Gear Salt spinning rods range from 7ft 2 inch to 9ft 2 inch which will cover the most popular styles of lure fishing.

• Savage Gear Salt 7ft 2 inch | 8-30g | 45g vertical jigging
• Savage Gear Salt 7ft 4 inch | 10-45g | 75g vertical jigging
• Savage Gear Salt 7ft 4 inch | 15-65g | 150g vertical jigging
• Savage Gear Salt 8ft 6 inch | 25-80g
• Savage Gear Salt 9ft 2 inch | 15-42g

All 2-piece.

Savage Gear Salt Spinning Rod

My personal favourite rod in the range was the 15-65g. This would be a lovely bass rod in the boat for plugs, soft plastics and jigs. Would be nice to see how these perform out on the water.

So at the price point discussed you may be thinking these rods would have inferior fittings - wrong! All Salt rods feature quality ALPS reel seats and guides. While some of you may not have heard of ALPS before, don't fear, there 'are' great alternatives to Fuji - we're just a bit brain washed here in the UK. I noted that the rings toward the tip were particularly well sized as well. Following the current trend for low-profile guides these rods look smart!

Very much looking forward to getting my hands on the Savage Gear Salt Spinning Rods again soon.

The following voucher code gives Free Delivery on all UK orders over £30 from Fishtec until the 11th November 2011.

Great timing considering a new season is nearly upon us - a little extra off any fishing tackle or clothing perhaps?

Fishtec now offer fishing tackle across all types of angling including; Coarse, Match, Fly, Carp, Predator & Sea Fishing.

To obtain your Free Delivery simply click the following link - Fishtec Discount Code - and enter this voucher code at Checkout : 23958

Ian Russell demonstrated the Avid Carp Couch and I have to admit, as far as fish care goes, this is 5-star. Some will consider the Carp Couch as a little over the top as an unhooking mat, but this level of sophistication isn't bulky with the design that has been developed here. The whole thing folds away to a manageable size without compromising on fish comfort or strength. While at first glance it shares some elements with the cheap folding chairs that are everywhere this year, the materials in the finished product are much better. In testing, the Carp Couch safely cradled carp of up to 70lb! It's a great product with a catchy name - we can see these catching on. Comes complete with a canvas bag.

Ian Russell demonstrates the Avid Carp Couch

Next up is the Avid Carp Retaining Sling. Again, this product is all about quality and nice design features to make your life easier. Designed to be the ultimate in short term fish retention, the Retention Sling features a full foam top for buoyancy and closes completely shut. Avid have used a super soft mesh that's kind to your catch while allowing water to flow freely through the sling. There's also a more substantial material used on the base of the sling to protect the fish. Perhaps the neatest feature is the magnetic closure between the two top floats. The magnets used give just the right amount of closure to temporarily seal the sack for weighing purposes, etc. It felt really good when we tried it at the show. The Avid Carp Retaining Sling measures 130cm by 70cm.

Avid Carp Retaining Sling

Price on the Carp Couch is around £90 and £45 for the Retaining Sling.

'Fish Guangzhou' has been successfully held twice with the support of famous Chinese brands like American Eagle Claw, Etuoh, ANATEC, etc. Fish Guangzhou 2011 attracted 127 companies across 10,000 square metres of exhibition area with a total of 367 booths. The number of exhibitors increased by 1.4 times over Fish Guangzhou 2010. The mission of Fish Guangzhou is to afford an international platform for domestic and overseas enterprises to communicate and cooperate, thereby promoting development of fishing tackle industry worldwide.

The International Casting Sport Federation (ICSF) will attend this show for the second time as the co-organizer, and they will hold the 2nd China International Casting Sports Championships on-site, which will takes up 200 square metres itself. They will demonstrate to the public a new event; Fly Accuracy (fly-fishing). All members of the International Casting Sport Organisations and guests are welcome to participate.

Concurrent activities:
1. The 2nd Global Lure Cultural Festival 2012
2. The 2nd China International Casting Sports Championships
3. The Top 10 Brands Selection 2012

For more information visit www.guangzhoufish.com

Last year we announced the launch of the HQ bivvy, and after the successful launch of the HQ Euro, we now have the choice of the new Avid Carp HQ 2-man bivvy. Featuring the same top-drawer materials and components as its predecessors and a wealth of innovations, this new configuration of the HQ bivvy is likely to be popular with anglers looking for more room and longer sessions.

New Avid Carp HQ 2-man Bivvy

In addition to the two-man HQ bivvy, Avid Carp have announced the launch of two shelters - the Alpine and the Ascent. The Avid Carp Alpine Shelter is a 60-inch brolly system featuring an array of innovations, as you might expect. Perhaps the biggest stand-out feature are the built in stability rods. Once swung out, these rods create a shelter that is completely free standing without the need for additional storm poles. There's a heavy duty groundsheet included as well as pegs and while you may feel you may as well go the whole hog and purchase a bivvy, this set up is much lighter. In fact, a big part of the design of these new brollies/shelters was the sourcing of the highly durable but lightweight material used. The Dura Stop ripstop material is an industry first on a brolly.

New Avid Carp Alpine Brolly

The Avid Carp Ascent is based on the same 60-inch oval brolly but comes with full, zip-in front panels and doors. Some of the features include mosquito panels on the openings and a rear vent for increased airflow. The same Dura Stop fabric is used to keep weight to an absolute minimum.

Recommended Retail Price on the Alpine is £169.99, whilst the Ascent is recommended to sell at £269.99. Expect to pay less if you shop around.

Peter Koppman of Marukyu

Peter was kind enough to take me through the ethos behind Marukyu, the positioning of the Ecogear and Nories sub-brands and a little insight into how angling is progressing in Japanese and Australian markets.

I consider Marukyu as chemists and scientists. Their products are pure science. Without getting too over dramatic, I truly believe the real life benefits a company like them can bring to angling. This is 21st century fishing. With their tried and tested scientific methods producing synthetic baits, literally better than the real thing, the fish don't really stand a chance. And as the fish become accustomed to these baits, Marukyu has the ability to evolve and adapt, meaning there will always be something new that fish find naturally irresistible.

It's no wonder Marukyu is making such a good name for itself in a reasonably short space of time. After all, Japan probably has one of the most pressured fisheries in the world.

There's another very interesting principal in the Marukyu ethos and this is very visible in the Ecogear and Nories ranges. That is, the notion that every sport fish species deserves its own lures; tactics; bait. As Peter guided me through the walls of lures on display it became apparent that in Japan, this is the way anglers fish. Species specific angling is the norm, and while in the UK we obviously have Bass anglers, Pike anglers and the like, the Japanese take this to another level, with some anglers specifically targeting fish like Scorpion Fish and Chinu (Black Bream). I'm not saying that every UK angler now needs a complete new set up for every fish in the sea/river, but I find it interesting that anglers in other parts of the world take pleasure in targetting specific species - and not just trophy fish. It's a 'game' to them. Game? Sport? There isn't really any difference. It's fun to those involved.

Also, I can understand the logic that when you adapt your technique and fishing tackle to a certain species that you increase your catch rate for that species. This is Formula 1 mentality. A species specific hook might increase your hook up ratio by 10%. A rod to detect a specific type of bite 5%. A lure 12%. You get the picture. Without getting too philisophical, in life, whenever we aren't specific, we compromise. And whenever we compromise, ultimate performance and results suffer. Marukyu, Nories and Ecogear are without compromise. (That's not out the catalogue by the way, I can actually see the real life benefits here). I'd like to clarify that I don't think what we're talking about here is necessarily about competition angling (it probably is in some Australian and US circles - think Bream (Brim) and Bass Tournaments). It's a game. A video gamer doesn't necessarily require a human competitor to have fun.

How far is this being pushed in Japan? Well, Peter showed me an Octopus-specific lure from the Japanese catalogue. That's a first for me.

So to explain the different brands. Marukyu is a the parent company, a bait manufacturer, and perhaps the most well known brand in the UK, due to their inroads into carp and coarse bait markets over the past 12 months. Nories is the premium lure brand. The majority of the lures are hardbaits and the range of products encompass rods and accessories too. Ecogear is predominantly a softbait brand although there are quite a few hardbaits and jigs in the range also.

Ecogear was one of the first lure manufacturers to make saltwater specific lures. Peter explained to me that this specification comes mainly down to colour overseas. An identically sized/shaped lure in Watermelon maybe considered a freshwater bass bait, while in black and red fleck is a saltwater bait - and anglers get this. It's a fashion of sorts, I suppose.

Marukyu Power Isome

As an interesting sideline, if you're aware of the amazing Power Isome artificial worm range of baits - which many, including myself consider 'lures'. They actually sit squarely under the Marukyu brand. Not that it matters to our fishing, but does this mean this is actually a bait - more flavour, than action? Apparently, in Japan, Marukyu manufacture a frozen variation of Power Isome, exhibiting even more suppleness and favour dispersal properties. I'm guessing it has to be frozen to prevent it from degrading - surely a bait? None of this matters. They are tremendous fish catchers. If you haven't tried them, you should. And as a bit of heads up, some very good carp anglers have now started to look seriously at Power Isome as a highly viable option ;0)

Special Trout Hardbait for French Market

In lure fishing, it's currently starting to feel like lure sizes are creeping down at the cutting-edge end of the sport. I don't really know whether this is being driven by the angler's requirements or increased choice from the manufacturers. Regardless, from what I've read, the results are good across a number of lure disciplines and species. I learnt something interesting from Peter. Small lures are harder, and consequently more expensive to manufacture. It sounds like the main reason is that a smaller hardbait requires more attention to tune, before being boxed and made available to the customer. If you've ever seen 'individually tank tested' on a lure packet and dismissed it, it's actually a very important feature of any hard lure. Especially for the uninitiated angler that doesn't know how to tune a lure straight themselves. Reading between the lines, this is probably why the largest lure manufacturers like Rapala don't sell a wide range of smaller, finesse lures. It makes Rapala's launch of their new Ultralight lures more poingant for me. Certainly a nice niche to target in a sector growing in popularity. It also goes some way to explain the sometimes higher costs of these smaller lures. It's changed my perception of value certainly.

Clearly, being a self confessed tackle geek and someone with a recently re-ignited lure obsession, after 20 minutes with Peter my mind is racing. I'm thinking, what does this mean to the sport in the UK? What does this mean to my angling?

New Ecogear Aqua Bream Prawn from Oz

Well, I have my suspicions on one thing. If the growth in UK lure fishing continues at a good pace, we might start to be recognised as a valuable market for exciting brands like Nories and Ecogear. And once we've got that attention we might expect to have UK-specific products made for us. I think it's likely. It's what we're seeing from Marukyu in the massive UK carp market with highly innovative new baits. Australia already has Bream specific lures designed for them, like the Ecogear Aqua Bream Prawn - winner of Best Soft Lure at AFTA this year (the main Australian tackle show). The question left in my mind is what species would they focus on? Our saltwater Bass stands out. As does Pike. But traditionally, UK anglers match fairly large sized lures to these species. That isn't really what Nories and Ecogear do (although there are exceptions to the rule). Perhaps we'll see something for Perch. Perhaps we'll see lures for the other, more forgotten about species - I'd love that. The answers will depend on how the UK market develops from here.

Exciting times.

Thanks again to Peter and Marukyu for their valuable time.

You can follow Peter Koppman on Facebook HERE

The UK Marukyu website is available HERE

The excellent Ecogear, Nories and Power Isome are available from Art Of Fishing HERE