Three top UK anglers reveal their favourite mixes covering commercial and natural stillwaters, and fishing for barbel on rivers. Alex Bones Alex Bones, Dynamite BaitsWithout a doubt, the best type of mix to use when targeting commercials is a crushed pellet/fishmeal-based groundbait.On waters where they’re allowed, you’ll usually find that pellets are the number one […]

Short hook links are traditionally fished as part of a semi-fixed set-up, and that normally means The Method. But what if the venue you want to fish has banned the tactic? Well, there’s always an inline groundbait feeder. The inline feeder has some advantages over a normal feeder in that the reel line passes along […]

Plastics And Jellies It’s a modern world, so we’d better look at a selection of new-world lures, including lead-loaded rubber imitations and soft plastic grubs. Storm Thundercore SquirterThis little beauty has been described as “brilliant” by tcf editor Gareth Purnell. Its downward pointing vein tells you immediately that it’s for shallow water work. It has a thin […]

Shallow And Deep Divers A look at some of the bright and beautiful plugs you can buy, and what they will do to catch you more fish. tcf Top TipA floating plug with a long, straight vein is a deep divers when retrieved, whereas a plug with a downward pointing vein will be a shallow […]

Spoons And Spinners Here’s tcf’s guide to the various pieces of metalwork on the market designed to catch more fish. Blade SpinnersThese have a metal blade that revolves around a central shaft, creating a flash of colour and a fish-attracting vibration that can be felt right through the rod as it is retrieved. The shaft […]

Surface SizzlersSeven styles of top-water lure to help you enjoy some explosive predator action. CrawlerPictured is the Heddon Crazy Crawler, an all-time American classic, with a red head and flexible front fins that create havoc, throwing water all over the place as the lure effectively swims (or crawls) across the surface. One of the easiest […]

What’s The Best Type Of Lure For Perch?To tackle shallow water venues a small spinner is ideal. There are many makes on the market, such as the Mepps patterns and the Rapala Blue Fox Vibrax lures, that can be fished up to depths of four feet. Perch are inquisitive creatures and will react to the […]

Unless you are single you are getting to get some serious earache if you prepare hemp in the kitchen due to the almighty smell it makes – and it lasts for ages. Fear not, the tcf team is here with two alternatives ways of getting your hemp ready that won’t result in your suitcase being on […]

How To Hook Hemp The tcf team bring your three great ways to hook hempseed for the silver fish anglers out there… In The ShellThis is the simplest, and quickest, way to hook a grain of hemp, but you must choose a grain that can only be opened by squeezing the grain. Don’t expect to […]

How To Make Liquidised Hemp Feeding liquidised hemp can be very effective when roach, in particular, are your target on clear canals, rivers, stillwaters and drains. You’ll need some cooked hemp and a liquidiser. Step 1Don’t fill the liquidiser more than about a third full with the hemp, as it can clog things up. Give […]

Fitting your bung and elastic Obviously you are going to have to fit the correct elastic for the style of fishing you intend to do – refer to the panel below to give you a general guide.In this piece we are fitting the green Preston Innovations Hollo elastic – which involves using about a No12 […]