We thought it would be useful to post the top 4 purchases of fishing tackle, that fishing fools have bought, that has had the biggest impact on getting fish landed on the bank safely so far in 2012...  We've had to think long and hard about this, as there are so many things we've bought recently...but we've managed to thin this down, please read on to see the list

Fishing fools recently purchased an updated sleeping bag, to replace the currently "very" used one from Night fishing sessions.  We opted to go for the middle price bracket, and plumbed for the no frills TF Gear Force 8 Sleeping Bag.  The bag has now been used for a few seasons, so we thought a quick review was in order.  General quality of the bag seems very good, the fleece lining is very practical, and the bag comes complete with top, middle, and bottom Straps and pockets to secure to your bed chair, or inflatable mattress.  It's certainly big enough to get in with all your fishing clothes on, and still have plenty of room to move around As for Warmth, they are plenty thick enough for temperatures above 5-10 C, however if you are a hardened Night fisher out in Sub Zero Temperatures, your probably going to want something a bit thicker.  The Crash zips so far have been really good! and aren't suffering from the annoying getting stuck in material as you get out, issue...  Overall, for the price, Fishing Fools are able to give the big thumbs up to this product, it's ideal for the occasional overnight season in the warmer weather.

Fishing Fools have been spending some time fly fishing on some local lakes during the cold months of January - We've always planned to take the trout we've caught home, and get it smoked... but it's always been such a fuss to organise, and it's really costly to get it right with equipment at home...and at the end of the day is a lot of faff Luckily while we were at Morehen Trout Fishery, we got talking to one of the other fishermen, and he recommended a local Smokery, West Meon Smokery, just down the road...  We were greeted by a really friendly and knowledgeable gent, who allowed us to taste the different smoked fish he does, both Cold Smoked, and Hot Smoked before picking how we wanted our Trout done...The chap takes your fish as caught, guts it' prepares it, smokes it, and then freezes it ready for your collection.  We decided to have the fish cold smoked, 4-5 weeks in a custom smoking house...All I can say is WOW, the flavour and smokiness was out of this world, compared to the stuff you can get from your local supermarket.

Definitely a big thumbs up from Fishing Fools, and certainly a smokery we will be using again in the future.

In our never ending search for new places to fish, we've come across a new still water Fly Fishing venue in the heart of the Southern Hampshire Countryside - Meon Springs, is located between Winchester and Petersfield and offers tuition for beginners like Fishing Fools, Tackle shop on site and a Fish Credit system for those sessions when you just can't catch - Find out more details in the Fishing Venues section, along with contact details

The CLA game fair week is finally here, and this year it will be at Blenheim Palace, running from Friday 22nd July 2011 till the Sunday 24th July 2011.  For those of you who've never been before, this is one of the highlight shows in the Fishing / Shooting / Farming and Countryside Calendar... Well Fishing Fools enjoy it anyway   This year, they have Fishing Village, with Fly casting leasons, events, and tackle to purchase... can't wait - The surroundings are stunning with Blenheim Palace providing a superb backdrop - tickets are available at the gate, but if your planning to go on the weekend, make sure you leave home early as the traffic can be a nightmare !  More info on what is at the show is available on the CLA Game fair website.

After having allot of enjoyment fishing on the rivers, the time had come to upgrade the unwieldy 13foot float rod, to something a bit more friendly and all round for use.

 

As a new comer to fishing, I was looking for a rod that offered good versatility while not breaking the bank.  After much reading, googling and comments on the Fishing Fools site, the decision was made to go with the Shimano Vengeance Barbel rod with 1.5lb Test Curve - at just under £80 this certainly wasn't the cheapest rod  but read on to see the complete review.

With a few successful fly fishing trips under our belts at some idyllic Hampshire trout lakes, I thought a quick post about a little gem of a book we've picked up, that we think is an asset to the tackle box.  As you know we are complete novices here at fishing fools to fly fishing, the whole process of picking which Bobbie, Peacock, Buzzer should be used seemed liked a dark art, and was certainly a long way from the size 16 hook and maggot used on most course lakes  

We are no experts in what bait trout are feeding on at different times of the year, but with the aid of a little pocket book called "Pocket Guide to Matching the Hatch" by Peter Lapsley and Cyril Bennett, we have certainly started to try and have the right fly for the season .  We like this book as it's very concise on what bait to use, nothing complicated and some good clear pictures - It's ordered by Month, and venue (lake or river) - All you do is select the month your fishing in, and the book suggests what Lava, Fly's and other temptations the trout are likely to be feeding on and then matches these to fly types.  It's then up to you to select the colour, weight and embellishments - but for novices like us, it really helps and being under £10 won't break the bank either.

 

I recently managed to find time for a night fish on a lake. I' no expert in night fishing for Carp or anything else but I always enjoy those late night beeps and the feel that you have not slept for weeks.   After much research I found that braided line was not allowed on the waters I was going to fish.  This left me with Mono, I did some further research and found that mono doesn't always give you the best presentation.  Further research pointed me to something called Flurocarbon    

This type of line according to the scientists is almost invisible under water and also has the the benefit that it sinks to the bottom.  I decide to buy some of this line which was not all that cheap.  when buying the main line I also found IQ Fluorocarbon which is a softer version which helps make better presentation of the bait on the hook link.

There are many different baits for fishing and its never easy to decide what bait to take with you. One fishing day I arrived at the tackle shop and was thinking what bait to purchase.  I had planned to use maggot and look for any type of fish. Whilst talking top the guys in the shop the discussion of works came up.   I had never looked in to using worms and was a bit sceptical. 

As I was fishing a river I decided to go for lob worms,  a tub of 10 to be exact.  When arrive to the river and getting setup I was ready to open the tub which contain some soil and the worms. After getting one of these little mingers out of the tub I then placed the whole worm on my hook the worm then wriggled and came of the hook. I picked the it up and noticed it had split into two worms. With one of them I pushed it back on the hook and moved it further up the hook shank.

What did you do on Friday 29th April 2011 ? Royal Wedding D-Day  We here at Fishing Fools took the very hard decision to brave the elements and set out on a fishing trip for the day.  The venue of choice was a 10 Acre lake with access for Members of the Ringwood District Angling association just outside Ringwood.  This lake is a Fishing Fools favourite, as it's of the beaten track, and offers a nice relaxed days course fishing...on arrival, it was apparent that many other brave soles had decided to venture to the lake, with their being only a few swims left and standing room only !  We ended up with a small swim located round by some tents ! it seems the farmer who own's the field also let some "party" goers setup for the celebration.  Not to be out done, we setup the Korum day shelter, and popped a union jack on top to celebrate the occasion.