So when I saw the new range of Meiho boxes from Ultimate Fishing I knew I had to "test" a few. There is nothing worse than tangled/unorganised lures, I have been guilty of this in the past and it does nothing but hinder your quality time out fishing. Tangled lures take time to sort out, and also damage each other, rubbing and scratching the paintwork and bluntening the hooks.

Starting with the smallest of the boxes I know my small selection of Tetras and micro hard lures will be perfect for it.

This palm sized box has removable dividers, so any awkward shaped lures or bits can find their way in snuggly.

Here I have put some of the lures I mentioned, the Duo Tetra Works Ikkako and Ebikko, and the Tackle House Nebura Deka and Elfin fit perfect in there.

These little lures are worth a blog article on their own, they are outstanding and look so life like when twitched about harbour walls and shallow coastline.

The Duo Realis Meiho box has five sections, these dividers are not removable so this box will keep the lures and bits completely seperate at all times. The hinges and latches on all these Meiho products are of the best Japanese quality, these boxes are the original boxes that many companies try to mimic but rarely compete with for quality.

Its perfect for small lures like these Megabass Griffons, small and chunky Perch lures. The measurements are 138mm x 78mm x 30mm. You could use the Realis box for clips and swivels if you desired as the solid dividers will not allow anything to slide underneath.

The Meiho Mini Duo boxes are perfect for small hard lures, again the dividers are removable so storing awkward shaped lures and bits and peices is easy. The see through colours (Orange/Green) are handy to see through to check out whats in each box without opening them. Small hard lures such as the Duo Tide Minnow 75's and the Duo Bay RUF Vibe SV70's fit perfectly in this box.

I have been using the Meiho trays for about a year now for storing my soft lures, this makes things a lot easier when out fishing. Instead of fumbling around in bags getting one softy out and then a jighead, I find it better to have a selection in a tray ready to use. I have done this after watching Callum changing his softies so quickly, just flipping from one to another with different jigheads or sized softies.

The sections are removable so once again you could use this for anything really, even a spool of mono will fit in there with a pair of small braid scissors.

The little pocket size Meiho PA10SS is the best bits box on the market. Its "no latch" sprung loaded hinges means the box closes on its own hinge, nothing to snap off or be fiddly when you have a swivel or clip in your other hand. As with all meiho products these little bits boxes are top quality, they are often copied but many of the copys are rough and can fall apart in no time at all. Keeping your clips and swivels in one of these helps you get to them without all the hassle of rooting around in the bottom of your bag.

The Water Guard series is designed for the angler that gets wet. These boxes are ideal for keeping your valuables dry and with the box being air-tight it will also float.

With removable sections you can once again utilise these boxes for what ever need you have. Reading glasses or sun glasses will be perfectly protected whilst out on a kayak or on the boat.

Then you have the bigger Water Guard box in the #800 size.

Ideal for the bigger bits you need to protect from the water such as your wallet, car keys and mobile.

 The Water Guard boxes have a lid keeper on one of the corners, very handy for kayakers etc that are worried the lid may slip off into the briney.

There is of course a technique to it, but that is a whole blog entry on its own so I am just explaining today about the rigging of them. We have all seen soft shads in our tackle shops for decades, pre-rigged ones like the Storm shads have caught many fish over the years but as always these styles of fishing are improved and honed to perfection. The thing with pre-rigged softies are they are great if that is the size hook you want and also the right weight. With un-rigged softies you decide the hook and weight to match the situation.
 

I have noticed recently that French anglers are rigging there shads slightly different to normal, and it intrigued me as to why. I first saw this in the summer when a French guy came in my shop and gave me a couple of softies to try. He handed them over and pointed out the head was pointing more downwards than normal. I asked why, and he said he had heard it gave you less lost fish, as in - the fish stayed on the hook for the whole fight. This made sense to me as more of the hook is showing therefore the fish will sit right in the bend of the hook and be less hindered by the softie.
 

I then started seeing this rigging method in French magazines, and once you start noticing it you see all the top players that are continuously in the mags with big fish all are doing it this way. It got me thinking more....I think there is more to it than just losing fish. I have come up with the idea that it also changes the angle the shad body swims at. If you imagine the way a shad and jighead swim when you retrieve them, the whole thing can swim at a bit if an angle. The angle that you are pulling the jighead from means the shad will swim slightly head down, therefore making the shad body slightly angled up. If you rig the body to the head like the French guys have been doing I think the body will definitely swim straighter.

I just mentioned this to Callum and he came up with another good reason. He brought up the fact that with the head at an angle to the body it will create a wobble in the lure, making the lure roll from side to side. This is of course a brilliant reason for the head to face downwards too. A rolling action on all lures seems to generate more fish, so for this reason and the others it seems like this is the only way I will be rigging my shads from now on.

Some of the shad bodies available have got a hollow chamber ready for a glass rattle to be put in. If your shad body doesn't have this then you can create a cavity with a heated up bit of wire or even a bent tine of a fork. A rattle does seem to make the difference somedays, I am not good enough to know the reasons but I have witnessed a rattle being added and fish were caught straight away.

So to show what I mean I have taken a few photos. Here are a few Madness Mad Shads and Xorus  Ultiheads. These are 130mm bodies and 50g heads. There is no need to glue them if you get it right, the concave end on the shad fits the rounded back of the jighead perfectly.

 As I said earlier, if you rig the shad too straight with the jighead the head and body may seem nice and straight, but the angle of the hook is all wrong.

Even if you angle it down a little bit it looks better but it still isn't enough.

See how it looks ok but you can't see the whole bend of the hook? Just a little more of an angle and it would be perfect

 In the picture below you can see just a millimeter or two more of an angle and the bend of the hook is shown.

Look how it still manages to hug the jig head fine, no glue needed......

......and the hooks bend is fully exposed, meaning better hook hold of fish.

They look amazing, and will indeed rattle and roll.

After discovering my love for all things BIG it dawned on me that I had to step it up a gear, as my usual set up just wasn't up to scratch.
I first started looking for a rod. I needed something well balanced around 9ft, something not too fast actioned but with enough balls to Wang out 80g+ softies to offshore reefs, at range, and still have the sensitivity that is paramount when playing around with soft lures.

As for the reel, I wanted something that could take a bit of abuse, it had to be durable to cope with the strain from using heavy lures, with a fast enough gear ratio to pick up slack line in strong winds and big swells.

I've been mainly using lures between 120mm to 170mm with jigheads of all different shapes and sizes up to 85g, you need good quality hooks that can cope with the strain from 20lb to 40lb braid, and the pressure you can apply to the hooks. Cheap jigheads may appeal to some but you get what you pay for and need a good hook that will not let you down when the pressure is on.

So what rod did I go for??
I finally got my greasy palms on the Tenryu GR Diablo Special 2.47M 20-100g. This rod is a thing of beauty, it was love at first sight, everything I wanted and more. It's a long tipped rod just like the Injection, super sensitive with loads of character.

It's nice and soft in the first two thirds and the balls start kicking in further down. It isn't going to fold on you when you're chucking some big lures out and she loads up really really well, it just pings them into the horizon. I was a little concerned about the length that's why I overlooked it so many times, but honestly It doesn't need to be any longer. Any longer and it would be uncomfortable and not much fun to use, balance is crucial when jigging lures of this weight. The French have indeed sussed out all the things that are needed in a rod for this kind of fishing, I mean everyting. The balance is right, the length is right, the eye spacing is right, even down to the enlarged tip ring to allow for big leader knots to fly through easily. In fact all the rings are a little bigger than normal, this is perfect when using thicker than normal lines. 

The Stella 5000 SW
I was lucky enough to be able try a whole load of reels on my new "GR Spesh" ,it was hard to find one that was just right, then Mick brought the 5000 SW from out the back of the shop he handed it over. Straight away I knew it was "The one", price didn't even come into it I knew no matter what reel I bought I would always have compared it to how well this reel suits the Diablo. I had to have it, they compliment each other perfectly they are so well balanced it's like they were made for each other. If you are thinking about buying the GR Diablo Special I would recommend pairing it with a reel of around 400g.
 

It has a fast retrieve 6.2:1, weighs 400g it is designed for saltwater use and is made from hi grade corrosion resistant materials.
The oversized handle is lovely, I wasn't sure at first but after fishing with it I now couldn't see myself without it.

If you have wondered where the name Badooosh comes from then have a look at what we are throwing out, lures like this one, the Mega Shad 150mm which is 65g. Imagine the sound when this thing hits the water, BADOOOSH!

Another favourite of mine, the Madshad is a big player in my new and ever growing armoury of big SP's, they have earned a permanent home in my bag. They come in a select range of sexy colours however the hot shad, and the pearl really do it for me. All colours have their place but nine times out of ten a bright one and a natural one will cover most situations.

These soft lures are filled with an iridescent flash foil, when combined with an awesome rolling action it presents a tasty looking snack no self respecting predatory fish could resist. The long roll turns into a really tight wiggle when they dive through the water.

Jigheads like the Xorus Ultihead are perfect for big shad bodies like the Mad Shad.

And a Flashmer Mega Shad on the Ulti Head too..........

So there it is, Badooshing, sounds wrong but feels sooo right.

What I started doing a couple of years ago is loading it onto another reel and then back onto the reel you want the line on, under the strain of the drag of the spare reel. This is a bit of a procedure and requires two people, so a gadget had to be made. My good friend Dave "The Monk" came up with the solution...The Double Ended Butt!!

It is simply just two old butt sections slid into each other, it means you can load  the reel on your own, and if in the middle of it the phone rings, or someone needs you, you can put it down and return to it later.

I have used this gadget at least once a day for the last year, it's a god send.

Load the braid onto the spare reel as normal, trying to squeeze the line as tightly as you can with your thumb & finger.

Join the backing on with an albright or uni to uni knot. Here I am loading PE #1.2 Sunline Cast Away and I am using 10lb Yellow Mono as backing. Try to keep the backing as thin as you dare, for general use I use 10lb or 12lb as backing, but for LRF PE braids like #0.3 - #0.6 I will use 4lb mono. This keeps the line lay as flat as possible and aslo keeps the mono to braid knot as small as possible.

Load the reel to the lip (or half a mm under) as it will pack down tighter on the second load and half a mm will become 1.5 on the final load.

Then I make a uni knot on the mono and attach it to the reel. I double the loop and will sometimes even add a half hitch or two to make sure it is tight and not slipping on the spool. This spool is completely smooth on the Stella and it grips fine if done properly.

Then out comes the gadget of the year. Dragons Den next year..... Hi my name is Mick and I am looking for ten quid for a 5% equity in my Double Utility Mono Braid Advanced Spooling Station, Or D.U.M.B.A.S.S  for short!!

Make sure the line roller of the reel with the line on is at the top of the rotar (closest to the handle). If it is not, the reel will wobble frantically anyway so you will soon realise you need to move it.

Start loading the reel with a slow and steady retrieve. Adjust the drag so it is under pressure but not stupdily hard work. You should be able to still reel the line on fairly easily and not need to stop more than once for a rest whilst loading it. Do not be tempted to reel like mad to get the job done quickly, as this can burn out the drag clicker on the reel.

Keep going until you get to the braid to mono knot, just keep an eye on where it ends up, if it looks like it is sticking up or going to poke through on a big cast, then just move it to near the edge (but not right against the edge). This sounds a bit petty, and probably is, but I like it done properly.

Load the braid onto the reel and if all has gone to plan your #0.12 braid should be a mm or two below the lip, just where I like it for a wind knot/tangle free existance.

This is how I load every reel that I sell, local customers have the benifit of coming in and getting their spools loaded whenever they get some new braid.

There are of course electric reel loders available for tackle shops, and I almost bought one recently, but they are a lot of money and designed more for use with huge spools of braid. With us only having the braids we want in 100m to 150m spools (300 if you are lucky) we do need backing, so with the fact we need to work out the backing on a reel I decided the electric spooling station wasn't for me.

I personally find the "Sabot" style jighead the best for rigging Prawns, they are set at about 45 degrees and I find this makes them look the most life like and visable. When twitching through weed and cover they seem to be looking up like real Prawns do.

First of all I take out the pre-rigged hook.

Then match up the right size jighead with the lure. I am using a 10g Cormoran Stand Up jighead with a 3/0 hook here, but I have rigged them with a 1/0 and it is fine. Fish don't seem to mind the size of the 3/0 and even fish of 1lb nail it. I sometimes use a 5g and will do it if distance, and/or weather, are not an issue. The lighter you can go the better, I think when a Bass or Wrasse inhale the lure the lighter it is the more natural it is. 10g generally does not phase fish though as they hit these lures so violently.

 As with all softie rigging I lay the jighead along side the lure and work out where the hook will enter and exit. Then turning the lure over I begin to thread the hook through the lure. Try to keep the hook as central as possible, this not massively important but it all helps,

Then flip the lure over and bring the hook out through the top of the body.

Sometimes I will have cut the lead retainer off the shank of the hook, but with these Prawns I don't find it nessisary.

I then take the hook point of another jighead and make a small pilot hole where the eyelet of the jighead will come through. Push the eyelet through the Prawn and for better presentation I add a V-Snap, this keeps the lure in position and stops it riding up over the eyelet onto the line.

Because I am sure Prawns make a clicking sound when they flick their tails to escape, I add a medium sized glass rattle into the hole underneath the head where the original pre-rigged hook came out of.

I have wondered if a scent would help on these lures, but I don't think it is necessary, maybe a little experimenting one day might make the difference. So here is the lure ready for use, I have thought about colouring the Sabot lead an orange colour with a mrker pen or powder paint might look a bit like the Prawn has eggs below it, but that really is making a meal of it!

 You can of course use any jighead, but I find the stand up type and football heads the best. This is because the nature of the jighead will lift the lure up and twitch the lure with the smallest of movements. Here I am rigging the small Prawns (50mm) on a 3.5g Owner Football head.

I cut the lead retainer off the shank with a pair of side cutters, simply cut the retainer away from the head..........

..........Then cut the lead shank off along the length of the shaft of the hook.

Then like the lure before you simply work out the entry and exit points.

Thread the hook through and work out where to poke the eyelet out.

Callum was watching me rig these and suggested I didnt even need to go through the middle of the lure with this set up, so as you can see in the next picture the shank of the hook is under the lure, not through it. I add a V-Snap to secure it in place.

So last week Callum, Paul, Steve and myself went off to the Weymouth Lure Bumble. 43 members of www.thelureforum.com met for a social/fishing weekend organised by the forum administrator Mike Hayes. We headed out an hour before dawn on the saturday and arrived at our mark just as our headlights were not needed....perfect. I tried a few lures, hard and soft and wasn't happy, it just didn't feel right. Time to test the Prawns I had rigged for this Blog entry.

First cast and I felt bites from Wrasse, this woke me up and got the heart pumping and knees wobbling. Next cast, pluck, pluck.....BAM...Fish on!! A great scrap in between some boulders and bubble weed and I see my first Wrasse come up. A nice 4lb 8oz greated me, a few photos and she was slipped back.

Nicely hooked in the scissors, the fish went straight back which is nice as big Wrasse can take time to recover sometimes.

Poor Callum was half way through tying a new leader on when I hooked that first one, he had no longer walked back to his rod when on my next cast I had a fish on as soon as I started to reel in the slack after my cast. A really memorable scrap from this fish, she kited off to my left with a lot of power and for a few seconds I was hoping to see silver as it ran so well.

Up comes a bigger Wrasse!! This one hitting the 5lb mark. Nice, two clonking Wrasse in two casts.

Once again Callum walks back to his rod and the next cast once again a fish had taken the lure even before I had started to take in the slack line. Bang bang and it takes me in, Callum is pulling his hair out as he wants to get into these fish but he waits for me to get the fish out with the good old "give it slack and let it think its free then hit the bugger!" Trick works and I get the fish on the move, it feels heavy but the fight isn't great. Ahhhh, its a Wrasse of about a pound or so with about 10lb of kelp around its head. Never mind though, three Wrasse in my first 4 casts with the Prawns....sorted!! Walking around the base of those cliffs singing "Prawn to be wild" will be a lasting memory..well that and seeing fellow lure lover Andy Mason cop a big wave straight in his face, nothing like a 6am salt water power shower to wake you up, eh Andy? Bon temps.

The Flashmer Bouquets have probably been the main lure used for tearers especially in late summer/autumn when the prawns here seem to be everywhere.

Used under a float or on the end of a Carolina rig these prawns have taken so many Bass, Mackerel and Pollack it is ridiculous. Along harbour walls, reef or even on open sand, when a fish see's a prawn it is going to eat it. I would go as far to say that apart from my daughter I don't think anything in the world turns their nose up to a juicy prawn.

The 50mm one is rigged with a strongsize 4 hook and tied to a loop of 20lb braid. This of course can be taken out so you can rig it your own way.

You can see the loop of braid on the rear end, a simple loop to loop knot is perfect for attaching.

Thye 75mm version used to come with a treble hook on the head, but this year Flashmer have opted for a single. This is probably down to hearing that many anglers were changing the original for a single.

The 75mm version is pre-rigged with wire straight through. This makes it good enough for any fish, even tropical fish if you desired. Again you can un-rig the lure and mess with it any way you like.

Use these as you like, I am sure somewhere near you you have heard of Bass taking prawns, so get out and try one behind a float or as a teaser. I have seen prawns jumping out the water trying to get away from fish, so even try these in front of a surface popper, they look great.

Well I was talking to French friend of mine recently and I mentioned how good the UB-15 colour is. He instantly asked if I had tried the BKS90 in the UB-15 colour, as he and his chums have been loving life this season catching all manner of speciaes on the 90. He said fish from Bass, Sea Trout, Twaite Shad, Mackerel and the usual Scad and Pollack have given into the BKS. 

So here I am, sat in my fishing shed surrounded with every lure I have dreamed of over the last 10 years, but now there are these two beautiful looking little lures staring back at me, waiting to be used. Hopefully this weekend the weather will let Bob and I go and try them out.

The 75mm version (I have been told and will confirm this) casts amazingly for its size, as it has 3 ball bearing weight transfers.

Once again that UB-15 colour just does it for me, it has it all, the clear sides that reflect the surrounding water/light, and the greeny/brown top that becomes so life-like in the water. Dede (my French pal) tells me the lure is fantastic in "La Chase!" meaning "The hunt" to us anglais speakers, just cast into the zone, allow the lure to sink (sometimes you'll get hit on the drop so be aware), then just wind the lure back up to it's cruising depth of about 2-3ft.

It was actually the 90mm that Dede was telling me about, but I thought I should get some 75's too as I know so many anglers that like the smaller lures these days.

The BKS90 has two over sized ball bearings as weight transfers. The lure is so gorgeous looking, the shape is so slender and smooth, the bib looks slender but stronger than some others. I really cannot weight to give this lure a go, I still do get excited over a bit of plastic, its a condition I hope never leaves me.

 As I said, the bib looks better than some I see on other lures, and remember the BKS Blue Ocean lures are designed to take small tropical species, so the built and hooks are top notch and will handle our European species easily.

I am sure thes elures, eve though they are designed for sea fishing, would be awesome in fresh water for the Perch, Salmon, Zander, Trout and Pike.

That pattern on its back does indeed come to life in the water, very clever the man that put this colour together as it does cover so many situations, water conditions and light changing whilst fishing. You can see the holographic swirls that subtly run through the clear sides, this gives a life-like shimmer to the lure.

I am looking forward to giving the BKS's a go on my new Tnryu Red House, this rod and me have become very good friends in a quick period of time. Best fish so far has been a 4lb+ Bass, 3lb+ Pollack and a 3lb+ Wrasse. I need to do a blog on the Red House as it is without a doubt the most sensitive rod I have ever used, I could feel instantly if there was a thumb nail size peice of weed hanging on a treble at full distance. Anyway that is another story. I will give these lures a go next trip out and mention on here or on the Lure Forum how we got on.

Now with us all being different sizes, and there being a choice of 2 colours, we have decided it would be easiest to put the offer on the blog here, and if you are interested in the offer then either email us and let us know the size and colour of the T shirt you require, or even better would be if you could phone us on 01534 618886 and we can do the whole transaction quicker and exactly right.

The T shirts look great, and are of a good quality. Here is a drawing of them, I will get some photos on once I find a model to pose in them.

This is the front design, with the whole view of the Patchinko;

And on the back a larger picture of the head of the lure.

The other colour available is in Black, here is a drawing of that one to look at;

And the back;

We have sizes from small to XXXL available while stocks last.

Alternatively you can just buy the T shirt from us for £18.99 delivered.

The New Tackle House Feed Shallow colour UB 15 had me drooling over it when I first saw it at the Salon de Peches in Nantes last February. I have been aware for a couple of years of the benifits of clear lures on certain days, so when I saw the clear sides and the Sandeel coloured top of the UB 15, I just realised straight away that this lure is going to be deadly for Bass.

The thing with clear lures, is that they reflect their surroundings, meaning on a clear/bright day the lure will look shiney and glisten nicely, just like a Sandeel or baitfish does. And on a dull or over cast day clear lures reflect again, and the lure becomes a dull grey, just like any live fish that seems to blend in with its surroundings.

The see through brown top almost becomes green in some lights, once again very similar to what a Sandeel looks like.

The clear sides have a see through holographic wave running through them, this effect is on alot of my favourite lures and I personally prefer the wavey holographic look that the almost regimental checker-plate style of some reflective tape used on some lures. 

You can see in the pictures the actual size of the tungsten weight transfer system, the ball being held in place by a magnet at the head end and a metal plate at the tail end to take the shock of the ball hitting the back plate in the cast. I can tell without looking when my fishing partner Bob has clipped on a Feed Shallow just by the almighty "clack" as the weight transfer hits the back plate. This of course sends the lure flying accurately and alot further than a lure without the transfer system.

The copper coloured head is only going to add to the great look of this lure in the water, it is subtle and realistic and I am sure the UB 15 Tackle House Feed Shallow is going to become one of the best colours for many anglers, simply because if you are not sure which colour to choose then put the UB 15 on as it will become the perfect colour for that situation.

A Neko clip is simply a coil of wire that allows the angler to screw and lock a hook or weight against the lure. A Nekomaster clip is similar but instead of trapping the hook against the lure it allows you to place the hook outside of the lure, then allowing the lure to articulated from the hook.

Here I have some picture of standard ways to rig these clips;

Sometimes you need a soft lure to sink quickly and also to be able to keep its depth on the retrieve. Of course you could just use a jighead for this, but sometimes the jigheads you have are either the wrong weight, or wrong size/style of hook. With a Neko clip you can add weight underneath the nose of the lure (underslinging), this then allows the lure to stay true and straight when being pulled through weed and along rock edges.

Simply thread on a small weight and screw the Neko clip into the soft lure.

Lock it in place by screwing right in.

You can then use any hook that suits the situation, I do like the worm hooks available that have small barbs on the shank as it helps keep the lure in place.

Match the hook with the size lure and thread it in.

You could of course rig this with a weedless hook, this will keep the rig fairly weed free.

 You can then use a Neko Master and secure a weedless hook on the outside of the lure, this allows the lure to be used in different styles, giving it more freedom to work. The Nekorig with a Decoy Hunter Worm 14 weedless hook you can achieve set ups like this;

You can even attach the Nekorig to the nose of the lure, and by either adding an underslung weight or a nail weight into the softie you can cast a lure just like this and work it fine. These clips once screwed in are fairly safe from ripping out.

Of course there is also the Wacky rig. A wacky rig can be simply a worm type lure hooked in the middle with a jighead, the angler then wobbles the lure to make it bounce on the hook. I like to use fast sinking worms on a weedless hook like the Decoy Hunter. This method done down the side of rocks must be perfect for enticing big Wrasse and Bass, I will be tryig it this summer in some spots that I know hold fish.

Screw the Nekorig into the middle, or balancing point of the lure, them simple attach a jighead or hook.