Prologic Senzora 13 Bite Alarms Tested

Dear readers, 

As I wrote in my hands-on review about the Prologic Senzora 13, no final judgement can be made about an alarm system just testing it for a one session (or just in your living room). So, making a thorough test takes easily a complete season. I don't actually know how many sessions I did, but the alarms were tested in varying conditions, from 30°C to - 2°C (rain etc. included). My set of 4+1 was in use in all of the sessions, so I got a good picture how the alarms behave. To put it is short: they worked just fine.

So no fuss, no problems, and the alarms produced reliable bite detection. That's all I want of my alarm set. I think I will stick to this set for a longer time.

Lucky summer days and mornings.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Christmastime is just one of the times I usually don't think about fishing. This time I won't make an exception. Have a good time, all of you, and take care of the ones close to you!

I didn't send any x-mas cards this year. I targeted the card money to a project that restores spawning areas for trout.

Morning mist on a Finnish lake. Also you can find my current setup in the picture (PL Fastwater 9'6", Okuma Trio BF 55, Prologic Senzora 13 bite alarms+snag bars, Prologic Hangers and Prologic Tripod). 

The Learning Curve - And The Happiness of Not Learning a ****!

Hi all. It's been a while since my last blog entry. Nonetheless, the season is over here and it's time for some reflection on my doings.

When I started carping, I got off to a flying start. I think in no less than 15 minutes I had hooked my first carp. It was more than easy, as were my following catches. I hardly knew the meaning of word "blanking". Luckily, years have taught me better.

In every form of fishing, you get better by doing it more and more. This is true no matter if we are talking about match angling, fly fishing, etc. I remember my first time tench angling. I was struggling just to get one, and this went on for a few trips. Two years spent entirely on tench fishing on the pole taught me a trick or two. If I remember correctly, one of my last trips was when I caught 25 tench in a five hour session. The catch in total was like 40 kg+. At that point I knew tench angling quite well (at least the pole techniques). I knew if I wanted to catch tench, I would. Some part of me just loves the effort of trying to catch and learn. The way of becoming an angler. At the same time, I love the things I don't know. They truly are the reason why I return to the bank every time. Casting for the mystery.

Luckily, carp fishing has still remained quite mysterious to me. And I think I want to keep it that way. Some things are clearer to me now, and some not. I am a biologist, so the nature around me hardly has any mystical or magical essence, as from my point of view, it's just genes and evolution. Spruce = genes (and it's fenotype), birch = genes (-..-), carp = genes (-..-).

So yes, carp fishing is an action where a monkey (Homo sapiens) uses a lot of time and absurdly expensive and elaborate tackle (made of carbon, plastic and metals) just to see a fish (Cyprinus carpio). So where's the magic then? The "magic" is just a product of our own imagination and our want to make things meaningful. Life itself, possibly has no bigger meaning, so fishing might be as important as anything. From this perspective, I find carp and fish in general, as magical creatures capable of possessing my mind. It's a way better story than the monkey-version!

Yes! It's a monkey (Homo sapiens) ALMOST kissing a member of the Cyprinidae-family (Barbus barbus).

A Chance to See Me!

Hi all,

Usually I spend my time in solitude. At least that's the case when it comes to fishing. Now you have the opportunity to see me and talk about carp angling. Maybe not the best way of spending a day, but still, a way of spending time.

The place is: Raision Meri & Metsä, Tasalanaukio 1, Raisio

Time: Thursday 10.10.2013 (The shop is open from 10-18)

And below you see a picture of one of my carp catches from this year (this was from a double run)

August glory, an early morning carp.

A Double Date - It Can Get Tricky

Dear readers,

It's been a while since I last wrote. Sometimes it's quite hard to get your ideas together to write about something new or even remotely interesting. This blog has been running now for about 3 years now if I remember correctly. Sometimes it is just normal to have a small pause in writing.

I was fishing my new spot, and was happy to get a run in the middle of the night. I took my right hand rod and I played the fish closer to the net. What surprised me was that my left hand rod alarm started to go off like crazy. I thought for a second that I somehow got this fish tangled into the other line. After that one short second, I realized that I had another fish on the other rod.

So I netted the first carp quickly and took the left-hand rod and started playing the second fish. Luckily, I managed to land the carp into the same landing net, where the first carp was waiting for company :) I can honestly say that the situation was really much easier to handle with my Fastwater 9'6" rods, which are powerful, but really easy to use in tight natural swims. 

After some trickery, I managed to take photographs and release the carp back into their watery haunt. Didn't get any more runs that night. I guess sometimes the feeding periods can be very short and savage.

The smaller one of my double date.

Short Rods For Carp Fishing

Dear Readers,

I suddenly remembered that this SHOULD be a blog about carp fishing. So, here is a picture of a carp for you. This was the first time my new Prologic Fastwater 9'6" 3.5 lbs rods were out there. I love them. A lot. 

So why the short rods? In most cases, our natural lakes have only tight swims where it's almost impossible to cast properly with a 12' rod. Also, the fish are so much more fun to land with these shorter rods... Combined with Okuma Trio 55 Baitfeeder reels, my combination is really lightweight and still packs a lot of power.

A nice wild mirror carp. Wasn't held in a sack, but photographed just after the capture.

It's Not Just About The Carp...

Writing a blog about carp fishing in Finland is somewhat of a masochistic task. Most Finnish fishermen are not interested in carp or coarse fishing in general, so writing in Finnish wasn't what I wanted to do. The interested few ones are the reason for writing. Getting new anglers to adopt right fish handling techniques and ethos in carp fishing is something I am happy doing.

I have been asking myself once in a while, why should I encourage more people fishing for carp. Eventually I am just ruining my own happiness of fishing alone on these lakes. So why all the noise and hype of something that would be best kept as a secret? 

I started fishing exclusively for coarse fish because a lot of fish species are endangered and some close to extinction. For example, there WERE about 30 salmon rivers in Finnish coastline of The Baltic Sea, now the number is 2 or 3 (based on opinion). Only one of these rivers has a decent population of its genetically original salmon. The situation is really grim. The same goes with sea trout and our inland trout stocks. It is just horrible, so I decided not to take part in fishing these species until the stocks are healthy.

Why should I be a part of the horde of Finnish fishermen who think salmonids are the ultimate catch? Afterall, a lot of the salmon-related fish also end up in the fry pan after the fishing trips... My personal choice was to start fishing specimen-sized coarse fish, which ended up as a carp  madness. So when someone chuckles about my catches of "overgrown roach", I raise an eyebrow and know better. The best way of protecting salmon and trout can be diversifying the Finnish fishing culture and getting people to spend more time chasing carp rather than trout or salmon. 

And yes, now some trout-fanatic says that if no one fishes for trout, there will be no people fighting for the species survival. In my honest opinion, you can fish for coarse fish and still be a spokesman for trout and salmon. That is what I have been doing.

An unlucky salmon. I caught her with my excellent fly fishing skills (hooked from her tail). While unhooking her, we discovered she had a commercial fishing hook in her mouth... Of course we removed the commercial hook and released her.  Maybe, just maybe salmon are being fished a bit too much. 

Carp Fishing and The Small Issue of Money

Dear Readers,

Carp Fishing is not from the cheapest side of different fishing styles. To be more precise, you at least have to invest some of your hard earned money just for carp mats etc. So if you don't want to spend 100-200 euros for fish welfare, please don't start carping. Catch and Release is not a religion, it's about treating the fish right and fishing in a sustainable and ethical way.

But yes, now to the budget side of fishing... The easiest way to break this down is probably making a small list of where the money goes:

•  Carp fishing essentials (carp care) cost from 100 to 400 euros.
• Carp fishing essentials 2 (fishing tackle) cost from 400 to xxx euros. You can spend a fortune on these, but you can manage with a 30 euro reel and a 30 euro rod. My choice would be a 100 euro rod and a 100 euro reel.
• Bivvie+bedchair+sleeping bag. Cost from 250 euros.

The previous investments are the stuff that you can use year after year, and then there are the real money eaters...

Where did my money go?! Carp fishing is really good for the oil companies!

• Bait is something where you should invest some money. I normally use bait for two prebaitings and during my fishing. For a normal campaign, I usually spend about 50-75 euros for bait.
• Gasoline/Diesel... I probably would have bought my fishing kit five times with the money I have spent on fuel. One year I drove about 4000 km in the search for good fishing spots and prebaiting. It cost me about 600 euros for the gasoline alone.

The last two things are the ones you have to invest finding the lakes and the fish. And considering all the hard work and money I have put into finding suitable carp fishing spots, I find it a bit funny that people ask me where to fish for carp. Please do use the same 2000 euros and 1000 hours and ask me after that :) When you have done the same what I have done, you really understand that there is nothing to win in sharing the fishing spots.