KORDA STATE OF THE ART UNDERWATER CARP FISHING DVD PARTS 1 & 2
Presented by Danny Fairbrass
Price: Part 1 £ 19.99 for two disks, 120 minutes run time each disk
Part 2 £ 19.99 for two disks, 105 minutes run time each disk
Also available on video for the same price of £ 19.99

Although the DVDs were used for review purposes, the videos contain exactly the same footage apart from the ‘Bonus Feature’ on the DVDs.

PART 1

This is the film that broke new ground in coarse fishing, the fact that it is aimed at carp fishing in particular does not detract from what can be learned from it in regard to other species.

It shows, for the first time, how fish feed by putting a camera right in front of their noses.

The film is shot on one very small clear patch of the Carp Society’s famous Horseshoe Lake in Gloucestershire. The presenter, Danny Fairbrass, takes the viewer through a host of rigs and attempts to answer the many questions that arise as the camera sees the fish pick up, or attempt to pick up, the bait.

You’ll see a spodful of bait fall through the water and how the fish react to it. You’ll see carp, tench and small silver fish feeding, and how they react to rigs and baits. How the fish react to pop-ups is another eye-opener.

The film attempts to answer many questions that previously we could only guess at.

PART 2

Part 1 concentrated on fish activity in the swim and gave an insight into fish feeding behaviour. Part 2 continues in that vein but concentrates on the look and mechanics of modern day tackle.

The DVD follows a marker float from 80 yards out, right up to the margins, through gravel and sand. Using split-screen technology this footage is married with what Danny is doing on the bank.

Rigs are filmed from every angle right from the rig through to the rod, taking a look at and comparing four popular braided, mono and fluorocarbon lines.

Baits are picked up off the bottom in a variety of ways, using both running and fixed rigs, stretchy mono lines and non-stretch braids, the split screen showing you the effect on different types of indicator.

They look at how rigs settle on the bottom, camouflage options, rigs for weed and gravel, how weed lies on the lake bed, inline and swivel lead options.

Bonus features on the DVD include Danny showing you how to make pop-up boilies at the water’s edge.

FISHINGmagic VERDICT

This is almost unique footage in professionally made coarse fishing video films, where the angler can actually see what’s going on underwater.

And make no mistake, Danny Fairbrass is a good presenter, rather than have too many ‘silent’ gaps, as there are in many fishing videos/DVDs, Danny doesn’t have that problem; he can chat for England. Fortunately, he comes across with authority and explains in detail just what is going on in the footage, or at least his own interpretation of what’s going on.

The camera work and editing is excellent, perhaps not up to BBC standards, but considering they don’t have the resources or the manpower of the BBC, it’s probably as good as you’re going to get.

Right, so what do the DVDs tell us? What do we learn from them? Well, to start with, we have to realise that we are learning how the fish in Horseshoe Lake behaved on the days the film was shot. Other fish in other waters in different conditions may behave quite differently.

But that doesn’t mean to say that we can’t learn from the Horseshoe fish. Of course we can, but we do have to take into consideration that the Horseshoe fish, on those days, may not be typical of every fish in every water on every day.

Much of what you see is open to interpretation. In Part One we see tench repeatedly shying away from the hookbaits yet freely consuming the loose offerings. On the other hand practically every carp that sees the hookbait, gobbles it up. The obvious conclusion is that tench are a much more difficult fish to catch than carp, which may, or may not, be true. That’s something of which you’ll have to draw your own conclusions. It may have been a much different story on a different day. But in this instance, I doubt it; I reckon tench are harder to catch than carp, generally speaking.

Much more interesting, in Part Two, is seeing the differences between the different lines, mono, braid and fluoro, in actual fishing situations. How a marker float set-up behaves and how some lines lie much closer to the bottom and are less easily seen than others. And no, all is not what you may expect.

Backleads? Standard backleads, the ones you slide on the line from the rod tip, are as good as useless. Flying backleads are much more efficient.

The DVDs are full of that kind of surprise, and I recommend that every angler watch them. There’s a lot to learn. But as I say, be prepared to draw your own conclusions about many of the things you see.

One thing is for sure, these videos/DVDs will make you think long and hard about many things that previously you could only guess at. Now that you can see for yourself what is happening underwater you may have to totally reassess your previous assumptions. That alone makes watching them very worthwhile indeed.

SCORE:


RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR