Dan Varney and Jon Arthur recently gave the Red Range RX Carp 13m pole a thorough workout for winter carp and F1s at Tunnel Barn Farm.
Snake lakes such as Club Pool at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire are really popular in the UK as they offer great fishing, even in the more difficult colder months. Pole fishing is the perfect way to unlock these narrow venues. It enables you to fish with balanced tackle and lower a rig with pin-point accuracy into likely looking areas.
Straight out of the bag, the RX Carp is a true-length 13m pole and an exceptional package for under £400. The pole comes with three Carp Kits as standard which Dan and Jon fitted with green and yellow Carp Bungee. Yellow 10-12 Bungee is ideal for bigger carp and fishing down the edge while the softer 6-8 green Bungee is better for F1s and helps to avoid hook pulls when fishing at full range. These top kits also come fitted with the Side Pull System as standard, which helps to make subduing fish of all sizes so much easier.
To offer a nice contrast, Dan elected to fish with pellets while Jon went with his favourite maggot approach. After an early morning frost, neither expected sport to be instant, but by regularly introducing small amounts of feed with pole-mounted pots their pegs got stronger and stronger as the session unfolded.
Jon found it best to drip in a dozen live maggots and then carefully laid in a rig with two red maggots on the hook. A 0.2g AS5 pole float shotted with strung-out No11 shot proved ideal as a string of quality F1s and the occasional skimmer graced the net.
Dan went for a slightly heavier 0.3g AS5 float and fed a pinch of 12-15 soaked micro pellets every put in. Over this he presented an expander or a 4mm Yum Yums pellet. A great tip for winter is to wet your hooker pellets a little bit more before you start. Just a small dash of water is enough to make them softer, spongier and even more attractive to a shy biting fish.
Dan’s pellet attack proved marginally better on the day and also fooled a couple of very welcome bonus carp to 5lb. Jon managed one or two towards the end, too, but it wasn’t quite enough to win their ‘friendly’ head-to-head battle!
Posing for a quick catch shot it was clear to see how well the RX Carp had performed. It’s a great-value pole with lots of extras and ideal for commercial fisheries!
Learn more about the Red Range RX Carp 13m >>
Many thanks to Tunnel Barn Farm for their kind hospitality.
Venue: Tunnel Barn Farm
Location: Shrewley Common, Shrewley, Warwickshire
Postcode: CV35 7AN
Telephone: 01926 842188
Website: www.tunnelbarnfarm.co.uk
