LATEST ADDITIONS

Big-carp expert and Solar team member Alijn Danau has landed an incredible 50 carp in excess of 44lb (20kg) in just 12 months. Eighteen of these were landed from local waters in the Belgian-based angling writer’s home country, with the remaining 32 carp in excess of 44lb being landed from other countries. The bulk of the fish were caught using Solar Tackle’s Seafood Take-Away and new Chilli Club boilies, with the 50th huge carp coming in the last minute of his final session of 2014! Alijn Danau explains:“It was never my aim to catch 50 fish over 44lb (20kg) in a year, but when I found myself landing number 47 in November, I was encouraged by friends to try and go for the ‘big 50’ and I thought, ‘well why not?’ “I still had a winter trip scheduled on Rainbow Lake in front of me, so it looked to be achievable, although not easy. Incredibly, on the second day of the six-day December session I caught two, one of 20.

TC Reader Matthew Rynor says: I recently received the Dwarf rods for my 13th birthday present and decided to send my review in to Total Carp. Due to my small size I find 12ft rods a bit of a handful, so the Dwarfs are great. I have fished up to 50 yards with a baited rig, as they lend themselves much better to the small waters I fish. I couple them with small Baitrunner reels, making the setup lightweight.

Following the success of the Tournos reel range, namely the 8000 and smaller 6000fs Black, Sonik has added to it with the Tournos 10000. Similar in design to the 8000, it has been beefed up to cope with longer-range fishing and an angled spool lip and improved line lay will reduce friction, improving overall distance. The sturdy body and insides make the reel feel built to last. Neat touches like the twin line clips allow you to clip up to multiple spots.

Designed for speed and convenience, this new-style unhooking mat is extremely lightweight, transportable, fish-friendly and provides safety for the carp. Featuring a concertina mechanism, the Commander can be erected in seconds from a miniscule 53 centimetres wide by nine centimetres deep to a more than accommodating 115 by 55 centimetres. With a 4cm-thick padded mattress this is a safe and comfortable unhooking mat with a minimal weight of 2. 1kg.