TRAVEL ROD-CAST 4

Hello again, it’s time for our 4th instalment of the Travel Rod-cast! This month, we will be bringing you all the highlights, best pictures and best catches on our travel rods over April. This month truly feels like the start of spring; increasingly hot weather and the smell of freshly cut grass serve as a reminder that summer is just around the corner. Fortunately, it’s not just the weather that’s warming up and you’ll be able to see for yourself that April has brought more both in terms of fish size and variety than many other months so far this year!
Nothing says spring quite like a fresh run Atlantic salmon! Harry Crossley managed to catch this beauty whilst lure fishing a river in South-West Scotland. A Devonshire minnow was the lure of choice, and it was thrown by the Predator travel rod. We see more pike than anything caught on this, so it’s great to see some variety! You can watch the madness unfold on YouTube by searching ‘Bang Average Fishing’!
While on the topic of unusual catches on the Predator rod, this definitely deserves a mention! Carp aren’t even a predator (in most cases) but that hasn’t stopped Tasha Lou from catching this sizeable mirror carp on it! You can keep up with her fishing on Instagram by visiting ‘adventurechick_wales’. It’s great to see our travel unhooking mat being put to good use too, nothing is more important than taking care of the fish we catch!
For the most part, the weather this month has been getting better and better. However, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a few exceptions. Matt from the YouTube channel ‘Adventure is made’ was fortunate enough to get the “last taste of winter” while out solo wild camping in the mountains of the Lake District. Accompanied by his X5 Adventure, he fished a tarn for wild brown trout. Although he didn’t manage a fish, it’s not always about that. There’s just something so special about fishing wild and remote waters that makes the outcome of the fishing almost irrelevant. The video has over 585,000 views on YouTube at the time of writing, and it's easy to see why!
That said, it still is a great feeling to catch a fish. As per usual, Instagrammer ‘welshwildtroutfishing’ has found some great success this month. This is one fish of many, and caught on the Smuggler 6 travel rod too. Many of us anglers have a fascination with wild brown trout that can be attributed to their spectacular markings and hard-fighting reputation. However, a lot can be said for stocked trout too.
Although not as elegant as their wild counterparts, occasionally an interesting stocky makes an appearance. What you can see here is a spartic trout, a genetic cross between an Arctic Char and a Brook trout. This particular fish was caught by George Lamb who was out fly fishing a Lake District water using a Rigged and Ready prototype fly rod, which will be coming soon to the store! You can find a full video of the trip on the YouTube Channel ‘Adventure Fishing UK’.
Also on George’s YouTube channel, you can watch a recent sea fishing trip in North Wales. He fished a breakwater on Anglesey for micro-species, and this rather unusual looking Sea-scorpion made an appearance! Baited feathers was the method, and an extremely successful one at that. Coalfish and pollock were also caught, all on the Fish Rig 180 which showed real backbone for an Ultralight semi-telescopic travel rod!
Thanks for reading this month’s Travel Rod-cast, and we hope to see you again for the next one. Don’t forget to tag us in your photos on Instagram or send them in via email for a chance to feature!