What’s been happening in January?

Welcome to the first monthly social media roundup of what’s been going on in the world of Rigged and Ready. As you all know, in the colder months fishing tends to slow down. The fish become more docile, feed less and are generally less inclined to take a lure or fly. In addition, shorter days mean smaller fishing windows and bad weather can call it off altogether. Albeit a more challenging time of year, many anglers have been finding great success on our rods and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing the highlights with our followers on Instagram

One of the biggest differences in January fishing is that many pike anglers’ dead-bait rather than lure fish. This stunning pike (left) was caught by George Lamb from the YouTube channel ‘Adventure Fishing UK’. He caught it on our smuggler max, the most popular travel rod we sell for dead-baiting. It’s unusual for the Lancaster canal to produce such a pristine fish, and this was one of three caught on the day.

This rod is often used in saltwater as well as fresh and has risen to the occasion multiple times for (@welshwildtroutfishing) on his pursuit of winter bass! Although this travel rod isn’t a beach caster and can’t throw a 12-ounce weight 200 yards out to sea, it’s more than enough for most of the everyday angler’s saltwater needs! The bass is a very desirable and formidable opponent for those that try to catch them, and it’s fantastic to see anglers having success during this less  productive time of the year.

These short, wet and cold days leave us longing for our next trip abroad. Nothing sounds more appealing now than being sat on a beach in Mexico pulling out fish after fish (left) like customer Dave Morrell! “Great fishing rod for the travelling angler, definitely recommend it” is what he had to say about the smuggler max. Being compact enough to comfortably fit into pretty much any suitcase is something a lot of sea rods cannot claim and trying to get a beach rod through airport security is extra stress no one needs!

 It’s safe to say winter is a season for the smuggler max,, and we’ve seen more people than ever using them on canals, beaches, piers and lakes. When the casual carp anglers come out of hibernation, we’re sure we will see the full extent of its summer capabilities too! This rod was designed with everything in mind: carp, sea, pike, extra heavy lures and more. But what about our other rods? While many of us wait eagerly anticipating the start of wild trout season in the UK, some take to the stocked lakes and target rainbow trout.

Martin Grove (right) from vildmark.co.uk has been making good use of his Tenkara fly rod. The origins of this style of fly fishing can be traced back over 400 years and is an effective way of targeting small mountain streams. However, it appears to be just as comfortable catching stocked rainbows on large still-waters! This method of fishing uses no fly reel, just a long telescopic pole, line, leader and fly! Very simple, yet very unusual and you would be forgiven for never having even heard of it! We saw this concept being used in America and decided to develop a cost-effective rod for the UK market. You can pick one up today on our website at a reduced rate of just £39.99!

Now for the lure anglers amongst you, let’s take a look at how some of our lure-focused rods have been doing. If you keep up to date with our social media, you will likely have seen the explosion in popularity for our ultralight telescopic Fish rig 180 over the summer. Many anglers have found this rod to be ideal for perch, and as the perch fishing slows in winter, we are seeing some more unusual applications of the rod.  Harry Crossley from Bang Average Fishing managed this cracking chub in January. A very impressive lure caught specimen; it must’ve put up a great fight on such light tackle. We aren’t quite sure if he’s copying the fish’s facial expression, or if the fish is copying his.

The Fish rig max is the larger version of this telescopic rod and is a favourite of urban angler Roman Jaycee (right). As he spends a lot of time in France, he’s fortunate enough to be able to regularly target the French Black Bass. A freshwater fish we don’t have the luxury of catching in the UK! Roman can be found on Instagram @romanjaycee82 and his page boasts many urban London pike – many of which are caught on rigged and ready travel rods.

Thank you for reading our first monthly social media roundup, and we look forward to bringing you some great fish in February! Make sure you tag us in your posts online or send them via email and you may even make it into the next one