May 2007 ,

J>;M?DD?D=;:=;
@
T'S a conirapiionihai Willy Wonka would
havc bccn proud of, bui you won'i find
ii on ihc shclvcs of any swcci shops. Iis
invcnior docsn'i comc from a chocolaic
faciory, nor docs hc wcar a purplc coai
and iop hai. Insicad, hc's a crcaiurc ihcy say
is half-man, half-fish - hc ccriainly ihinks likc
ihc laiicr! His namc, by ihc way' Andy Iindlay.
Andy's problcm, howcvcr, is ihai hc's always
bccn ioo nicc. Hc simply can'i rcsisi sharing
his laicsi carp-bagging innovaiions wiih
AT Advanccd rcadcrs. And ihis onc is a good
'un - ii makcs ihc Pcllci Conc and PVA bags
look so lasi ycar.
I wanicd a hookbaii for winicr and spring
ihai would siand oui. Ai ihis iimc of ycar carp
arcn'i having a propcr chcw, so hookbaiis wiih
a bii of aiiraciion around ihcm will ouifish
plain singlc oncs any day of ihc wcck. On ihc
bomb, PVA bags and ihc Pcllci Conc havc bccn
uscd io placc a small pilc of fccd around ihc
hookbaii wiih cxircmc accuracy. Howcvcr,
I'malways ihinking forwards io ncwmcihods,
cspccially during biiclcss hours on bad pcgs
on winicr commcrcials. My laicsi mcihod,
ihc Gobsioppcr, uscs groundbaii around a
hookbaii. Ii isn'i simply a casc of moulding a
mix around ii likc a Mcihod fccdcr, ihough - ii
consisis of six diffcrcni laycrs!" Andy rcvcalcd.
According io Thc Iin, ii's vcry imporiani io
choosc ihc righi hookbaii for ihc ccnirc of ihc
Gobsioppcr. Too sofi, or ihc wrong shapc, and
ihc wholc kii and caboodlc will fall apari.
I usc ihc Sonu Baiis Skinz Hookbaiis,
mosi l y i n 6mm and 8mm di amcicr,
hair-riggcdviaaKorumQuicksiop," cxplaincd
Andy.
Boilics arc also grcai, providing a sphcrical
hookbaii io hold ihc groundbaii, as arc 6mm
and 8mm hard pcllcis in ihc ncw Iin Pcrfcci
rangc. Iish somcihing you'rc confidcni wiih,
or ihc 'in' baii ai ihc fishcry," hc said.
>fYjkfgg\i
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5hake it, dip it 'n dry it. It can only be
8e[p=`e[cXpj new snowman method
>EMJEC7A;J>;=E8IJEFF;H
BecauseoI thecomplicatedprocessinvolvedinmakingtheCobstopper,
andtheneedtoletitdryattheend, AndyrecommendsusingaKorum
Cuickstopbeadonyourrigsoyoucanquicklychangehooklengths.
HaveacoupleoI sparehooklengthsonyoursidetrayandthatway, aIter
you'vecastout, youcanstartmakingupthenextCobstopperreadyto
cliponIortheIollowingcast.
A Skinz makes up the ccre cf the Ccbstcpper.
Remcve the hcckbait,
dip it in the water
aain and shake it
back in the rcundbait.
Dc this six times tc
buiId up Iayers cf
rcundbait cn the
Skinz. Let it dry cff,
then cast!
This is the initiaI size cf the
Ccbstcpper.
Ncw dip the hcckbait
in a baitbcx fuII cf
rcundbait. Shake
the tub tc fuIIy ccat
the hcckbait.
Hcck the 0uickstcp
with a fine baitin
needIe cr a carbcn
fIcat stem and push
it thrcuh the Skinz.
Remcve the needIe
and twist the
0uickstcp tc trap
the bait in pIace.
Dip the hcckbait
in a tub cf water,
but cnIy fcr a
spIit seccnd. Dc
nct Iet it scak.
+ May 2007
WordsbyBenFisk

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Thcrc arc only iwo groundbaiis you' ll cvcr
nccd for commcrcial carp fishing, and ihc
ncw Iin Pcrfcci rangc covcrs ihcm boih,"
said Andy.
Thc firsi mix is ihc onc hc uscs for ihc
Gobsioppcr - ihc Marinc Iishmcal vcrsion.
Ii docs cxacily whai Andy wanis for a Mcihod
fccdcr or pasic mix, wiihfinc binding qualiiics
and a sirong pcllci}fishmcal basc.
Groundbaii Mi x 2 is a morc aciivc,
big-pariiclc mix which Andy uscs iypically for
'plugging' baiis in fccdcrs. Bccausc of iis high
aciiviiy and quick brcakdown, Mix 2 is also
idcal for ihc baggin' wagglcr.
Thc Gobsioppcr mcihod gocs hand-in-hand
wiih a bomb and looscfccd approach.
Go io vcnucs such as Siafford Moor and
all ihc locals looscfccd big hard pcllcis ovcr
a bomb, raihcr ihan rcly on a fccdcr. Somc
placcs rcally rcspond io ihis rcgular rainof big
hard pcllcis, bui if I wcrc io usc jusi a singlc
hard pcllci hookbaii ii would iakc agcs for fish
io find ii in a widc arca.
Thai's why ihc Gobsioppcr is so cffcciivc.
Thc iighi arca of groundbaii ihai brcaks down
in six diffcrcni laycrs acis as a magnci. Thcrc
arcn'i any largc pariiclcs in ihc Iin Pcrfcci
Marinc Iishmcal Mix, so fish arcn'i spookcd,
and mop ii up wiihoui ihinking. Of icn
ihcy won'i cvcn rcalisc ihai ihcy'vc iakcn
in ihc Skinz hookbaii uniil ii's ioo laic! "
cxplaincd Andy.
;@GG@E>
So why go io ihc hasslc of dipping ihc hookbaii
and crcaiing ihc six laycrs' Why noi simply
mould ihc groundbaii around ihc hookbaii
J>;=E8IJEFF;HKD:;HM7J;H
45 SLCONDS
SteadiIy the mix
fcrms an attractive
piIe arcund the
Ccbstcpper.
May 2007 .
5 SLCONDS
The Ccbstcpper
hits the bcttcm.
!mmediateIy the
cuter Iayer starts
tc break cff.
l M|NUTL
45 SLCONDS
The Skinz hcckbait
emeres frcm the
rcundbait. Expect
bites any time ncw!
|2 M|NUTLS
30 SLCONDS
The Ccbstcpper has
ccmpIeteIy brcken
dcwn intc a piIe cf
rcundbait. Carp faII
fcr it everytime!
J>;M?DD?D=;:=;
Just a smaII part cf Andy's new rcundbait and peIIet rane.
- May 2007
"Jh|s |sa't a
method for
outaadout
ba|a
sess|oas"

likc a Mcihod fccdcr'

Moulding an amouni of groundbaii around
ihc hookbaii in onc go is quickcr, bui ii docsn'i
achicvc an cvcn coaiing. Ii isn'i vcry sccurc
and can f ly off during ihc casi, which is why
I kccp adding a laycr of waicr, ihcn a laycr of
groundbaii. Lvcryihing siicks iogcihcr niccly
and ncaily. I'm a buildcr by iradc, so I gucss
somc of my ihcorics sicm f rom my
job!" rcvcalcd Andy.
Lsing a lighi fccdcr arm hclps rcducc ihc
bouncc and movcmcni on ihc iip, and Andy
makcs his own oui of a cupping kii scciion.
Wiih his rod-iip posiiioncd in froni of him hc
can pui ii siraighi on ihc rcsi aficr casiing and
aciually sink a iighi linc, so ihc rig is pullcd
back iowards him slighily. This siraighicns
ihc rig oui and cnsurcs ihai ihc bomb is wcll
scparaicd from ihc Gobsioppcr. Andy is
convinccd ihai carp know whai a bomb looks
likc! This way, hc can kccp a good cyc on ihc
iipandrcaci ioanuncxpccicdquick biic whcn
making up sparc hooklcngihs.
Hc prcfcrs a hooklcngih aboui 18i ns
long, bccausc ihc Gobsioppcr isn'i ihc mosi
acrodynamic casiing baii. If youuscdiooshori
a hooklcngih ii could bc a rccipc for ianglcs.
K?<P8CCNFIB
To dcmonsiraic ihc cffcciivcncss of ihc
Gobsioppcr, Andy has broughi us io
Brookficld Iishcry ai Skcichlcy, in Hincklcy.
Hc picks a spoi ncxi io an ovcrf low pipc ai a
rangc of 60yds down ihc sidc of ihc dam wall
io casi io. Bccausc hc's looscfccding an
arca aboui min diamcicr hc docsn'i usc a
linc clip. Hc prcfcrs io casi around ihc arca,
lcaving liiilc pilcs of groundbaii and kccping
ihc carp huniing for food. Givcn ihc sizc of
fish hc is sci io cncounicr ioday, hc probably
wouldn'i bc ablc io gci away wiih a linc clip
anyway!
Andy fccds his ncw hard pcllcis dry via ihc
caiapuli, bui if you wani io usc ihcmin a cagc
Andy pIays his fish cff the cIutch and is rareIy brcken cn 4Ib Maxima and a 0.17mm PcwerIine hcckIenth
"kady |s coav|aced
that carp |aow what
a bomb |oo|s |||e"
May 2007 0
J>;M?DD?D=;:=;
The Ccbstcpper
cften fccIs the
biest fish in
ccmmerciaIs.
0ne cf Andy's fish aImcst 'spccIed' him!
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"5ome p|aces rea||y respoad to th|s reu|ar ra|a of b|,
hard pe||ets"
fccdcr hc has somc sound advicc io pass on.
Lvcry millimcirc of ihc pcllci sizc cquaics
io onc minuic a pcllci should bc soakcd in
waicr, so soak 2mm pcllcis for iwo minuics,
ihcn riddlc ihcm off and lci ihcm absorb ihc
waicr propcrly for fivc minuics.
Soak 8mm pcllcis for cighi minuics, bui
givc ihcm ai lcasi 20 minuics io absorb ihc
waicr," adviscd Andy.
Andy is kccn io sircss ihai ihis isn'i a
mcihod for oui-and-oui bagging scssions
bccausc ii's ioo slow- you havc io waii for ihc
Gobsioppcr io brcak down propcrly (scc ihc
Gobsioppcr Lndcrwaicr box). Howcvcr, whcn
ihc iargci is up io 1 carp ovcr a fivc-hour
pcriod, ii's spoi-on.
Brookficld Iishcry is siiuaicd in ihc middlc
of an indusirial csiaic, and ihc swim Andy
opis for looks morc likc somc kindof dockland
sccnc - hardly icxibook siuff. Lvcn wc arc
sccpiical ihis iimc, bui Thc Iin ncvcr fails io
amazc us.
No fcwcr ihan ihrcc doublcs comc io ihc
nci, along wiih a hosi of fish bciwccn 8lb and
6lb. No doubi ihc biggcr, wary carp cannoi
rcsisi ihc inviiing pilc of groundbaii. Onc
ovcr-cnihusiasiic 12-poundcr lcads Andy a
mcrry dancc around ihc dam, lcaving him
jusi yards of linc on his rccl and forcing himio
gci up off his box and followii somc way down
ihc bank.
Andy's ncw mcihods all work, and ihc
Gobsioppcr is no cxccpiion. As Andy said: I'm
bookcd on io a maich hcrc ai ihc wcckcnd and
ihis is cxacily howI'mgoing io fish ii!"
J>;M?DD?D=;:=;
This amcunt cf
feed peIIets every
time is abcut riht.
Wcw! 0ne very quick
catch picture was taken
befcre this Ict were entIy
returned tc the water.
(' May 2007