Nash bill the PegOne range as ‘The angling world’s first dedicated pleasure range of tackle for the commercial, lake and river angler.’ A quick look through the product leaflet bears out this description with a range of tackle obviously aimed at day and short session anglers who don’t need to cart around loads of kit. The Tackle ‘n’ Bait Caddy fits nicely into this category, being designed to carry all of the stuff you might need for a short session, or to be used as a bait bag for a longer session.
First impressions on removing the Caddy from its box are of a well finished bit of kit with all internal seams taped and a wipe clean interior. It’s very similar in size to the rucksack I currently use so shoe-horning my tackle into it shouldn’t too difficult.
The Caddy has five pockets in addition to the main compartment. At the rear is a large pocket (300h x 350w x 65d) which will comfortably hold most medium-sized tackle boxes and which swallows my box with ease. There are two side pockets one which, just, takes my Avon scales, keepsack and weigh sling and the other which takes my camera, Gorilla Pod, head torch, thermometer and other bits and bobs. The pocket on the lid takes my licence wallet and spare rod rest heads comfortably and I can’t think of a use for the small mesh pocket on the front, perhaps for my wet weigh sling if I catch a good un? The main compartment looks to be of ample size for my bait, reels, food and drink for a day’s fishing.
So let’s go fishing!
It’s a lovely Friday morning, I’ve got an early meeting with a client, but after that the day is free. I arrive home at about 11.00 am, throw my gear and some food into the car and head North to Carpvale, a small commercial complex near York. The main pool at Carpvale is a lovely water, nicely mature, with loads of features and a good head of carp up to around 20lb. The Caddy swallows all my bait and gear for the day, including a fleece jumper, and the handle is comfortable for the walk to my swim. I contemplated fishing peg one, but thought that would be too cheesy so opted for peg 20 instead!
I like the separate tackle box pocket on the Caddy – it’s much more convenient than the single compartment on my rucksack. The Caddy sits nice and square on the platform and the wide top opening makes it easy to access my tackle. I soon become absorbed in my fishing, feeding small quantities of bait and float fishing a small boilie up against the marginal weeds. I catch half a dozen carp up to around 9lb over the next few hours, and as the sun sinks behind the trees I call it a day and head for home.
Conclusion
I liked the Tackle n Bait Caddy. It’s a nice size (about 36 litres) for short session fishing and is well thought out. If I was feeling picky then I’d prefer to sacrifice a little of the space in the main compartment for a bigger front pocket. At around £30 it compares well with similar bags and is cheaper than rucksacks of the same size. It’s fine for short walks to your swim, but I suspect that if you attempted a long walk with it fully loaded then the shoulder strap would get a bit uncomfortable. This isn’t what this bag is about though and if you specialise in long hikes then there’s a nice looking rucksack in the PegOne range.
All in all it’s a nice bit of kit that I can see me using for much of my fishing from now on.
