If I was to sit any of you down and state I was about to show you a new item of tackle that is potentially ground breaking, you would, no doubt, roll your eyes and recall how many times you’ve heard this before – as indeed have I and most of my mates…
If I promised you that it would make something you do regularly during the course of your fishing a lot easier, like a lot of my friends, your interest would perhaps be piqued…
If I stated that I could almost guarantee a time when you would see worth in its application, you would, by now (just as myself and my mates did) be asking what the hell it is…
I would then watch you deflate in a huge anti climatic heap as I uttered the words:
“Yea, it’s a boilie stop!!”
Really??!! You’ll exclaim in variable tones, just as I did when I was first introduced to the SPLITSTOP from Laguna Pristex.
I’ll explain it to you, as it was explained to me, as I in turn explained it to my cynical and hardy crowd of fishing mates. It’s so very simple and makes sense as soon as you see it.
The images here let you see how it looks of course but it’s what it enables you to do that really appeals and which has the potential to make your fishing a lot more simple – and a lot more productive.
To me it means I can now go tench fishing in the summer and be able to present the bait on a hair that dictates bites without having to go armed with different hooklengths and then worry that I’d made a change too soon. Heck, I don’t even need to tie a loop.
I simply tie a single strand hair to the maximum length I may require and blob the end (or tie a knot depending on hook link material) and pass it through one of the splits in the SPLITSTOP.
If the fish are fizzing over my bait and obviously feeding hard without so much a twitch on the rods, I can now just reel in, shorten the hair by simply rolling the SPLITSTOP up the line and securing it in place by clipping the line into one of the grooves without any fuss and disruption.
The SPLITSTOP mean no more loop tying and needles – although of course you can still use them with a traditional hair if you so wish. They come in a variety of colours to match various baits, have a matt, anti-glare finish and they are buoyant too so they help to negate the weight of your hook and assist with presentation; and they are easily trimmed back if required. Easy to handle with two sizes of split and a hole through the middle they offer un-rivalled presentation possibilities.
A mate of mine who I had the exact same conversation with is similarly a convert. He does a lot of barbel and chub fishing. If he has a bait out for barbel and starts getting those quick ‘chubby’ plucks, he likes to change things around in order to convert these bites to fish on the bank as to nail chub effectively you need to have your bait tight to the hook – long hairs result in missed chub! Often he would then be concerned that he might have harmed his chances if a whiskery one did put in an appearance.
Being of a, let’s say, fairly lazy nature, the thought of re-tying rigs and links really didn’t appeal but now, with the SPLITSTOP, he can simply roll the hair length up in order to have his bait tight up to the shank of his hook. Invariably he’ll connect with a few chub.
When this action dies down, he simply un-rolls the hair and holds out for a barbel or two.
So, I didn’t lie. It is innovative, it can make things easier and regardless of whether you use it or not, it is easy to see its uses for a number of applications.
The packaging features comprehensive instructions and some novel rig ideas for presenting baits such as paste, clusters of baits, meat and soft cheese.
The SPLITSTOPS will be hitting the shelves of tackle shops by June 2013 at an RRP of £2.50 to £2.99 for a packet of ten – BUT if you want to get your hands on some now, and with it being chub time of year I’d suggest you do, then yellow and clear ones can be purchased HERE on iSellTackle for a special introductory price of just £0.99.
