All I really knew about The Big One fishing show was that it was a big carp fishing thing. I am used to the iCast show over in the US where you expect something like that to be huge - and it is - but it’s a trade show so you don’t get members of the public wandering around and buying loads of stuff. Wow was the main hall of The Big One show this weekend something else. I hadn’t really appreciated firstly that it’s a big buying show - carp anglers especially come to buy a lot of gear, often at discounted prices - secondly that a lot of the tackle companies use the show to launch and showcase new products, and thirdly how big of a deal carp fishing really is. Bass and saltwater fishing is my thing, but what we love can’t compete with carp fishing if we’re talking purely market share.

And my understanding is that this was the first time The Big One show has really tried to go for it with lure fishing. The tackle shop and serious online presence that is Predator Tackle had taken over a smaller hall, and people like me were there to help support the various brands. I know that freshwater lure fishing in the UK is growing fast, but I hadn’t appreciated quite how serious things are with perch, pike, zander, plus chub on surface lures. It’s bloody amazing to be honest, and I think I was the token bass fishing bloke. I fully expected to be standing in a corner and talking to myself for most of the weekend………

Which wasn’t the case at all in fact. I know a lot of people in the UK fishing tackle trade so it was great to catch up with a number of them, but on the bass fishing front I was genuinely taken aback by how many people at the show wanted to talk to me about all things bass fishing. I wasn’t able to help one lad with tarpon lure fishing related problems - loads of fish coming at him but turning away from a lure, yet they chomp a livebait, sorry I was so useless - but I do hope that I was able to help a number of anglers out with bass fishing related stuff. I don’t do fishing tackle politics at all, so whilst we had a fair bit of Savage Gear bass fishing gear at the show, there was also a load of other bass related stuff I was able to show people and talk them through it.

I also did a lure fishing demonstration each day in what was a really rather big indoor tank (this tank is available to rent, get hold of Dave at Predator Tackle if you are interested), and again I fully expected to be shouting at myself about bass fishing for thirty minutes each day. But a fair few people kindly crowded around the tank on Saturday and Sunday while I talked through some bass fishing stuff and demonstrated as best I could in a tank like that. I did a lot with our Savage Gear Gravity Sticks because I obviously fish with them a hell of a lot, but also it’s generally easier to demonstrate soft plastics in an enclosed tank where you don’t have a huge amount of room and retrieve space. It makes me feel proud when people trust what I am talking about and then they can go over to the shelves and actually buy the lures for their own fishing. Talking about Gravity Sticks, I was trawling around the Veals Mail Order website and I noticed that they have a sale on and a lot of the Gravity Stick soft plastics are included (here and here), plus a bunch of other rather nice lures. I don’t know how many of you are aware of the killer little APIA Dover 99F for example, but I see that it’s on sale for a pretty amazing price. I also got to see some more of the Savage Gear freshwater lures in the flesh at the show, and as with the deadly Slender Scoop Shads having been intended for the freshwater market (but they are deadly for bass fishing), a couple more lures really caught my attention as having serious potential for my own fishing. Testing time required!

I promised myself that I would not succumb to buying any tackle at The Big One Show, but I failed miserably. I bought a few bits and pieces which I am hoping might provide a solution to a specific problem I have on a very specific mark. We know there are some big bass there in very shallow water. We have had them bow-wave right in at us but not take the lures, and I think I need to change my approach. I talked to a couple of brothers at the show a fair bit - you know who you are, you bad, bad people, reeling me in like this! - and they really opened my eyes up to a few things. Thanks lads, but you made me break my promise to myself! I also got to spend a decent bit of time talking with the guy from Toit Fishing. He designs and makes some amazing fishing tools, and with his haywire twist tool he showed me how to make a component for a very interesting looking rig which again I think might provide a solution to some lure presentation problems I have. Hell, I have lure related problems full stop anyway!

I also got to see the new sub-£150 Westin W3 Seabass lure rods. They had the 8’4’’ 12-42g and 9’1’’ 12-42g versions at the show and I had plenty of waggles with them. I have obviously not fished with these rods - I hope to though - but I have a feeling that these are some very serious rods for some seriously good prices. I also got to stroke their new and not remotely cheap Westin W10 13 Braid. It feels like a very high end mainline which I think might work rather well. I liked the slightly stiffer feel to the braid and with whatever its coating is, I think this could be a good braid for rough ground especially - which many of us fish over a lot of the time. Anyway, I had better get on with my day. Hope you all had a good weekend, I am back home now and will be getting on with my quest to try and catch a UK March lure-caught bass. Might nip out this afternoon in fact and “test” some of the gear I gave in and bought at the show!

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The Big One fishing show was massive, amazing how many people wanted to talk about bass fishing (at a predominantly freshwater event)

© Henry Gilbey 2023