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New Korda & Guru Tackle For 2016
Recently, our Commercial Manager, Stewart Downing, along with Purchasing Manager, Michael Stewart, had the pleasure of attending the Korda and Guru Trade Show. Together they scoured the Chesford Grange site in order to find all the newest products. Here’s what they had to say about the day…
The Korda and Guru Trade Show is always a highlight of the New Year. Korda and Guru are two of the biggest names in the business, and their show really kicks off the angling calendar. In a season when neither of us really wants to be sat out at the bank in the cold, this was the perfect remedy to get us excited about angling again. With such a huge site to explore, we decided to split up in order to cover the most ground before the day was done. I left Stewart to look around the Korda side, whilst I focussed on Guru.
Adam Rooney, along with the rest of the Guru team, has done a fantastic job of developing a new range of nets – including both landing nets and keep nets.
Three keep nets of varying sizes (2.5m, 3m and 4m) are set to be released in March. With models to suit both commercial carp and silver fish, these nets all utilise high care fish meshes and weighted external rings which further protect the fish. These nets not only look neat but they are also very well branded. With prices ranging between £64.99 and £79.99, they look like they are excellent value for money.
Guru is also set to release four styles of landing nets, which again have been engineered to be very fish friendly and are suitable for commercial carp and silver fish. One of the four has also been specifically engineered to suit the pleasure or specimen angler, and features a dual mesh. These nets come in between £12.99 and £14.99, again expressing excellent value for money.
Along with these nets, Guru has also developed a new range of plummets, as well as some Teflon MWG hooks which have got me really excited.
The range of plummets is available in 10g, 20g, and 30g options, and at only £3.75 for a pair they are definitely worth getting excited about.
Guru’s already fantastic MWG hooks have been developed even further. These new hooks are fully coated in PTFE, or Teflon to you and me, and feature a super MWG pattern. This new coating represents a significant development, especially in hook durability, which in my eyes is definitely worth the slight price hike to £1.99. I’m certainly going to be watching out for these to hit the shelves come March!
With all these springtime products, you might be tricked into thinking that this is Guru’s lot for the year, but that is certainly not the case! Future releases include a nifty bait brolly to protect your full bait station and contents; more in the range of super hooks; and some brilliant Fusion EVA ground bait bowls and small storage solutions, all with high quality UV protected clear lidded zipped EVA cases. This range of Fusion EVA storage solutions also includes an innovative catapult storage version. There will also be new pellet banders, disgorgers, some cracking pellet wagglers, novel paste leads, new feeder designs, plus some great short and long ready rigs. Most of these items should be coming into stock around April and May.
There is certainly a lot to look forward to over the coming months from Guru, and they have got me really excited about springtime fishing! I’m especially enthused by the MWG hooks, and they’ll be going straight in my basket the second they’re released! Over to Stewart, now, to give you the low-down on the latest from Korda:
The development team at Korda has certainly been very busy over the last twelve months, and they have some cracking products lined up for release in mid-to-late-March.
First things first, Korda showcased four fantastic new Goo formulas: Bumbleberry, Wonderberry, Wicked Tuna Supreme, and Wicked Tuna Smoke. All these new flavours are priced at £11.99, and Neil ‘Spoons’ Spooner commented that in development both Bumbleberry and Wonderberry had torn up some of the southern club waters – definitely something to get excited about!
Korda has also been working on what looks to be a fantastic all round mono. Showing great casting management properties, along with high knot strength, I was surprised to learn that this line was being priced at only £12.99 for a 1000m spool! Available at a range of tests between 8lb and 20lb, the colour of this line is a subtle dark brown, which will suit the majority of conditions on most waters. This is definitely a product I’ll be adding to my tackle collection.
To top off the March releases, there is also a neat size 11 Quick Change Swivel, which Korda has designed to ensure that it is easy to attach to a loop from your rig. For only £3.45, you get eight of these great swivels in a pack.
Much like Guru, this isn’t all that Korda had up its sleeve though, and future releases include some new Heli Leads, which are a new shape with a rig ring rather than a swivel, for use with the fantastic Heli Dropper system. There will also be new Safety In-Line kits, including two In-Line leads with a special insert designed to help drop the lead if snagged. On top of all this, Korda is also releasing the new MK2 Interceptor Controllers, which look great finished in white and make a change from Korda’s traditional green.
Most importantly, Korda is also releasing the much anticipated Black and Whites: bobbin style indicators designed by Damien Clarke to appeal to those anglers who want to use a different indicator set up to their Stows. These are especially useful for fishing at range, with tighter lines, or against features.
The show stopper (no pun intended) from Korda was the awesome Zig Magnet. This is a small magnet that attaches to either a bank stick or storm pole, which the hook literally sticks to before being released on the cast. This prevents any stress about catching zigs on bankside vegetation, your bivvy, or even your ears on the cast. Brilliant!
By this time, Michael had caught up with me, and we wandered around the rest of Korda’s future releases together. The first things we spotted were the new Krank X hooks, which looked very strong and sharp whilst still retaining the fantastic hooking qualities of the original Krank pattern that we have both loved. Korda is also releasing a new dedicated hook link material for constructing boom sections, inventively named BOOM! This hook link is made from fluorocarbon, is slightly stiffer than IQ, and can be easily crimped.
Korda has also developed its own slant on the line aligner principle, simply called Kickers. This is being released in a range of colours, including pink and yellow for a high attract hook for baits such as a Pop Up, or even maggot rigs. There will also be a concise range of ready tied rigs, available in Hinge Stiff Rig, PVA Bag and Multi Rig format.
We were also privileged enough to witness the awesome new Singlez! This single stick stainless rod support system has been much anticipated, and has been produced in conjunction with JAG especially for Korda. This system allows the angler to have the ability to fish a rock solid set up without the pain of having to carry and level up six bank sticks. Stage Stands, longer and shorter uprights, will also be available at launch. The innovative design allows for the unit to be split back to utilise two individual buzz bars as required. We currently expect it to retail around the £250 mark, and it looks well worth the investment. This one is set for released any time around April, so keep your eyes peeled – we certainly will be!
On the theme of JAG manufactured products, Korda is also releasing a new design of Distance Sticks – in high grade stainless steel that looks especially inviting. We also glimpsed a chain mail bait bag ‘The Rat bag’. Finally, we also spotted a newly designed Zig Box, supplied with several different sized zig spools for easy storage of pre-tied leaders and hook lengths. There are also two new Rig Safes, so look out for these too, as they offer some neat features. Pricing on all the above is still to be confirmed.
To round off what had been a fantastic day, Danny Fairbrass ended proceedings with an engaging presentation on where Korda aim to go with TV and DVDs, along with the imminent release of the much anticipated Masterclass Volume 3 DVD (due middle to the end of February) . Danny also gave an update and further insights into the Gigantica fisheries, as well as the very valuable non-profit work that his Embryo Project is carrying out to protect existing fisheries and create up to 100 new waters across the UK.
All in all, this was a great day. We’ve certainly got excited about the new products that are set for release over the coming months, and hope you have too!
