Z-Code is activated! - Zig-Rig fishing with SBS products

Z-CODE is activated!
Hello Everyone, nowadays there is a typical phrase in modern carp fishing,
“the key to success is to choose different tactics from the others along the lakeside”.
When we are at competitions we have the same experience,
we can catch more than the others with a smaller hook,
thinner hooklink or with a new bait, groundbait or method.
As a family we think together with consultants and SBS Team members,
sharing our thoughts and experiences, this is how we start new product development.
Today we are going to show you an interesting angling technique
and show our new hookbait and groundbait developed especially for this method.
Today we are going to fish at a mine lake,
where we won the 4th ABK Carpfishing Competition with 239. 94 kg (528. 98 lbs. ).
As part of our preparation we visited the lake a week before the event.
The weather was hot and it was really difficult to get even a bite with any of the bottom baits we tried.
At the clear mine lake it was easily noticeable that carp and grass carp were moving close to the surface,
so we decided, that we are going to try to catch them in the upper water levels.
With the hookbait presented close to the water surface we had the first fish 2 minutes after the start
and in the end we won the 48 hours competition.
Straight after our arrival we marked our fishing spots with a marker float
and we fed with a Spomb.
The rigs are cast out and now we are waiting for the first bite.
Join us and we will show you in detail what kind of rig,
hookbait and groundbait you will need for successful Zig-Rig fishing.
At the end of the video we will clear up what is Z-CODE!
Now I would like to show you the groundbait and the hookbait
that we are using to catch carp in mid-water.
As you can see, the Flumino range is getting bigger from 2013.
This new product is easily recognizable because of the new Z-CODE logo.
But what does Z-CODE actually mean?
The name Z-CODE refers to Zig-Rig, which is a method of presenting the bait in the upper water levels.
The All In Boxes are available with
cooked or soluble hookbait
with two kinds of flavours.
UNDERCOVER flavour has a fishy character and the other one has a sweet PINEAPPLE taste.
Today I am going to try the UNDERCOVER flavour first because,
even if the weather is cold, it is a great bait which
works during the chilly months.
Maybe I do not need to say, but of course the other version, with PINEAPPLE flavour, is a classic one for cold days.
Let's see what is inside of the All In Box and how to mix the groundbait.
As is common in the Flumino range, it contains two kinds of hookbait.
Now I have chosen a box with boiled hookbait, there are two kinds included; PINEAPPLE
and BLACK SQUID flavoured in 14 mm diameter.
If we use this method of carp fishing, my teammate Otti will show you shortly the rig, it is worthy of note
that the two kinds of hookbait have different colours.
In the clear water, where fish can easily recognize the bait,
we have the option to choose the fluro or the dark coloured bait.
These pop ups have been developed especially for the Zig-Rig technique;
it means that these baits have extra buoyancy so we can be sure
that it is going to lift up the hook and the hooklink to fish at mid-water.
Since this box includes boiled hookbaits it is available with two small bottles of flavours
to enhance the attraction effect.
The box also contains 1 kg of FLUMINO Groundbait
and the Groundbait Mixer.
We have to mix the Groundbait Mixer with the 1 kg of Flumino Groundbait so we get a perfect consistency Groundbait.
Let's see how to do it in practice.
I open the 1 kg of Groundbait and I pour it into a bucket.
Now you can see that the groundbait includes colourful lifting particles.
This ingredient plays an important role if we are using a Zig-Rig,
because they are constantly lifting at through the whole depth of the water.
As you can see, the colour is also important; the fluro crumbs attract the fish to the feeding area.
I add the 500 ml Groundbait Mixer slowly,
(it gives the UNDERCOVER flavour to the mix)
a little bit at a time and mix it well so that it is
not saturated but it is moist and not sloppy.
This helps to get a perfect consistency groundbait at the end
to put the Groundbait in the feeder or method lead.
Now it is ready to use.
See how it works in the water.
As soon as the groundbait hits the water, the lifting particles starting to work
and it creates a huge cloud within a very short time, stimulating fish to feed.
There is another trick that we recommended you use.
If you plan to use a spomb or a spod,
we recommend adding
500 ml extra lake water
to the mix to get a softer consistency.
This is a good way
to keep the fish in the mid-water.
As you can see, this material has a much softer consistency
than the previous one that we put in the method lead.
See how well this one works in the water.
Can you see?
It dissolves much easier and creates a really huge cloud,
so it is a perfect mix to attract fish.
Dani! Can you bring the unhooking mat here please? We can land the fish first and put it there!
This beautiful mirror carp picked up a 14 mm pop up,
the rig was prepared with a 35 cm long fluorocarbon hooklink.
It is great that despite of the cold weather we could land this nice fish.
You can see from the background, that it is almost the end of the autumn,
but I hope that we can land some more.
I would like to show you the rig which inspired us to develop the Z-CODE products.
The most important part of the rig is the float.
Inside of the float there is an in-line sleeve
which securely grips the swivel.
The kit also includes a ring, buoyancy bead
and lead link attachment
to allow you to create a perfect set up with your lead,
even in and over weedy
or ‘choddy’ bottoms.
With this step you can make sure,
that the mainline won't stuck and the float can come up easily to the surface.
First of all we can put the lead system on to the main line.
For this technique I always use a fluorocarbon mainline,
because of its features it is invisible in the water.
As we are not presenting the bait on the bottom of the lake
the visibility of the hooklink always plays an important role.
The following step is to put the float on to the mainline.
Then comes a rubber bead and after that
I tie up a swivel or a quick change link.
Now I use a double swivel.
We do not have to change the hooklink very often, because we won't change the length of the hooklink.
I pull back the rubber sleeve to the float.
Essentially the rig is ready, as a last step we have to put on the hooklink.
I always use a rigid fluorocarbon hooklink,
you can see how stiff it is, but you do not need to worry about that. The length of hooklink that I use is usually 50 cm
and the rigid feature helps to hook the fish perfectly.
My hook is a tubby one with short shank and
I am going to tie the hookbait on a simple hair rig.
This small silicone tube helps to fix the line to the shank of the hook.
At the end of the hooklink I tie a small loop so I can fix the bait easily.
I put the small tube on to the shank of the hook.
Because of the thickness of the hooklink we have a big knot that can break the hookbait,
which is why I recommend you use a boilie drill before you put it on the hair.
Now I put the pre-drilled boilie on the hair
and I secure it with a bait stop.
Now I pull the bait to keep it tight to the shank,
it is a little bit different if we compare with a simple hair rig where the bait is not touching the shank of the hook.
The pop up boilie has to move together with the hook.
Carp in the mid-water are not getting the bait the same way
as they do at the bottom, but they almost attack the moving bait.
The hook moves together with the bait so carp cannot blow it out easily.
After this I tie the hook with a knotless knot,
pulling back the small tube and fix the bait to the shank of the hook on the hair.
Here you are, the hooklink is ready and we need to fix it to the swivel.
It is done, our Zig-Rig is ready to go!
If the hooklink is not nice and tight
we can clip the line with our index finger and thumb
and with a few moves we can flatten out.
Now it is nice and tight again!
After the cast, the rig will go down to the bottom of the lake
and then because of the buoyant float it comes up
to the surface with the hooklink.
We can fish easily on the surface of the water.
If we would like to go deeper
we need to turn the clutch of the reel,
the mainline pulls the foat down,
until the bait is positioned
at the depth we would like fish.
At the competition the water was 6 meters deep in front of us
and we presented the hookbait 1 – 1. 5 meters below the surface.
We caught a lot of fish. With this technique we can easily find where the fish are,
and in a short period we can check all the levels of the water.
The sun has started to shine! That is always good for us if we use this method!
After the cold and cloudy weather the sun came out and the wind blew a bit.
I had a bite immediately, but I do not know yet how big it is.
It sucked up the same bait that the previous mirror carp did, a 14 mm PINEAPPLE pop up.
I lifted up the hooklink with the whole length; I hope that we can land the fish shortly.
Look how secure it was hooked with this small hook.
It is hard to un-hook the fish, it hooked so well!
The pop up came off the hair, but you can see its bright colour.
After the mirror that we had, now it is a nice common in my hands.
I mixed the Groundbait with the UNDERCOVER flavoured Groundbait Mixer,
maybe that is why it sucked up my bait.
Now I would like to show you how we used the Zig-Rig during the competition.
As you can see, and it was also mentioned by Otti, we used a 50-60 cm long fluorocarbon hooklink,
now I use a PINEAPPLE pop up.
The longer part of the floater is a plastic tube which helps to avoid tangles during the cast.
Because of the buoyant body the bait came right up to the surface.
In good weather and visibility it is easy to recognize.
I would like to tell you that there are two ways to adjust the bait's position in the water column.
I show you this here, close to the lakeside, where the water depth is approximately 1-2 meters.
I think it is easier to show how it works.
As soon as the rig hits the water the lead is pulling down under the water.
After this, the float stops at the ring attached to the lead.
At this moment the whole rig - instead of the hooklink with the pop up bait - is at the bottom of the lake.
Here is the point, where we can choose between two different setting options.
With the assistance of the floater we can lift the whole rig up to the surface.
I do it per 50 cm according to the following:
from the spool of my reel I pull down 50 cm of the mainline. The lead stays at the bottom
and the float comes up.
If I decide that I would like to lift up the bait more I give more of the main line.
It is important to calculate with the length of the hooklink!
It means, when we start to lift up the rig from the bottom the hookbait already floats above the bottom according to the hooklink's length.
So, if the hooklink is 50 cm long and we add two times 50 cm line from the spool,
that bait will be 1. 5 meters above the bottom.
The other option if we let the float come up
to the surface straight after the cast.
It is easy to recognize if the weather conditions are nice
or we are not fishing really far from the lakeside.
Can you see that? Now you can see the bait next to it.
Now we can start to pull the main line.
When the floater starts to sink, depending on your reel,
with a half turn on the clutch the pop up will be exactly at the surface.
From now we can start to count, depending how deep we would like to present the hookbait below the surface.
My reel retrieves 110 cm of the mainline in one turn,
so if I would like to present the bait 1. 5 meters below the surface,
I have to reel in approximately one and a half turns on the clutch.
I would like to say few words about how to cast the rig without tangles.
As we are using an extremely long hooklink, it gives a chance
to tangle up on the mainline.
To prevent this I recommend you use the following method, we also use it during competitions.
With this small foam we can fix the hook and the hooklink to the stem of the float.
With this trick we can feel secure that the hooklink won't wrap around the mainline.
Of course it is not ordinary foam,
but made of a special PVA material.
To stick it to the right place I have to wet it a little bit,
I put the hook with the hookbait close to the stem of the float
and I press the wetted foam around.
The casting method is the same as we do it with other rigs.
As soon as the rig hits the water we can strain the mainline until the float comes down to the lead.
When it has been done I start to give some free mainline from the spool.
The spot where I casted the rig out, the water depth is 5. 5 meters.
I would like to fish 1 meter below the surface, so if I calculate with the length of the hooklink
I have to pull down eight times 50 cm mainline from the spool.
I think this method is much easier to do than it looks for the first time
and I would urge you to try it out,
because it is really successful.
When we have found the correct position of the bait we can put the rod on the rod-pod
and we can start to feed some groundbait to the spot exactly close to the float.
As you can see we can boost the groundbait with the Flumino Liquid Concentrate,
it helps to make a huge groundbait-cloud under the water.
Now that Dan has filled the Spomb, I cast out the groundbait close to the float.
The length of the mainline has been fixed with the line clip on the spool.
Now it can go!
Now it is going a little bit to the right!
Maybe I can turn it round.
I hope we can land it soon!
I am using a 50 cm long hooklink and the bait was
1. 5-2 meters under the surface.
As you can see, carp started to move close the surface
and they are jumping out of the water continuously.
It is coming in slowly, but I do not feel how big it is.
In summer during the competition it was not an extraordinary scene having a bite when we started to feed the groundbait with the Spomb.
Carp and grass carp just grabbed the hookbait as soon as the groundbait hit the water.
When the float comes up I will know that the fish is close.
There it is, now I can see it.
It seems it is a nice mirror carp.
Give me a five!
As you can see it was hooked perfectly in the bottom lip,
which is normally how the hook performs with this method.
Look, the hookbait is still there, it is a 14 mm BLACK SQUID pop up.
As you can see this beautiful mirror picked up the bait,
we landed it successfully with the new Z-CODE groundbait despite the cold weather.
This method can be successful at any time during the year.
Hopefully, with this fishing technique and the new SBS products for 2013
we can now do something new that helps us to catch carp even in those periods of apparent feeding inactivity.
If you read the QR code with your smart phone printed on the package,
you can get more useful info about this product.