OMC magic twig

[Paul Bullinger]

It's called fishing, not catching.
What's wrong with trying to outwit a fish using "normal" methods, and if it gets the better of you...tough. Just re-tackle, re-bait and try again.
I admire fish that are finicky feeders, its a challenge.
But that's just me I guess?

 

[Kevin Steele]

I can't agree with any argument that a self-hooking device and hair rigs on running line are not dissimilar. There's a world of difference between what's required of the angler... ie. not much, in the case of the carper, until the alarm sounds and he can wake from his slumber and reel the fish in.

Abingdon & Oxford AA (which I'm thinking of joining) has two carp/mixed species lakes among their waters and they have banned the OMC Magic Twig. It appears to be one of their only exceptional rules, other than the usual ones associated with good practice and respect for others. Sounds like my sort of club.
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[Terry Simner]

I can't agree with any argument that a self-hooking device and hair rigs on running line are not dissimilar.

I totally agree. Let's say I'd got an aversion/intolerance/fear of lobworms so I asked a friend to bait my hook with one for me, then I cast that bait out on a rod that I had rigged up myself. If I caught a fish on that rod, I'd be ok with claiming that fish as my catch. But if I kept on missing bites (say, chub bites) and I asked someone else to strike for me, and they hooked a fish and then handed me the rod, then I would not claim that catch as mine.
To me it's not about how the bait is mounted, it's about the 'dynamic action', the physical doing of setting the hook. Either I set the hook or the fish sets the hook, not someone else or some sprung metal and plastic contraption.
N.b.. comparing hair rigs to this contraption is a totally spurious argument/posit IMO.

PS... re. barbel being stupid/thick whatever. Watch "Barbel Day & Ways". Dumb fish eh.

 

[Kevin Steele]

I'm even averse to the idea of someone else helping me land a fish - we have two arms (caveat: most of us), one for the rod, one for the net.
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[Ian Woods]

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

I can't agree with any argument that a self-hooking device and hair rigs on running line are not dissimilar. There's a world of difference between what's required of the angler... ie. not much, in the case of the carper, until the alarm sounds and he can wake from his slumber and reel the fish in.

Abingdon & Oxford AA (which I'm thinking of joining) has two carp/mixed species lakes among their waters and they have banned the OMC Magic Twig. It appears to be one of their only exceptional rules, other than the usual ones associated with good practice and respect for others. Sounds like my sort of club.
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AOAA is a good club, has some good swims and lakes.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Interesting Ian, many thanks.

Regardless of any perceived ethical issues regarding the use of a self-hooking device, only a bone-head would use a Magic Twig as it is clear they simply don't work! Even the original underwater footage that AH for so emotional about blatently wasn't showing what he claimed.

The Magic Twig is a pointless item of tackle. All they add is extra snag risk and extra risk of more plastic crap ending up in the freshwater environment.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

aversion/intolerance/fear of lobworms so I asked a friend to bait my hook with one for me, then I cast that bait out on a rod that I had rigged up myself. If I caught a fish on that rod, I'd be ok with claiming that fish as my catch. But if I kept on missing bites (say, chub bites) and I asked someone else to strike for me, and they hooked a fish and then handed me the rod, then I would not claim that catch as mine.

I wouldn’t claim it either but your point is completely well out of context.

Terry if you use hairs for your barbel fishing then you don’t need your mate to strike for you because the rig hooks them perfectly all by itself, Hence 3 ft twitch

My point which obviously wasn’t very clear first time round was that although the hair and the twig are different things and operate different, they are equally as effective when you put the twig into a specimen carp situation and the hair into a barbel situation.
In the two different situations they are both doing the hooking for you.

If you disagree with that then please explain how they are different in those situations

PS... re. barbel being stupid/thick whatever. Watch "Barbel Day & Ways". Dumb fish eh.

I have my own experience to back up my point which I’ll try share.
I don’t fish rivers that are rammed with barbel all that often. Occasionally I do, but most of my time is spent targeting very large fish in small numbers on the nene mostly.
These are big old girls that have seen it all before, yet they are caught over and over and over again. To the same baits, same group of anglers, doing the same thing.
My friend caught one twice in the same day once and myself and my friends have caught the same fish several times just a day apart.

Don’t get me wrong I know they are spooky fish and it doesn’t take much to make them shy away through fear but they ain’t the sharpest knife’s in the drawer when it comes to taking a bait.

Hence the reason….. we haven’t had to evolve past the knotless knot.
Evolution of rigs or lack of in this case is hard and fast evidence that the hair rig on its own is perfect for self hooking barbel.
Things would be different if barbel were able to pick em up and spit em out regularly

It’s evolved and evolved and evolved in the carp world because those crafty fat buggers know how to spit em back out.

I fish for barbel on the float a lot too. The daft buggers can even regularly hook em selves on those rigs with hooks deeply buried in meat.
The chub pull the floats under slowly and if you ain’t sharp enough they’ll let go. The barbel ram the floats down at a million miles n hour and if you ain’t sharp enough they’ll take the rod out your hands.

 

[Kevin Steele]

I wish the barbel in the beats I fish on the Avon would self-hook themselves on my hair rigs. They must be more intelligent (perhaps more than me) over here than in the Nene.

Don’t get me wrong I know they are spooky fish and it doesn’t take much to make them shy away through fear but they ain’t the sharpest knife’s in the drawer when it comes to taking a bait.

The chub pull the floats under slowly and if you ain’t sharp enough they’ll let go. The barbel ram the floats down at a million miles n hour and if you ain’t sharp enough they’ll take the rod out your hands.

I reckon it's anthropomorphising if you're suggesting that barbel are stupid, simply because they've evolved to take food in a way that is different to, say, chub. I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but a chub gently mouths it's food and has time to let go if it detects anything untoward, whereas a barbel sucks the river bed like a hoover. Nature might have made the barbel vulnerable to the fisherman's hook, but its voracious appetite enables it to grow to proportions that a chub could only dream of (if you'll excuse the anthropomorphism).

It's just not in the nature of some animals to change their behaviour just because of us.

PS. Not picking an argument, just thinking aloud... I might have this all wrong.
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[Richard Isaacs]

I reckon it's anthropomorphising if you're suggesting that barbel are stupid, simply because they've evolved to take food in a way that is different to, say, chub. I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but a chub gently mouths it's food and has time to let go if it detects anything untoward, whereas a barbel sucks the river bed like a hoover. Nature might have made the barbel vulnerable to the fisherman's hook, but its voracious appetite enables it to grow to proportions that a chub could only dream of (if you'll excuse the anthropomorphism).

It's just not in the nature of some animals to change their behaviour just because of us.

I don’t disagree with any of that Kevin.
Barbels eating habits and mouth shape and form are definitely susceptible to be easily hooked and thank goodness stay hooked.
Again it’s another good reason why we don’t need to evolve what we already have.

Looking at that video Ian put up it appears the twig is a shower of shite anyway but he makes an important point on his time line and that is for the carp world it is that point where rig evolution is going to the next phase
I don’t believe Ali deserves the grief he’s getting through trying to move things forward. His product obviously needs work but he’s having a crack.
I Terry Harman hit the nail on the head some posts ago. It’s not the product people have a problem with but it’s the product they are using as a valid excuse to burn and I think that’s wrong.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

I don’t disagree with any of that Kevin.
Barbels eating habits and mouth shape and form are definitely susceptible to be easily hooked and thank goodness stay hooked.
Again it’s another good reason why we don’t need to evolve what we already have.

Looking at that video Ian put up it appears the twig is a shower of shite anyway but he makes an important point on his time line and that is for the carp world it is that point where rig evolution is going to the next phase
I don’t believe Ali deserves the grief he’s getting through trying to move things forward. His product obviously needs work but he’s having a crack.
I Terry Harman hit the nail on the head some posts ago. It’s not the product people have a problem with but it’s the product they are using as a valid excuse to burn and I think that’s wrong.

I think you are generalising with the way barbel feed based on your own experiences.
On the clearer waters of Southern England, you can see fish feeding, but you are not hooking fish. You can see how their behaviour changes too when you introduce line in to the water. It's quite an experience to witness.

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

Frankly I don't see what all the fuss is about with regard to this 'magic' rig , its simply a variation of a well worn method ,namely the bolt rig . Like all these innovations its designed as much to catch anglers as to catch fish , and in that sense I am sure it will be successful .The type of angling that this rig is aimed at is the passive approach to fishing where angler input is minimal in terms of actually doing something to catch the fish . This rig will be used by anglers who use sophisticated bite alarms , multi rod set ups where the angler is sitting back relaxing , even sleeping whilst the rods fish for themselves .The only time the angler is holding the rod is when he casts in or lifts it up when he has a run .Relating the rig to Barbel angling is not really relevant . As has been stated Barbel are not ' sophisticated ' feeders , by nature they are greedy and when active will go around hoovering stuff up on the river bed in a fairly none selective manner . I take the point that on a clear river when the fish can see you they can take some catching and tackle concealment and bait presentation are important , but if we are honest most of us simply fish in a place where we think the barbel are , then chuck our chosen rig in and see what transpires , usually the fish hook themselves even when using running rigs .

Reading back what I have just written , I realise that my description of passive angling does fit in with the modern 'carbelling' approach to angling , where carp fishing have been applied to Barbel fishing , this undoubtedly works but personally it is not for me , as I find sitting for many hours with multiple rod set ups and bite alarms , huddled in a bivvy , possibly asleep is frankly boring , I have tried it and didn't feel as if it was proper fishing . With Barbel angling , bait and wait is fine but if , after 2 or 3 hours the wait produces nothing then usually the fish simply aren't there or may take a very long time to show up , so I prefer to either move or try another day , or even better get a float rod out and do some more ' active' angling as it were , but thats just me ....

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Like all these innovations its designed as much to catch anglers as to catch fish , and in that sense I am sure it will be successful.

It will certainly catch more anglers than it does fish.

All the magic twig does is serve to make the bolt rig less efficient.

 

[Haydn Clarke]

It will certainly catch more anglers….

I bet there’s been some right old specimens caught on this.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

This is the image that reduced poor Ali to tears and is put forward by OMC as proof of the magic twigs effectiveness.

Unless my eyes are completely deceiving me, the so called 'magic twig' hasn't actually activated

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

Yes but Joe , you are missing the point , this is MAGIC ! The quickness of the hand deceives the eye , or in this case the magic twig works so quickly you can't even see it working , amazing ! Them clever carp don't know whats hit em until its too late

 

[Chris Cheshire]

like all gizmos you pays your money and you takes your choice...

its not for me, however each to their own

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

This is the image that reduced poor Ali to tears and is put forward by OMC as proof of the magic twigs effectiveness.

Unless my eyes are completely deceiving me, the so called 'magic twig' hasn't actually activated

You are right, it's not on, the lead/bolt rig did the work there. I was thinking about posting this as well.

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

Frankly I don't see what all the fuss is about with regard to this 'magic' rig , its simply a variation of a well worn method ,namely the bolt rig . Like all these innovations its designed as much to catch anglers as to catch fish , and in that sense I am sure it will be successful .The type of angling that this rig is aimed at is the passive approach to fishing where angler input is minimal in terms of actually doing something to catch the fish . This rig will be used by anglers who use sophisticated bite alarms , multi rod set ups where the angler is sitting back relaxing , even sleeping whilst the rods fish for themselves .The only time the angler is holding the rod is when he casts in or lifts it up when he has a run .Relating the rig to Barbel angling is not really relevant . As has been stated Barbel are not ' sophisticated ' feeders , by nature they are greedy and when active will go around hoovering stuff up on the river bed in a fairly none selective manner . I take the point that on a clear river when the fish can see you they can take some catching and tackle concealment and bait presentation are important , but if we are honest most of us simply fish in a place where we think the barbel are , then chuck our chosen rig in and see what transpires , usually the fish hook themselves even when using running rigs .

Reading back what I have just written , I realise that my description of passive angling does fit in with the modern 'carbelling' approach to angling , where carp fishing have been applied to Barbel fishing , this undoubtedly works but personally it is not for me , as I find sitting for many hours with multiple rod set ups and bite alarms , huddled in a bivvy , possibly asleep is frankly boring , I have tried it and didn't feel as if it was proper fishing . With Barbel angling , bait and wait is fine but if , after 2 or 3 hours the wait produces nothing then usually the fish simply aren't there or may take a very long time to show up , so I prefer to either move or try another day , or even better get a float rod out and do some more ' active' angling as it were , but thats just me ....

Unfortunately, for most, barbel fishing is almost the same as passive modern carp fishing.

 

[Kevin Steele]

Unfortunately, for most, barbel fishing is almost the same as passive modern carp fishing.

I'm new to barbel fishing, but that's why I don't wear camo clothing, use two rods, or own a Delkim Txi-D V2 Presentation set (yours for only £579.99)... and I often HOLD my rod while waiting for bites (something a true carper wouldn't be seen dead doing).

I vote we continue the carper-bashing (a welcome respite from bashing the water companies) and don't succumb to their grubby habits.
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