Nash Terminal Tackle [Diffusion Camo]

by Darren Wilson, UKMatchAngler.

Nash TT Weed Safety Bolt Beads & Tail Rubbers – Diffusion Camo

It is assumed that most anglers know how to use a lead clip system safely so that the lead does actually discharge should it need to, but nobody has come up with a fool-proof clip yet and it has been left to the angler to “doctor” existing products to have the desired result - that is until NOW!

The team at Nash Tackle have done it again and done the obvious which everyone has ignored and made a shortened version of the Safety Bolt Bead that will eject the lead much easier should it snag up in weed or on a violent take.

The Weed Safety Bolt Bead locks the swivel into the aperture snugly and is secured by the supplied “pinz”  in the same way as the Shock-Loc and standard Safety Bolt Beads. This means that the swivel cannot pull out of the clip like it can on some other systems, and means that the lead will 100% release from it should it become snagged.

The main reason that I decided to review these on UKMatchAngler.com rather than the standard Safety Bolt Beads is that because they are shorter than the usual lead clips, I personally feel that the commercial match angler could use these in complete confidence with much lighter leads than the clips were actually developed for, as well as being a third or so smaller than a standard sized bead.

I also like to carry as little tackle as possible, and with the Diffusion Camo colouration of the plastics used to make all the components in the range, this means that you only need to carry one colouration of each item rather than 4 or 5, due to the way that the translucent finish and colour blend into virtually every substrate colouration that you can think of. This saves the angler both money and the mental confusion that they are using the right camouflage components to blend in best over the bottom that they cannot be 100% of the colouration without placing it with a boat & glass bottomed bucket (should visibility be good enough to do this in the first place!).

When used with the new Weed Safety Bolt Bead Tail Rubbers (pictured above), the smaller tail rubber allows the lead easier ejection even in smaller sizes. The Weed Tail Rubbers also double up as superb knot protection for very heavy hollow elastics such as Red or Brown Hydro when used in conjunction with Dacron connectors.
In all honesty I don’t use the standard Safety Bolt Beads any more and use these instead, even on clear areas. Sure, it costs me a few quid in lost leads, but I would rather spend a Quid and land the fish in weedy waters, than be a tight arse & lose a fish or crack off and leave the fish towing a lead around.

Nash TT Fang-X Hooks

As an avid user and advocator of Nash hooks for a very long time, I was very dismayed to see that they had discontinued the original Fang X hooks that I had become used to using due to the pure sharpness and strength of the pattern, but I was not disappointed with the new TT Teflon coated version of the pattern.

The pattern is a very gentle curved shank hook with a medium shank and a 20 degree down turned eye. The curve allows for superb hooking potential with virtually any bottom bait rig you can think of. Nash do also say that these can be used for pop-up rigs, which I do not doubt, but I prefer a different pattern for pop-up rigs that I feel offers better hooking potential on the rigs I use. You may be totally the opposite and find this pattern is perfect for your needs.

Nash have also Teflon coated the hooks now to alleviate as much reflection in the water as possible as well as giving the point of the hook a little more protection than an uncoated wire would. Those of you that have used or seen the older Fang-X pattern will know that the wire gauge was a lot thicker than other similar patterns, and this was something that I did like as it allowed for greater dissipation of pressure on the fishes mouth than a thinner wire, therefore once hooked, you simply did not get hook pulls. I was a little shocked to see that the wire gauge of the TT version of the hook was of a standard gauge wire, and I must admit I did not think that they would be as strong or give as good of a hookhold as the originals I was happy using.

My doubts were put completely out of my head though after hooking the fish on them in a very weedy swim using braid where pressure had to be piled on to stop the fish burying itself into dense weed! No tearing of the mouth (which I have experienced with some other similar patterns from other manufacturers (whom shall remain un-named out of courtesy), no opening out of the hook under the pressure and to boot the point was still as razor sharp as it was when first taken out of the packet.

As with previous Nash hooks, these are SERIOUSLY sharp and should be handled with care at all times as I have had the points go into my finger to the barb without even knowing that it had, more times than I care to remember! To save the points of the hooks from being damaged in transit or the shop by rattling around against each other in the packet, each hook is separated in the packaging via a piece of thin plastic that each hook is fixed into securely. This almost guarantees that every hook in the packet will have a perfect point that will offer much easier the initial pricking of the fish’s mouth by the hook. I am surprised that other manufacturers do not do this after all the time that Nash has been doing so.

The TT Fang-X pattern is available in both micro-barbed and barbless versions in sizes 2 through to 10 (no size 2 in the barbless version and also available in intermediate sizes 5 & 7). The TT Hooks are not cheap by a long shot, but quality never is and I would never sacrifice a fish by using a piece of tackle that cost less simply to save a few pence, and are supplied in packs of 10 hooks at £4.99 per packet.

Nash TT Fang Twister Hooks

I must admit I was a little saddened to see that Nash were no longer making a long shank hook pattern in the TT range, but after seeing these little beauties I knew that I would no longer need my stocks of the long shank hooks I previously used any more! Kevin Nash calls the Twister “the ugly hook”, but I cannot see where he gets that moniker from as I actually think that the pattern is almost perfect for all bottom bait usage & is more like the traditional style patterns that I like to use.

The pattern itself is kind of like a much older Nash pattern that the name escapes me now (think it may have been the Series 1 or 2), which had basically the same downturned eye but a more crystal bend over the more square bend of the Twister. The combination of the wider square bend and the downturned eye mean that these hooks literally “twist” upon the fish picking up the bait so the point is in the optimum position for hooking of the fish smack bang in the bottom lip.

As with all the other Fang TT hooks, the Twister is Teflon coated and separated in the packet with the plastic divider to preserve the points. They are also surgically sharp so be very careful with them when handling. Also supplied in packs of ten hooks at £4.99 per pack, and available in micro-barbed and barbless in sizes 4 to 10. I find that these hooks work best with braided hooklink’s tied knotless knot style and with the hair exiting halfway around the square bend (held in place by a piece of the Nash Blow Out silicone tubing).

Nash No-Spook Rig Tubing – Diffusion Camo

To fully compliment the rest of the TT components in the new Diffusion Camo colouration, Nash have launched their highly rated rig tubing in 3 diameters – 0.5mm, 0.75mm & 1.0mm – which is of a much lower memory than other rig tubing out there that I have used. I am not a great lover of using tubing unless required to by venue rules, but after seeing and using the No Spook Diffusion Camo tubing, I will be using it a lot more than I have been. A small rub between thumb and finger is all that is needed to straighten it out from the spool that it is supplied on (a very nice and tidy touch indeed!) and threading mono through it is like putting a hot knife through butter and the best tubing I have used for threading purposes. I even managed to get 20lb Bullet Braid through 24” of 1.0mm bore tubing without the need of a threader which I have never been able to do with any other tubing!

One little tip I will always do with any rig tubing is to gently heat the end of it with a lighter to blob it before sliding the tail rubber or Shock-Loc bead down onto it to stop the tubing from coming loose on the take or during the fight and potentially causing scale lifting with thin mainlines.

Each spool is clearly marked with the coloration and diameter of the tubing meaning that there is no more guess work involved in making sure that the right tubing is used for the job, as well as meaning no more “rats nests” of different tubing in rig wallets or boxes that takes for ever to unravel and eliminates kinking or the product. Nash have got a winner on their hands here with this tubing now it is available in the Diffusion Camo colouration, and unfortunately for Nash, I cannot see many people buying the other colours that they do in the same product, because they are buying this instead!

Conclusion.

Overall every TT item I have seen and used has been more than up to the job in hand else I would not have used or bought it. People may think that I have been given all this tackle to test out, but other than the Safety Helicoptor Kit that Ray gave me, each product has been paid for out of my own pocket.

The addition of the Diffusion Camo range will make almost every other item of the same type in my rig wallets & pouches defunct, and will now be gathering dust in my workshop or given to local youngsters that may be in need of it. I was very impressed indeed by the way the Diffusion Camo material “diffuses” into any colour bottom it is placed in and my confidence is much higher now because of this as before I didn’t know for certainty that half my rig was laying on one colour and blending in, but the other half standing out like a sore thumb because of a totally different substrate! Now I don’t have this worry at all.

Top marks all round again Mr Nash & Team.