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Atomic Tackle Terminal Tackle
Part 2
UKMA recently received a parcel from Simon Healy at Atomic Tackle with a selection of their new terminal tackle products. Visitors to the site should be aware that we reviewed several of the Atomic range last year in our Part One article, so when we opened the box and see what Simon had sent us, we had to get out on the bank to review them (especially with the glorius weather we have had this week!).
Atomic Hoodies
RRP: £2.60 per 10
Hoodies have been designed to give a steamlined setup to helicoptor rigs and running rigs where a soft buffer is required on the line.
The Hoodies at first glance look no different to other similar products available on the market, but that is where the simularities end. Upon opening the packet and taking one out, the first thing that you notice is that the rubber compound is a lot softer than other similar items. This means that the Hoodies can be pushed over a larger swivel or link connector much easier than some of the others on the market. Atomic have not sacrificed wall strength either with the Hoodies, and have used a thickness of approximately 0.75mm for the main sleeve section. The thickness of the material almost ensures that the Hoodie will not split when placed over even a dry large eyed swivel. The sleeve section can even be cut down without losing any of it's strength or flexibility to fit over the loop of a lead should the angler prefer to loop-to-loop a lead with the swivel cut off directly to a leader.
The Hoodies are supplied in packets of 10 sleeves and are supplied in a hybrid green/brown colour to suit most substrates.
As a very big fan of rotary and chod rigs, I can honestly say that these have been safely tucked into my rig pouch and will be my first choice for these setups.
Atomic Rock Bottom Rig Putty
RRP: £5.99 per tub
Rock Bottom rig putty has been updated for 2010 by the addition of a weed green version to accompany the existing silt brown.
The putty itself is a compound of tungsten and rubber that is easy to use. Simply break a piece of the putty from the main block and rub between fing and thumb to warm up the compound. The compound can then be moulded around a float stop, coiled piece of leadcore inner, stop knot, etc, to give a secure counterbalance to a pop-up bait. Small pieces of Rock Bottom rig putty can be rolled around the hooklink at intervals to pin any hooklink down hard.
I like to have a variety of rig putty's in my rig pouch so that I have the perfect shade for the bottom I am fishing over and Rock Bottom will be tucked in alongside the others.
Rock Bottom Rig Sleeving
RRP: £2.20 per packet
Almost every angler nowadays is trapping their hairs to the hook shank using either silicone tubing (which can split) or shrink tube (which can be hit or miss to being too tight or too loose). Atomic Tackle have looked at this age old problem and come up with what they feel is the perfect solution in the Rock Bottom Rig Sleeving.
The Rig Sleeving is a 0.75mm bore diameter PVC tubing that can be cut to length to secure the hair at the desired exit point. You may be thinking how this differs from the other options I have mentioned, but the Rig Sleeving is the perfect fit on all the hooks I have tried it on so that it can move under slight pressure without tearing. Casting a 16mm bait out at range was no problem to the sleeving and there was no movement at all, but when used with a 20mm/14mm Snowman setup, the tubing moved a few millimetres up the shank. This can easily be rectified by tying a piece of PVA string or using a soluble nugget around the hair and hook shank to give 100% confidence.
The sleeving can also be used to extend hook shanks instead of shrink tubing should the angler prefer to do this or needs to make a rig on the bank and has no way of shrinking tubing down.
Supplied in a very pleasing on the eye translucent green colouration, the Rock Bottom Rig Sleeving will definately be kept in the pouch and used on all rigs that require the hair exit point to be altered.
Smart Lynx
RRP: £3.25 per 20
Every angler has a method of quickly changing their leads on rotary rig setups, and almost every manufacturer has their own version of this clip in their catalogue. Atomic have made theirs slightly different though. The wire is a little thinner than some, but is no weaker. Coated in a matt black finish to stop any glare should the angler use the Lynx naked over covering with a Hoodie. The Smart Lynx have been shaped in a figure-of-8 style so that the thinner tapered top section allows easy passage over it of sleeving or a Hoodie. The ends of the wire are some of the smoothest that we have seen in this type of connector which will certainly save the angler in ripping sleeves should the rubber sleeve used get caught on the wire end. A small kick off end has been bent into the wire to make it very easy to attach a lead onto the Lynx without risk of it coming off accidentally.
There isn't much that can be written about the Smart Lynx, other than they do not disappoint in any way.
Running Rig / Back Lead Clip
RRP: £3.00 per 10
Every so often a company will come up with an ingenious little product that ticks every box. The Atomic Running Rig/Back Lead Clip is one of those such gems. Simply a black injection moulded clip that allows quick change to a running rig lead setup without the fiddly nature of snap links and sleeving. The main clip itself is made with a large low resistance ring that the mainline passes through and at the other end is a needle eye type attachment which has a cut in it to put the lead into. To secure the lead to the clip, Atomic have also supplied some hard rubber oval beads that can slide up & down the "needle eye" section to allow quick change.
To use the clips for backleads, Atomic recommend that a slit is cut into the round eye to allow the leads to be put on & off the mainline. Cutting a slit in the ring also allows the lead to be dropped should it get snagged up completely.
Very handy little items to have in your rig box or pouch as you never know when you may need a back lead.
Rig Rings
RRP: £2.85 per packet of 20
Not a lot that can be written about rig rings, but I can see the Atomic rings becoming very popular with the angler.
There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that the rings feel to be lighter than others available which will give a more natural movement to a tied on bait than a heavier ring.
The second is that they are finished with a matt black coating which stops any reflection. The inner of the rings is very smooth indeed and will not damage or snag on loops that the rings may run in.
The Rig Rings are available in 3 size; 2.5mm, 3mm and 3.7mm diameter, so there is a size to suit all eventualities.
Ballz Out Groundbait Pouch
RRP: £5.00 each
The groundbait pouches that some anglers are using to launch balls of groundbait out using their spod rods are nothing new to the market, but Atomic have looked at the existing products and designed one that they feel fixes any problems that may be present with current products.
The first thing that is apparent with the Ballz Out pouch is that there is no foam insert on the back of the cup. Atomic havecarried out their own testing and found that the foam insert that is present on other pouches slows the pouch down during the cast, reducing the distance that the groundbait can be put out to. The pouch itself has been double stitched and we cannot see it ever letting us down in normal use. The plastic cup is secured into the pouch by using a pair of eyelet clasps that act in the same way as rivets. On each side of the pouch, eyelets have also been fitted where the 100lb Dyneema cords attach. The use of the eyelets mean that the pressure of the cords cannot rip through the pouch material in a month of Sundays (or even longer!). The Dyneema cords are doubled up for additional security and terminate at a size 2 100lb test round eye swivel.
To use the Ballz Out Groundbait Pouch is simplicity itself. Simply replace your spod with one of these, place a ball of groundbait into the cup and cast it out. What could be easier?
The Ballz Out pouch certainly offers a very fast method of putting large amounts of groundbait out accurately and at ranges that even the best groundbait catapult would struggle to reach. This product will be getting a lot of use this coming season on some of the larger venues that we fish for Tench and Bream (as well as the Carp) where we have struggled to get a big enough bed of bait out accurately.
Bag Bombs
RRP: £1.20 - £1.55 each (dependant on size and coating)
Not willing to sit on their laurels as one of the true innovators in lead development, Atomic Tackle have come up with a simple solution to the age old problem use using PVA bags with leadclips. In the past anglers have had to tie up the back of the lead clips with PVA string or tape to stop the lead coming off when hitting the water when using large PVA bags or sticks.
Simply by incorporating an additional loop at the base of the lead, the angler can simply tie their PVA bag or stick to the base of the lead, and then place the hook into the outside of the bag/stick. If a hooklink is used that is slightly longer than the bag/stick, the hooklink is then kept tight and cannot tangle in flight on the cast. The Bag Bombs can also be used in a rotary rig setup in the same way, especially in the popular Mag Aligner style.
At point of writing this article, the Bag Bombs are only available in a distance casting style, although we are sure that Atomic will launch other styles down the line.
Available in 5 coatings; sandy, green, brown, dung style and stone and in sizes; 2oz, 2.5oz and 3oz.
We can see ourselves using these leads more and more in the coming season and we are certain that they wil be massive sellers in the shops.
