The range of Korda floater gear is the result of several years of development work. There are several members of the Korda Team who are passionate and highly skilled surface anglers which put a wide level of knowledge and experience at their fingertips.

The end result of this is a completely new range of Surface angling products from Korda, and UKMA have been sent the range to run our eyes over. Read on.....

Korda Kruiser Controller

Available in 10g (£3.99), 15g (£.3.99) & 20g (£5.99).

The Kruiser controller float is a radical and unique design that has had a lot of thought put into the development of the product. There are several developments included in the Kruiser that eliminate a lot of the problems of the traditional controller design.

The Kruiser dives less upon impact with the water due to the even weight distribution within the float. This is created by using a combination of solid plastic and a hollow cavity that is filled with air. This means that a slightly heavier float can be used to reach the required distance, with less disturbance than using a traditional controller, especially when feathered down on to the surface. During the cast there was no wobble noticed in flight meaning that the Kruiser wil cast well in cross winds without straying off course.

The Kruiser also has a unique line entry & exit system, which almost virtually eliminates tangles completely. The line enters through the hole in the top of the controller and exits through a small hole and silicone sleeve on the upper side of the float. A size 11 ring swivel slips into the silicone sleeve snugly to give a bolt effect on the take. The ring swivel is not supplied with the controller, and is available from any Korda stockist.

The usage of the ring swivel allows more movement of the hooklink during the cast which for some reason unknown to physics actually decreases the risk of tangling (in the same way that using a link loop or ring swivel in a standard bottom bait rig does).

During our on the bank testing, the Kruiser float performed as we expected it to, but unfortunately during the time on the bank, the fish were not playing game and were ignoring all surface baits. The design of the float really does make a difference to the way it reacts in the water, and we found that line could be mended easily without moving the float or hookbait as the float simply leans back, with the angle that the line exits the float simply taking up the small amount of slack rather than pulling the end tackle.

When sitting in the water, the Kruiser does lean back slightly, and looks strange, but this also gives a clean exit from the water upon lifting the rod to set the hook, and shoud the take be missed, will cause less spooking of the fish that are in the area still. A great little feature!

The orange sight tip of the Kruiser float was easily seen at 30 yards or so in broken water without requiring attention from our trusty black permanent marker pen - something that other floats over the years have had several layers of ink covering the top so we could see them!

Korda Interceptor Float

Available in 15g, 20g, 25g & 30g RRP £5.99 each

The Interceptor range of floats have been designed to fix some of the niggles that anglers found with other manufacturers products of the same or similar design. The design of the Interceptor is one that will cast a very long way with little or no wobble in flight due to the weight in the body being biased toward one side. In the same way that the Kruiser body has been constructed with a solid plastic area for weight and a hollow cavity filled with air to give bouyancy. The main feature of the Interceptor is that the body of the float is interchangable simply by sliding the body off of the stiff tubing and removing off the line via a full length slit in the base of the body. A bigger or smaller body can be fitted by putting the reel line into the slot and sliding the body down onto the tubing to the swivel. The way that the float has been weighted with the solid section of the body, means that it will sit the same way in the water every time, with the orange sight bob facing upwards.

The concave section at the nose of the float has been designed to house a size 11 ring swivel snugly to give a bolt effect. These floats can be used in calm conditions in the same way as most anglers will fish on the deck, with alarms and indicators. The size 11 swivels are again, like the Kruiser float, not supplied but are available from any Korda stockist.

The colouration of the float has been chosen after numerous hours spent looking up at the different colours used in the design stage to be a lower visibility on the surface as possible.

The Interceptor can be used with both long and short hooklinks (at range a shorter hooklink is easier to cast) with confidence.

We took these to the bank on the same day as the Kruiser controller, and although no fish were playing game, we didn't experience any tangles of the hooklink. I would love to see a 50g or 60g version added to the range for extreme distance usage where the fish have not seen a surface bait presented before.

Kruiser Control Reel Line

Available in 6lb, 8lb, 10lb & 12lb breaking strains RRP £4.99 per spool

In the past, anglers have been forced to use lines that were not exactly perfect for the finesse that certain floater fishing situations demand. Korda have sat down with their line manufacturer and worked out what Korda call "the first dedicated floater fishing line".

Kruiser Control is a very limp and supple line that is more than just a good floating reel line. Kruiser Control is also very good as a hooklink material both on the surface and for zig rig work.

The diameters of the line are very accurate indeed with very little deviation along the lengths tested, and breaking strain is also spot on. We found during our tests that the knot strength was slightly more than the stated breaking strain on the spool with every knot that we tried which would be used by anglers. There is some stretch in the line, but we do not think that this is a bad thing given that the angler is generally using lighter tackle than they would for bottom bait work, and will alleviate the risk of breakages or hook pulls with balanced tackle (or even slightly heavier than normal rods for those times where the floater rod has been left at home accidentally!).

Spooling up the reels with the line is where a lot of anglers start to go wrong, but after soaking the line in warm water for a couple of hours before spooling, gave the line a flawless profile on the reel with no twisting. Even after a day of casting regularly with the line, there was no more twist than we would expect. Casting performance was also very good indeed as we expected from a supple line with next to no coiling as it came off the reel spool.

Kruiser Control floats nicely on the surface without requiring greasing or spraying with a line floatant solution, and even remained bouyant after being sprayed with our chosen line sinking agent!

As Kruiser Control is a clear line, it is very inconspicuous when sitting on the surface when looked at from below (we tested this in the UKMA fish tank rather than putting our heads underwater at the venue!).

Mixa Hooks

Available in sizes 6,8,10 & 12 in both barbed and barbless RRP £3.85 per packet of 10 hooks.

Korda call the Mixa hook "the first dedicated floater fishing hook", and they have done their homework with these hooks. Incorporating a short shank that is almost in line with the point of the hook), a beaked point that has been offset by 5 degrees (to give stronger hook holds) and a wide gape, the pattern compliments a dog biscuit perfectly in the water without pulling the bait down in the surface tension (which can be a problem with other patterns due to the weight of the hook) causing the hookbait to sit less naturally than the free offerings.

The points on the hooks are all mega-sharp and penetrated into my finger without feeling any pain until it was in at least 2mm! UKMA do not recommend that you do the same unless you have a masochistic streak, but I don't use the finger nail test that some people use due to I have found that it can blunten razor sharp hooks with fine points.

The eyes on the Mixa hooks are big enough to get 12lb mono through twice easily making them perfect for use with the "knotless" knot, but not to large so to make them feel cumbersome when tied direct and a bait is side hooked or used with a bait band.

As with all of the Korda hooks, the Mixa has the PTFE coating that has been used for a while. This gives a non-reflective finish that when surface fishing in bright conditions, will lower the chances of the hook being detected by the fish due to light reflection.

UKMA Conclusion

We are looking forward to using the new range of Korda Surface System components more as we move into the time where high air pressure and warm weather tend to be the norm. With the fish on some of the venues we fish liking a mixer, we are sure that we will be putting these products through a thorough testing. Once we have done this we will update this article with our findings.

On first impressions and the limited time we have used the products, all boxes have been ticked and the products do exactly as they have been designed to do. With the longer evenings coming in now, we will be out on our local venues doing a bit of surface fishing once we have finished in the offices for the day.