New Products from Solar Tackle for 2010

Solar Tackle are one company that are not willing to sit back on their laurels and reap the rewards from their superb existing range of products, but they are also not a company that will simply launch something that is not suitable for the job in hand or copy a competing companies products.

For 2010, Martin Locke and the guys at Solar have had their thinking caps on in a big way during 2009 and perfected some new items that have been added to the existing range. In this review, you will read of just a few of the new products that are due to be launched or are already on the shelves of your local tackle shop. At the bottom of the bottom of the page you will find a brief description of some items that we have been shown in advance of the items hitting the shelves, so we can only inform you of these at this time rather than give a full description or pictures (just in case somebody decides to copy it prior to launch).

The first item that UKMA have been given to review is a revamp of the very popular multi-purpose baiting needle/tool that is one of Solar's flagship products (and something that others have tried to copy but got nowhere near the quality or functionality). Most anglers will already own one of the original needles or the mk2 version which was double ended (reversible by unscrewing the centre boss and flipping over), and I personally know some anglers that have an original needle in perfect working order from close to 20 years ago! The drawback to the angler with the original and mk2 needles was that to change the needle that the angler wanted, they required an allen key to be used to loosen the grub screw holding the needle - this invariably ended up with the angler either losing the allen key or grub screw in the grass or sometimes both! Solar Tackle have taken this into account with the new design needle system and I am pleased to say that there is no need for an allen key or the grub screw anymore to enable the needles to be changed!

The plastic moulded handle is shorter than the original needle, but now has a flattened section for more comfortable grip and ease of pushing the needle through hard baits.

The multi-baiting tool is supplied in various configurations from single needles with the handle to a full system (pictured above) which has a 1.2mm drill, super fine maggot needle, safety barb round profile needle and a stick/stringer needle. Each of the individual needles can be purchased seperately as well as in a pack of all four. At the rear of the needle, Solar have kept the handy bait stop dispenser so a stop can be found immediately. Spare lengths of bait stops can also be purchased seperately to refill.

As per the older needles, the new needle can be purchased in a wide range of Hi-Vis colours including a Nite-Glow (pictured above) so that you can find the tool easily at night or in a dark corner of a bag or bivvy.

We have used this needle on the bank in all of the differing needle configurations, and it performs superbly with no fear of bending the needles when used for the task they have been designed for. Pushing the safety barb needle through an air dried bait was not an issue and the bait did not develop any cracking which can occur with some needles. Needless to say this will be joining the mk2 Solar needle already in the baiting tool armoury.

Another new product that Solar have bought to the market for 2010 are the Line Stops. These items are nothing particularly new in angling and have a multitude of uses from trapping floats when fished with the lift style, through to moudling putty around for pop-up rigs. The Solar ones though are softer than the usual ones found on the shelves, which means that they go onto thicker diameter lines easier as well as still retaining grip on thin braids. Solar have tapered the line stops into a cone shape for aerodynamics and a neater look on the line when in place. We have found a lot of uses for these little often forgotten items that we shall not be without a pack or two in our armoury. We have used them to trap drilled baits tight to the hair stop as well as seperating baits on the hair slightly (a good little edge when fishing with a bouyant bait and a bottom bait as it allows the bouyant bait to move around slightly whilst the bottom bait stays in place). We have used them as back stops on Shocka type and rotary rigs on flourocarbon leaders. Some of the other stops available are too hard to pass over leader knots, but we found that these softer ones will do so perfectly fine with a little bit of pressure (no more pressure than a soft bead with a smaller than normal bore often found on pre-made leaders).

As promised, UKMA have obtained some information on some other new products that Solar Tackle are bringing to market in the near future. We cannot go into too much detail due to the potential of other companies copying the ideas, but we can tell you what the items are.

There has been rumours of an updated version of the Bow-Loc landing net going around various internet forums, and UKMA can confirm that there is a new landing net coming in the near future with a new radical designed spreader block system. Martin Locke has explained to us how the spreader block works, but we will keep this close to our chest whilst the product is in development.

UKMA can confirm though that Solar are launching a range of rod support components made from carbon fibre. Banksticks, buzzer bars and a rod pod are all in development and close to completion. We have seen and examined closely the prototypes that Martin has been using himself and they are of the highest quality and a worthy addition to the Solar range. These will sell like hot cakes we are sure!

Another item that UKMA have had a look at is a unique way of rig camouflage that is due to be launched very soon. We are not going to divulge anything in too much detail but when we looked at it, we had seen nothing like it before available from any manufacturer. Some anglers have been making homemade versions of this product, but nothing as camouflaged as this. UKA are looking forward to getting some of these components and putting them through their paces on some tricky clearwater venues that we fish on.

For further information on any of the Solar Tackle products, please visit the website by clicking the image below.