Let's see as an example the Fishing Championship of the USA. The story was started with a request by an american fishing team; they wanted me to help them with TOP MIX groundbaits. I have prepared two different groundbaits following their requirements, and they won the US team championship with one of my groundbaits. The improved version of the groundbait had helped me to won the US individual championship and my friends who won the 2nd and 3rd place on the champ. The groundbait used is similar to the well known Xtasy VIP with slight modifications required by the special venue. So, our Xtasy VIP is proved its quality not only in Hungary and in Europe, for example in Italy, but in overseas, too. I must state that it is a reliable and well composed groundbait for nearly all venues. We take our new groundbaits only after a heavy test period while they must prove their effectiveness. We are given a lot of help by the members of the Hungarian and foreign TOP MIX teams.

In 2008 the most of our new products are related to the carp fishing which is the most popular in Hungary.

First of all, let's see the BIG CARP series which consists of five different groundbaits.

 

 

 

The Big Carp Selector groundbait family

 

A series of new groundbaits composed of the finest ingredients with carp fishing in mind. The taste, the colour and the coarseness of the various groundbait components were carefully selected. Our only goal was the successfulnes in every fishing situations. Due to the requirement, the groundbaits contain quickly dissolving particles for a fast pulling effect.

The C.S.L. pellet content (which pellet is a good carp bait in itself) is the slowly dissolving groundbait component, and the pellet keeps the fish on the feeded area for a longer period. The coarsely grained fluo red, orange and yellow particles (English breadcrumb) are flavoured with a sweet carp aroma mix. Thanks to the highly visible fluo colour fish can find our feeding even in muddy water. Only natural aromas and additives were used which enhances the attractivity of the groundbait. The increased amount of carruba additive makes more irresistible the groundbait for carps.

Can be used for the usual ground baiting or can be used for cage or method feeder, and even for carp fishing competitions. Its firmnes varies with the amount of added water. Quite sticky, so a good carrier for feeding seeds. With a good catapult we can cast a ball of groundbait over the horizon. It can be also used for river carp fishing when mixed with gravel for an increased weight. In muddy rivers the fluo particles are a must.

The series consists of five different groundbaits distinguished with an XT label and unique numbers.

SELECTOR XT 11

A groundbait which is orange in colour and made with a sweet fruity aroma mix. Good in warming water.

SELECTOR XT 21

A groundbait of natural colour which made with a marzipan-cream aroma mix. Good in summer and in warm waters.

SELECTOR XT 31

A yellow groundbait with a pineapple-based aroma mix. Good in summer and in warm waters.

SELECTOR XT 41

A red groundbait made with a mix of fine tropical fruit aromas. Very good from early spring to late autumn.

SELECTOR XT 51

A groundbait for the full season, which is dark brown in colour and mixed with unique aromas.


Next to the Big Carp series we have completed our range of carp groundbaits with three new products. One of them is the Carp Carruba which will be a massive seller of the year, I hope.

 

The Carp Carruba groundbait

 

The carruba is used as an additive in our carp groundbaits for a long while, but it was completely out of reach as a syrup or in pellet form. Now we can get these additives to make a premium quality carp groundbait.

The fruit of the CARRUBA tree native in Spain and on the south slopes of Mediterranean is quite sweet and somewhat similar to the cacao. Its legume is similar to the bean, and we use the legume in cut-up form and the sueezed syrup as additives to this carp groundbait. This syrup has no strong smell, its taste is the essential factor. The resulting groundbait we have mixed with the ingredients is very sweet and smells of carruba, and contains carruba pellets of 6 mm (a slowly dissolving pellet made of carruba fruit).

 

The C.S.L. Carp groundbait

 

The C.S.L. Carp is a special carp fishing groundbait which is based on the well-tried Corn Steep Liquor additives. The main components are the CSL pellet and its ingredients. A following additive is a good portion of ‘tourteau de mais' and contains some CSL liquid for an enhanced taste. The slowly dissolving C.S.L. pellet keeps carps on the feeded area for a longer period. It can be used as a groundbait, or with cage or method feeder.

And finally, our carp groundbait now can be reached in red colour and in a superb taste.

 

The red Carp groundbait

It is a carp groundbait composed with a sour cherry like aroma mix. A course-grained groundbait which is red in colour and contains high quality additives, for example various derivatives of maize, oily seeds, soya flour and natural aromas. A unique additive can be found in our every quality groudbaits which is a taste enhancer and make the groundbait a bit salty in taste. This flavour speed up the spreading of the aromas in water and intensifies the pulling effect of the groundbait. Special coarse-grained, red English breadcrumb is also used for our carp groundbaits which tasty particles have a high protein content (soya and maize gluten).

We have a new groundbait for breams and silvers:

 

Red Bream/Silverfish with liquorice

 

A good quality groudbait for silvers can be only mixed with the finest ingredients, and it determines the cost. In our groundbaits for silvers we use only natural spices and spice mixes and extracts. Two years ago we have get to know a Mediterranean tree called liquorice, and an extract made from its root. During the intense tests we reached good results fishing for silvers and crucian carps in the whole season. This premium quality, sweet groundbait which is red in colour is composed of fine-grained meals and a lot of oily seeds is equally good for pleasure or competition fishing.

Our new groundbait for river fishing is not a cheap one but its quality components are worth the money.

 

River Crysalis-a groundbait for river fishing with high crysalis content

 

This is a premium quality groundbait with a high crysalis and cheese content, and composed specially for river fishing. We recommend mainly for fishing for barbel, ide and nase on competitions. It is a proved and very popular groundbait in Italy among the competition anglers in river fishing for scardola and barbels.

A new feeder groundbait is introduced:

 

The red Special Feeder

 

It is a finely grained, red groundbait with tutti-frutti and honey aromas and with a lot of light particles. The aroma is irresistible for cyprinids. Equally good for fishing with cage or method feeders.

Our "yellow-bag" groundbaits are totally renewed. The packaging is much more attractive, but we preserved the "yellow-bag" symbol, and we improved the quality of the groundbait, of course.

 

 

 

The "yellow-bag" groundbaits

 

There will be two new items on the list of groundbaits: the Caramel and the Green Lucerne groundbaits. The first is aromatized with a fine caramel additive-a proved aroma of carp fishing. The strong smell and taste of the caramel aroma pulls the fish to our swim even from great distance. A sticky groundbait good also for cage or for method feeder fishing.

The other novelty is a special groundbait for grass carp fishing. The high green lucerne content makes it irresistible for grass carps. The green lucerne additive was developped strictly following our requirements and was refined on the base of test results. It incredibly selects between fish, although the common carps also love it. Can be mixed with other groundbaits for an increased pulling power.

At the end of the last year we have brought in some groundbaits in bucket.

 

 

Groundbait in bucket

 

Four entirely new carp fishing groundbaits can be bought in economical from, that is, in large buckets. Three of these quality groundbaits have quite unusual aromas, but the flavourings proved to be very catch during the extensive test fishings. Good groundbaits for cage or method feeder fishing , too.

VANILLA: Our spicy vanilla additive ensures good cathes independently of the season. A great advantage of the aroma is that it can be mixed to any groundbait.

TIRAMISU: An entirely new additive (so far) on the market of aromas with absolute new smell and taste. The very pleasant coffee-cream-mascarpone aroma is highly appreciated by fish.

TROPIC: A groundbait aromatized with a unique mix of fruit aromas, especially good during the summer months.

EXOTIC: The mix of some tropical fruit aromas makes this groundbait irresistible for carps during the period from spring to autumn.

In my view, the feeding seeds gain more and more ground, mainly the natural seeds and seed mixes which do not contain any preservatives. Some sort of processing, that is, boiling or acidification is needed of course, which increases the pulling power of the seeds, too.

The acidification of seeds and seed mixes with lactic acid is our own invention, and the process makes unnecessary to use any preservatives. When the fermantation is started and the seeds absorb that strong smell, we stop the process and pack the seeds under protective atmosphere. These products last only for a limited time. The pulling power on carps and grass carps is beyond belief, mainly in hot summer waters. Equally good for pre-feeding before the fishing and for continuous feeding during the fishing, or can be used as a hook bait, or can be presented on a hair rig.

Next to the well known mixes we have two new seed mixes:

 

 

 

Carp-Mix and Grass Carp-Mix. The later contains our reedgrass/sedge extract-a popular product of the last year.

 

We have taken a great leap forward in the field a pellet making. But we do not want to imitate other manufacturers in our products, so we have introduced some very special products. These are not our own products, of course, we buy pellets - developped specially for the taste of carps - from foreigh manufacturers
 

 

8-mm carp pellet

 

Made in Italy pellets of 8-mm size with nutritives optimalized to the taste of carps. They have high vegetable and animal protein content (like fish meals), and the oil content is also high, but only with a little fatty acid. The pellets attract fish relatively quickly, because they get softer in short time (15-40 minutes), but they keep their original shape during long hours.

These attracting, big and soft chunks are loved by fish in any seasons of the year. During the early spring and the late autumn (in waters cooler than 15 °C) the strawberry or pineapple flavoured versions can be exceptionally effective, while in warmer waters the ‘great classical' Frankfurter sausages version is a must. During the several test fishing in various Hungarian waters it has been cleared that these pellets are liked by all silver fish, and not only by the carps. They make our ground bait more effective even in waters where fish has never met with pellets.

We take in two different sizes these made-in-England, drilled carp pellets:

 

 

The 12-mm and 16-mm drilled carp pellets

 

The TOP MIX pre drilled pellets are composed according to a complex recipe, and all the ingredients are precisely measured out. Its fish and meat meal, and alga and craw meal content are worth mentioning, among which the fish meal is the dominant. The very high amount of clean protein (40 %) and the moderate fish oil content make these pellets to be a unique food for fish. They can find these pellets quickly and feed confidently. Due to their size (12 and 16 mm in diameter) and the strong smell the pellets select the big fish, and especially good when we are searching for the real specimens. Really good in warming and warm waters (above 15 °C). During the early spring and the late autumn (in waters cooler than 15 °C) the strawberry or pineapple flavoured versions can be exceptionally effective, while in warmer waters the ‘great classical' Frankfurter sausages version is a must. This catchy bait can be used az a hookbait. Being pre drilled it can be tied to the hook with a hair forming a hair-rig. They get softer in 2-4 hours (depending on the temperature of the water), but they keep their original shape.

These pellets are also sold in re-closable containers packed with free silicone rings. So you do not need to buy a one kg bag.

 

 

The original Magic Pellet packed with silicone rings

 

 

 

The 8-mm pellets packed with silicone rings

 

 

 

The 12-mm drilled pellets packed with silicone rings

 

 

The 16-mm drilled pellets packed with silicone rings

 

Our feeding pellets get more and more popular. Now we have two new products next to the well known MCS feeding pellets.

 

 

The 12-mm C.S.L. pellet in a bucket

 

CSL (Corn Steep Liquor) is the name of one of the most successful pellets of the West European carp anglers, and get more and more popular among the anglers who have a recipient mind. These pellets dissolve quickly in water and pull fish from distance to your swim. The CSL pellets exhale a strong aroma during dissolution. It can be bought in two different sizes, namely 12 and 6 mm in diameter, the 12-mm version sold in 4-kg buckets while the 6-mm version sold in 800-g bags.

They can be used directly to feeding or boilie prefeeding, even put in a PVA bag.

The total dissolution time is 1 hour.

 

 

Carruba pellets and C.S.L. pellets

 

The carruba is a fruit of a tree native on the south slopes of Mediterranean. The legume of the fruit is used which is sweetish and has a high carbohydrate and protein content. It is mainly used for feeding domestic animals, but it is an ingredient of some candies and drinks, too. A long time ago its seeds were used as substitute for cacao.

The sweet, fermented smell of the pellet is much loved by carps when the waters are enough warm. It dissolves slowly, in one or two hours, approx.

A very good idea to mix it in some proportion to the ground bait. Thanks to the slow dissolution it keeps fish in your swim for a longer period.

In grinded form it can be a good sweetener and flavouring for boilie making.

I hope that our Blodworm Pellet will be a big hit. It is sure that fish adore it. When we wanted to measure its dissolution time in an aquarium the fish eaten the pellets immediately.

 

 

Made-in-England bloodworm pellets of 3-mm in diameter

 

Bloodworm is an incredibly effective bait for any freshwater fish, and we feel that it is a must to bring in a pellet with real bloodworm content, and not with some cheap bloodworm aroma. We want to offer a pellet which display a permanent effect on the fish during its dissolution. We were not satisfied with a passing effect. Our bloodworm pellet pulls fish during several hours after we have thrown it into the water. The pellet reach in proteins and enzymes and radiates its stimulating particles and whets the appetite of the fish. The red cloud in the water around the pellets pull the fish from distance, and they even ransack the feeded area for bloodworms.

We have enlarged our supply in the field of complete, that is, ready-to-use groundbaits, because we know that in this accelerated world anglers have less and less time to prepare groundbaits and they do not want to throw out the remained groundbait after a fishing.

Two new, ready-to-use groundbaits were composed from new ingredients in three different versions.

 

 

 

A mix made of crushed seeds

 

A mix of all-natural ingredients much loved by carps: crushed seeds binded together with ‘tourteau de mais'. It is a dampened, ready-to-use mix which do not need additional dampening. The mix dissolves slowly in the water and its small particles form a cloud attracting the fish. It can be used directly for ground baiting, or for cage or method feeders.

Natural or flavoured with vanilla or strawberry aromas.

It lasts for 2 years.

 

 

Seed-Mix, acidulated with lactic acid

 

A mix of natural ingredients and acidulated seeds much loved by carps. The seeds are binded together with ‘tourteau de mais'. We have invented an acidification process with the use of lactic acid. The taste and smell of the acidulated seeds increase the pulling power of your groundbait. The mix dissolves slowly in the water and its small particles form a cloud attracting the fish. It can be used directly for ground baiting, or for cage or method feeders.

There is a special mix for grass carp fishing with a high lucerne content.

It lasts for 60 days.

The following baits made of natural ingredients were designed with the demands of feeder and boilie anglers in mind.

 

 

Bait Balls

 

The Bait Balls are ready-to-use groundbait balls of approx. 40 mm diameter in airtight packaging. The Bait Ball is made of crushed and whole seeds binded together with a special mix of meals originated from selected seeds. Made of 100 % natural ingreedients.

You can fire a Bait Ball even at 100 metre with a good catapult. We save a lot of time to you, because you do not have to take the trouble to prepare the groundbait and to make uniform balls which is essential to a precise feeding.

Due to the special composition of the balls, they dissolve slowly in the water, and hold the fish on the feeding for a longer period.

The Bait Balls are best before 1 year in the original packaging.

 

 

Mini Balls made of seeds

 

The Mini Balls are made of 22 mm in diameter. Their composition is the same as the composition of the Bait Balls, that is, they are made of natural seeds and meals thereof.

They do not contain any preservative, and reach the quality of the best boilies.

The Mini Balls can be presented on a hair-rig. The dissolution time is 4-7 hours.

The fine meals used to form a Mini Ball dissolve continuously in the water, and fish feel quickly their taste and smell.

The manufacturing process and the packaging preserve all the essential features of the ingredients, like their taste, smell, etc.

The Mini Balls are highly recommended when you have only a few hours for fishing. They are promising when the Bait Balls were used to prepare a feeding area.

 

Now we have "only" one new additive the fluo breadcrumb.

 

Fluo Bread Crumb in different colours

 

A special and unique additive is the bread crumb in fluo colours. Due to the very bright colour and the sweet taste these crumbs are irresistible for the fish. They can be seen even in the muddy, darker waters, which great visibility enhances the pulling power of these particles. On the field tests it has been proved that the coloured particles do not make the fish afraid, only make them curious. A good additive also to ground baits for river fishing.

Our new BigCarp XT groundbaits are made with these additives.

We have two new, unique 500-ml liquid aromas:

 

 

Sweetcorn and Brasem additives

 

Carp fishing additive made of sweetcorn to give the smell and taste of the finest sweetcorn to our groundbait and other baits.

The liquid Brasem additive is the classical bream aroma in liquid form. It proves its quality on competitions since several years. Up to now it could be reached only in pulverised form, but now we have made the much finer liquid version.

Finally I have to mention our bottled sweetcorn which will be reach in the tastes of pineapple and Frankfurter sausages.

 

József Papp
 

- First of all let's talk on the long poles, which are usually the top products of the factories, and they clearly show the nivo of that factory.

The full INVENTOR series will be in production, and we supplement the series with the new INVENTOR 318 pole. It's an 11-m-long pole and an improved version of the ASTERX 416 pole. In the year 2009 we will fit our long poles into the STRADIVARI, ISIS and T-REX series. The first steps in this direction are the 508 and 608 poles from the T-REX CARPERIOR series, which are on the market since last summer. These are high quality carp fishing poles which have trully incredible strength. They are built on the same mandrels, so the sections are interchangeable between the two poles.

 

 

I should note that I've won the US fishing championship with a CARPERIOR 608 pole. The ISIS rod series will be also extended with an ALLROUND pole for carp or even for competition fishing.

 

 The ISIS ALLROUND long pole

 

And last, but not least I've to talk on the STRADIVARI ALLROUND pole. After two years of continuous effort a top quality pole was born which is equally good for competition fishing, carp fishing or for fishing on rivers. I think, it's a unique product on the market which fulfills all these different requirements. There is no need for buying two poles, one for fishing on competititons and an another for carp fishing. It tells a lot about the pole that it's ‘down force', measured at 1 metre from it's end is only 3485 g.

 

 STRADIVARI ALLROUND take-apart pole

 

The STRADIVARI rod series will be uncanged in this year, because it contains only top quality rods which we'll supply for several years.

The ISIS Bolognese rod collection will be extended with a 5-m-long Bolo, the SVELTE 5.00, which can be used like a tele-match rod, too. From now on, the EXQUISIT match rod collection has a 4.5 metre long member. A new rod is the 3 metre long TRAVEL SPIN spinning rod, which has for sections. All the ISIS rods are durable, slim tapered, light and have an elegant design.

The T-REX series will be also extended due to the high demand for extremely durable and not too expensive rods. The introduction of new models has been started on last summer with the T-REX River Feeder rods which are made for river fishing and for big-fish anglers.

 

 

 

The following new member of the series was the T-REX Carp Match SQ rod which is an improved version of the well known Carp Match rod.

 

 T-REX Carp Match SQ

 

And now, we introduce the 2.4 and 2.7 metre long catfish rods.

 

 T-REX Power Catfish

 

Of course, all the new rods have to pass severe field tests; we are able to go even at the breaking of the rod. Some pictures of the tests:

 

 Catfish rod under 5 kg of load

 

 Catfish rod under 10 kg of load

 

 Catfish rod near the breaking...

 

 ... when it broke!

 

 Travel Spin 40-80 g, under 5 kg of load

 

 T-REX Carp Match 10-30 g, under 3 kg of load

 

A last note on the rods: all our rod series consist of quality products made by manufacturers who do exactly what I want them to do, in every detail,  and who have a very good quality control. I don't want to replace rods in my collection in every year. And I want to assure my customer that he can by a second piece from his lovely rod even after 2 or 3 years.

- I'm firmly convinced. What kind of new accessories will be expected?

- Radical changes can be waited in the field of rod holdalls and carryalls. Our guidelines are the quality and the long lifetime. We introduce the LUXURY rod holdalls and carryalls. They go by the requirements of anglers who like top quality products, and who want to keep their expensive fishing equippments in rod holdalls and various bags of high standard.

 

 LUXURY rod holdalls

 

The products belong to the Team TOP MIX series are also of high quality, and I hope that all the TOP MIX fans keep their equippments in these bags with satisfaction.

 

 Team TOP MIX rod holdalls and carryalls

 

We offer also two well-made bags for spin-fishing.

 

 Bags for spin-fishing

 

- I've examined the bags, and they are truly well-done and are very practical. I've seen that even on the zipper we can find the TOP MIX logo.

- Yes, I want to take care of the minute details.

- Let's go on! What other new products do you have?

- The floats. We've improved in the production of fishing floats. They are developped for anglers who like our products, and we want to take into account the requirements of the foreign competitors. We have no hundreds of different floats, but all our floats are made of the highest precision. We introduce the STRADIVARI match float which has peacock stem. And we'll have a Carp Float loaded waggler with multicolor antenna and interchangeable weights.

 

 STRADIVARI Waggler and Carp Float

 

We made for the carp pole anglers two line-through-the-body floats called LACY and JOCY. The only difference between the two floats is in the diameter of the antenna. Both of them have a hollow plastic antenna which has enough buoyancy to hold the bait.

We made a float series also for river fishing, in 2-10 g sizes. These are line-through-the-body floats with hollow antenna and a body of the most suitable shape. For fishing with holding the bait slightly back on rivers.

 

 River Float and Carp Match floats

 

The TIBY float is the right tool for delicate fishing. It has a fine fibre bristle to indicate even the tiniest bites, and good for still or slow moving waters.

 

 TIBY floats

 

- Do you think, that there is a high claim to your floats when one can buy million types of cheap floats in the shops?

- I say that the good products can find their owner.

- I see here a nice fishing box. Wheather it will be reached?

- It's a small fishing seatbox with back-rest, and designed mainly for feeder anglers. It don't require much room in the angler's car. We supply it with a fully adjustable rod rest. It can be used for other fishing methods, of course. I also have such a fishing box, and I can say that it's equally good for fishing with a telescopic pole or with a match rod.

 

 Feeder fishing box

 

For assembling our rigs I promise this small table of adjustable legs.

 

 Small table

 

And for making those rigs we can use four different scissors or a pair of multi-purpose scissors.

 

 Multi-purpose scissors

 

We have a new groundbait mixing bowl, which has low walls to help the mixing of groundbait or loam.

 

 Bowl and bucket

 

We have two adaptors, one to attach quickly something to the seat box, or to fix the head to the landing net handle. And an other one which can be fixed in various directions.

 

 Adaptors

 

We have dealt with the clothing, and we can offer for our customers T-shirts and caps in several colours at a moderate price. Our polos are equipped with a small pocket, and made of quality material.

 

 Polos and Caps

 

We've taken care of anglers who store their equippment at home. A pinewood made rod rest is the ideal solution to store our rods in the livingroom. They can even be the pride of the home - at least for the angler.

 

 Rod rests for 13 and 26 rods

 

It can be possible that one or two things are missed from the list, but you can find everyting on my home page.

- Thank you for the detailed review of new products. We'll talk a bit on the groundbaits next time.

                                                                                                                                                GD.