The best fishing gadgets | Angling Times

Techne Angling Pro No-Twist Hook Tyer is a CNC-machined, UK-made hooklength tyer designed to produce accurate, twist-free spade end hooklengths. Robust, smooth in operation and a strong modern alternative to the old Gizmo-style hook tying tools.

It feels like a well thought out evolution of a proven idea. It is not trying to compete with the inexpensive hook tyers many anglers already own. Instead it offers a premium, UK-made solution for anglers who want precision, consistency and ease when tying batches of spade end hooks.

I was very impressed with the quality and operation from the off. Everything feels robust and controlled in use. One thing I noticed immediately compared with my old Gizmo was the lack of flex under tension. The Gizmo has always had a slight tendency to move when tightening down and, while that does not stop it doing the job, it can occasionally leave you with a hooklength that comes out fractionally shorter than the pegs in the hook box, meaning it only fits because the line stretches slightly.

If you struggle to tie spade end hooks by hand, or simply want more precision when tying batches of hooklengths, the Techne Angling Pro No-Twist Hooklength Tyer is a seriously interesting bit of kit.

These front weight-loaded, easy casting, lead-free alloy Hybrid style feeders have a unique feature in the form of a line-friendly rubber line clip that is situated towards the rear and side area of the feeder body.

The clip traps the line to ensure that your bait is held in place not only during the cast, but also as your feed breaks down in the water, ensuring ultimate hookbait presentation at all times. Once a fish has taken the bait and is hooked, the line easily and safely releases every time from the hooklength clip.

The Embed Feeder’s deep body and sides hold plenty of feed and prevent premature spillage on to the lakebed, while the angled vents along the bottom of the feeder base protect the payload on impact with the water, still allowing for water ingress and a guaranteed breakdown and quick release of feed. The removable stem configuration makes them fishable inline and, as a running rig, they are compatible with all MAP stems.

Available in small, medium and large sizes, with weights from 24g to 42g.

The Spomb must be one of the most widely used baiting devices in modern day carp angling. Since its release it has been a staple on carp waters up and down the country from rock hard pits to runs waters, even growing in popularity amongst specimen and match anglers too.  

It revolutionised how accurately and efficiently an angler can bait a swim, allowing a whole range of baits from boilies and particles to slop and maggots to be deposited into the lake. Thanks to its clever closing mechanism the bait is totally encapsulated and the days of “spod spill” are gone forever, they also cast incredibly well allowing anglers to bait further than ever before. 

Available in three different sizes, Mini, Midi and Large, the Spomb has something in the range for everyone depending on how far and how much bait you want to apply.

We have all been in a situation where a Daiwa N’ZON Pellet Bander has been or would prove to be incredibly useful. Days when it’s raining, we have wet hands from catching fish or just don’t have the patience or coordination to open up the little bait bands, a pellet bander is a genius product. 

Gone are the days of pellets firing off in every imaginable direction when trying to be banded, this gadget helps open up the bait band so a pellet can be added in seconds. They are also great for other baits like dead maggots too. 

Available from every manufacturer in all shapes and sizes we find this to be the best one and as a bonus, it floats so no more losing them in the lake!

The Drennan Hook Tyer is one of the simplest yet most commonly used gadgets when an angler is using spade end hooks. The whipping knot to tie spade end hooks can be difficult, especially with smaller hooks or for those who have difficulty with their eye sight, but the Drennan Hook Tyer makes light work of any size and any pattern you want to tie. 

It can be fiddly to get used to, but once you have mastered it you can tie spade end hooks with your eyes closed in less than 15 seconds. Not only does this take the headache out of tying them up on the bank, it also allows for easy preparation of multiple hooklengths too. 

The hook tyer is available in one size and will accommodate any hook from a size 2 to a 26, they are virtually indestructible too, mine celebrated its 10th birthday not long ago and looks brand new.

A disgorger is an absolute must own gadget if you do any sort of angling. This simple yet incredibly useful tool will help remove a hook if the fish has been deep-hooked. It works so effectively and is so cheap there is no excuse for not having one with you at all times. 

Simply sliding the disgorger onto the line, twisting a little to lock it into place and then pushing it down to the hook to pop it out. With practice you will be able to unhook fish really quickly with no damage at all so it can swim off happily.

The Korum Starlight Holder is a great gadget for those specimen anglers who like to stay fishing after dark. The holder fits over the rod tip and thanks to its multi-fit system, it will fit the majority of feeder and babel rods.

Once attached, you can slide an isotope or starlight into the rubber sleeve to give instant, illuminated bite detection. The shape of the holder helps straighten up the light to give the user maximum visibility whilst in use and prevents line wrapping around it on the cast.

Whether you have spooled up new line or caught a lot of fish, your line can become twisted. The Gardner Spin Doctor offers a really easy and quick way to help untwist any mainline you have on your reels. 

The special grooves in the lead help it spin when you retrieve it through water, pulling out any twist that may be present in your line. A few casts, even with a heavily twisted mainline is all that is needed to have it looking limp and new again. The aerodynamic shape helps the leads really fly, so you should be able to take all the twist out of the line that you would normally be using in a fishing situation. 

Available in a 20g, 40g, 70g and 100g version to allow you to get the line out as far as possible.

If you’re a keen match angler, a Preston Offbox 36 Snaplok Toolbar is a vital gadget to own, especially at fisheries where multiple keepnets and big weights are common. The clever extending toolbar has three accessory blocks (more can be added) where nets can be quickly clipped into place, great if you need to move nets or swap nets during a match. 

The special cube shaped adapters can be screwed onto and left on your keepnets which makes the whole process of attaching them even more efficient. The toolbar simply slides onto the front legs of your seatbox or chair footplate giving a solid, compact way of organising your nets.

If you want to get a nice spread of boilies way beyond catapult range, the Korda Eazi Stik is an invaluable gadget that will propel boilies well over 100 yards with practice. This throwing stick, as they are commonly referred to, is very lightweight and comes in a range of diameters to accommodate certain size baits.

By simply putting one or more baits into the stick the user then throws the stick forwards, very similar to a cast, which launches the bait up and out into the lake. It helps create a nice wide area of single baits to trick wary fish into feeding. If you don’t want to use a spod, this is the only way to get boilies out any distance over 50 yards.

The Nash Bushwhacker Pro Baiting Pole system is the ultimate baiting pole on the market, which with add on sections can be shipped as far as you are willing to push it. This pole really does make your fishing much more accurate and can safely position rigs in places where casting is impossible, somewhere the carp won’t be expecting it.

The kit comes with the spoon and 15m of pole, but the Pro version now has improved features on the spoon itself to make fishing that bit easier still. There is now a headlight mount, allowing you to clip a headtorch onto front of the spoon so you can ship out with ease and accuracy during darkness. There’s also a leading arm to help you locate spots.

Storing hooklengths doesn’t come any easier than the Preston Mag Store System, especially useful if you like to use pre-tied hooklengths for your angling. Thanks to the individual winders the hooklengths come on, they can be simply added to the Mag Store System via the magnet that is attached, helping to lock them into place. 

No longer do you have to take hooklengths home and remove them from the packet and manually load them onto the pegs, you simply choose the ones you want for your days fishing, take the winder out of the pack and load it into you Mag Store. 

Manufactured with a hard, waterproof case, they are available in a range of sizes to suit any anglers’ needs. A simple yet brilliant hooklength storage system.

If you like dobbing bread or using baits like meat, then the Guru Bait Punch Set is exactly what you need. There are 4 sizes in the set, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm and 12mm to allow you to be versatile with your bait size depending on the conditions and thanks to their metal design they easily and cleanly cut through baits.

The punch also features a press to allow you to push the bait out once it has been punched, this is ideal as it stops baits like meat getting stuck in the punch whilst also making it more user friendly in the cold weather. The punches will last you ages as they are well built, well designed and come in a rubber carrier to keep them safe and secure.

The Deeper Pro+ 2 is an electronic, castable sonar device that has a multitude of uses for the angler who fishes from the bank or boat. Whilst it will display if there are fish in the swim, the majority of anglers use the Deeper as a feature finding tool and it is really useful for mapping out new lakes.

The Deeper will show you the depth up to 100m, water temperature and help identify what the substrate is on the bottom. Thanks to its built in WIFI, it works in tandem with your smartphone to reveal in real time what the parameters are of a given spot, so you don’t have to reel in to find out what the information is. Ideal for using with zigs too, as it saves casting a marker out if there are fish in the area or you are short on time.

If you fish longer sessions, or work from the bank, a Ridgemonkey Vault C Smart Powerpack will help keep all your devices charged and ready to go. The premium grade lithium battery can charge multiple items at once, whether that be phones, headtorches or laptops and it will charge them up to 12 times faster than a standard 5w powerbank.

The power packs also have wireless charging compatibility, which makes them so much easier to use on the bank, reducing the amount of clutter and trailing wires. Available in 3 sizes and a Camo or Green colouration, they are a must have item if you spend a lot of time on the bank!

With strict net limits and match weights increasing all the time, a Preston Offbox Triple Clicker is without doubt a match anglers’ best friend. With each fish caught an angler can register the weight of the fish in a certain net, stopping you losing track and going over the net limit, which can lead to disqualification. With three clickers included, you can keep a record of multiple nets, great when you have to split silvers and carp.

The clickers attach to your seatbox legs, which stops them rolling around on your side tray and because it’s in sight, it prevents you forgetting to click fish. They are also available in a single option for those who just like to keep a tally of their fish or like to record numbers rather than weight.

The Matrix Digital Clicker is a multifunctional tool designed to enhance the angling experience. It combines a stopwatch and weight/fish clicker into a single, compact device, making it a valuable asset for not just competition anglers, as it provides and records vital data to improve your angling.

How many times have you lost a baiting needle or not had a drill to change baits, well the Wychwood Multi Tool looks to put an end to the hours of searching for such items only to lose them again just after you’ve used them.

The tool consists of a baiting needle, heavy latch needle, bait drill, puller stool, stripper tool and a fine latch needle, not only will this save you a fortune buying the items individually, but it also offers a nice compact way of combining loads of useful tools.

The heads are interchangeable, great if there are certain tools you want to duplicate, and it makes for easy substituting if something breaks. The bright colours also stop you losing or misplacing the Mutli Tool, even after dark.

The Fox Edges Rapide PVA Bag System makes tying solid PVA bags so much simpler and quicker, great when the fish are feeding or if you want to tie up multiple bags before a session. It makes for a fool proof way of fishing in this style and ensures the bags are uniform and aerodynamic for casting. 

The special loader and quality bags can have experienced users tying up a bag in less than one minute, they will make any anglers’ life easier and help take away the fiddly nature that is tying up a solid bag. The way the bag is sealed means you don’t need to add PVA tape to tie it off and the loader comes in two sizes depending how big or small you like the bag to be.

Accuracy is important with any fishing and thanks to the Guru Distance Sticks you can be more accurate than ever before. When feeder fishing or carp fishing, you no longer have to count the reel turns or walk the lead and the Spomb out to the same distances, not only is this impractical in many swims, but it can also be easily miscounted or lead to tangles.

These sticks eliminate the need for these methods, by spacing them one rod length apart (or use the string provided) you simply find the area you want to fish then clip up, come back to your sticks and wrap the line around them, counting as you go until you hit the clip. In the event of a line breakage or after catching a fish you can simply re-wrap the line to the number you counted originally and clip the line back up. Thanks to the machined grooves they keep the line tight and prevent tangles.

A super quick way of being accurate and getting one or multiple rods cast to the same distance.

If you are very particular about the sharpness of your hook, it may be worth investing in a Nash Pinpoint Hook Doctor. This gadget is a mechanised hook sharpener, which powers a sharpening stone to spin at high-speed allowing you to push the hook up against it to sharpen the point. 

This reduces the chance of you blunting the hook and makes it much less labour intensive to touch up the point, it’s also useful for big, thick hooks that are used in sea fishing. The stone will spin clockwise or anticlockwise, allowing the user to be completely comfortable whether left or right-handed and thanks to the hardened material, it will sharpen hooks for years to come.

The OMC Magic Wand is a revolutionary self-triggering device designed to help increase the chance of hooking fish when using a bolt rig. Working on a spring-loaded system, “The Magic Wand” will trigger causing the hooklength to tighten up when the fish pulls the hook with enough force. This pulls the hook into the mouth leading to less chance of a fish shaking the hook out when it sucks in the hookbait. 

The sizes, Light, Medium and Heavy are dictated by how much force is required by the fish to trigger the mechanism, giving you the ability to tailor it to your fishing situation.

Rite Weigh are a lightweight set of scales that fits between your landing net pole and net head, allowing you to weigh each fish as you return it to the water or lower it into a keepnet.

Primarily designed to prevent match anglers from going over their keepnet limit and getting disqualified, it can also be used by pleasure anglers to quickly see the weight of their fish. They might not accurately weigh your PB, but to know the approximate weight of your fish instantly, without transferring it between nets, is incredibly useful. Each scale is calibrated to a wet standard 20ins net.

The Preston 1.4L Stainless Flask, is constructed from stainless steel, this ensures it can withstand the rigours of outdoor use, while the screw-off cup facilitates easy pouring and refilling. The foldable handle provides a secure grip for carrying the flask to and from your peg.

With a generous 1.4-litre capacity, this flask can keep you hydrated and warm throughout the day by holding plenty of your favourite drink be it tea, coffee, hot chocolate or soup the flask keeps it warm throughout the day, conversely during the warmer months add some ice to your favourite cold drink for it to stay cold and refreshing throughout the day.

The Thermatech 20000mAh Power Bank is a versatile and powerful accessory designed to complement Preston’s Thermatech heated products. With digital display you can keep track of the power capacity remaining.

This high-capacity power bank offers a reliable and efficient way to keep your heated gear powered up, ensuring you stay warm and comfortable during your fishing adventures. It will also charge mobile accessories like your mobile phone, and some cameras (additional cables may be required).

The Thermatech Heated Gilet is a must-have for anglers who prioritise comfort and performance in cold weather conditions. Its targeted heating, comfortable fit, and durable design make it an ideal choice for staying warm and focused during those cold weather sessions.

Equipped with five strategically placed heated elements, it provides targeted warmth where you need it most. Crafted from high-quality materials, the gilet offers a comfortable fit over other layers of clothing. Its durable design features strong zipped pockets, a main zip, and an internal Power Bank compartment for added convenience. With adjustable heating levels, you can customise your warmth based on your preferences and how bad the weather is ensuring optimal comfort.

The Thermatech Heated Seat Cushion is a must have for anglers who want to enjoy their fishing sessions without sacrificing comfort during those cold weather outings. Its combination of heated elements, comfortable padding, and secure attachment make it an essential accessory for cold weather fishing.

It’s 420x310mm size means it will fit on top of seatbox cushions or on chairs, with an external pocket to house a powerbank to power for added convenience. With adjustable heating levels, you can customise your warmth based on your preferences and how bad the weather is ensuring optimal comfort.