North American waters are challenging for many reasons. The larger lakes and rivers not only require a step up in tackle but can be especially problematic when trying to set up your alarms and indicators. Strong currents and undertow will often result in ‘bobbin creep’ which will invariably trigger false beeps which are particularly annoying if you are trying to get some rest and even more so if it means you are simply not registering that initial interest from a fish in your swim.

Tension wire indicators have proven popular in Europe over the years for big water carping especially at long range. However adjusting the tension or adapting them for smaller waters and greater sensitivity is a limitation. Heavily weighted swingers & bobbins require continual adjustment and subject to swinging around in windy conditions.

In early 2014 I was about to head to Romania for the Big 5 Carp competition and was in the market for something better suited to big waters. As luck would have it I saw a set of the just launched Prologic Windblades at a European carp show and realized these would be an ideal choice.

The clever design allows them to function either as a ‘swinger’ when minimal weight is required on the line such as in margin fishing or with a twist of a thumb screw set-up to act as a tension style indicator to combat excess current or drag typical in windy conditions. The tension can be set over a reasonable range to ensure the optimal resistance.

The heads come in a choice of colors and each has a spring ball line clip that can be adjusted for tension with a small side screw plus there is a slot for a small isotope. The Windblades drilled mount sits easily around the alarm bolt or D-Lok screw and have a quick disconnect clip so you can easily detach and store them safely at the end of a session or when you want to revert to a traditional bobbin style or other indicator.

 

I’ve now been using them now for over 3 years and they have truly proven themselves as ideal for North American waters. As many of you know I’m a long time Delkim alarm fan and in combination with the Windblades I’ve been able to get the best possible set up in some of the most adverse conditions.

 

On the last night of the 2016 CT Carp Tournament a sudden and violent wind kicked up sending gear flying everywhere. Amazingly, after reducing the sensitivity only slightly, my Delkim’s only beeped when I got a drop back as a carp picked up my bait on its journey upstream. I’ve repeated this on numerous occasions and found that undertow, wave action and wind blasts can be neutralized from giving false beeps while any fish activity can be instantly detected. While friends have been up and down all night checking their lines due to incessant beeps I’ve been able to sleep peacefully with my receiver next to me confident that when it does go off it will be a fish and not a false alarm!

Here Enrico Parmeggiani describes the background and design.