Water To Go Bottle Review and River Dane Stick Float Fishing
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update I hope i find you all well and your nets full. A few weeks ago i was approached by a company who enquired if i was interested in writing a review of their product, the Water To Go Bottle, I do get quite a few product reviews and I base my decision on if i can relate this product back to my angling and it also has to be a product that excites myself and this product definitely was ticking box after box so below is my review of the Water To Go Bottle.
Water To Go Bottle Review
Info:
Company Name: Water to Go
Website: http://www.watertogo.eu/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WatertoGoEU?fref=ts
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/WatertoGoUK
Retail Price: £24.95
The Water To Go offers healthy clean water on to go using Space Programme Technology to filter water by utilising tiny pores in its patented filter that are created using nano technology to remove 99.9% of all contaminates from any water source excluding salt water. The company say the water bottle will eliminate Bacteria, Viruses, Chemicals, Protozoa, Fluoride, Chlorine, Pesticides, Waterborne Diseases, Heavy Metals and Bad tastes and Odours in water. The bottles filter is suggested to be an advance from the usual treatment of a chlorine pill to try and remove bacteria from a water source where the chlorine pill would kill but not remove the bugs and bacteria that you would then still go on to consume.
Europe alone consumes 50 million bottles of water a year and of that only 12% are recycled with the remainder dumped in landfill or left to pollute our oceans, killing wildlife and entering the food chain with this filter being able to treat approx 200 litres of water the Water to Go bottle is an Eco Friendly choice.
My Review
Being brutally honest here the very first thing i did upon hearing from the company was to search the Internet to make sure it was genuine and did what it said it was going to do before i even thought about agreeing to say i would run a product review that would involve me drinking water from a river. A simple search on google revealed a magnitude of positive reviews from walking sites and even a review from someone who took their bottle with them for a trek through the Amazon, good enough for that trip then surely the Rivers and taps of the Northwest of England would be no problem, so i happily agreed to do the review.
As with all my reviews on the blog my review of the product and the whole package the company offers starts straight away with how the company present themselves via our emails and how easy they are to deal with and i have to say that yet again this company was a joy to deal with, very helpful and understanding and i imagine that if i did have a problem with the product their customer service would be spot on.
I agreed to do the product review on Thursday morning and the product was there waiting for me after work on the Friday so delivery time was exceptional. My next port of call was the packaging and even thought this product was a mere water bottle that could have been sent lose in the post i imagine it came extremely well packaged in a spacious brown box. Inside the box was the bottle of course and also included were two letters the first containing important information on how to use the product and steps to prepare the filter before use and the next i nice glossy flier explaining in detail just what the bottle did, the flier looked stylish and very modern its appearance and was easy to understand. and again re-enforced the steps to take before use.
The bottle itself was packaged in a simple but cool looking cardboard holder utilising plenty of colour to draw the eye to all the main objectives and benefits of the bottle and on the back the packaging again goes into detail around the facts of what the product offers and benefits as opposed to buying water bottles. I was really impressed with the look if the products packaging.
Removing the bottle from the case i was impressed with the sturdy feel of the bottle and i did not expect the rubber grips around the bottle. The bottle felt of good quality and opening it up the filter, although bulky, reminded me of filter you find inside a bag less hoover. The feel of the bottle did make me feel confident that the product was made of good quality materials and the filter looked up to the job.
The Tests: Test 1: Works Dodgy Water
My first test was the terrible water supply in the building i work in, recently my office has moved into new premises and being on the third floor the water supply leaves a lot to be desired, it has a strange metallic taste to the water and many people in work actually but their own water bottles in from the local supermarket instead of using this "funny tasting" water. I was very aware at this stage that i was not going to be able to prove any of the things the product proclaims to do with science, my views would come down to basic taste and would i have confidence in the product at the end of it.
Before any tasting took place i poured myself a cup full of water on my morning break to remind myself of taste of the water without the bottle, it tasted like water but with a metallic after taste. Lunch break and time for the bottle, pouring the water into the bottle i set off to my desk, brought the bottle to my mouth and took a sip, the water tasted no different at first but then a second or two later after stopping drinking i did notice that there was no metallic after taste and the water was actually nice to drink rather than leaving you worried about what you was drinking.
Before any tasting took place i poured myself a cup full of water on my morning break to remind myself of taste of the water without the bottle, it tasted like water but with a metallic after taste. Lunch break and time for the bottle, pouring the water into the bottle i set off to my desk, brought the bottle to my mouth and took a sip, the water tasted no different at first but then a second or two later after stopping drinking i did notice that there was no metallic after taste and the water was actually nice to drink rather than leaving you worried about what you was drinking.
Test 2 - Down by the River bank
Thursday afternoon and i headed off to the river for a spot of fishing armed with the water to go and two plastic cups i was all set to see what the bottle would do with a few muddy still pools on the sandstone lined and very agricultural banks of the river Dane. Stirring up the bottom so the water resembled a dirty brown colour i tried to replicate what i would possibly find if this river was carrying some water and the water was coloured and i had come across this river as the only source of water to drink. The cup on the left is the water i scooped up and into the bottle it went and i quickly scooped up some more in the cup for the picture. I then squirted the water inside the bottle into a second cup and it was almost like a magic trick as crystal clear water came out and into the other cup.
Now for a taste and apart from being very warm the water tasted fine and being a hot day i took more than a couple of gulps. As said the water did taste warm but that was nothing to do with the bottle but the warm conditions and tasted and tasted very palatable..
Final thoughts:
All in all i was impressed with the bottle to go and will certainly be taking it with me on my summer tips as it will surely save room in my holdall where my bulky flask takes up some serious space being a litre flask. Would i have bought this had i seen it in the shops? Probably not as the £25.00 price would have put me off but now knowing how well it works i think i would buy one and have actually made my mates in work who regularly go climbing and mountain walking to this product for them to use. A stylish product with a nice feel and being a man who loves his gadgets i loved reviewing it.
On to this weeks fishing:
River Dane Stick Float Fishing - Low Flow But Fish Still Show...
This weekend we again headed to the River Dane for our angling fix but as we did we made the decision that barring some major rainfall leaving us with no other option that this would be our last trip to the dane, at least for the next few weeks as a change is well over due. Changing away from this river is really hard though, as is turning away from any river that's steady fishing. The facts are in this river we have found areas where we can almost be guaranteed a net of fish of around 7-10 from a normal session and when you add to that areas where we have found exceptional perch fishing its very hard to justify going to other rivers that in some cases can be all or nothing on the day and further afield petrol wise to boot.
I do feel now though since the season has started we have done out to achieve the goal i set out at the start of having a good go at exploring the full length and breadth of the river dane system although i had hoped for some more varied weather for us to learn how this river fishes with some water in her but i guess with this being England some heavy precipitation is not too far away and soon us river anglers will be complaining about instead of as it is now crying for rain.
On this session i was again desperate to explore if ground bait is the way to go forward on this river so i travelled to the river armed with a bag of Sensas Red Bream ground bait, 2 pints of maggot and a pint of hemp. My rod of choice was my 17ft Carbon Active Rod paired with a Shimano Reel loaded with 5lb line with a hook length of 2lb Bayer Perlon to a size 18 hook and i think the float was a 8 number 4.
In the early morning light it is very hard to see what state the river is in and although i was not worried about levels i was concerned about flow as since our thunder storms last week, that lets face it just wet the floor rather than adding any real water to our rivers, there had been no rain at all to talk about. I knew where to expect bites in the swim but i fed slightly up the line i was going to fish as i full expected there to be little flow and as such i hoped to get the fish within a 10 yard run from my position. So that was my plan so the first thing i did when i arrived was my ground bait and while i set up my rod i began to feed the swim with maggot and periodically with a ball of ground bait loaded with hemp.
The first trots down the swim brought the usual chublets that had intercepted the flow of maggots, during these early morning exchanges with the chublets and tiny roach fry it was noticeable already the amount of fish up in the water feeding, never a good sign for a days trotting as normally these fish are in quite large shoals and with them being just the right size to feed on single maggots it can mean that little or none of your bait is getting down to where your bait is on or near the bottom and they are normally too high up in the water and their bites so fast there hard to hit, as predicted this was the case and led to a very frustrating open to the session for me.
I made a quick change and bulked my weights down the line and also fed the swim with a few bait droppers of maggot so at least knew some bait was on the deck. These changes instantly changed my fortunes and the stamp of fish as first trot down i hit the nice skimmer above. It never ceases to amaze me with not just river float fishing but fishing in general how slight changes can have such dramatic results and the struggle of the first hour and half was well forgotten.
By this time i had been feeding the swim for some time with ground bait so i was confident i had a nice bed of bait but knowing how bream can feed i was not going to hold back and i fed a small ball every other fish and this did seem to get the fish in and keep them coming as roach, skimmers and gudgeon haha began to come with regularity.
As always it takes time for the better fish and roach to establish themselves in the swim and i suppose the same can be said for perch as even the smaller specimens seem to only come in to the swim after a while of feeding. The session was steady for the next hour or so and it built to me hitting two solid fish right over my feed, both were absolutely solid and had me convinced they were big bream as i could not budge either off the bottom of the river bed, it seems weird writing about these two fights as one but they were literally identical. Half way through the fight the resistance lapsed and a weird jagged fish endured with unusual vibrations down the line, my weight showing i was dying to see what i had hooked and then through the gloom came an eel and then the struggle to one get it in the landing net as it swam backwards out time and time again and then unhooking them, luckily i won on both accounts.
I of course knew i was in a prime area for a nice perch and this was not a part of the days fishing i was going to miss out on so and i have learnt a lot of their feeding has to do with the shadows on the water and the cover it provides so knowing where the shadows would be later on in the session i fed the area through out the morning and the time had come to try for one so same as the last session over the fed area i went.
As with last week the bite was not long in coming and as the float rested before slowly sliding away, a sight i have become addicted to i have to admit. The fish was again a lovely specimen of the species and weighing 2lb 5oz would have equalled my river Dee personal best a few weeks ago. These fish have some lovely marking on them and although not as bright as the ones from the clearer river dee once inspected on the bank they have an almost prehistoric dark colour to them. I have got into a set routine with these perch now and it was into the neck of the keep net it went to rest before i captured a few pictures of the school yard bully.
The fish in the keep net as to not spook the rest of the perch i hoped were down there it certainly caused ructions with the shoal of fish i had in my net as they avoided the moody predator in their ranks.
Back out i went and sat like an kingfisher on his perch i waited for the float to move but for a good 40 minutes to an hour nothing happened and it was getting close to wrapping up time that the float shuddered, a movement that travelled up the rod and down my arm like an electricity bolt instantly pricking my attention and getting me glued to my float, one dip, "go on" i said, another dip, "have it!!" i begged and with that the float again skid away and another nice stripey of exactly 2lb was in the keep net ready for its picture to be taken.
After this one i did go to lose a third due to a hook pull but you have to look at the 5-8 other perch i have landed at this point and be glad you got the others in and you always know that one of these was going to come off at one point, i was a little gutted though. The two together a joy to behold and i was privileged to again be given a chance to hold two lovely looking fish.
I have not had a second to think this passed week as there has been a multitude of things going on with the blog but i do hope to get a chance to sit down and have a good luck at the perch pictures to see if these fush are individuals or separate fish as although the weights are different it only takes the fish to have just eaten and digested a 3-6oz roach for their weight to be different.
My final net went just under 8lb of mixed silver fish with those two perch added taking the weight for the day to around 12lb.
my uncles net we forgot to weight but was certainly up an around the 8-10lb mark.
Till next time i wish you all tight lines and look out for next weeks blog where i will be featuring a very exciting product review of the products available from Pondip Tackle Box
Danny
On to this weeks fishing:
River Dane Stick Float Fishing - Low Flow But Fish Still Show...
This weekend we again headed to the River Dane for our angling fix but as we did we made the decision that barring some major rainfall leaving us with no other option that this would be our last trip to the dane, at least for the next few weeks as a change is well over due. Changing away from this river is really hard though, as is turning away from any river that's steady fishing. The facts are in this river we have found areas where we can almost be guaranteed a net of fish of around 7-10 from a normal session and when you add to that areas where we have found exceptional perch fishing its very hard to justify going to other rivers that in some cases can be all or nothing on the day and further afield petrol wise to boot.
I do feel now though since the season has started we have done out to achieve the goal i set out at the start of having a good go at exploring the full length and breadth of the river dane system although i had hoped for some more varied weather for us to learn how this river fishes with some water in her but i guess with this being England some heavy precipitation is not too far away and soon us river anglers will be complaining about instead of as it is now crying for rain.
On this session i was again desperate to explore if ground bait is the way to go forward on this river so i travelled to the river armed with a bag of Sensas Red Bream ground bait, 2 pints of maggot and a pint of hemp. My rod of choice was my 17ft Carbon Active Rod paired with a Shimano Reel loaded with 5lb line with a hook length of 2lb Bayer Perlon to a size 18 hook and i think the float was a 8 number 4.
In the early morning light it is very hard to see what state the river is in and although i was not worried about levels i was concerned about flow as since our thunder storms last week, that lets face it just wet the floor rather than adding any real water to our rivers, there had been no rain at all to talk about. I knew where to expect bites in the swim but i fed slightly up the line i was going to fish as i full expected there to be little flow and as such i hoped to get the fish within a 10 yard run from my position. So that was my plan so the first thing i did when i arrived was my ground bait and while i set up my rod i began to feed the swim with maggot and periodically with a ball of ground bait loaded with hemp.
The first trots down the swim brought the usual chublets that had intercepted the flow of maggots, during these early morning exchanges with the chublets and tiny roach fry it was noticeable already the amount of fish up in the water feeding, never a good sign for a days trotting as normally these fish are in quite large shoals and with them being just the right size to feed on single maggots it can mean that little or none of your bait is getting down to where your bait is on or near the bottom and they are normally too high up in the water and their bites so fast there hard to hit, as predicted this was the case and led to a very frustrating open to the session for me.
I made a quick change and bulked my weights down the line and also fed the swim with a few bait droppers of maggot so at least knew some bait was on the deck. These changes instantly changed my fortunes and the stamp of fish as first trot down i hit the nice skimmer above. It never ceases to amaze me with not just river float fishing but fishing in general how slight changes can have such dramatic results and the struggle of the first hour and half was well forgotten.
By this time i had been feeding the swim for some time with ground bait so i was confident i had a nice bed of bait but knowing how bream can feed i was not going to hold back and i fed a small ball every other fish and this did seem to get the fish in and keep them coming as roach, skimmers and gudgeon haha began to come with regularity.
As always it takes time for the better fish and roach to establish themselves in the swim and i suppose the same can be said for perch as even the smaller specimens seem to only come in to the swim after a while of feeding. The session was steady for the next hour or so and it built to me hitting two solid fish right over my feed, both were absolutely solid and had me convinced they were big bream as i could not budge either off the bottom of the river bed, it seems weird writing about these two fights as one but they were literally identical. Half way through the fight the resistance lapsed and a weird jagged fish endured with unusual vibrations down the line, my weight showing i was dying to see what i had hooked and then through the gloom came an eel and then the struggle to one get it in the landing net as it swam backwards out time and time again and then unhooking them, luckily i won on both accounts.
I of course knew i was in a prime area for a nice perch and this was not a part of the days fishing i was going to miss out on so and i have learnt a lot of their feeding has to do with the shadows on the water and the cover it provides so knowing where the shadows would be later on in the session i fed the area through out the morning and the time had come to try for one so same as the last session over the fed area i went.
As with last week the bite was not long in coming and as the float rested before slowly sliding away, a sight i have become addicted to i have to admit. The fish was again a lovely specimen of the species and weighing 2lb 5oz would have equalled my river Dee personal best a few weeks ago. These fish have some lovely marking on them and although not as bright as the ones from the clearer river dee once inspected on the bank they have an almost prehistoric dark colour to them. I have got into a set routine with these perch now and it was into the neck of the keep net it went to rest before i captured a few pictures of the school yard bully.
The fish in the keep net as to not spook the rest of the perch i hoped were down there it certainly caused ructions with the shoal of fish i had in my net as they avoided the moody predator in their ranks.
Back out i went and sat like an kingfisher on his perch i waited for the float to move but for a good 40 minutes to an hour nothing happened and it was getting close to wrapping up time that the float shuddered, a movement that travelled up the rod and down my arm like an electricity bolt instantly pricking my attention and getting me glued to my float, one dip, "go on" i said, another dip, "have it!!" i begged and with that the float again skid away and another nice stripey of exactly 2lb was in the keep net ready for its picture to be taken.
After this one i did go to lose a third due to a hook pull but you have to look at the 5-8 other perch i have landed at this point and be glad you got the others in and you always know that one of these was going to come off at one point, i was a little gutted though. The two together a joy to behold and i was privileged to again be given a chance to hold two lovely looking fish.
I have not had a second to think this passed week as there has been a multitude of things going on with the blog but i do hope to get a chance to sit down and have a good luck at the perch pictures to see if these fush are individuals or separate fish as although the weights are different it only takes the fish to have just eaten and digested a 3-6oz roach for their weight to be different.
My final net went just under 8lb of mixed silver fish with those two perch added taking the weight for the day to around 12lb.
my uncles net we forgot to weight but was certainly up an around the 8-10lb mark.
Till next time i wish you all tight lines and look out for next weeks blog where i will be featuring a very exciting product review of the products available from Pondip Tackle Box
Danny
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