OUR VERDICT
RARELY in angling does something new come along that will have a genuinely positive effect on your catch rate. TF Gear’s new Airbomb does just that.
On a raw, cold morning at the Carp Society’s Horseshoe Lake in Oxfordshire, TF Gear took the wraps off this exciting new product, which has been under development with anglers of the quality of Dave Lane for the past two years.
My initial impression was that it looks very much like other ‘rod-cast’ feeding systems on the market. However, that thought should be quickly dispelled, because the TFG Airbomb works in an altogether different way.
It opens in mid-air when it hits the reel clip, then lands silently. The distance your feed is propelled forwards when the Bomb hits the clip does vary slightly, depending on the weight of the feed (particles being lighter than boilies), as does the angle and speed of cast.
Nevertheless, this feed spread distance is easily evened out by taking a couple of steps backwards when feeding boilies. What’s more, once you’ve had a few casts with the Airbomb, travel parameters of the feed are quickly worked out. During the trial, I had a few 100-yard casts into open water, and a 50-yard cast towards cover. Both distances proved equally easy to hit, and the Airbomb’s baiting pattern is as good as I could have wished for.
What’s more, it fooled Horseshoe’s legions of gulls, ducks and swans which know just where to sit when bait is being fed via catapults, throwing sticks or airborne devices. This was not only a hugely satisfying thing to behold, but it promised a substantial cash saving, given how much bait is lost to birdlife.
Deploying the Airbomb involves pulling back on the opening pin, filling it with bait, closing the doors and slipping the opening pin (between the rear flight fins) into a metal ring. Not once during the trials did I see the Airbomb open prematurely and spill its contents, nor did it ever fail to open on cue.
For margin and close-quarters tactics the Airbomb can be softly overcast before being reeled back into position. You then give it a sharp flick to open its eject mechanism.
Barring snap-offs you are unlikely to ever lose your Airbomb. My only problem was getting the trial sample back to my car without being spotted!