Customer service is the driving force for Carpones

I was sitting here, in front of the computer, daydreaming about big fish... yes I know... so I decided to start the new year the way I would like it to continue - being by the water with a chance of a big fish.

"Where and when" are two questions Ive yet to answer, but I did realize that the "with what?" question needed answering pretty quick. My last trip to the Ebro had all but wiped out my bait supply, so with all the nightmares of Xmas post coupled with living in the sticks of Spain, right down here in Marbella, I knew I needed to get an order placed pretty quick.

A short email to Andy Mac, a new friend Ive made through blogging. (Andy writes the blog Fish Madrid and its a must read if your planning on fishing around the Madrid area) Andy gave me the contact details of a mate of his called Paco who had recently set up www.carpones.com so I thought Id give it a try.

Its not often that I´m truly impressed with customer service in Spain, we kind of get used to the Spanish "manana" attitude and when a really great customer service experience happens it feels all the more special for being so unique.

I placed the order on Friday night and paid by paypal on the Saturday. Every step of the order process was confirmed by email and Monday afternoon the bait arrived by courier. Cant beat that! Gracias Paco!

His shop is easy to navigate as long as you can find your way in, the "Tienda" link underneath the navigation box on the right side of the screen for non Spanish speakers. Once in, its straightforward enough for anyone to find what they want. There is a great selection of bait from all the top names and plenty of tackle.

Paco speaks English so if your thinking of coming over on a fishing holiday why not drop him an email and see if he could deliver to your holiday destination. Im sure Ill be doing that myself in the future.

Fishing book and gift store My Bivvy

With Christmas just around the corner find the perfect gift for the fisherman in your family at My Bivvy. We have some of the cheapest prices on the web and a fantastic selection for any angler. Click on the picture above to go to our shop.

Some other World Records - Blue Marlin, Tuna

Want to see some Freshwater World Records?

An incredible Blue Marlin with a spear gun



Two amazing videos .. hunting 1000lbs Tuna with a spear gun, in two parts but well worth the watch.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7upjOr4h9s
This is an amazing video using underwater cameras with one on the float, you can actually see the catfish come up from the deep and take the bait. The last scenes of the video he seems to be using a rubber squid type lure and it looks so effective from the under water camera... excellent movie




and something a little unusual from our mexican friends....



and a quick one to finish off.. tight lines

The World Record mirrors and common Carp

World Record Mirror Carp 2006.





And the womens world record a 62.6 lbs common


And the World Record Common




Still photos thanks to Carpgate:
















Would you like to see the New World Record Common Carp caught on 17th December 2006?

sister company to catsncarp - Virtual world 360 launch 360 widget

Sister company to catsncarp launched their first widget, a little thing you stick in your side bar, like the one I have on mine.

They are very cool and I urge you all to have a look and perhaps brighten up your sidebar with one of their tours. They are adding new content every week, but at the moment you can choose from Marbella, Bodo, Oslo and Sierra Nevada, Spain, so you can change the content whenever you want.

Have a look at their gallery to see the latest releases. Its dead simple to do, I had my 360 widget up and running in a few clicks. For blogger users simply go to your template and paste the code into your sidebar and publish.

Here is a few words from virtual world 360 who are luanching the new widget:
Select your destination of choice and click on the tour and watch the stunning panoramas, use your mouse to pan in 360º or zoom with the +- keys. The tour runs for 2 minutes and you can turn off the sound at any time.






BODO - NORWAY
Virtual World 360 tour of Bodo in Norway
which includes 8 x full 360º images and 20 x still images.

A Virtual World 360 tour can be used practically anywhere that accepts
you pasting a tiny piece of HTML code, you can use it in a blog post or in your template, even on your web site. Just click - Get Code then copy and paste, thats it no more dull side bars, grab a 360 widget virtual tour today!.





Navigation is easy too. The tour runs automatically for 2 minutes or you can pause and explore any 360º photo, use your mouse to zoom and pan in any direction. Other navigation buttons are sound on/off, 360 gallery which will take you to our full tour selection, and get code so you can share this with your
friends.

Give it a try, it free, and its fun.

Virtual World 360 delivers quality multimedia content to your browser - adding interest and driving traffic to your web page, online shop or blog



Technical:

8 x 360 Images (Equirectangular Projections)
20 x High quality still images
Background music - "Oslo Summer" piano .au format
Voice Over - English .au format

This is a Virtual World 360 dedicated application created to view extraordinary panoramic photos of Bodo in Norway.

The Virtual World 360 tour is the most advanced browser widget application around; to create this little marvel our Geeks have used Photoshop, EasyPano, PanaVue ImageAssembler, Apple's QuickTime VR and other specialized tools to create the high-quality panoramas and wide-angle images.

For anyone involved with digital imagery this groundbreaking browser widget demonstrates a new way of thinking about what's possible in panoramic photography and image presentation. The results are interactive, often startling, and very entertaining.



VIRTUAL WORLD 360


You can get the code for the Virtual Tour by clicking on the “Get Code” button, - paste this into your post, web site or blog´s template, and viola!

You can also show your support by sending this to your friends and contacts - its Free so share the good news.

We are really excited about our new widget and its endless uses. We have loads of content ideas for future releases but we would like to hear from you if you own high quality 360 images (must be Equirectangular Projections) or regular stills, or if you have an idea for another application - please leave a comment.

Dont forget to visit the Virtual World 360 store for some fantastic deals

Crazy Catfish videos from round the world

These amazing photos are from Lake Conroe, some 50 miles north of Houston, USA .

What appeared to be a basketball drifting round the lake, on closer investigation...

It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful.

He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn’t have believed this, if you hadn’t seen the following pictures…

Would you noodle a Catfish?...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Next summer, it will be legal to plunge into some Missouri rivers and grab catfish by hand — a type of fishing that is not for the faint of heart. Known variously as noodling or hogging, handfishing has long been a misdemeanor punishable by fines, because COLUMBIA, USA, state officials fear it depletes breeding-age catfish. It can also be dangerous:




Noodlers hold their breath for long periods under water and sometimes come up with fistfuls of agitated snakes or snapping turtles instead of fish.




That does not discourage enthusiasts, who insist there is great sportsmanship in fishing with your bare hands.

Joella Bates, an all round blokes blokes sort of woman has this to say about noodling....

As we putted through the no wake zone, I confessed to my gracious hosts, “I have always considered myself quiet brave. After all, I am the first lady to successfully take on Black Death, Africa’s Cape buffalo, with only a bow and arrow. I stared him eyeball to eyeball at a mere 22 yards before launching my arrow frontally into his heart. And, I have taken on mountain lion, alligators, wild boar, bears, 3 Asian Water Buffalos, American bison, and many other species with my bow and arrows. Despite a lifetime of extreme outdoor adventures, the idea of grabblin’ for catfish is very intimidating even for me. But, challenge is my middle name, so I just have to give it a try.”

Read More of this article

A Fishing bat is cat feed....

In the forests of southern Belize, an airborne angler called the fishing bat makes its living by snatching fish from rivers in mid-flight.
But even a small mistake could prove fatal for the bats, because catfish linger near the surface of the water, and they're hungry, too.

Watch a fishing bat go after its prey, and see what happens when one bat finds itself trapped in the water at the mercy of the catfish.





Just when you thought it was safe out of the water... could Eel Catfish get into your bivvy?

An Eel catfish species can hunt on land, according to a report to be published in the journal Nature

Want evidence? Watch this silent video. It shows the following:
1. An eel catfish wriggles out of a tank to eat a small piece of fish placed on a ledge.
2. Shown in slow motion, the fish captures the bait.
3. The catfish, again in slow motion, uses mouth suction to manipulate the bait.
4. Again, the catfish wriggles onto the ledge to manipulate and capture the bait.

Want to see more whacky Catfish stuff?

Further Links of interest

My Blog Roll;
elboutique1
oold friends
virtual world 360 blog
360 factory
michael 360

My Shops
Skype-Island
ElBoutique1
My Bivvy
Fish Eye Store


Fishing Sites
A Slovenian site with photos of some big big cats up to 140kg

www.carpones.com excellent Madrid bait and tackle online store
Fish Madrid:- and excellent Blog by Andy Macgregor


Blog Directory



EbroCats