BROWNING WINDOW

99p
Brown coloured block-ends available in small (10, 20, 30 gr) medium (20, 35, 50 gr) and large (20, 35, 50 gr). The good choice of weighty base loadings offers great long-range casting potential. Filling takes place by swivelling the outer body to reveal an unusual square shaped side opening. The idea is to cram baits such as maggot inside and seal them in with some groundbait. Closing the opening doesn‘t work because the body perforations rather oddly close up, too! The internal wire link is also a bit strange, having a rather crude, twisted attachment eye, which looks tangle prone.
SCORE: 23/30

FOX SWIVEL FINNED

£1.50
Available in medium or large body sizes, each offering weight choices of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 oz. These base weight feeders cast serious distances, also featuring large bait escape holes and side fins designed to improve inflight stability. The latter are meant to prevent rolling in flowing water, too. The filler cap is anchored with an internal powergum link, flipping over easily for fast loading. The base weight struggles to hold in powerful rivers.
SCORE: 25/30

NISA RIVER

£1.45
These sturdy brown block-ends come in small, medium and large – all with a choice of 28, 44, 60, 90 or 120 gr loadings. They have neat, unobtrusive internal powergum links with a moulded external attachment eye, to which a swivel link can be attached easily. The bodies have big perforations, which help release their contents quickly. The substantial flat base weights are riveted on and grip the bottom well in fast currents, also allowing good casting distances.
SCORE: 27/30

DRENNAN FEEDERBOMB

£1.10
Streamlined feeders available in 12, 16, 22 and 30 gr sizes – in muted green or brown colours. These have swivels protruding from their leading ends, which are fixed to internal powergum links that also anchor on the base weight/filler caps. The latter flip over easily for filling and provide most of the casting weight, while there is a less weighty stabilising side weight. Feederbombs are probably the neatest and least complicated block-ends, which in turn results in trouble-free rigs. They suit stillwaters and slow-to-medium paced rivers.
SCORE: 27/30

DRENNAN OVAL

£1.45
Available in green with 1, 1.5 and 2 oz loadings, also in brown with heavier 1.5, 2 and 2.5 oz side weights. Both sets come in small, medium and large body sizes. Oval shaped, they have tapering base weights and smooth body contours that hug the bottom in flowing water. The bodies are well perforated, to make sure baits such as maggot and caster release fast, the filler caps swivel over easily for fast filling, and the silicone covered semi-rigid links have quick change swivel links installed.
SCORE: 28/30

BEST BUY

KAMASAN BLACKCAPS

£1 – £1.10
Mini, small and large sizes of these clear bodied block-ends, with their distinctive black caps, offer lots of different side weight choices – ranging from 10 to 50 gr. The soft plastic black caps pop open when side pressure is applied to their bodies, being anchored by internal powergum links. Only a small swivel is set outside for attaching to rigs. The flat side weights are integrated neatly into recesses in the bodies, keeping everything nicely streamlined. Blackcaps have been around for a long time; they are pretty basic, but still outperform all other designs when it comes to river fishing!
SCORE: 29/30

NOTE: All products tested January 2010. All prices correct at the time of going to Press. Angler’s Mail do not take responsibility for price or product changes or current availability.

KAMASAN

90p
Available in light (10 gr, 15 gr, 20 gr) and heavy (20 gr, 25 gr and 30 gr) these short bodied open-enders have slightly enlarged diameters, taking good loadings for their sizes. With plenty of side weight options they cover short to medium range casting well enough. The weights are partly integrated into the plastic bodies and flattened to help prevent rolling. There are plenty of perforations to release groundbait and freebies quickly and these feeders are easy to tape up to get baits like chopped worm hard on the deck. The plastic links are old fashioned looking but work quite well.
SCORE: 24/30

FOX SOLID FINNED

£1.50
These tough brown open-enders have no body perforations, being designed to get live baits like squatt, maggot, caster and chopped worm hard on the bottom. Such baits can be plugged in with groundbait or mixed with it and compressed hard. Available in small, medium and large, these feeders take the same interchangeable base weights as Fox’s mesh design, giving comprehensive weight options for various casting ranges and depths of water being fished. I’m not convinced the body fins provide any advantage, the captive swivels on the moulded links are anti-tangle.
SCORE: 26/30

NISA

95p
Mini, small, medium and large body sizes come with up to six different loadings, ranging from 12 gr to a meaty 120 gr. This covers all groundbait applications on both stillwaters and rivers. NISA’s pale brown open-end feeders are very popular with their simple strapped-on side weights, which also anchor ‘O’ ring shock absorbers and a basic swivel link attachment facility. These feeders are extremely robust and allow quick changes, also providing enough weight options for each size to critically balance them, which is important in flowing water when looking for drop-back bites.
SCORE: 28/30

KORUM

£1.50 – £2.25
These new businesslike feeders from Korum have a slightly flattened body shape so they hug the bottom well, being combined with extra heavy side weights. Sizes are small (30 gr), medium (30 gr, 60 gr) and large (90 gr, 150 gr). This adds up to groundbait feeders suited to a positive approach when fishing deeper stillwaters and faster flowing rivers. They have slow-release perforations and neat moulded plastic links with semi-encased swivels, which help to prevent tangles. This is a very well made and designed product that immediately makes you want to give it a serious go.
SCORE: 28/30

BEST BUY

DRENNAN GROUNDBAIT

85p
A classic open-end design, with simple clamped-on side leads and neat twisted powergum links – plus small swivels. The standard range offers four body sizes with 12 gr, 16 gr, 20 gr and 30 gr loadings, while there is a heavyweight range utilising the same perforated plastic bodies with 20 gr, 30 gr, 40 gr and 50 gr side weights (all 5p dearer). This covers just about every demand from stillwater to rivers. The green bodies have a slight camouflaged effect and elongated perforations for fast bait release. The side leads are easy to open up, allowing fast changes of body and leads.
SCORE: 29/30

NOTE: All products tested January 2009. All prices correct at the time of going to Press. Angler’s Mail do not take responsibility for price or product changes or current availability.