The Biggest Products From The 2010s
A decade in which upstarts and innovation shook the old world order - and you liked it
Globally, the 2010s have been the decade of start-ups, social-media entrepreneurs and massive growth in Chinese production. And those trends have been mirrored in carp fishing.
If you have a good idea, you can get it made and market it - all from your back bedroom. And plenty have. Though that’s not to say the existing tackle giants haven’t also chipped in with some modern classics of their own.
Spomb
Launched in February 2010, it’s fair to say the Spomb revolutionised baiting up. Bryan Houghton’s design had been rejected by existing tackle companies so he decided to risk his savings in making it himself. With thousands sold, that gamble has certainly paid off.
Fox Zig Aligna
Zig Rig fishing is undoubtedly fiddly, but you just cannot ignore the results it produces. If you were still umming and ahhing about getting involved by 2013 then Fox changed the game with an ingenious way of presenting chunks of foam in an orderly manner. These Alignas are now unquestionably the most popular Zig hookbait out there.
Cygnet Baiting Pole
There had certainly been baiting poles before, from the likes of Angling Intelligence, but Cygnet’s 12m and 16m versions, initially released in 2016, were top quality, widely distributed and well priced. It brought the art of shipping out a bait away from the fringes of the sport and into the mainstream. Nash’s Bushwhacker Pole looks set to take it to the next level.
RidgeMonkey Sandwich Toaster
There was a brief period at the start of the decade when a circular stove-top toaster called the Diablo was the carper’s favourite, but RidgeMonkey stomped all over it with the launch of their first-ever product - a ‘deep-fill sandwich toaster’. Bankside cooking was changed forever.
Sticky Krill boilies
If Mainline Cell was the darling of the noughties, then this fishmeal boilie certainly seduced the masses in the 2010s. No bait company has grown during this decade like Sticky have, and it is mainly down to this exceptionally good bait and the results it has produced.
Goo
Back in October 2010, England hosted the World Carp Championships at Linear and everyone assumed the home nation would win. But they were blitzed by a South African team with a trick up their sleeve - Kiana Goo. These fluorescent liquids were seen as a deadly edge and Korda soon signed a deal to distribute them over here.
Nash Scope rods
This was a Spomb-like gamble for Nash. Carp anglers had used 12 and 13ft rods for decades until these semi-telescopic nine and 10-footers appeared in 2013. Would the market scoff and dismiss them as a gimmick? Hell no! They caught on like wildfire and defined a whole style of modern carping.
Trakker Tempest
The original Tempest was launched in 2011 and was arguably the first major leap forward in bivvy design since the pram-hood days of the Armadillo. The ‘flat backs’ that almost all bivvies boast of today began here, and the block mechanism was an inspired design feature.
RidgeMonkey Vault
The iPhone might have launched in 2007 but the 2010s has truly been the era of the portable device, and that has meant a desire for on-the-bank power. Sure, plenty of powerbanks were available before this one, but RidgeMonkey knew what anglers needed and created the perfect solution.
Nash Siren R3
While Delkim and Fox stood above the rest in the 1990s and 2000s, Nash had never quite nailed this sector of the market - until the R3 launched in 2014. While not necessarily ‘pretty’, these alarms had incredible receiver range, stonking reliability and battery life, and plenty of features. Many anglers have been converted to them.
