Martin Locke | Korda Thinking Tackle Podcast  

Lockey is an absolute legend! This man has done more for modern carp fishing than people will ever be aware of. I remember my mother taking me to the tackle shop on my 16th birthday in May 1990 to get my birthday present - a complete Sod Pod setup with indicators & the U rests with the sticky foam inserts and a top of the range 42” BowLoc landing net. Fishing tackle has been replaced a number of times over the years but I still have those original Solar products (pod + all the bits & the original BowLoc landing net which still has the ORIGINAL mesh it came with and the split ring for clipping up to the handle!). I have now had to give up fishing due to severe ill health & I will have to end up selling all my carp fishing gear in the near future, but I will NEVER get rid of those items (or the rest of the old original/mk2 stuff with poziloc collars) until the day I die. I have also told the wife not to get rid of them either & in my will it is written that if those items are to be disposed of anywhere, the executor of the will is to make contact with Solar Tackle first to offer them the items for posterity if they want them to display in their building/at shows/etc. There is also full collection of lite-flo indicators including original Springbow arms for the bobbins. The only thing missing (& no idea where it went as never sold it!) is the Satellite monkey climber system which I absolutely loved & would have been using to the day I had to give up if I knew where they were! I have made a small modification to the Sod Pod in that replaced the uprights with the mk2 PoziLoc uprights (same with the legs after having an engineer friend remove them for me as seemed to be locked on to the threads somehow!) & replaced the straight poziloc collars for the new P1 versions to give it a little bit of modernism, same with the adjustable buzzer bars. Newer items gradually worked their way into the setup as well with the washer locked back rests, PoziBoss indicator brackets, Tri-Post adaptors (absolute God send these were at the time & still are for stabilising single upright pod setups), Sod Pod rubber feet (not many of those about nowadays as would always get lost in the grass packing away), etc. Only thing missing is the thumb wheel tool that made locking the bank sticks so much easier in the colder months (along with the original 2p pieces that used to be in the packets of replacement thumbscrews - great marketing idea!!!). There is also a lot more original Solar stainless products that got copied by almost every other tackle brand over the years like an original Tube Tool (not the knock off ones with the single thickness tube with bought from Soalr direct replacement stickers put on them to rip less knowledgable people off on social media marketplaces during the used Solar Tackle boom period, the original Solar one had a stepped thinner section for putting beads over to make it easier to push them onto rig tubing or rubber sleeves on leadcore for safe heli rigs). Same with the original stainless Solar baiting needle set (with original needles!) & bait stops (which were just single use clothes shop label connectors repackaged!). There is even an unused Solar weigh sling (the black material sack material with the ORIGINAL yellow straps - not the knock off waders that people first think of when yellow straps are mentioned!). The only items that Solar marketed which were a technological improvement on anything else out there but were too technical for their own good, were the Solartronics V6/V10 alarms (which almost was the end for Solar Tackle!). I haven’t spoken to Martin for many years now & would love to catch up with him again sometime for a chat & a brew (doubt it will happen now though unless get invited to the office/factory). Until Korda released the Springbow Landing Net, I wouldn’t;t se anything else other than a Solar BowLoc (owned & used every incarnation of the product) & also have own both versions of the P1 BowLoc landing net as well (the twist lock handle version & the 2 piece 8 foot version). Contemplating keeping these as well when I do sell the tackle purely for posterity sake to show people the difference between the original BowLoc & the latest (at the time) versions. Also have great memories of using the Savay Seed mixes along with Esterblend12, Squid & Octpus Koi Rearer, Sweet Tangerine, Golden Plum liquids and the cream & sweet powdered additives from back in the days. Spent a lot of time back in the day sieving the base mix to remove the seed part when making bespoke hookbaits (no chance of splitting the bait when pushing a needle through them even at 10mm because hit a piece of Hemp & also made each one the same buoyancy when mixed with the Perfect PopUp mix from the tubs). We have Martin to thank for introducing the maize based (not PVA like people call them for some reason!) dissolvable nuggets that most of us refuse to cast out a baited rig without one (or part of one) protecting the hook point, which came from the packaging industry with the off white ones & from the toddler/baby toy industry for the slightly larger multi coloured ones (designed to be licked by the kids to make snakes or other structures from because they are safe due to dissolving if placed in the mouth & not cause harm because they are made from maize). I wonder how many here actually remember the original SharpShooter throwing stick (not the Nash one that they produced after buying the rights from Martin & renaming it the CyberShot). Took a little bit of getting used to but was so much better on the arm than the Cobra’s & didn’t warp in the summer like the plastic tube versions (sorry Korda but it’s the truth!). Sorry for the novel/essay but I get seriously carried away when thinking back on the days when bankware because genuinely usable because of Martin & truly designed made to last multiple lifetimes unlike a lot of todays stuff - barring companies like Jag & Solar still making top notch gear on a huge scale. Solar Tackle has a much bigger place in carp fishing history than most give them & Lockey needs to be respected & remembered for such.

Love it Lockey as well as being an old mate is a fantastic character his stories brought back a lot of memories. Great stuff!

I could listen to Martin all day long! Great interview with a true legend.

This was always going to be brilliant, as Rich is a great interviewer and Martin is indeed a proper legend, a true innovator.

The Sharpest Carper. Fantastic. Cheers Martin, great stories and I always loved your products!

Brilliant, he is part of the carp fishing history and can tell everything about it. Looking forward to reading the book. Thank you Korda to give us the chance to listen to him

Solar golden plumb awsome flavour amongst other they did

My angling journey began in exactly the same place as Martins did , at Dartford Park fishing for minnows with my Woolworths starter kit, and just the same as Martin I too made the tentative steps through the tunnel under Princes Rd to Brooklands lakes where I became fascinated by the men fishing for Carp . I can remember talking to Don Llewellen amongst others about the Carp in there and these guys fuelled the fire in me as a teenage lad in the 80's to go on and fish for them myself , brilliant nostalgic podcast cheers Martin.

Top class ❤❤

Fantastic podcast

Great podcast, Martins most definitely a legend, Well done korda another great show👌👌👌

Incredible watch, what a guy

Brilliant podcast 👍, my Solar stainless is still going strong after 25 years. The man knows his stuff.

Top Podcast Well Done Lockey Really Enjoyed that One 👍

Great podcast, met Martin a few times lovely bloke. Rainbow has got to be one of the best waters ever.

Great Podcast, top guy & a fantastic angler.

My dad was fishing brooklands 25yrs ago, and now I’m fishing it 👌

That was ace, really enjoyed that one.

good good...

Quench mix with squid and octopus killer bait brings back great memories

Top bloke i still got my 3 lians bobbins would never sell 😁 and i think you should get Martin to do a podcast just on rainbow 👍

Superb!

One if the funniest and saddest things I’ve listened too. I was fishing through those times and remember the stories so well

Really enjoyed that

Brings back memories…. Blinding times…

Ringing Samaritans to tell them about losing benson was top notch

Martin's Defo a spade is a spade type of guy! Rich has got a lot to learn yet doing these interviews

2 trains and 3 buses - that’s dedication 👍

The worst thing about this interview is that I can't like it more than once! Well done

Love the podcasts and not criticising I just wondering watch them back yourselves as the sound sounds very very Toppy on your voices they are a great watch but sometimes it becomes a bit irritating I would like to know if anybody else thinks the same keep up the great work guys love the podcast

The bollocks

BPAVO

boooring 😴😴😴😴😴😴😴

One of the finest ❤

legend