The DVice

The Dvice is designed as a “Hookbait delivery capsule” with its primary purpose to deliver delicate baits in a good condition at long range. The DVice has a home made feel (which I quite like) and is constructed using a plastic tube that contains a self fashioned weight at the base, with a screw thread for attaching Gemini Lead Fittings. Attached to the weight is a piece of stainless steel wire that is fixed into the weight and through the tube at two points, making a rigid construction that is tough to break. It is designed to replace your conventional lead on your rigs.

The product works by protecting the baits inside a plastic cylinder during the cast, Once the Dvice enters the water, the water floods the plastic chamber in a controlled fashion thus ejecting the bait at a speed that is unlikely to damage it.

My testing was conducted over several months in a variety of different locations from Ireland to the North Wales coast as well as the South West corner of England. I trialled the DVice with a variety of different baits from delicate baits such as lug and rag worm to more ungainly baits such as Mackerel, Squid and other “big baits”. My parameters for testing in a fishing situation for each of my DVice trails were to use two identical setups and bait but one using a plain lead and rig setup, the other using the Dvice.

The Dvice protected the worm baits very well and enabled me to fish baits in a specific way that was more difficult in the past, the Dvice makes the whole process easier and more predictable and dare I say more enjoyable too, making the Dvice the perfect tool for presenting delicate baits at long distances. This is where the DVice comes into its own, I caught more fish when using lug, ragworm or small fish baits when using the Dvice than I did by conventional means. I’m convinced this was down to the way the baits were presented when cast.

When using unwieldy fish and squid baits the aerodynamic shape of the DVice enables you to cast bigger baits better distances. In some ways using the Dvice is very much like casting a plain lead with the compressed shape experiencing less friction than an ordinary clipped down rig would and so increasing casting distances. During all of my casting experiments I never noticed any “wobble” during the cast and certainly no twisting, the Dvice cast was always straight and true.

I cannot say whether the Dvice increased catches using bigger baits as despite the fact I was casting further when using the Dvice, the amount of fish caught between the two setups was negligible, the Dvice did make the whole process of baiting up and casting quicker and smoother though, and I’m sure when distance is key, anglers using the DVice will find it an invaluable tool.

From my trials it seems to work first time all the time, there was no trial and error to find out how the product worked best, it just worked! Every bait I retrieved when using rigs adapted for the Dvice had ejected without any problems. I also never had any problems with the baits ejecting mid flight as one might expect.

In addition to carrying baits long distances the DVice is also useful for anglers who wish to use longer than standard snoods. Within reason the DVice can hold trace snoods of extremely long lengths within its cylinder when folded with the bait. I tested this out in Ireland using Sandeel on a long flowing trace. Whilst I had one major tangle, it was the only one of the 3 day expedition. I think as long as you are careful with how you store the longer snoods inside the cylinder there shouldn’t be a problem.

There are a couple of minor concerns that I have with the DVice. Firstly that it is only currently available for use with Gemini Lead fittings and cannot be used with other lead types. Dvice customers can buy Gemini Gripper Heads for use with the DVice, but if possible I would like to see a version that could be compatible with other leads types in the future. The second concern is that at the present there is only one size of DVice available (160g). I understand that the DVice team are working hard to produce a 100g and 200g version. I’m interested to see how the 200g DVice turns out and if it is slightly wider than the present size. A slightly wider DVice would be ideal for delivering wider softer baits such as big crab baits longer distances.

You should also note that the Dvice won’t work in shallow water. This is because the water that floods the chamber does so in a controlled manner to eject the bait at a safe speed, in shallow depths the Dvice cannot take on enough water to fully eject the bait. This is not a limiting factor as the DVice is not designed for close quarters, shallow water fishing.

In conclusion from the trials I have done with the Dvice I believe it will be an excellent addition to any anglers tackle box, especially for anglers who fish clean, snag free sandy beaches where bait presentation is sometimes the dividing factor between catching and not. The Dvice will take out the hassle of presenting these baits at distance as well as cleaning up your rigs and hopefully reducing tangles. Whilst it won’t replace the conventional lead setup in some angling situations, it is another string to any anglers bow and definitely worth trying to give you that extra edge when on the beach.

I plan to use the DVice more in the future and when I buy some of the 100g and 200g versions I’ll do an add on to this review with how they work in practice too.

The Dvice is available for purchase from http://www.dvice.co.uk. A complete Dvice with Gemini Griphead costs £3.50.