On initial inspection, I had a fair idea what to look for. Regular use of previous carryalls had resulted in numerous failures; shoulder straps breaking at the linkage points when under load, poorly designed shoulder straps that cut into your shoulder, or alternatively, straps with too much padding that keep slipping off your shoulder, poor stitching around zips causing splits, lightweight material prone to abrasion and excessive wear, not enough pockets of the right sizes, etc, etc.

Maybe it’s just me, or rather, maybe it’s just the amount of stick my gear gets during a season, that means items like this don’t tend to last too long - poor products soon get ‘found-out’ when you’re doing long sessions every weekend and a couple of overnighters during the week.

After a period of abuse, I can happily report that the Fishrite Carryall passes the test in the areas where previous purchases have failed.

The carryall has a main compartment of around 25-litres which has a lined base and two-way zips. Around the outer are five lined, and heavily padded pockets, which are well designed to maximise the space available.

The large pocket on the front easily accommodated my buzzer bars and uprights (and that’s with my three alarms still fitted to my buzzer bars!) and I’m happy to have my alarms in the outer pockets, as there’s plenty of padding to protect fragile items.

There are two decent sized pockets on the back of the bag which are ideal for scales, weigh-slings and accessories, again, these are well padded with two way zips.

The larger pockets at each end of the carryall don’t have the two-way zips but are well padded with loads of room. At one end I can fit my kettle and brew-making equipment, and at the other, my Coleman stove (Gas) and a couple of spare 440g canisters!

For me, durability is key, and the build quality is better than others I’ve owned in the past. It’s made from quality, heavy-duty material, all strap and handle fastenings are well stitched with additional press-studs for extra strength.

The shoulder strap is well padded and lined with an anti-slip material, and has heavy-duty quick release fastenings at each end. There is also a Velcro retainer on the carry handles making your trip to the swim that bit easier if carrying by hand.

For me, the bag has two uses, if I’m doing a long session it’s ideal for food, clothing, camera and accessories, and if I’m doing a quick overnighter, it will take all the tackle I need; tackle box, lead box, rig case, bait, buzzer-bars, alarms, scales, and accessories.

I like to be objective when doing reviews, but the only downside to the Fishrite Carryall is that it’s 14-quid cheaper and much better quality than the one I bought last season... Gutted!

The Fishrite Deluxe Carryall retails at  £29.99, for more details or to locate your nearest stockist contact;

Web: www.fishrite.co.uk

Julian Grattidge