Compac Retainer Sling and Compac Weigh Sling

Retainers and weigh slings need to be as fish friendly as possible to ensure you don’t damage your catch whilst retaining it for a photo, lifting it in and out of the water, or during the weighing process.

After four years and numerous different test versions featuring a variety of fabrics, the Korda team was finally happy that we had come up with the perfect products – a Compac Retainer Sling and a Compac Weigh Sling that are suitable for use with any carp that you’ll catch in the UK or overseas.

The Korda Compac Retainer Sling and Korda Compac Weigh Sling have been extensively used by the Team Korda anglers, and have been used to weigh and retain some of the largest and most prestigious carp in the country, plus you’ll have seen them featured extensively within our filming projects such as Monster Carp, Thinking Tackle and Masterclass, including for very large carp across Europe, and beyond.

Safety has been the main focus, with every feature fine-tuned to ensure that we have produced the safest possible product for the fish, but at the same time something that is very user-friendly for anglers as well, and has been built to last.

So, whether you just need a sling for weighing fish in, especially if retaining fish is banned on the waters that you fish, or an actual retainer that can be used for keeping the fish until you’re ready to photograph it and also doubles up as a weigh sling, then we have you covered.

Korda Compac Retainer Sling

The Compac Retainer Sling has been purpose designed for safely retaining fish in the water for a period of time, as well as being suitable for weighing carp in as well.

Special material

After trying various fabrics we settled on a full mesh design, which is constructed from a a strong, lightweight, durable material.

The premium grade soft material not only allows for great airflow and water exchange, to make your catch feel as comfortable as possible whilst resting in it, but is also tough enough to withstand fish flapping around inside it and the fabric coming into contact with more abrasive parts of the carp such as the fins.

Shape

The Compac Retainer has been designed so that the fish can sit comfortably inside it, both whilst resting and also when being lifted in the sling, and with no pinch points that can exert extra pressure on it.

It perfectly does the job of cradling the fish and as long as you ensure that all of its fins are laying flat against the body prior to lifting, you can rest assured that no damage will be done.

Lightweight

We’ve also tried to make the retainer sling as lightweight as possible, to make it easy to carry, and also for the weighing process so scales don’t have to be backwound a long way to zero them, and once they have been zeroed against a wet sling then the weight of it won’t change and you’ll know you’re getting an accurate reading.

This has been achieved by not only the lightweight mesh material that we have used, but also via the rigid aluminium bars, which have been tempered for extra strength and have been designed to stay rigid even when lifting a heavy fish onto the scales.

Compact design

Despite its size, measuring 116cm x 70cm x 32cm, the Korda Compac Retainer Sling actually packs away very neatly into a stink bag that is supplied with it, and which has been designed to stop water leaking out into your car if it has been packed away wet.

The use of low profile buoyant supports on the rigid aluminium bars not only provide plenty of floatation for any situation, but are also not overly bulky, so once rolled up in its bag it will easily fit into an outer pocket on any of our Compac Rod Holdalls.

Handles and weigh strap

To ensure that you can get a good grip on the sling and lift your catch in and out of the water, or on and off the unhooking mat, in as safe a way as possible, there are reinforced handles at each end which also feature a special coating that allows you to get a good grip even when wet, and also makes it more comfortable against your hand when carrying it, compared to just a webbing material.

There is also a strap on each side that has been designed to attach the sling to your scales, featuring reinforced stitching where it attaches to the arms, plus a strong metal loop to attach it to the hook of the scales.

This weighing strap has been attached to the arms at the optimal point so that when you lift the fish it stays in place in the middle of the sling and won’t unbalance and slide towards one end.

Plus the strap is short enough that you don’t need to lift the scales that far in order for the fish to clear the mat.

Long cord in pocket

It’s essential to position the retainer in the water in a place where the fish can sit comfortably in a reasonable depth of water and ideally in some shade and not in direct sunlight.

It is also important that the sling is secured to something so that it can’t float away with the fish in it.

The Compac Retainer Sling has a 6m cord, that is made from a strong material and is hi-vis green in colour so you can easily see where it is – useful if you have a fish in the retainer and you get another one and are playing it close in where it could tangle up in the cord.

Or when coming back to the bank in a boat and making sure you don’t run the cord over. The floats on the arms also have reflective markers on them to make it easy to spot the retainer in torchlight.

When not in use, the cord is stored in a small pocket on the outside of the retainer so it is always easily accessible when needed.

Zips and attachments

The cord is secured to the sling by strong military grade hooks and at the other end there is a stainless style attachment which can be screwed into a bank stick, to ensure there is no danger of the sling being able to go anywhere.

The zips are high quality and are easy to do up and unzip as required, and have been built for longevity, plus they feature a special securing clip that attaches the two zippers to each other, ensuring there is zero chance of them coming undone and the fish escaping.

Korda Compac Weigh Sling

If you are just looking for something to weigh fish in, then the Korda Compac Weigh Sling is a great choice.

It is made from a lightweight, quick drying, fish friendly material, and has plenty of drainage holes in the bottom to ensure that excess water quickly drains out.

It has strong bars that have buoyant foam inside, which means that they float on the surface and makes it much easier to transfer your landing net and the fish, into the sling before lifting it out onto your unhooking mat. Although it floats, it isn’t designed to be used as a retainer as only the sides are zipped.

Cut-outs allow you to easily grab hold of the bars to make it easy to lift the sling and fish, and the sides of the sling are secured via quick release zips to stop the fish falling out.

A strap is attached to each arm via reinforced stitching and is in the optimal place so that the sling stays well balanced when off the ground, and these straps are also of a length that means you don’t have to hoist the scales high above your head for the fish to clear the mat. Each strap attaches to the scales via a strong metal loop.

The Korda Compac Weigh Sling comes complete with a stink bag to prevent water leaking out in your car if it is packed away wet, and at 120cm x 60cm this weigh sling is big enough to weigh any carp you will catch.

Choice of colours

Both the Korda Compac Retainer Sling and Korda Compac Weigh Slings come in a choice of olive or Kamo patterns.