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Hi, Has anyone used these in a size 8 on the business end of a rig? I've used them in size 11's, but 8's look a little blatant because of their shine. I don't get on with putty, not sure if i'm best off with a standard size 8 swivel or are these size 8 PTFE swivels that are meant to spin better elite and I'm over thinking it. Cheers fellas.

Thanks for the detailed info, it's much appreciated.

It isn't.

I'm surprised this post hasn't been deleted yet also. I think your alter ego got banned last week.

Come back Boris all is forgiven 😂

Exactly right @Roughtor it was famous, I fished there twice with LDAS, probably late 70's! At the time none of us had any real idea about the hidden secrets the place had. When it was finally closed to fishing clubs, i think the main lake was netted and the Crucians were distributed to various lakes in the surrey area?, Milton lake at Bury Hill received lots - maybe a certain Mr Rowles - was involved too? 😀

Cork ball quality has changed, and gotten worse over the years. Over harvesting of the bark, less than 9-12 years, and drought in the Mediterranean has meant that top rated cork is no longer used for cork balls, so lesser grades are being used. The basic answer is that where a 10mm cork ball would pop-up a 16mm bait, now they struggle with a 14mm and 12mm is the real limit. I've mentioned it in the long distant past about making cork ball pop-ups, and the best results I got were sieve the base mix, remove any lumps before adding your liquid and mixing. To your base mix, if you can add 10-20% of sodium caseinate, it is a buoyant ingredient and will assist with making your pop-ups pop-up. The smoother you can get the skin the harder it is for water to get in and affect buoyancy, and even make the boilie mix come away from the cork ball. Not fun reeling in just a cork ball, and I've done that a few times long ago, hence my pedancy for getting it exact. The next thing is testing every pop-up against your hooks. Dry them after boiling, test and then dry again. It is quite possibly why I prefer tying cork ball baits on over piercing them. It reduces water getting in to the bait. As water gets into cork it expands slightly meaning the skin gets pushed off. Pedancy, or pedantry, both correct, and definitely disapproved...

i see my posts have been removed, why? my final post on this, your country is going to be a cesspool of ************scum, if the pathetic lefty dip.s.h.t.s carry on....only way to stop this is vote Rupert Lowe, forget farage his party is the newCON.

Hello there, It all depends on your hook size/weight of hook, It certainly wouldn't hold up a size 4 Korda chod hook which I use as even when i've used 12mm cork balls (gardner) and made them into 15mm cork ball pop ups they have flopped on me in around 14 hours.

You can get castable weed rakes 😉

I've just ordered the small version of the Plumb-Ezzee , Framey . Looking at the video it could solve the problem I sometimes have with Polaris floats when my mono has gone crinkly and the float jams . Or I could just use braid .

Ahh , I feel a plan forming ! . I've got a Weed Rake , but I can never throw it out as far as I want . So go Breakaway Lead with the prongs and I just might clear a neat little path for my line lay .

After not going carp fishing since August due to having personal issues to deal with regarding my dad I managed to get a couple of trips on the bank this month. Last week was Wednesday to Friday. I got to the lake, and fancied an area towards the shallower east end of the lake. I did have an angler on the opposite bank slightly to my left, so I made sure I wouldn't interfere with his fishing, and got myself set up. Sorting out my dinner I realised I had left my cutlery set at home, no major issue as I had a fork in the spares pocket of my food ruckbag. It did mean that I had to gauge 2 teaspoons of sugar in my coffee though. The more important issue was the bucket of birdfood to get the ducks and swans to clear some weed if the carp didn't eat it, and worse Sky's food bowl. I was in the sleeping bag for 8pm, but awake listening for fish. A few crashed between Dave and I between 8 and 10pm when I eventually fell asleep while the frost was forming. Sky refused to come in the bivvy, and slept outdoors. Thursday was a walk around looking, but nothing made me want to move. That night was most definitely warmer, but nothing crashed, so Friday saw a slow pack up with a blank. I wasn't intending to fish again for a week, but Sunday I got back to the empty lake, complete with garlic soaked birdfood particles. I hadn't forgotten anything this week, set myself up in the same swim, although checked the wind forecast to the 3nights and had the back of the bivvy facing North West. Two quiet days, despite searching and walking around the lake with Sky on Monday and Tuesday. The only action I saw was the swans, tufties and coots mooching around the particles, although they never picked up a hookbait Tuesday night, just after dinner Sky decided to come in the bivvy, so I knew that the rain and wind forecast was coming that night. Around 8 I crashed out for a couple of hours, but at 10 got woken up to the short bivvy pegs being pulled out of the soft ground by the wind getting up to 50mph. Sky was sitting on the umbrella skirt/groundsheet join, so it didn't blow away, but it was close! I got out my long pegs and bank sticks, and went out to swap pegs and push them in at least 50cm. Managed to get sorted, but stayed awake until 1am, when I realised that my 20year old Aqua rod holdall had been blown away, and is likely to have sunk. This morning was a bit of a pig to pack away, my mix of banksticks, tent pegs were difficult to pull out, and obviously trying to juggle loose rods, landing nets, slings and throwing stick into the car. The sad part is that the historical black poplar has finally given in to old age and nature. Expectations or hopes were a fish, reality was a near disaster.

I nearly always use a tournament or plain pear lead on the marker rod. I've always got some handy for a bit of clearance, a couple of 3's and 4oz.

If you want to get a bank loan for leads the fox gripper leads are good. If not any will do I found the ridgemonkey ones awful though I couldn't feel the drop with those for some reason. I quite like a coated lead but the rough sort as they pick up any clay off the bottom. But basically any will do.

Thanks , everyone . I have used " prongs " before , but I can't remember why I stopped ? ,I may well have another go .

That could be just the job , Framey . I have used polaris floats previously . I'll look more closely later . Thanks very much .

I'd just grab the first lead I could find. I don't think at such close range it makes any noticeable difference. Maybe some prongs if you want to check for specific debris or silk weed.

Uncoated lead so you can feel more through it. I’m pretty sure you can get hold of small marker style leads. I often use a sea fishing breakaway lead, cut the arms down and cable tie them in position. Very useful for picking out debris or minor weed clearance in the margins. You can get them in all sizes fairly cheaply too on eBay.

If you haven’t spent yet could do worse than one of these at short range https://enterprisetackle.co.uk/product/et86-plumb-eze back to the dart I used a dumpy pear.

Hi Everyone . I'm thinking about using an ESP Marker Dart Float in the small size with a 2oz lead to quietly check out margin spots on short sessions i.e. I don't want to disturb the swim too much . What shape of lead should I be looking at please ? . Ta .

That is same as the club book i fish, but night fishing is allowed however its a long wait to get night book and its an extra £140 for night book, lucky for me i dont really do nights no more and if i want to do 24h i can gust on for £20, yes fishing is getting expensive

Likewise, syndicate ticket £650, been for 5 x 48hrs. Probably 1 more before season end of April. Estate ticket £190 EA season closure, but went for 4 x 48hrs. I'm not renewing the syndicate, the estate is a no brainer. With end tackle, bait and grub it's still not a cheap hobby

One of the little clubs I belong to is an hour away ,and it's only 40 quid a year, no nights ,days only with a great mix of members ..thats the sort of place I like,especially the 5lb perch in the pool.. That's great value even if I only went 3 or 4 times a year ..