Leaderboard

Really only this year got into using tubing almost exclusively instead of leaders, and thinking about it even more with an upcoming social on Holme Fen where 1m of tubing is a requirement and no leaders of any kind are used. Have to say, the more I think about it, the more I believe it is the safest most versitile setup you can have. With the change of a single knot and accessory you can switch between lead clip, drop off inline, running, and rotary/heli with absolutely no safety compromise. In face, in most cases much safer! Actually think I may be done with leaders all together. I've only used them for heli setups in recent years, but now a solution to that has become obvious I don't even need them then! Anyone else fish like this? People who don't, with the exception of shock leaders, what is the benefit as you see it of a leader over tubing?

I thought that tungsten tubing was the answer to many prayers, until I met Reggie and Ronnie Those things will shred any tungsten, putty or tubing you name it they eat it. I have had to go back to plain anti tangle or rig tubing, and using pole fishing olivettes for pop-up weights. I used to work in an electrical wholesaler, buying a reel of 1.5 6242y and making sure I got the right manufacturer as Delta and BICC were different, just so I could take the insulation off the cables for carp fishing. Sticking the blooming stuff in a tub of boiling water to soften it for stripping the copper wire out the middle. I did used to sell extra stripped lengths to a tackle shop though Hard on the fingers? Blooming nightmare it was Fishing for years? I was fishing in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's and now the 10's, that is 5 decades

Yeah. I bet this whole "mainstream" carp fishing movement drives you nuts if you've been in the game for many years. I've fished since I was 7, on and off, which is still "only" 25 years, and I've fished pretty much every fresh water method/species and a few salt water too. I joined my first carp syndicate when I was 17, and have been pretty much just carp, with a bit of barbel and fly thrown in) since then, and I find it hard enough to swallow the preachy nature of some modern day ticket anglers who, as they speak, you can picture the episode of thinking tackle that it came from. No personal experience or trial and error at all, just parroting someone else's incites. Must drive you nuts if you've been in the game for 20/30/40 years! That's why I like my little secluded Shropshire syndi, with nothing much over 30, and a challenge just to get a run. But most of the time I've got it to myself, or other like minded anglers. Drives me mad sometimes, but I've done the day ticket thing sporadically, and always come back to the peace and quiet of harder lakes with smaller fish and less of them. Next time I've stripped off a length of cable I may even be tempted to give is a go! And with the eu harmonised colours there's brown to use now too!

I much prefer tubing or naked set-ups, although as you say, where tubing is a rule requirement then obviously naked is out the window. I must admit I've never believed that mono mainline will cut up fish or ping scales, although maybe on a big scaly mirror pinging a scale is a possibility with mainline. Tubing was originally used with set-ups to reduce tangles, usually with braided Dacron hooklinks, hence its full name of Anti-Tangle tubing, and I reckon CM can remember the joys of stripping electrical cable as we used to do. Running leads with soft tubing, big run rings I think do not compromise rig sensitivity, and with inlines and semi-fixed it works a treat, something that tackle manufacturers actually do brand correctly, although as some brand it for fish protection I think a bit of a misnomer. Ages ago I put some pics in Safe Lead set-ups, but I'll requote the section with my running lead set-ups that I have used for many years: I still use the top version now almost every trip, although as again, I have said before, by fishing a tight line it becomes a semi-fixed bolt rig.