Leaderboard

Fair play @spr1985. As with most things I try to adapt to the angling situation. For years I used heli's almost exclusively. I just loved the way I could move the top bead on the leader to suit different substrates. I was convinced at the time it was the most tangle free system too (which is one of my top priorities). Early last year however there was a leader ban on my main water so I had to switch to something different. I'm not 100% sold on naked heli's (I'll use them if absolutely necessary but prefer not to) so I bit the bullet and went over to tubing and lead clips, something I'd not used in maybe 15 years. The switch was made easier by that Rig Marole braided tubing which I have to say is absolutely brilliant. A year or two on I'd maybe not switch back even if I could. I've found a way to use the lead clips very effectively. What I do is find a spot (clear area) and then find the edge of it (where it gets a bit choddy with low lying weed). If I can get a drop with a 2 oz lead in this weed then imo it's presentable. I then switch over to a 4 oz lead and smash it straight into this weed with my rig attached. If I pull back (which I don't, obviously) the lead is completely locked up in the weed, it won't move unless I really pull it out. It's basically fixed the rig to the bottom which increases the bolt effect significantly. The rig is pulled into the weed but the hookbait/hook sits on top of it. I've caught loads of fish doing this including some of the rarer ones (which I'm sure is a result of avoiding the more heavily fished clean areas. Obviously there's not always clear spots where the carp are. If they're located in heavy weed I'll reluctantly go for a naked heli (at the moment anyway, due to the leader ban) with the top bead set high on the leader. I now believe that the heli isn't nearly as effective a hooker as a lead clip arrangement, even though I've caught plenty on them. Strangely, based on my experience in the last 2 years, I also believe heli's are MORE prone to tangling than lead clips - if you watch a lead clip go out on the cast and it doesn't tangle then you never bring it in tangled. If you watch a heli go out without tangling you sometimes bring it in and it still has that tell tale kink where the base of the hooklink has wrapped around the line. I hardly ever use in-lines. I'd only use them for stalking in the edge where I can see them on the deck. I won't cast one as in my opinion it'll land nose first and interfere with the hook link. I'm not up for that. If I used pva bags I'd be happy to use in-lines but I don't use bags so I'm not! I've never used running lead systems. I want that bolt effect to be as strong as possible so they don't interest me. Lot's of talk about sensitivity and bite indication above. I have to say that doesn't really bother me. My priorities (in approximate order) are: 1. Tangle Proof 2. Effective presentation on the deck 3. Decent bolt effect In my experience if the rig is in the right area, free from tangles and presented you'll get takes. If my alarm beeps the first thing I do is get down to the rod and check out what the line is doing as it enters the water. That is night or day. If there' a carp on the end you tend to know imo. I'll always use the biggest leads I think I can get away, again for that bolt effect.

@greekski you sir have just flicked the switch for the light bulb 💡 in my head! Great write up and I’m going to be looking into running rigs straight away.....as you may be aware I have posted quite often about always getting single beeps but nothing else and not catching very often and your post really made me think about how I use my leads....90% of my set ups are leads clips....10 % chods (with drop off system) all 3 of my recent fish have fallen to the chods. And I’d never even considered that it could be the way I’m using leads so thank you for the insight

I've tried Sprays and the only thing i caught was a Tenner on the corner of my wallet as i payed for em

Interesting you say that @kevtaylor as I've always done better on unflavoured zigs. My thinking is that with no flavour they're forced to mouth the foam to see what it is. If it's flavoured they can make a decision to take it or not. I want to remove that decision. Might see you at the weekend buddy😉

Imho..... snake oil Rob, all day. I don't think it'll be on the bait as it hits the deck, let alone after 5 mins. I'll only use liquids if I can leave to soak for a period. A brief coating just comes off instantly on the way down. The sprays have zero viscosity so they're even worse. On top of that.... flavour does not give off a food signal so it cannot boost a bait. It is purely for palatability. That's my belief anyway.

I use sprays on my hookbaits, namely pop ups. I keep topping them up and letting them dry in the pot before repeating. I fish silty meres mainly and I want the hookbaits to have absorbed all they can before going out. This should help them becoming tainted by the silt. My zig baits are kept in a solution of neat thaumatin b mixed with water, 50:50. These still have that sweet taste even after being out for over 24 hours. I dont beleive they are a gimmick, if used in a benificial way😘

My thoughts will be about as much use to people as a chocolate tea pot in front of a roaring fire 🤣😂 my thoughts at this point consist of.....I’ve regularly been getting done due to my lack of knowledge surrounding lead arrangements and shall be trying running rigs at the earliest opportunity to see if it improves a) my catch rate and b) my bite indication. @greekskii ‘s post has given me some food for thought and hopefully a boost to my catch rate.....but we shall see

If the sprays do nothing I'd be surprised, one of the Nash bug spray smells just like squid boilie flavour, I'd confidently say it is just that, but could be wrong. Nah Does it do anything, well the zigs still stink when they come back in maybe 12 hours later and all my zig bugs still stink years later. Squid's a strong smell it lingers fact. I'm more confident on a sprayed zig than I would be using plain unflavoured foam.

Nah i wouldnt have thought so either but thats the only way of telling if this spray actaully does anything, I dont use spray and if im using dips or gluggs then my bait has been in it for an extended period of time not just a dip and chuck.

Most definitely not, 😖😅 I'm sorry if this seems disjointed, it is my head running at breakneck speed again to get everything down. Vik has probably described his thoughts exactly as mine are regarding leads. I have been through loads of lead set-ups in my time, from semi-fixed leads, as helicopter, inline and pendant ( lead hanging from the line) to bolt rigs and running leads, run rings and inline running leads. Leadcore fished with helicopters, inline and pendant leads. Leadcore originally as leadcore flyline to the current braided leadcore. In that 30 odd years I have noticed how fish can use the lead in their favour to eject the rig, how twitchy takes, even indication are effected by the lead and how tight or slack the line is. I used to fish a small water called Thwaite where I could experiment with various set-ups as I wasn't happy with indication on tight lines. I was able to get the fish feeding in close in my margins, or far bank and could lower my rigs in, with someone on my rod as I lowered it in on the far bank. Straight off I found helicopter set-ups gave reduced indication, whether with a tight or slack line. The fish could move a long way, up and down the line, as well as around the area that the chod style fished rig could reach. Pendant or inline semi-fixed leads also gave reduced indication, and at 50metres range that lack of indication could see the lead moved 5metres with no rise or fall or sound, unless you had Monsieur Delkim at maximum sensitivity. At Even longer ranges like 150metres, Le Delkim could be silent as vibration is absorbed along the line. The answer was to switch to running leads and preferably slack lines. Indication was vastly improved. The problem was with any water movement, undertow or currents, you could find the line being moved, being pulled off the reel and a constantly rising indicator. To counter this you had to go back to tight lines, and depending on how much current, increase lead size. Imagine a 2acre water with floodwater coming in, and an outflow into a stream, even on Thwaite going up to 3oz leads from the 1.5oz I preferred to use on there. Lead set-ups are a compromise, misunderstood and misused. To get the furthest distance casting, helicopter leads work best, with pendant leads a few metres behind, and inlines a couple of wobbly metres behind that. Yet those set-ups fished semi-fixed give reduced indication. I have had, and seen other people get takes, where that semi-fixed lead has been moved as far as 20metres with no indication. I moved onto Brackens at Nazeing and stuck almost exclusively with running leads and slack lines. Most other anglers fished tight semi-fixed. Whether my baiting or slack lines were the main contributor, I landed a higher percentage of carp to rod hours than most other anglers on there. No undertow, lines mostly along the lakebed, even if you did have to allow as much as another 10metres of slack as the gravel features could be so high off the lakebed. Imagine fishing a 7feet deep gravel feature, in 20feet of water! Playing around at Thwaite came up with something else on the occasional broken line. A helicopter lead set-up, if you cracked off or snapped the lead must not come off the line. It was the lead still being in place that enabled the rig to be ejected off the line if a fish took. If the lead was ejected the line basically folded in half and the rig could not come off either end. Unless somebody can come up with a way of attaching a lead with no link clip or swivel, a helicopter must have the lead stay on if the mainline breaks, unless it breaks directly above the lead, and everything can slide off the lead end. My next pet hate is the misused lead clip. It's original use was so the lead could be taken off the rods at the end of the trip. I don't know what was wrong with link clips which were available long before the lead clip, those link clips obviously didn't work properly on either pendant or helicopter set-ups😖😮😆 The lead clip has become to be all and end all. Lets dump the lead if the fish gets snagged, lets dump the lead on a take, not hang on I shouldn't really be fishing here it is a bit too close to the snag, or, in a weedy lake an inline lead is actually best to reduce the weed hanging around the line. The lead clip catches weed, tubing catches weed, leader knots catch weed, and hooks catch weed. Even more amazing, a fish with its head and eyes covered in weed often just gives up. @spr1985 think we'll have to start getting your thoughts that are developing. I reckon it could be an interesting post as you put your analysis and ideas down.

That's what I thought Yonny. As I say, I tend to spray some on my hands just to mask any smell of nicotine that sort of thing. As the Tesco Ad says................ "every little helps" 😉

Good for you jh92 , you persevered and it came good for you . 😃

Friend for life there mate. 😉😎