Leaderboard

I love my Avons , getting exciting when the dial goes past the " white " and the colour changes in the little window . Yes I'm old and sad ! .

Well, finally got out for a couple of nights Thurs/Fri.... Got to the lake about 2pm Thurs and it was chucking down, fish were showing everywhere and there was no one fishing. Weird one this, as it actually made swim choice more difficult than you'd think. So after a couple of wet laps and numerous shows all over the lake I just decided that they were having it and no swim looked better or worse than the next, so opted for a central swim that I could back the van up to, to unload and keep an eye on most of the lake in case the shows became more localised...…. I'd also clocked a few bubblers that looked like they were on the seam of the dying weed beds and margin gravel about 3 rod lengths out in a couple of swims on my walk round. The water level had dropped about a foot since my last visit,.. Making it 3ft below bank level, so a little forward thinking was needed as playing and landing anything would involve stepping down from the safety of the sleeper in front of the swim onto some very hard and slippery gravel that shelved off at 45 degrees into 7ft of water, Not too much of a problem in daylight, but in the dark could prove tricky, and as I was on my own didn't want to take any silly risks, even though I was itching to get a baited rig out there.... I fished one rod close in on the hard gravel ,bottom bait slightly balanced with a cork stick hair stop that I'd had soaking in talin with a few other buoyant bits and the second rod was fished about a foot into the old weed bed, not far out , with a squid liver cork ball pop up...……. Turned out to be a pretty mental evening...… 2 takes on the bottom bait rod 23lb common and 16 lb mirror and 3 takes resulting in 3 lost fish on the pop up rig,(I later.. Over weighted this rig a bit more) one of which I'm sure was a cat as it steam rolled me with no head shakes and powered off into the middle of the lake before spitting me out...… By now it was 10pm and after a couple of 2lb kittens and a tench on the pop up rig to my right and not much happening on the margin rod to my left apart from loads of single bleeps caused by blobs of rain water dropping from the trees, and the odd liner, I decided to spread a kg of bait between the two spots, wind in, and get some kip...…. The next day was a bit slow, a few lads had started turning up for the weekend so the fish activity slowed down. I couldn't move swims now , even if I wanted too. But feeling confident , I stuck to my guns with the close, in tucked away approach, and hoped that the slight commotion from the other anglers would push a few fish my way...… I'd noticed that a couple of fish were just cruising the upper layers out front, at about 6pm on the Friday. I was just contemplating a switch to zigs, when, wallop, the margin rod was off , resulting in a really good scrap from another 23lb common, happy days...… Now, all 3 carp have come from a spot , quite literally 3ft from the bank and about 3mtres to my left , off a bush that has a nice , clear undercut. I don't think any fish congregate hear, more likely passing through, along the edge and being ambushed...….. Later that night around 11pm, the margin rod was off again, 1 toner, that I just couldn't turn, so let it run, being as the weed had died off..... This thing took me all over the lake, and I was convinced it was one of the lakes bigger carp...… Baring in mind I was using 9ft Dwarfs, I had literally no right to land the 33lb cat... Not what I was after, but what a scrap and I was happy to get a bite, since the lake had switched off with the arrival of yet more anglers and a barrage of bait going in...…. We talk of carp with big rudders putting up a scrap, well a catfish is 75% rudder and this one was over 4ft long...…. Again , I wound in at midnight and got some sleep...……. The following morning I had another cat of about 10lb on the pop up rod as I was packing up...…... It was good to get out for a chill out and a few bites. No pics, as I didn't take my phone with me, just wanted a bit of quiet time. It also gave me a chance to get some more of my bait in, ready for Autumn..... Really pleased with my new hookers, dusted with liver powder and squid extract powder, there was no surprise really that the cats took a liking to them...…. Something you have to take on the chin , if they are present. They should quieten down in a month or so and the carp will be on it hopefully, so I'll just keep a bit of bait going in , in readiness.... Starting my new water in the next few days. The first visit will probably be a reccy in one of the boats, followed by some, somewhat blind, tester sessions to get a feel for the place... I will deffo sneak the odd session in , on the local lake that I've just talked about..... It's not the most difficult of waters, and a good "confidence" water if things get tough elsewhere...…..🙂

I've tried digitals and couldn't get on with them. Been using RH dials for the past 3 years or more and had no problem with them whatsoever. OK they're bigger than digi's but they sit at the bottom of my bag, don't weigh too much and read perfectly every time.

I also had two sets of the old Avon scales with the window that changes colour but they became unreliable very hard to zero/ not able to zero so bit the bullet and bought whychwood digital t bar scales a couple of months back......in true spr fashion I’ve not had a fish to test them yet 🤣😂

ive got reuben heaton dial scales and wychwood t bar digital scales and I prefer the t bars and there half the price

Dial scales for me every day of the week. The least electronic kit I can carry the better. They have a tendency to go wrong or misbehave just when you need them. On top of that, I believe Fox digi's don't have an off switch. For dial scales, Reuben Heaton are the ultimate, but Salters (used and tested in a lot of grocers and supermarkets) are also good.

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