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I see a lot of confusion over mainlines. Guys seem to compare lines that are intended for completely different uses. There are numerous different types of lines and each have different advantages/disadvantages, and I'm only referring to mono here.... not fluoro, braid etc..... Pre-stretched lines: These are your casting lines like Fox Exocet. They obviously have very low stretch and fine diameter vs. BS and they have a super smooth finish. The result is a line that casts really well. Unfortunately the abrasion resistance is what suffers. Hence in a weedy lake you want to avoid pre-stretched lines. Semi-stretched lines (I made that name up, not sure what they're actually called): These are the latest in line tech and include Gardner GT-HD and Shimano Technium. They are pre-stretched but to a lesser extent than the casting lines. This means they cast very well but maintain other qualities (so they can sink well for example). They beat the pre-stretched lines for abrasion resistance yet still cast a long way. All-rounders: These are the more traditional mono's, the meat-and-two-veg carp lines. they include stuff like Gardner Pro and ESP Synchro. Just because they're not high tech lines doesn't mean they're not very good indeed. They'll not cast as well as the stretched lines but they are hands-down stronger, with better abrasion resistance. If weed is an issue I'd not look past this group of lines. Snag lines: Brute lines, thick with immense strength and serious abrasion resistance. You'll struggle to cast these past 100 yards without casting lessons but if there's snags about this is what you want. Stuff like Gardner HydroTuff and Rig Marole SLS Specimon Tough. ***** Now I see guys comparing lines from different categories all the time. Just the other day I saw a thread on another forum asking if GT-HD or HydrTuff was best. They cannot be compared imo - the GT-HD would be best in a lightly weeded lake requiring big chucks, but with snags or heavy weed in the water the HydroTuff wins hands down. Therefore you can only decide what is best for your angling situation. You need to look at how far you need to cast and what kind of challenges your water presents (weed, bars etc) and choose a line to suit. I always err on the side of caution i.e. STRENGTH. What I mean by that is I would rather be a few yards short of the carp and be in with a chance of landing them, than being able to cast on their heads but lose them all to snags/weed. I have used pre-stretched lines on French trips to huge silty waters with no weed/snags, waters where you need to cast 150, and they've been great. But there is no way I'd choose to use them on the weed choked waters I fish in the UK. I think a lot of guys pay to much attention to castability. If you need to cast 150 then fair play, go for pre-stretched lines, if you don't (and most don't), go for a proper carp line, an all-rounder or semi-stretched line at least, one that will land you everything you hook. So next time you see a "what's the best line?" thread we need to stop and think before we go shouting out the name of what we're currently using. What is best depends entirely on the individual and his/her angling situation. If the angling situation varies, then it is logical that the all-rounders are best (the best of which imo is Gardner Pro). I'm currently suing HydroTuff due to a minimum diameter rule on my syndi, which is normally very weedy. It's been great, never let me down.

Some things, you just can't buy...……… Good to have a few lads on here willing to share their knowledge for the benefit of everyone...……..

Lol, no mate nothing like that, I just like to know what I'm using. I tend to do plenty of research on the stuff that matters and it can only benefit us all if I share what I've learned over the years.

What about Main Lines ?? Everyone must have a different opinion?? Mine is GARDENER GTHD in 12lb all the way...being a copolymer line sinks fairly quick blends nice to most bottoms and if i had to respool i would do it again...not realy looked at anything else.

GR60 Has served me well for a good few years, I dabbled with the ESP Syncro Loaded XT for a change, and found it pretty good but, not as abrasion resistant as the GR60 in the same breaking strain.

This is a realy good insight to lines...i can tell you have very good knowledge of a lot of tackle Yonny...surely you must have been a tackle advisor or something or is it just personal knowledge gained through the years...

I guess if chods are for nods then ronnies are for yonny's😂

I use running rigs most of the time. One question, what alarms do you use? and how sensitive are they set? Small bleeps are likely small fishing hitting the line, you may be getting done but you'd expect a fish to move somewhere if you did, thus tightening the line as it throws the hook. Equally it could just be liners. If you want to stop them, then fish less sensitive and go to lead clips or helicopter set ups. Running rigs are sensitive set ups, so the little bleeps are part of it. I fish them totally slack and have had 1 inch fry hit my line and give me a 2 or 3 bleeps, but I had my delks set super sensitive at the time. Unless you know for sure you're being done and the bleeps are a result of carp not being hooked, I'd look at the numerous other options first. Rule them out and you'll be able to tweak your set up to suit.

First day of the lake de- silting job today up near Chester. The main lake on the estate looks spot on & have already started prebaiting a few marginal spots with the hope of getting some fishing time later in the week . Never been fished apparently so haven't a clue what might be in it . But already seen a few lillies moving so fairly sure there a carp present but not seen any as such . Just going to keep a bit going in & what will be will be .

Gardner hydro-tuff. Where I'm at, there is a abundance of not just gravel, but good-sized rocks, some very large. But even the HT gets pretty chewed up, so I have to cut off line, and even change line often. Also have to go using long Kryston snag leaders(at least 3'), and tubing if I can get my line through 3-4ft of it. Even with that, have to often cut line off.

Good post this mate .... & the exact reason I carry two types of line with me , 1 snag line & one casting .

Your not wrong mate. It was dark as well. I was so confused. I spent a good few minutes checking for trailing line/hooks as it can only be 1 in a million, fish was completely unmarked not a cut or even a mark.

That is quite a scary tbh mate, Its a miracle that the mouth wasn't cut or damaged. Just goes to show that even when we think we are fishing 100% safe, there is always a element of risk involved.

I recently respooled my reels and i loaded them with ESP Syncro Loaded XT which is the first time i've ever used it and i must say it is absolutely superb. It sinks like a brick, can cast miles if i need it too and it comes in a lovely olive green that i find blends in to almost any lakebed.

Funny enough, I think the exact same thing - to the point where we actually get a take is as being as low as one in 10/20 times the rig is picked up. Not due to being solely on guard, but also curiosity, accidentally etc. Thanks once again for the food for thought.

Nah. Imo we're getting done all the time i.e. the rig is ejected multiple times prior to getting a take, so I make sure my rigs can reset themselves and fish as effectively as they did when they were first cast out.

Making a bread paste and using fox arma mesh or some fine netting is another trick I've used.

Absolutely, its a great edge if you were fishing over a weedy lake bed or covered in fine blanket weed - as its only an inch or so thick, the bait is just sitting above it or in an instance where you know the coots/ducks/grebes are down for a much and you need that confidence that your rig needs to be 100% as it was if disturbed.

I've not caught on it, but my initial concerns were about the unpredictability of it spinning about. Good to know about the bigger hooks, something I'll bare in mind if I give it another go. Deffo a decent presentation, nice and low key pop up and ability to withstand the bird life and not leave the rig in a mess. Cheers fella.

I've moved over to the Ronnie this year after the weed died down on my syndi and I lost a couple on my trusted hinge rigs. Hook holds have been excellent - right in the middle of the bottom lip. The rig works better with bigger hooks I've found - more consistent hooking. Smaller hooks tend to catch in the scissors and I even had one hooked in the top lip. Bigger hooks (4's and 2's) stopped that. I thought the rig Ronnie was just another fad tbh but it's currently doing the business for me, big time.

My thoughts, a running lead works best with a totally slack line, and doesn't necessarily need a long hooklink as the line is free running through the run ring. I use 3oz on running leads, not saying that is the only weight to use, but sometimes you may find heavier is needed. If the bottom is a bit mucky, try adding a lead link, that will stop the lead sinking into it and dragging the hook and bait into it. The bleeps could be signs you are getting done, it may be worth playing (increasing) the hair length. I found on a water I used to fish with running leads, I was having silver fish hitting the line between the bottom and where it entered the water, a series of bleeps, then nothing. A carp was quite unmistakeable, bleep, bleep, bleeeeeeeeeeeeeep non stop.

If you're struggling with running rigs first thing I'd do is up the lead size and semi-fix it buddy.

NGT SINGLEZ... i LOVE the black korda version but at 90% cheaper...must be worth a shot..£35 for 3 rod or £29 for 2 rod...if these were in black i would be buying NOW...

Love that...…..🙂

No. The sheath sits in the tail rubber very tightly (can be tricky to push it in, in fact). Therefore as long as your tail rubber isn't coming off the clip, it'll stay exactly where you want it to. No crinkling, it's very robust, with a strong, almost elastic feel to it when stretched. No kinking either. It's solid stuff. I've never used it on a heli set-up but as I mentioned the sheath can fit snugly into whatever you want. You'd need to check that any beads can pass over the sheath on the opposite end obviously bud. It's reasonably supple. It's the weight that's the real strong point - it's so heavy it just sinks lightly into silt, weed etc.... I agree mate. I've shown a couple of anglers what this looks like in the margins on my water and they both went straight out an bought some. It's awesome bud.

I'm the same on a work morning....... On fishing mornings I'm up and away at 4 am with a spring in my step though lol.

Easy...... Rig Marole Freefall Micro Braided Rig Tubing in brown. It has stainless steel woven into it so it's pretty much as heavy as lead core. The brown blends into absolutely everything, as it's braided it takes on water and even silt, it just disappears. It comes in pre-cut lengths which sound expensive at first but as long as you don't crack off each length lasts around 18 months I've found, so it works out cheap. It's important to get the pre-cut lengths, they have a sheathe over each end to prevent fraying. Like you I've been a leadcore man all my life. I started using this tubing due to a leader ban and even though the ban has been lifted now I'm not going back. It is that good!

I use the the korda stuff ... easy to thread & doesn't stink of plastic like other brands , which is something many over look when choosing tubing . If you can smell it then the fish definitely can !

Tungsten Tubing from Either Korda or Gardener...both have 3 colours available in Silt Gravel & Weed (Angling Direct £6/7) each...

Simon Scott told me this little nugget of info which I went on to have a deeper look at. I think it’s a case of fishing through the year for them as during the colder months when most fish shut down the leathers will be slightly more active. If you look at some of the big leathers in history and catch dates a lot of them will have been caught in colder weather more regularly than the big mirrors and commons in the same lakes.

One of the reasons I mix two different boilies together in my loose feed.

When i was fishing kingsbury and using mainlines hybrid i was getting more commons than anything else, i did think back then that the commons in pine pool really liked the hybrid, might be something in it, might not be, on the water i'm fishing at the mo, i have only had mirrors out, i have only been getting out a few times a year though these past few years, the damp air is really messing with my chest, i have always had problems with acid reflux which is now causing a lot of inflammation in my breathing pipes. gonna see if the doc will hook me up with some steroids or something try and cut back on the flair ups and get out fishing a bit more.

Yes, these are my thoughts too.... Being scavengers they will eat pretty much anything once.... But I'm a great believer in fish "conditioning" themselves to promote good health and ultimately the survival of their species. It makes sense to me that a fish with scales may need slight dietary variation in order to maintain and repair scales...……. This subject came up in conversation elsewhere recently...… Now, I may have mentioned before that me and a mate used to fish together on the same lake, with the same bait, except I would leave some crushed egg shell in mine..... I caught a hell of a lot more commons they he did and he caught quite a few of the elusive mirrors that resided in the lake, I'm convinced that the egg shell played a part, it's slightly soluble and I believe they were drawn to it...…. Another guy (who's opinion I respect), recently went through some old catch diaries going back a few years and noticed that he'd had more commons on baits that contained ingredients containing higher levels of calcium, which , of course, rang a bell to me regarding the egg shell...……. These catches, coincidence? Who knows... I think we can sometimes have tunnel vision and read into something, the things we want to believe...… But , if it gives you confidence in the hunt for a particular fish, then it can only be a good thing imo……. With tin hat on I'm going to say that imo a common carp is a carp in it's purest form, that's why I like em...

Scientifically proven that Leathers use energy a lot quicker than commons and mirrors and therefore need to feed at all times of the year as they wont store as much in reserve. So if you are targeting a leather in your lake, fish through winter for a better chance of catching it. I think its documented from many anglers that fish do have specific tendencies for bait. Basil and a red fishmeal for instance (Nigel Sharp's book as a reference). Commons on sweeter baits is another one you hear a lot but whether there is truth in it I dont know. I would have assumed that due to having more scales, which are made of Keratin, that commons would be more in to baits with higher iron contents; liver, blood and fish meals. This might be a good rotary thread?

I'm not sure about how a bait can be specific for a particular strain. Leather, mirror and common, even koi are all part of the same species, cyprinus carpio, although I think that linears and leather carry a potentially lethal gene. (Maybe Frank (Levigsp), can explain it better). I do know though that in my experience, common carp on some waters can sometimes show a distinct preference for particles, where mirrors may be more boilie orientated. I used Trigga on Earith for a couple of years, that bait caught both mirrors and commons in I reckon equal proportions. Years ago there was an ongoing discussion about honey being an attractor for leathers, not sure if Chillfactor remembers or was part of it? There has to be some sight feeding, smaller fish could well be more sight feeders, having to eat everything they see, compared to bigger fish being more nutritionally able to 'smell' baits? Saying all that, the original big mirror (which I haven't seen recently) in my local park lake had a distinct skill in boilie hookbait avoidance, it was usually caught on bread. The majority of the commons I caught were all caught on sweetcorn over Vitalin, the mirrors on boilies. On Brackens, again I caught both mirrors and commons on Smokey Bacon and Smoked Mackeral, although I never caught any of the three biggest fish on them, but it is possible I had lost them without knowing in my few fish losses.

It's the 1st time I've fished a water like this. Living where I do it's a very rare thing. Anyway fished free line prawn earlier, 2 foot from the bank. Resulted in my 1st fish . Only a little one but we saw a couple more that looked a lot bigger.

Someone on here pointed me in the direction of barley malt extract....and then was far from surprised when I told him I’d caught my pb (at the time) on it. A beautiful common of 27lb 8oz if memory serves me correctly(the fish below) read into that what you will....... someone mentioned julian cundif using scopex squid....I also use it and had my new pb on it 29lb common

See that makes sense to me. I don't believe for a second that mirrors/commons prefer particular baits but I have no doubt that individual fish show preference for a particular bait or baits.

I had an interesting catch last year, that nice common I had which was thought to of been lost to the otters , some will remember on here . Not been caught or seen in over two years before I landed it last year . Anyway to my point lol .... I'm convinced I caught it again because I started baiting a few weeks before with a bait I hadn't used for the couple of years it went uncaught .

You have to be careful what you believe for that very reason lol.

It takes more energy (for lack of a better word) to grow scales than it does the softer flesh therefore commons and heavily scaled mirrors tend to grow much more slowly than sparsely scaled fish, and why mirrors tend to be bigger in general. No difference in metabolic rate etc. I can catch big mirrors for fun but really struggle with commons. Conversely I have a mate that always gets on the big commons but struggles to bag the mirrors. We fish the same waters. It's purely down to chance imo.

Very stealthy keeping all your line out of the water, like it.