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had a little visitor too, we had 3 on our lake over the weekend, Bentley Fishery in Brentwood sorry about the photo quality it was taken on the phone

This app is very good on google play. Fishing knots Practice makes perfect, get 2 pulling tools, I pull everything down as tight as possible. Near bending the hook and 100% sure the knots will not snap.

Don't be sorry paws. I personally use a chod pen with my thumb at the bend of the hook. A pulling tool or even the ring on the scissors will suffice. I made mention to practice, which IMO, is the most important part of it. I've never had a hook open up, or bent and had a few thirties. I can't quite see forceps gripping the hook enough to be able to pull it down tight enough. Do you mean pliers? I tend to use Kranks in all types(chod or curved) so in my mind, this method would undoubtedly weaken the hook. Or slip out when I pull it down. When I said near bend I meant exactly that, the written word is always misunderstood on here. Great advice for OP, Although personally I'd only really use a trace for pike/perch/cat fishing?? I tend to tie hook links for carp. I'm no expert and currently honing my zig fishing, on the odd occasion I get lakeside. Now that is a relatively simple rig and no need for bags of bits n Bob's. Rigs are constantly evolving and the vids and mags will tell you need this and that terminal tackle, my advice would be to keep things simple because otherwise before you know it you will of blown £50 on bits of metal and rubber, etc. that you don't really need. Got the t shirt on that one, 🙄

I'm off work for 3 days myself that same week so I'm going to be on Fanlodge for 2 full day sessions, I'll be doing first light till 4ish myself. 👍👍 I'll be on Tuesday and Wednesday. 👍

I'm sorry to disagree with you commonly but pulling with 2 tools until the hook is 'near bending' will weaken the hook and make it more likely to open up during a fight. I grip the hook with a pair of forceps along the shank of the hook and pull it with a tool at the the swivel end so it beds down. Coming back to Sam's last question, they are loads of rigs out there and some are designed to work in certain situations. Chod rigs are designed for slack line fishing over weed beds with a pop up's whereas Hinge Stiff Rigs, Ronnie's or Multi Rigs are designed for pop up's over clearer ground, although nothing is ever clear cut and you could argue you could use any rig in different circumstances. Work out what type of bottom you are fishing over and then decide if you want to fish a pop up/wafter/bottom bait and take it from there. Personally most lakes I fish have cleanish bottoms and I prefer a wafter that is critically balanced (I usually add more cork to make it so or you could use use a pop up and add some putty) and fish Combi rigs (fluorocarbon to make it stiff and reset with a flexible supple braid for the last inch to make the bait behave naturally.) If that wasn't enough, you have to decide on the length of trace. Wisdom says that very large fish need a longer trace and if you fish PVA bags, a very short length is commonly advised. It's a very subjective subject but you have to decide on how best to tackle what is in front of you. I tie all my own traces and get a bit more satisfaction from it rather than just buying one over the counter and you can tweak them to get better results. Good luck.

Get a decent brand of hook. I have landed 10 fish on ESP hooks when I used them years ago, although I check the hook before every cast. Also, a run and 'lost' take does not always signify a dropped fish. It could be a fish trailing line that gives you a run, which as you pick up is nowhere near hooked, just lead or line running over your line. It could be a hookpull; maybe the fish weren't feeding strong enough to be properly hooked. Possibly your rig (and/or hair) was too short. Change one thing at a time. From what you have said, fish were not feeding (or comfortably) where you were fishing.

Almost definitely hook point dulled over. It doesn't matter what brand of hook you use, they all lose their sharpness after catching a fish or even just being in the water. I use http://www.jagproducts.co.uk/product/hook-sharpening-kit and check every hook before casting. Even brand new hooks out of the packet are sharper with a few light strokes with the sharpening stone file. Most blunted hooks can be rescued by using the diamond file and finishing with the stones. The ultra eye is useful for checking that the hook point tapers to a point and a quick nick on the thumb confirms if the hook is 'sticky sharp'.

Get a little file the taska one works and doesn't cost silly money and just touch the hook up after a few fish, the hooks last a lot longer, as for when to change depends on the situation at the time.