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It is the usual case of jumping to the wrong conclusion. A friend of mine was about to retire abroad but his family had a history of cancer. He consulted a WHO report which listed the countries with the lowest death from cancer, Sure enough there was one country that stood out as having the lowest death rate from cancer. ------- Syria!

Lol, standard. We had record high pressure here just a couple of weeks ago (~1050 mbar!!). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51180211 My mate was on the bank and got the first take he'd had in several weeks. Off the deck too. That tells us all we need to know about how pressure itself affects fishing.

I couldn’t agree more Yonny. The mistake some people make is that they attribute what they are observing to the fact that the carp DETECT a change in pressure and ACT accordingly. For example I have heard some people say fish rise to the surface in high pressure to relieve the uncomfortable pressure it has on their swim bladders. Or during low pressure they drop to the bottom and start feeding there. They may be observing a valid correlation but they are mistaking the cause. If you start basing your observations on incorrect assumptions then you run the risk of going in the wrong direction to further your knowledge. It is important to understand the difference between atmospheric pressure and hydrostatic pressure. Atmospheric pressure is the pressure you and I experience in the air at the bankside. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure experienced by a fish under the surface of the water. There is a connection between the two but it is not a direct correlation. In other words 1 mbar increase in atmospheric pressure does not result in 1 mbar increase in hydrostatic pressure. There is an increase in the latter but it is much smaller. The difference arises from the fact that air is a compressible fluid and water is an incompressible fluid. So how much does pressure change during a storm? Well obviously it varies greatly depending on many variables but we need something to work with. Looking at a world meteorological forecast at the time of writing, the highest pressure I can see is 1025 Mbar and the lowest 975 Mbar so I guess that represents a fairly extreme weather pattern that we are unlikely to experience in UK. Just for information, on the same day in the UK the highest pressure is 777 Mbar and the lowest is 768Mbar. I am not being too precise here I am just trying to get a ball park figure for the highest change of pressure we can expect in a storm which seems to be around 50 Mbar. Using very simple physics, If there was no atmospheric pressure, the hydrostatic pressure on the surface of a lake would equal 0 At 0.5 metres depth the hydrostatic pressure would be 49.05 Mbar. But we have to add the atmospheric pressure to those values which is changing with the weather. And that change, in very extreme conditions, can be as much as 50 Mbar That means that under extreme conditions the atmospheric change above the surface only represents a hydrostatic change of 0.5 metres. Don’t take my figures, get your own from the weather forecast or from a barometer. Take the maximum and minimum values at your fishing location and then relate that difference to a difference in depth using 50 Mbar change in pressure = 0.5 metres in depth. (for Luddites still using imperial measures you can make your own conversion) So here is the whole deal. Whatever sensation a carp experiences from a change in pressure due to weather e.g. 50 Mbar it is EXACTLY THE SAME as the sensation it would experience by changing the depth at which it swims by 0.5 metres. But that is not all. That change does not take place instantly. It can take several hours for a weather front to move over your location so the actual change in sensation the fish experiences takes place VERY gradually. This means that even if the carp is ultra-sensitive to pressure change it only has to adjust its depth by a very small amount to compensate for that change. The reason that we attribute change In behaviour in how a carp behaves as a result of changing pressure is NOT because it experiences it directly but as a result of other factors that also change with pressure which may be temperature, wind strength, lighting conditions etc etc. Only by understanding this can you develop a true understanding of what is affecting the carp. Pressure change is universal in a given region but temperature, wind, light etc. etc. may vary more locally from lake to lake and even swim to swim. Of course if you fail to catch fish by not understanding this you can always blame your failure on the pressure change which you can do nothing about.

Size 5 Trig with Large Korda D Kicker tied to ESP Tungsten Loaded Semi Stiff. Going to order some of the large JPrecision versions for comparison👍

possibly these https://www.jprecisionhooks.co.uk/shop/hook-accessories/d-rig-aligners-2/ ?

Imo pressure has nothing to do with how good or bad a water might fish. What does have a huge influence is the weather conditions that low and high pressure systems bring. In summer high pressure usually brings high temps with no wind - conditions that tend to see carp sunbathing rather than feeding. Low pressure systems (in summer) tend to bring big winds, overcast days and rain - perfect for getting the carp feeding. In winter high pressure can be good - it normally brings bright sunny periods which provide the warmth the carp crave at this time of year. Zigs can be a killer in this situation as they're on the move in the upper layers. Low pressure can still be great depending on temps. Some guys believe that pressure will dictate there the carp are in the water column (i.e. in high pressure they'll be up in the water and in low pressure they'll be on the deck). This is a load of tosh. The carp will be up in the water when they need warmth and it's sunny (which normally coincides with high pressure) and they'll be on the deck to feed (which normally happens when the conditions get them moving (big winds, overcast skies). Of course, these conditions are not always guaranteed. It can rain during periods of high pressure and it can be bright during periods of low pressure. Hence, the pressure itself has very little influence.

Personally the safest way to fish thick weed is to have a boat to hand .... other wise your always needing a bit of luck & a lot of patience to extract a big weeded up fish from the bank, no matter what rig you choose.

Just arrived lake side.. -3 Nice and snug so far 👍👍👍

If you like your multi rigs I found this an interesting article. 🙂👍https://therigfactor.wordpress.com/

blooming professionals lol

Currently on 1031 where I am yesterday was 1035 so it is falling

that's really interesting. thanks for the info. very much appreciated.

It's great mate. Toasty. Thermal long sleeved top, my favourite Nissan zip up and the jacket on top. Warm as anything. Have to be careful with the fags though, feels like it will hole quite easily 😉😉😉

Skim reading through that did make me think I hadn't fully explored the multi rig, might have another look into it

To tired to read all that right now , but oh dear that take on a confidence rig at the end of part 3 . I do like the multi rig though .

alas not nige, I've been to 2 of the 8 and they aren't really my type of thing, I quickly worked out you get a very good choice of swims on the show weekend, the only way i'll be there is if the lakes are frozen, that's how I ended up going to a second one lol if we are frozen over that weekend i'll come and find you

Hi Mac You mentioned Bream , and one of the many things I have learned on this forum is your rig must reset ; so I'm thinking if you are getting a lot of silvers picking at your bait you don't want your rig lying in a tangled heap if your bait has been spat out . Therefore , I always use a coated braid . I also prefer pop ups as they are " primed / cocked " ready , rather than having to spin to get into a position to hook a fish when the hook is lying flat on the lakebed . I have some self tied Multi Rigs , but despite upping the hook size to a 4 my hook holds have all been in the scissors , and sometimes right on the edge leaving little margin for error . So I have been trying ESP Ready tied Gripper Combi- Rig in brown SZ.6 hook , and I hooked a carp yesterday in the bottom lip , but it's early days yet . 😃

The more I look at these the more I think they are the perfect accessory for a hook, and simple to use too, you can make a decent bottom bait, wafter and pop up rig all without too much hassle

I saw that myself and thought I would email and ask what kicker is being used haven’t got round to it yet though

But if your line snaps this set up is not at all safe for the fish, which is what the OP was asking. Heli/chod set up is safest as long as your top bead comes free and the swivel of the hooklink can pass over whatever you used to stop the bead then a fish would just be left with the rig in its mouth. Running rigs you leave the line but no lead, same with drop off lead clips or inlines. Anything not dropping the lead is not safe for the fish and IMO irresponsible angling.