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I had another walk around today as I'm planning to fish from tomorrow for a few days. I found some pics I took of the culvert area last year, compared to one I took today, hard to believe it is taken from almost the same spot. I said I don't often prebait, I did put a bit in today, although I do know the carp already like KMG, but I have checked the weather and the wind is due to change. That walking around, even if not on the day you fish, gives you an insight into the water. Puts little clues your way.

Can also just get some cork sticks and use those or a foam topper will also help until the new baits come through

Proper jobs are great and the standards are better than a lot of other brands I've tried, you just know it will still be up in the morning, they do some lovely flavours too, you won't look back, I just wish they did wafters too

What pop ups are good to use with the Ronnie rig? ive never used one before but want to give it a go. ive got a size 6 Nash fang x hook, with a Korda spinner ring swivel size 11, with a metal bait screw which is on a ring. Piece of shrink tube over the swivel and eye of the hook and a hook head to stop the bait screw going too far forward. I’ve just tested it in a bowl with a 16mm sticky krill pop up and it doesn’t seem very buoyant. It doesn’t sit in the same position when you drop it in. I’m not sure if I’m using something too heavy terminal tackle wise or if it’s the pop up. Here’s a picture of my rig, it’s sat okay in the picture but doesn’t always sit like it, sometime the hook will lay pretty much on the deck. I’m wondering if I should try a different brand of pop up or a micro ring swivel instead of a bait screw? any advice on this would be great thanks 👍👍

I know a number of anglers who use a piece of yellow foam as the topper or to lift the bait up to critically balance or pop it up. It looks like large pieces of sweetcorn or maize

I’ve gone for squid and octopus in 15mm white, I’m using sticky krill bottom baits so hopefully a fishy pop up should do well 😁 What drill the bait out and stick some foam/cork in it? I wonder if you could just use a piece of on the rig instead of putting in it, like they do on a zig rig? 🤔

this is the stiff part of a hinged stuff rig, it's not the one for a bag will sit far too high I think, if you want to use a pop up in a bag I would still keep it simple and just add some shot to a simple rig and check the presentation and that it doesn't sit too high above, which is why I like a wafter as it looks like a part of the mix not a beacon on top of it, my thoughts on bags are that all Ingredients can be sucked in together at once, then hopefully the hook sticks In the lip as it lifts off, I don't think you need a complicated rig in a bag as the surrounding bait is all part of the appeal, I don't think 2.5oz is a deal breaker tbh just make sure your hooks are sharp,

The only thing is that in my case, so I presume on other reservoirs, is that most of the weed tends to be marginal. There is a weedline that goes out to about 10metres, the next drop-off or ledge before it gets weed free. On Ardleigh and Alton I found the depth was more important than weed free or not, the takes came between 6 and 12 feet.

Something dave Lane said on his latest vlog may help you if it's weedy, the fish will make it easier for you if you can find clear spots as that may be where they like to feed, so mainly just find and concentrate on those and that might be a good starting point and then you can ignore and rule out large chunks of weedy water 👍

You need something more buoyant than the one on there at the moment. My homemade 15mm pop-ups will actually take extra putty moulded around the tubing on a size 4 hook on a Ronnie rig, not that I use them very often.

I’ll take a look at Trent baits and ub baits now mate. I will get some proper job pop ups ordered as well, thanks 👍👍

I use the Trent Baits cork ball pop ups. UB Baits are also decent. Just the standard proper jobs are more than buoyant enough mate.

Cheers mate, where do you get your cork ball pop ups from? I’m on the proper job pop ups website now, looking at the squid and octopus ones. Would you use the mega buoyant or standard ones? 🤔

It's the pop up mate. I prefer cork ball pop ups. For standard pop ups it has to be Proper Job Pop Ups. They are as buoyant as you'll get.

It does a little but it seems to tangle less and still pushes the hair out the side of the hook, I found I was hooking them in the scissors quite a lot with a normal kd set up so I tried this little kicker and it now turns better

I was having a little play with mouth trap the other night, this is the first rig I've tied using a krank chod type hook where I can see the benefit of the hook, and in my head this rig will work well

It was you that put me on them Yonny....I noticed you had a very fond preference for them in previous threads and I read nothing but good about them elsewhere...I have purchased grabba stinga and chodda on the strength of this and they do seem good hooks that I have yet to properly use..was now looking for a wide gape straight point hence my question on the sabre pattern...so thankyou.

Cheers for the reply, Leadcore is banned but I guess tungsten beads will help add more weight , pin down sinks pretty well tbh anyway, will have a look at what else I can find to chuck at it 😁 I still think I will use the inline set up if I can get away with it, but it may not hurt to try and fine tune a heli set up to as back up for the more extreme situations,

Yep, it all adds to the intrigue of the place. Apparently a few 30's came out last night! Good signs. I just hope they are still feeding in a fortnight 🙏🤞🙏🤞

Are you allowed bait boats on their , Or small dinghies

Thanks mate. I'm chuffed to have found a new challenge /campaign for the foreseeable future.

I

That looks like a nice place, Enjoy

Thanks nick. I'm looking for features. I have joined with a good mate, so fishing the bays is possible but not covering a lot of water. The bays look good, there's a few overhangs by the car park bay, which doesn't look like many anglers bother with, but I may try to get a few baits in. As you suggested, I always believe fish will patrol the inlet areas at some point. So that is an easy acces, starting point in a couple of weeks if I don't manage to do the boat safety induction. I popped in today, fired out some bait. There is a lot of water to learn about!!

Hi Commonly. Sorry my fault. I should have listed my mods in a different order. Put the washer in first. Then, if you wish, put the inline insert into the lead passing through hole in washer. I much prefer inline leads because, in my experience, I get fewer occasions when the hook link tangles around the lead. Note that the insert will go through the hole in the washer and serves the extra bonus of preventing it coming loose if the fit of the washer in the lead is not tight enough. Interested to know how you get on. Bon chance.

Wow they ARE interesting. It looks like you will get more grip per weight with those. I would make some modifications. 1) I would remove the swivel, drill a hole place an insert and convert to an inline lead (personal preference only) 2) I would force a washer through the widest part of the centre hole to form a large gripper fin, that will not tangle. I have tried to make a diagram to show the idea but my Photoshop skills are rather limited. I hope you get the idea.

Not sure what shops you have near you but in art and craft shops around here you can by a large bag of large polystyrene balls for very little cost. Shove a bamboo barbeque skewer though, paint it black and you have an expendable marker float.

Yeah mine has orange and black interchangeable tops. The black is best for bright days.

This is going to sound ridiculous but the best colour for a marker float is black. As part of my job, I used to plot the movement of water currents by putting out markers and following them. A black flag was always the easiest to find. If you visit a fishing port you will see that the most common marker flag used for crab and lobster pots is black.

You did not respond to my suggestion of a collar on the lead to improve grip so may I make another suggestion? If you go for something more conventional like a Fox Kling On, you can improve its effectiveness by adding a small barrel weight a foot or two above the lead. It works a bit like the chain on a ships anchor by flattening the angle at the lead. It is particularly effective in deeper water.