Leaderboard

I know this may spark off some controversy/debate but its an attempt to show my thinking in making leadcore slightly safer to use This is just for use for Helicopter/Rotary Rigs, incorporating leaders. Firstly we come to the personal decision of whether its better to dump the lead, leaving the hooklink and leader tethered to the fish, or, using the weight of the lead to pull the leader free of the hooklink, just leaving the fish with the hook link to get rid of.I favour the latter, to my thinking, surely the quicker a fish can get rid of the leader the better. With this in mind I set about trying to create a safe a leader as possible, but this presented its own problems. A lot of the kits available now don't work as effectively as you think. Shrink and Silicone Tube aren't fixed and can both be slid up the leader with the bead connected. Yes we are told to moisten the bead before its slid into place but don't forget the leadcore/leader also soaks up moisture making it more slippery. One of the best kits out there is the Korda kit, because the bead is split, it has a much better chance of slipping off, freeing the hooklink, but the kit can still slip up the leader. Which has lead me to trying to create something that doesn't slip at all, leaving the bead as the only movable point.This is where I came up with this idea, tying a 4 turn barrel knot using the leadcore/leader itself. This can not move, which puts all of the pressure on to the bead. After tying the knot I shrink a piece of heat shrink tube over the top to facilitate the bead coming off. The lead inner has been stripped out of this bottom section of leadcore to the top of the knot. This is the presentation in its entirety All I can say, before you comment, try it, and try the lead theory I have mentioned, try getting rid of the leader without the lead, then try getting rid of the leader with the lead and you'll see how much better it is. To my thinking, the fish being able to get rid of the entire leader has to be better than towing it around. Another point to make, these beads have a taper, with the larger hole facing away from the lead. This helps the bead to slip over the knot connecting the mainline. I have also found, the heavier the lead the better, and instead of using a ring swivel which has been problematic I would suggest using a big eye swivel, with the larger eye pushed over the leader.Plus I have adopted using barbless hooks with this particular presentation, on a just in case basis and my mainline is strong, 18lb to be exact. The main reason for using Leadcore lately is because of its stiffness, Leadcore does not follow all of the contours of the lake bed as once believed, this is due to the Lead Inner, which is specifically why I am using leadcore.Other softer, lead free versions do follow the contours, and my pool is littered with very sharp debris. The leadcore predominantly lies on top of the debris without coming into contact with many of the razor sharp edges where a softer more supple leader would drape over these edges.I would like to make it clear, that leadcore wasn't my first choice, but it is the better of two evils in my situation.It goes without saying that you should check the condition of your leader and mainline before each cast and make sure everything works just how it should. Accidents happen, crack off's, loosing fish during the fight, but to my thinking, I have made this presentation as safe as possible, using the lead to pull the leader free. As you see a lot of thought and testing has gone into this rig and I know it may spark off some debate, but I feel perfectly justified in my decision for using it.

Yes indeed! its just a pound that comes off the canal a few of everythink in there apparently and the balif never comes around and if he does its only £3! its close to the grand union canal aswell ive spotted a few nice fish there too! I love my canal and river fishing

I fish it the same way nige, which I why I couldn't understand the issue. Having read beanz' post it makes a bit more sense though.

When I fish a heli lead arrangement, be that a chod or hinged stiff rig etc, I have no bottom stop. The rig can just slide down the the lead and sit against it. There is less movement from the lead this way than on a lead clip.