pablo7uk

I think I'm overthinking a lot of my tackle at the minute as I've had a few blanks and a few hook pulls since changing things up. Like I say perhaps small fish causing the problems or even being ruled out due to the hook size

Haha must be me! I'm pretty sure my fishing ability had gone out of the window since I started changing things up! I use size 4 krank on various rigs, blowback on coated braid with a stripped back section or Ronnie rigs with stiff boom or a short coated braid for in pva bags. I have also tried a stiff D rig but not caught on that yet. One thing I had thought is that it could be smaller carp that maybe don't get hooked well with a size 4. I fish a lot of venues that have a good number of single figure carp. I'm going to start at fisheries like Wyreside, Clearwater and Lakemore hopefully in the next couple of months so I don't think small carp will be an issue at those places.

Anyone else experienced a lot of hook pulls when using this pattern? I've been using it a little while now and don't think I've landed a single fish I've hooked haha

Thanks both, I'll keep that in mind and might tie up a new zig with some clear line.

Thanks appreciate the advice on the bait choice, I'll definitely give it another go. Better to improve than give up! Is the hooklength and hook size etc all ok? From what I can find on Google I would say so. Something I've been wondering is that should a zig be set up as a running rig or is it self hooking like a lead clip? Using the Fox bolt bubble float I would think it should have some self hooking properties but then the lead is running. Cheers

Hey all, I appreciate there may be threads about zigs already but today I used an adjustable zig rig for the first time and will quite freely say I have no confidence in them. It's been baking hot so since this venue doesn't allow surface fishing I opted for an adjustable zig fished 6" - 1ft below the surface so I could still see the yellow pop up. I witnessed countless carp spook off it sometimes shoals or 3 or even 4 together each turning away from it one after another. Over the day I've seen perhaps 15+ fish turn their nose up at the pop up. One sucked it in paused for a moment and then just comfortably ejected it. I'm using a hair rigged pop up with a size 8 Nash fang hook (which is very small for an about 1ft of 10lb Fox camo soft steel mono tied to a mini swivel in a Fox bolt bubble float then down to a 1.5oz lead. Any suggestions?

Does anyone rate the Sonik Dominator X 6000 RS Big Pit reels? About £65/70 quid each? The other option I've seen is second hand diawa emblems which I'm sure will be good quality but just keeping an eye on a few ebay auctions to get a feel for their second hand price as might be too much still to be honest.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I think I got lucky as I've just bought these second hand...£35 each perfect condition 👍 now just gotta sort some reels.

Thanks for the advice, did these stay at £30 new? Seems very cheap or was it a one off offer?

Thank you, really appreciate the advice. Any reel recommendations that aren't crazy money? For my standard reels I've used diawa regals for years and years with no problem and they were only about £50 from memory

Thanks for the advice, I'll check it out

Hi all, Believe it or not I've never used a spod rod or involved this technique in my fishing at all. I'm wanting to get myself some kit now but looking for recommendations... Rod? Reel? Braid, what lb breaking strain? End tackle? I'm wanting to keep things fairly budget to get me started. Thanks in advance Paul

Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations everyone. I've had a look at a few and the fox sliks sound decent! What does everyone think of the fox dinky range are they adjustable?

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm not fussy and perhaps I was using the wrong terminology! I'll check them out

I struggled to find any reviews before I posted this. Thanks for the info that's really helpful. Any recommendations on decent hangers haha?

Hey all, I recently got the jrc radar CX bundle of 3 alarms, receiver and hangers. The alarms are great and a good price too but the hangers appear to be terrible they stick onto the line way too tight and get stuck. If you lift into a fish or even just to reel the rig in you have to specifically grab the line at both sides of the hanger clip and grab the hanger and pull both to free the line. My first thoughts were to adjust the clip since most are adjustable but there doesn't appear to be anything on them to this, nothing to twist etc Any suggestions or should I fork out for something decent?

Thanks so much for the thorough reply I'll check it all out. When you say fluoro I assume you mean just the mainline? "Naked"? 😂

Could someone give me a step by step guide of components I need to make up a safe Heli rig. I've never used this set up before and although I understand the basic components of the set up I can only find either full kits to buy that use leadcore which I want to avoid or just the safety Heli clip for example korda. I've just bought some dark matter rig tubing originally not for this set up but wondered if I could get other components that would allow me to make use of this? Thanks in advance Paul

Great thanks for the info

Thanks appreciate the advice as I was getting so confused. I know I'd really upped my game recently with pop ups by starting to use the spinner rig pre lockdown of course but I wanted an awesome bottom bait rig too so I'm hoping this is going to be it!

Hello, Every time I search the D rig I seem to find different versions of it. Then I wasn't sure if it was a chod rig or if there is infact even a difference between the two other than the curve of the hooklink material in a chod rig. I've tied this up as my first attempt, firstly the "knotting" seems a little loose despite pulling it all tight. I've tied it about 5-6inch long with a ring swivel on a loop at the other end. I wanted to tie up this rig as I had read it could be used for balanced bottom baits and has a reputation for good hooking potential and holds. Firstly what rig have I actually tied? And secondly is this suitable for how I intend to use it? Thanks, Paul

Great thanks for the advice

I think one of my major downfalls is that I'm rubbish with pva bags, I find them so fiddly and never have a tidy presentation like on all the YouTube videos I watch. I did use a coated braid I've had it for years can't remember the name of it but I strip back about 1cm just after the hook to give it more movement. I think perhaps how I laid it in the pva bag did no favours. The stiff link in the margins was a pop up, I think perhaps I just got unfortunate with that presentation. The rig putty even fell off once when I had reeled in which had been wrapped around the knot. Any recommendations for a presentation to be a bit more fool proof for me. I used a lead clip with a 3oz lead. Both hooklinks were about 6 inch. No rig tube or leader above the lead. No leaders allowed so wasn't sure if there is an alternative I could use? Also is there a golden rule about what should be used in a pva bag? Something to make presentation easier and a tidier bag?

Sounds like a good idea Ian, molasses has been well used in fishing for years and seems to work really well. It's cheap, pva friendly when needed and can be used in so many different ways. I'd say go for it, no harm done especially if it's not an overused flavour

I chose peg 6 actually, I thought it would give me the choice of shallow margins with tree cover and other features but also covers the deepest areas of the lake. It was flat calm almost all day, no fish showing at all throughout the entire day and when there was an occasional slight breeze it was freezing and in a different direction everytime! Needless to say I blanked, just two liners but I don't think I fished particularly well either, reeled in twice with my braided hooklink in a tangle and the stiff link fished in the margins came in with weed on it twice and a seed on the hookpoint once too! I also struggled with the bivvy pegs on the gravel of the peg and set up over an area that wasn't level, took me about 30mins just to peg in the bivvy. Not a great day all in all but the fishery is brilliant so will definitely go back soon.