Machali

Carpepecheur, I shall follow your threads with interest! 
My wife and I moved to France two years ago and are near the river Lot. We have had some good fish but only a couple of tiny carp, still have a lot to learn!
 

Every time i look at this it makes me laugh
 

Seemed as good a place as any to post this! 

Jus had a walk round local water park...walking past a peg with a rubbish bag and an open box  of Bakers Complete (floater fishing ??)...so i put the bag in bin...picked up the box of biscuits and the bottom gave in...bag of biscuits fell out...and so did this...

Not hard really to jus put rubbish in bin and tackle in your bag or box. Imagine if a dog had put its nose/mouth in the biscuits for a sniff or mouthful.

You are only allowed to post what you have forgotten here whilst on the bank, 
Today I have forgotten my jogging bottoms, you may notice I have my socks though 
And also there was a big dirty rat by my rods 

I’m normally quite organised gear wise,did forget my net once but was local so a mate brought his down........ my big downfall is normally food/drink. I’m terrible,Day session with matey boy and was my turn to take the food....... bacon saus egg black pud left cooker at home we ended up with crisp buttys 🙄🙄 
Kettle was one of my faves...... no kettle no brew got plenty of stick for that one.
while perch fishing a few years back left my cup at home so it was Bombay Bad Boy for breakfast and big pots of tea all day 🙄🙄🔥🔥😂😂

Some week ago I left my landing net (for fly fishing) at home. At the sunrise arrived at the lake, prepared my fly fish equipment and discovered the unique landing net Inthe car was a 42" (not good to take around a reservoir).
Imagine a fly fisherman, with a 42" landing net inside a t-shirt. That was me 😂

About a month or so ago I had three takes which were quickly dropped before I could react. When I checked to see if my hook was sharp enough, I discovered I had forgotten to tie a hook into my rig. My excuse is anno domini

I usually use barbless hook if I'm using size 2/4/6, but if I use smaller hook, I'll choose barbed or micro-barbed.
With small hooks is very easy to lose a big carp if isn't barbed

For me it's simple, its horses for courses.  Any amount of accuracy is all down to the angler and their ability and what equipment they are more comfortable with. Someone will be more at home with a 10ft rod than a 12ft rod. I use 12ft rods for all my fishing. I did once buy a 13ft set but literally sold them in a month as I just didn't get on with them. I didn't feel I had balance etc and most certainly lost accuracy with them. Went back to my 12ft rods and could hit a tree line or marker with my usual accuracy.  So I'd say its down to the individuals rather than the fact it's a 10ft or 13ft rod or whatever.  
This is also why I only ever buy custom built rods for my carp fishing. They are built to my specifications.  The real seat is situated on the rod blank to suit the length of my arm/reach . This aids massively in getting the balance right. 
Infact as I started beach fishing last year I brought for the first time, off the shelf rods. I didn't like them but I needed them for my sea fishing so put up with them. I got chatting to my rod builder friend who told me to take them to him. I did this and he moved the reel seat, first cast with the rod and easily gained 30yds on my cast. So balance is a massive thing to aid with distance and accuracy in my opinion.  The thing is, when I left his house I'd ordered a pair of custom built harrison beach casters.  

Very little I would have though as fish live in the wet stuff. An intense fire would throw the flames high in the air so it would have minimal impact on Oxygen levels in the lake. If any trees fell into the lake, that could create an instant 'snag' swim and could be worth investigating.

Should be plenty of foam you can use in Portugal. Just think of all those flip flops in the beach shops!!!! 

Couldn't  you coil up the zigs a bit and then using some PVA tape or string, tie them up then it melts and rises to the proper depth that may help with the cast 

I would avoid fluorocarbon as a hooklink because it sinks more and faster than mono, most definitely heavier than water.
 
I would actually use a surface or neutral fishing monofilament like Drennan Double Strength, Drennan Fly Leader.

Got that in 10lb, very strong and thin diameter. 
I'm gutted! got to the lake someone in my usual spot. Went in another spot, fish cruising, 10-11ft deep!! I was expecting the usual 4-5 ft. No zig float, tried long lengths very awkward due to overhangs and lilies, so I'm experimenting with a pike float!! 🤣 
🤞I'll have a pic or two to post when I get back Sunday. 

If you can get hold of it try Rig Marole Specimon zig/floater hooklink. Very, very good stuff.

Thanks you all mates!
Now i have some ideas to work with zigs, ready for my first attempt next week :) Unfortunately i can't find a place in Portugal to buy zig foam. I'll have to buy it from Amazon. 
Fluorocarbon is a good choice to use as hooklink?  

I thought on fluorocarbon because is "invisible" under water, but it's a sinking line, and i don't want to use zigs in the place of boilies  Thanks for your help!
I'll do a simple set-up for it.
Running lead (between two bead stops) ->  swivel -> an anti-tangle sleeve ->  hooklink -> size 6 wide-gape hook -> bit of foam.
Anything more?

Elmo, the fox underwater YouTube video I posted in zigs shows how red yellow and black perform underwater. OK they are in the same lake, but interesting how the yellow performs. 
I've never done so well with yellow, although my only fish from the car park came on a yellow topped snowman. In about 8 ft of relatively clear water. The previous syndicate, gin clear I couldn't catch using coloured pop ups, yet matched to the freebies, I did very well. 

Agree stevo .... black & white is the go to . But that day couldn't get a take so played about with different combos,  that little slice of orange did the trick that day , so definitely worth keeping busy & making things happen for anyone just getting into zigs .

Yes, that's the idea. A sloppy mix will stay in the upper layers for quite a while. Keep the area topped up every 5 to 10 minutes to let the fish know where to come.

I have know idea about it 😕 I believe that is a question of mindset.

Due to the interest of this subject, I've attached a photo of my dry zig mix. Tesco Porridge Oats cost £2.05 for a 2 kg bag and the ground mix is in the ice cream tub. I mix it with some Mainline Zig Soup which at £13.99 for a 4 kg bag is used more sparingly! I got the grinder off the net a while back and think I paid about £25 for it but should pay for itself reasonably quickly.

Zig foam..... white on top.... dark on bottom....... just as deadly,they can’t help themselves 😉😬😎🎣

Deadly 😉