Choprider

I agree about the sharpening on the Kamakura hooks, when I finish a trip they get taken off and thrown away.. whether I have had a fish or not as they can come back easily damaged ( bent point ) I quite like the pattern of the wide gape version.. and will try and find something similar on the Johnson Ross website as you recommend earlier in the thread.

I normally sharpen my own and check them after each cast, if in any doubt I would then throw them away, I usually put a bit of vaselin on the sharpened points. But recently I have tried Kamakura wide gape hooks, these things are very sharp and I have had carp on them that I could have possibly missed on in sharpened hooks ( I have found these hooks can be damaged very easily ) but after reading this thread I have looked on Johnson Ross tackle website and will probably try their ready sharpened hook.. as it has got to be easier than doing it myself with vice and magnifier... must be getting old 😉

I have had a few on choddies, but wouldn’t have a clue where to start with Zigs ( me and my mate keep saying we are going to try Zigs, then we lose our bottle )

Spot on, blue label you are not wrong there.

They look lovely... optonics ???

Quest for carp is a good read, and I have read it many times over the past 40 years... it’s been sitting on the bench in my workshop for the last few years and I still pick it up now and then and read a chapter or two..

Lovely rods, I have certainly had some fun landing carp on mine.. I have several others and they all get used when needed.. they are never going to be as good as my modern stuff.. but good fun when you do use them..

Sorry I couldn't do anything that looks Blingy 🤣 if you saw the motorcycle that I built during last lockdown you would know why (old school chop)

If i decide to whip the intermediates ( which i probably will ) luckily I can still see where the original intermediate whips were so i should be able to get them back about right.. I don't think I would ever sell any of my vintage stuff, I have 5 built cane rods in all and they all get well used.. hence this one being refurbished.

Now I reckon that would get a few looks.. and go"s along with my way of thinking 😉

My MK IV avon has the intermediates whipped, this is my MKIV carp.. it was done originally, thinking about it now i suppose i should re whip the intermediates.. not sure but do the intermediates add strength to the built cane ( i have had it 25/30 years be a shame to snap it now )

I am in the middle of rebuilding my MK IV cane rod and had really decided in my head to just whip the rings etc on and not whip any intermediates... then my wife was in my workshop whilst I was whipping rings on and I put a couple of intermediates in just to show her what it would look like.... that’s much better she said 😂😂 I must admit I don’t enjoy whipping intermediates ( does anyone ) but now she has me thinking.. do I or don’t I...

Ah.. Dacron that takes me back...

You are spot on about inflows giving oxygen and also stirring the bottom, my last house was a two minute walk from our canal ( which I fished for twenty odd years for carp ) there was one part with a high bank and field on the opposite side, the farmer used to pump water out of the canal in late evenings, the water was pumped up the steep bank into a tanker and when the tanker was full the overflow would come down a return pipe back in the canal causing a powerful wash which stirred up the bottom and at the same time put lots of needed oxygen back into the water... I used to regularly bait and fish areas 25 yards either side of the pump.. superb fishing.. I really miss that canal now I have moved.

in my bag are as follows mouth trap n trap rig marole hydralink.. various mono’s although sometimes I would put more time in to locating fish than trying the latest in fashion hook lengths.