ian23

The carp r us long shank nailers are seriously sharp and my mate is using them to great effect, i am using the kords long shank x hooks at present after a long spell on nash fang hooks, however the kords range is far far sharper and very dull in colour which i like Tight lines:)

The wychwood deception silt is great imo, have no doubts with it at all:)

Nash fang uni hooks for me, all the way although im paying some interest in to the carp are us long shank nailers, any opinions on these, i love the nash fangs but they are very shiny...

use a cork from a wine bottle to get the correct bend in your shrink tubing everytime for this rig:)

I just use tubing but tightly wrap some of the inner lead core around it in certain laces to help it sink, i use the quick clip as a swivel so i can have rigs ready to cast out when i retrieve one so that its back in the water as quickly as possible. Tight lines.

Thats it mate we can often see fish in front of us and think it is only a matter of time but when your packin up and have blanked it may well be because you didnt try something else, i fish three rods so one rod always stays on a rig i have complete faith in but the other 2 will usually be over a fairly tight baited area and if the fish are there you need to change to provoke a response, if not you may as well go camping in your bivvy, often you may well produce one fish but if you had tried the changes you may well have had more success, there is no point leaving a hard session with "if only if" hanging over you, if it is if only if your thinking you may well have been a touch lazy imo. I only think this now as my angling time is limited but i do mange to nip down and bait my spots, so when i get the chance to fish over them i want to feel assured i have done my bit. Tight lines.

Agree with you there on location mate completely, going on to reply to your head scratchin good comment, i fished raker last year and found i had some great runs that led to nothing on hitting the fish and also lost a couple early on, the lake bed at raker is soft clay thus the carp have soft mouths i shortened my hooklinks right down and bang 5 fish that day all nailed in the bottom lip, i guess its not so much head scratchin just that feeling you get when you prodcue a couple of blanks, although i try to look at them postively as in my opinion a blank should be a learning curve!!

Cheers nick will look into those hooks for future use, i tried to put a pic of my last fish on this thread as i took it on the bottom bait rig you showed first, i use this rig for all my bottom bait fishing unless circumstances require a change while im there, but when that happens i think most people scratch there heads for a while!! lol:)

Nick its the wychwood deception hooklink material im using at the moment i just tried it as i liked one of the colours it came in due to it matching the lakebed i fish, i used to use the sufix camo skin and still rate it now but the deception material is very durable and extremely supple if you like that in your rigs, i do as i tend to fish short rigs anyway. It strips back very well and im just pleased with the product. I have just bought some size 8 and 10 nailers and am about to tie some rigs up now and yes they are sharp!!

It also depends on the depth of water your fishing if you fish avery deep area your pop up will not be as bouyant as the pressure on the outside of the bait will increase with depth making its bouyancy time shorter if you get me.

Jemsue and nick have got those rigs spot on imo, i use the same rigs for my fishing but use the nash fang x hook, although am going to try the nailers due to reports on there performance. I am curently using the deception hookling material and kords iQ.

nice post mate its something i have been trying but have had little confidence in as its new to me but i can see the mass advantage of the zig rig in locating active carp at differrent depths, one rod will always have one on if the conditions require it.

agre wit you there nick, if it catches and the hook holds good i aint changing!! maybe switch to fluro when it gets clear and thats it

I always fish slack lines mate as the waters i fish are pressured and the i think the fish associate lines wityh danger ( i think this as i have had good results after resting my swim for a period of time on long sessions) I always fish with my swingers almost flat on the ground or resting on the ground so some of the weight is taken off the line, even if the fish are lethargic if your rig works you will no about it. I also tend to use very short hooklinks which can exagerate takes as the fish hits the lead almost immediatly. Tight lines:)

Used to use both but now am using the wychwood deception materials and its brilliant gear and really durable!! try it:)

I would fish the gravel spot with a nice short hooklink to a lead clip set up with a bottom bait (fusion is always my choice) with about 30 baits round it (depending on stock and length of session). I would put my other rod just off the baited area in the silt and fish this with the helicopter rig you mentioned either with a pop up or snowman presentation. Clip your marker rod up so it is always going to land on your target area the you can take it down a couple of times during the wek before your session and add a few free offerings just to get the carp feeding confidently over the chosen area. Tight lines mate.

Really good read this post gents, love lots of different opinions being put accross, think this may well be given a chanbe on one of my rods this winter. Tight lines fellas.

No problem mate.

will pm you a picture of one of my rigs if it may help you get going, its really good fun once you start playing around with different ideas for your various presentations. my god im sad!!!

Just a standard rig should do, i prefer fishing bottom baits on hard spots, try scattering a good number of hookbaits over and around the area then you could maybe try a snowman presentation or pop up just off it in the silt in the hope that one of the bigger lumps in your lake is feeding with more caution just off the baited spot... - just an idea. Tight lines.

There are 2 types, flying back leads and plain old back leads. Flying back leads you thread onto your rigs before the tubing so that when you cast the lead "flys" back down the line toward you and pins a length of your mainline to the bottom, how far this lead travels back depends on the length of cast and make of back lead. You can also get clip on backleads which you clip on the line at the rod tip after you have cast. I use these if im fishing with more than one rod in the same area as it helps to pin the line down and keep it out of the way when your playing other fish. They are very useful for this and i tend to use flying backleads for most of my fishing however i would not reccomend the use of them in a water where many snags and weeds are present as they are just one more thing that may get caught up ultimately lossing you fish. Tight lines. Ian:)

I used to use suffix camo skin for my hooklengths but have just started using the new wychwood hookling material and think its great. Its a coated braid, i use the 15lb version and its available in a number of colours - silt, gravel, weed... i always try and match my hooklink and tubing to the bottom of the venue im fishing too as it can often stand out like a sore thumb if you dont check your rigs in the margin. If its a really clear water or im fishing over light coloured gravel i may opt for fluro or plain old mono hooklinks, just see what is best for your water. Tight lines:) PS, wil have those pics of rigs ready for you by early next week tomdavpedley, cracking on with them at the moment.

give me a couple of days mate and i will pm you with a couple of pictures and explanations if possible, if not i can email them to you

x line for me, no memory so it straightens well, sinks like a brick and looks good under water....if you can c it. no problems with it at all, usd to use the sensor, no specific reason for changing, just got new reels though so thought would try x line as my mates have been doing well on it and recommended it.

nash fang x in a 7 for me at the moment.