coops_northants

I love my Combi rigs, however i like using reverse combi links. having an inch of fluro from the hook, giving it the turn like a line aligner but without the weight of the tube. To this either merlin over weed or coated braid for hard surfaces. Had a few fish like this. Will be trying it with bristle filament and also thick fluro (normally ghost or rig marole)

I tie up a few from time to time. I have a selection of rigs ready made and when i get the lake i choose the ones most suited. if i have special situation i will knock up one there and then. I dont use overly complicated rigs anyway most complicated are the fluro to merlin combis to be honest.

Depends on how you use it and the lake bed, can be great can also be useless. the principles mean it fishes effectivly most of the time so therefore will help you catch but only if your over the right bottom. Stiff combis again very good and reverse combi links and broken stiff links also good but all have their time and place.

like the old style fang x for pop ups. they work nice. Really though depends on the rig arrangement, some work better for different reasons

I know people who have fished LB1, i was going t ofish there for a season a little while back. I didn't hear of too much trouble at the time it is a nice looking lake though and one i do fancy having a shot at when the time it right. Was a club water a few years back (70s) i think and there was some history of stocking and the carp were present then and into double figures at the time.

Depending on the density of the weed 3 hooklinks i use mono (berkley sensithin) fluro (rigmarole because its cheap) and merlin braid. Dont forget though you will always bring in more weed than there actually is down there as you drag the end gear through it on the retrieve.

If you find an area where the fish like to visit and this area is very weedy with little in the way of clear spots then one tactic i use, mainy on long sessions is a straight pop up, inline lead, and the hooklink set slightly deeper than the weed. To this i just put a pop up on and go for it, launch it in and bait just boilies with a catty in thr area, not too closely baited so the fish search out individual baits in the weed......... Crude as you like and will never be one to read about in the comics but hey it works and works well, the reason...... how many people do you see try this? Another thing, like the guys say you can try and find clear areas, great but a little trick if you find them easily everyone can so try the tactic above cast in the weed around the clear area, the fish will often hold around the edge picking off the loose baits..... I always think the best bet on any weedy water is the fringe at the margin and also what you find on most lakes, if you pick the biggest tree on the far margin and cast 50-60 yards you will find a clear or clearer area almost guarenteed fish will know there is often bait there so patrol and eat the stray loose feed.

Personally no, but then i really cannot see any reason to. what benefit would it have??? I use pop ups a fair bit for my fishing and i just like the up section to have a slight curve for the simple fact if a carp picks it up from the back the bottom lip hits the curve (normally fluro) and this works to spin the hook round so the point is facing inwards. The withy works similarly but would IMO lose this property if fished on a zig, not to mention the factor of weight into the equasion.

So guys what do you think of stiff hairs... i am looking at different ways to present baits and found good results in mono hooklinks, maybe because of the stiffer hair. i like the idea of stiff rigs on occassion but not normally with a stiff hair. What are your guys experiences with stiff hairs and the best rigs to use for the presenting baits on a stiff hair.

Hey Ian after you have tried the Beanz get on the Pea's....... them tinned peas are superb. A par boiled bag of the frozen stuff is perfect for the hair too. I know the Roach love em too.....

Ian, that is one of my favourite baits..... Seriously... the carp love em and on a couple lakes near here the tench are barmy for them.... straight out of a tin....... Its funny as i have just highlighted Beans (haricot beans) in a spod mix thread in UK carp stating this fact:D Another good thing is you can see where the fish go after eating them...... look for large bubbles hitting the surface.....Parp

Yeah mate things are good, bit gutted that i cant get out fishing this weekend and the lake is alive and virtually empty. oh well there is always next week i suppose. Good to see your managing to catch a few. with the hooks you will never know untill you try them mate, plus if you only use them for the snag fishing then you probably wont notice the cost so much in time.

Elmo, i was told about G-Hards about a year ago. From what was said to me i thought they were great, when i found some and noticed the price my thought was they had to be very good indeed. With them being that price and still have people rave about them must mean they are great. You would be looking for reasons to slate them at that price, never heard a bad word said. Ashima do some ultra strong patterns too and worth a look.

My first spod was a litl bottle and an old Pike bung superglued in. Use a hot skewer to amke 4 holes in the top to take the line to a swivel and made a few holes in the body to empty the water on the retrieve..... it done the business but went off course quite easy Still have it now and it must be 6-7 years old. Dont use it any more though;)

It does float as do all braids, some do state they sink but this is slightly untrue as all braids suffer trapped air between the fibres. Sinking braids have a higher amount of polyester woven in and this makes them a pig to make a cast of great length. Jimmy i would use a shock leader even with braid for the reason Nick states. Maybe not 50lb but anything lower than say 30lb However saying that i often clip the spod on the marker set up which is 24lb sabre and had no problems. It could happen though and have seen recently braid snap casting lures. :eek: I also use a tapered mono leader with my marker set up just incase and to help the marker lift in the water. This also means that when i stick the spod on i still have the shocky. Nothing worse than seeing £7 floating off in the ripple

I use inlines too in weed but as you say in a bag. The majority of my fishing waswit hhelicoptors in the weed and i found the fish came up in the water fairly rapid for reason stated above. on one occassion i wish the fish stayed low as there are plenty of snaggs up in the water with over hangs etc. Maybe its my way of setting up the helicoptor as i dont use tube or any fixed attachment for the hooklink. jsu ta buffer and an rubber bead then the link then another bead through the side to hold on. This seems great for weed. The top bead just set up the line and the bottom follows the hooklink so it all sits on top of the weed (just 4-6 inchs with the lead in the weed) once you get a pick up the hooklink slides back down to the lead thus lifting it clear but also givign a little time for the rest of the line (the bow) to become taught and so mid water. I try not to use clips in weed as i too blieve they dont work efficiently. But for a standard baited rig for me i will pick a helicoptor over any other in weed base on this years results over other rigs. The inline in a bag is not the same as an inline with a bait alone as the added area over pressure withthe bag is eonough to rest high in the weed, esspecially so if like me you use solid bags and dont *************** to let out the air and so sink slow under the weight of the lead untill the bag starts to break and then decent a little faster but still sit on top od the weed when you want it to. The bit about pressure of the lead i do agree with but with the set up i use there is a small amount of play albeit only a couple inches (back bead being set back so hooklink has added movement) I suppose it is dependant upon the actual set up and weed density but i dont use the standard fixed helicoptor for the reason you say. For a pendant style i prefer the running lead regardless. The helicpotor the way i fish it is benefiting from the same principles as the paternoster rig, just sliding to be in contact and not have trailing line like the paternoster, also have the casting anti tangle properties of the helicoptor due to the set up. Its versitle which is what my fishing requires. i think thats why it was more sucessfull than the other rigs i used through the year.

I disagree, i use a helicoptor a fair amount and the water i fish is weedy as heck. Infact i would actually advise against using an inline lead in weed. Once the line is tight the lead is in direct contact and acts just as if it was on the mainline..... Even the standard Chod set up the lower bead slides down to the lead and all is direct, not often is the line coming off at an angle and the plus to the helicoptor is that when the fish pick ups the bait in the weed there is little resistance meaning better indication. if your fishing inline or clip the rig has a resistance to the weed so indication is reduced as the fish have to pull your rig out of the weed often meaning that the line gets pulled through the weed creating an angle between the fish and the rod tip as the line goes round the weed, this can also cause line to fray if its rubbed against the shell and what not in the weed and also weed can damage line. the helicoptor/chod means the line and rig comes up over the weed leaving just the lead which as you tighten down actually lifts out of the weed and the line is then mid water and clear of any weed.

Extreme thats mainly for safety reasons. At the end of it all you dont know who is the other sifde of the screen. What could be a good deed may not end up being so. Mick i have loads of the normal mutistrand. Its like a never ending supply... brought that when i started out proper carping..... Fair while ago now infact. Wasn't the old snake bite multistrand with a coating??? can anyone remember if it was open multistrad or twisted?

I like Multistrad but i also Lose plenty of fish on it. But the run rate is pretty good going just need the luck with it. I would love to use it where i fish now but the snaggy nature of the lake means it would be suicide really. May go and get the 25lb stuff and see if it copes. Do they still do the woven and un woven versions? could try the woven, probably just a little more durable i would think. Dacron is superb, I would still use it if i could find it. Used to use it for tench fishing and also when i first started proper carping. Had dacron links with bait spikes on the hair.........

Pre stretched match monos like preston powerline are superb for zigs as the fine diameter means less weight on long links which ultimatly means your zig is fishing the right depth. Fluro is often too heavy and bows under the weight and more so when the pop up takes on water (if you use a pop up that is) For snag free water and long links i have used fox ultra soft mono (cant remember what its called maybe illusion) and that is very very fine so great for real long links eg 8 foot and over;)

Try using a few different knots. The one i use for loops with mono and fluro is different to most. I tie and overhand knot then push the tag through it then twist up the leader 4 times pull the overhand knot together but not tight then post the tag through the loop created next to the overhand knot (between that and the twists) then moisten and pull tight slowly. Should have no problems and it will be a smaller knot than normal so easier to thread through the leads and clips etc. Also nice to have at the mainline end as it is pretty areodynamic and does not pick up too much weed etc. They say this knot just gets stronger the more you pull and i can say i have had no worries with it when using it for hooklinks to create more movement.

If you pole angling near margin snags and rushes you dont want holo laccy or hyrdo etc....... far too much strech. you should use a latex through 1 section and tight. The strech in holo would se the fish able to make the snags and hooked up rigs and laccy dont mix very well as to free it you need to pull but once free tyou have a stonfo flying fast in your general direction...... caught one on the back of my hand once.... not pretty and hurt like hell.

I dont mind the shiny finish, can help with hoking as the sides are ultra smooth less resistance. I know it wont be a huge amount of difference but with the sharp point works well. Tested a wide gape against a similar E.S.P pattern and the point on the Mustad was far superior although did drop a couple takes more.....

Used them and think they are very good hooks. Some of the sample patterns were very good but i have not seen them for sale but the quality of them is great.

Thats what i use too, double over hand knot then pass through the braid, twistt he braid up 6 turns and down 4 then back through its own loop that it made. tighten down the over hand knot then making a barrel pull the braid (moisten) this should come together just nice and more importanly sit straight. if you have trouble with breakages play with the amount of turns of the braid. i know for the fluro i use its 4 up and 3 down for best results. i always dab a small amount of super glue and then cover with rig putty.