salokcinnodrog

Mainline straight through to the lead. I did all the experiments on leadcore years ago and the simple answer is, I don't use a leader at all unless fishing at maximum distance, and it's always with run rings and running leads. The leadcore especially wasn't safe, beads stick, rigs don't eject, and helisafe doesn't work as the leader needs the lead to stay on to eject the rig. In fact I don't even like helicopter setups as bite indication is so bad compared to inline or pendant setups.

Fishing is what you make it. I don't like bait boats, despite having owned one long before they were a must have, and then getting rid of it as I felt the ethics of it weren't there. In the UK fishing is very 'mixed'; anglers who do like, do use bait boats and those who don't, fisheries that allow bait boats, fisheries that don't. Some waters allow Deepers, GoPro or WaterWolf cameras, others don't. I know anglers who still reel in at night as they don't believe in fishing while sleeping, others who won't use boilies. The British 'way' is 3 rods on alarms, and that took off. The other adaptations occurred sometimes because mainland European waters are bigger compared to most UK waters. Taking bait out in a boat occurred for years, but on a water that is 10miles long, the use of Sonar and WaterWolf cameras became almost a necessity to find the fish. There is in the UK, a saying or word to describe people who just follow fashion, the media or news without question, without thinking, 'sheep'. Fishing is full of these people, they buy the latest must have item of gear, the best rods, the best reels, fashionable alarms, use the latest published rig and follow slavishly the articles in the magazine, the YouTube or TikTok video. They don't think what they are doing or why. Many get into it, think it is easy, catch to start, want bigger and better, and either learn in a hurry or maybe burnout or quit. There is a lot of secondhand tackle on Ebay! Then there are people who kick back against this fashion chasing, are traditionalists, do things as it was done before the invention of the bite alarm, before the hair rig, only use cane rods, pre-1970 reels or centrepins. Despite not having most modern gear, their watercraft is frequently top notch and they catch or not on their terms. Then there are I suppose a middle ground of people who question their fishing. Who buy gear to suit their fishing, the rods may not be the latest Korda Super Kaisen 3.5lb test curve designed to throw a lead 200metres and some, but instead are around 10years old, well used, possibly from Harrison or Century, maybe ESP, with alarms that are 25years old. The tackle is well used, abused, but still catches fish. They question the articles written by the latest name sponsored by Nash, Korda, Incredible, Fox, Sticky or whichever company gives them the best deal. They watch the water, they try to learn how the fish behave, where the best place to catch what they want. They may also fish a water for years rather than jumping from lake to lake in search of the largest. As with every rule, there are the exceptions to that: Terry Hearn, a lifetime angler, who despite going after some of the hardest carp in the country, catches and continues to catch and fish. Dave Lane who probably 25years ago made his name, or Chris Yates, a traditionalist who despite catching the UK's first 50lb carp, will not use carbon rods, hair rigs as he thinks bait placement on feeding fish is better than the way the bait is attached to the hook. Let me tell you this, people are gullible. They believe adverts, whether the facts are true or not. The advertisers need to sell their product, and when the product life runs out, they need another new product to replace it. Why buy Flash Bathroom and Flash Kitchen when Flash All-purpose will do both? They need you to buy Flash whatever floor wipe on the stick because a mop lasts longer and you don't throw away a mop head for months. A fishing company need you to buy fishing tackle. You buy hooks and swivels, that is two items. You read an article by superstar angler sponsored by tackle company who is telling how his superduper rig is the best thing since the invention of the hair rig, you buy hooks, swivels, rig rings and hook stops that is four items.

Chill down all! I'm one of the traditionalists. I don't do bait boats, I don't do GPS or echo sounders, and I tend to rely on my own skill (or lack of) and watercraft. Saying that, I don't fish big foreign waters where they are required, although you could argue that Alton Water and Ardleigh reservoir may qualify at well over 400 and 150acres respectively. Even on them I stayed traditional. Come to that, say on Cassien, I don't think that fish caught using GPS and sonar are any or much bigger than fish caught in the 1980-2000's before they were a regularity. I do do wading out, looking for feeding spots, watching the water, listening for fish. I bait up with throwing stick, by hand or by spod/Spomb. I use bankside markers as aiming features for casting at, and if I can't cast there I don't fish there. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong. This 'next level' thing seems to have come from other sports into fishing, and to be honest, it winds me up. You fish or you don't fish, fishing should be relaxation and escape from the rubbish that the world throws at you, not the 'be all and end all', yet I believe to pinch Bill Shankly's (?) words fishing is not a matter of life and death, it's more important than that. There seems to be from the days of paper magazines to now, a cadre of 'fish chasers', bounty hunters for the biggest fish in a lake. I suppose it started with Heather, Basil, Jumbo and the like from Yateley where anglers fished specifically for the named fish. I want to fish to enjoy myself, chasing targets can stop that enjoyment, and I have to remind myself that every now and again; @yonny will know exactly what I mean as we had a message conversation about a big common that I was chasing. Fishing exclusively for that I 'forgot' to think about other areas of the lake, staying in 2 or 3 swims. Continually blanking can limit your enjoyment, if that happens, take time out, go to an easier water for a trip or two. I could be fishing at the syndicate now, but I reckon a week off, go sea fishing for an evening, and maybe find a quiet swim for the start of the river season and hopefully catch a chub. Another issue can be 'gremlins', or things that just seem to wind you up or go wrong. I had many years of easy fishing, where I caught plenty of fish, I didn't break a rod, I didn't have swans and ducks taking the baits, yet at the moment those issues are a'plenty. I don't know how to beat the gremlins, maybe an exorcism? Take fishing for what it is, but learn from every trip.

Hmm! Your eyes and ears are your biggest advantage. My fishing for years was fishing waters big reservoirs and lakes, for a maximum of 48hours. I'd get home from work, frequently at 11pm at night, load up my gear and go fishing, arriving at the water between midnight and 1am. The picture is just 30acres of a 75acre water I fished for 10years. Even arriving that late I would often sit listening before deciding where to set up. To start with, the only baiting I would do is with PVA stringers or PVA bag of pellets, no other free bait. I don't use a bait boat, everything is by hand, throwing stick or spodding bait in. In fact I put most of my bait in either as I left, or on specific baiting sessions where I was prebaiting for later trips. Getting your lines the right distance is easy with distance sticks or walking it out. I don't worry about water temperature, if it is not iced over it is possible to catch. Fish will be where they want to be, they may follow wind lanes, move from weedbed to weedbed to natural food. As much as you ask, there really is no substitute for being on the water, while carp as a species tend to behave the same, every water is different and they have their own rules. Fish can follow a new wind, especially in summer if it is warm, but not so much in winter. As the wind grows stale they will move back off it. Don't immediately think that long range is the answer, many fish get caught from the margins. It is easier to see them, easier to bait for them, and easier to cast at them (quietly). Does your big baiting attract nuisance species? There is no point in piling bait in if other species eat everything before the carp find it. It is easier to cast in a PVA bag of bait and your hookbait, than stand spodding for 1hour if it is going to get pinched by something else.

It's so long since I bought them I don't think that the 1oz version is still in the range. The only reason I used them at all was when I fished in the sailing club swims at Nazeing Meads on the Central Lagoon if boats were in use, which is over 7years ago. It was solely to take the line below boats hulls.

Like @yonny I do not like using backleads, for the reasons he states. If you add a backlead, you add an extra angle, and angles reduce indication. I will only use them if there are boats on the water I'm fishing, where I need to get the line below the boat hulls or engine. When I do need to use them, it is the Gardner Tackle Captive Back lead for me. The majority of the time I can get the line running along the lakebed by sinking my rod tips below the surface. That is on reservoirs and lakes. Add in any distance above 40metres and the line runs along the lakebed anyway, unless there are features like gravel bars between your rod tips and the end tackle.

About £15 a pop, and Korda 3x 25mm were the cheapest for my Solar heads. I had to buy 3 to fit my old Solar indicators after I broke an IPRO head. Perfect world I now want some clear shrink tube to go over them... Custom Reel King or Matrix might be worthwhile.

The new Bulin T4 is in use. I think that I paid £20 for the original when I was fishing on Alton Water, so that makes it at least 5years ago. Not a bad life for it to wear away with plenty of use. The new one despite shopping around did cost £31 though. Despite having the piezo ignition, the carbon builds up on the burner so it eventually stops sparking, or the button sticks, so I always have a lighter.

As @yonny says, your eyes are the most important tackle item you have, although I do sometimes set up without seeing fish, on a 'hunch', in a swim I have been baiting or down to what I expect from the weather forecast. Although I do sometimes get it wrong that hunch often pays off. It may be that without realising it I have noticed some sort of indication that there are fish in the area. You may walk around and see obvious signs, coloured water, bubbles, fins breaking the surface, even rolling and jumping, they are obvious reasons to set up in an area. When I am in my swim, my binoculars are always close to hand, but I also put store on hearing fish. At night I spend plenty of time just listening to the lake while I read a book, you can hear fish crashing, which can give you the need to move or recast towards them. I don't own any of the technical equipment you mention. My bottom substrate composition finder is a marker float and lead. The lead on the marker rod, cast out and retrieved slowly tells me the lake bed, if it is weedy, silty, gravel, sand or clay. Each feels different. Cast the marker float and lead out. If the lead goes into silt it will plug, and need a fair pull to move, it then glides back but feeling 'sticky'. Hit a gravel patch it's like wheels going over a cobbled road, sand and clay is like a smooth road. Cast into clay, the lead may stick, but then pull and glide easily. Look at the lead when you have reeled in, clay and silt will often stick to the lead, weed will be caught up around it. Hit weed with a cast and it can stick, reel in, it feels like it is pulling back. Any of those spots you can normally find the depth by letting the float up to the surface, although weed is difficult. Do I think about bait? Yes and no! Sounds silly, but! If I am fishing over particles I don't normally want a big boilie, I want a bait the same sort of size as the particles, so maybe a 8-12mm boilie. If I'm fishing boilies I use the same boilie as my free baits. I know my boilies are acceptable, I know that the fish eat them. What works on one lake will normally work on another. To be honest, the main reason I change what boilies I use is down to baits becoming unavailable or occasionally just because it doesn't seem to be working. Originally when I joined Brackens Pool I was using Smokey Mackeral, and it worked. The company I was testing for gave me a new bait, I just could not get it to catch, so I I had to change. That new bait did work on other waters and was released, it just didn't work on Brackens. I was using KMG on Nazeing Meads and Alton Water and I loved it, it was catching me fish from both, and on Nazeing, possibly the garlic element was reducing crayfish interest (not sure, don't know, but I had less problems than with other fishmeal boilies), I took it to Botesdale, and started catching on it, then the bait company stopped making it. Again, I could not get confident in the new bait, hence a change to Shrimp, which I have caught on within 3 trips on a very temperamental water.

For years, around 1995 to 2008 ish I used Daiwa Sensor in brown, on various lakes and reservoirs. From 2008 or 2009 I started using Gardner Pro, normally light as the waters I fish are normally clear. I mentioned above about leaders if I was casting long distances, Drennan Greased Weasel in grey, Amnesia in clear or black has never been an issue. I've watched carp spooking around lines, and it's usually tight lines. I've also seen them spook off fluorocarbon mainlines, whether it was the shadow on the lakebed or possibly the vibration (?) I don't know. Unless your rod tips are mega high, and fishing super tight line, at anything above 40metres the line near the end tackle is likely to be on the lakebed, unless you have 'raised' features like gravel bars to hold it up. I've not been one for 'fish protection' * as with monofilament or copolymer lines, I think the line rarely damages the fish. Braided mainline/leaders and leadcore however I do think can cause cuts, grazes and scarring if they rub. I occasionally fish with tubing, but it is a rarity, and it is for the real name, anti-tangle tubing, to prevent braided hooklinks tangling around the mainline. I normally fish with my rod tips as low as possible, often underwater, to keep the line down, and if I can with running leads and slack lines. *Fish protection, that doesn't mean I don't think they deserve protection, but just that the line is not at fault. We normally fish rig rigs or floater fishing with naked mainline, and hook carp on tench gear, or accidentally while float fishing or ledgering for other species. Camouflaging weights, (sinkers), is it necessary? On my current water the lead in many swims is in the silt. Just dropping a lead in the margins, it is a job to find it. I have lost a few that I have seen fall off the link clip, the run ring fell after a pike bite-off, or where I dropped the blooming thing. I do paint and coat my leads, with a hard varnish, but I think its more a confidence thing camouflaging than a requirement. The fish I had this week and subsequent casts, I had to pull the lead free from the silt!

What are you fishing for? How big do the fish go? Is the lake snagged, weedy or clear? I fish waters where the carp go to over 40lb, my normal line is 15lb, 0.35mm. I need that line to cope with weed and algae, occasionally long casting as well as playing the fish. If I go to an 'easier' water with carp to just maybe 20lb and few or no snags then I will use 10lb 0.30mm line. Does diameter make a difference? On a water I used to fish my shockleader was Drennan Greased Weasel in 40lb with a diameter of 0.58mm, or 30lb Amnesia which I have no idea of the diameter. I caught with that diameter line as I do now.

Steaming baits are not done in the water itself. The boiling water is below the bait, (food) so strictly speaking the term boilies is a misnomer, they are now 'steamies', which has been used by bait companies. You are using the steam to cook the baits rather than the water itself. A pan of water, a grid above it, and a lid keeps the steam circulating around the items being cooked. Because the steam is essentially just cooking the outside of the items, the middle does not get heat damaged (denatured) to the same extent as boiling. It also means flavours and liquids do not get washed out like they do when boiled.

Welcome to Carp.com I don't know if it is any use, but https://spsfishing.co.uk/coarse-section-info/

I know that a few people on Taverham Mills put it on 'upside down' to try to keep the sun from making the bivvy too hot. I never knew if it actually worked or not. I've had heatstroke a couple of times, even just under a plain brolly when fishing a couple of days. I can guarantee it is not fun, the headache and occasionally being physically sick really knocks you out. I've gotten to making sure that I have some shade to put the bivvy up in or able to sit in if at all possible if the forecast is for hot and dry. Not forgetting plenty of water to drink!

17lb. Despite the grimace, it made me smile, and laugh. I'd only just cast the rod in after getting back with Sky after a walk round the lake when it went off, I was sorting out the next rod, mid PVA bag making. Bait was in the water 2minutes, not sure the PVA on the first rod had even dissolved. First fish on the Shrimp!