salokcinnodrog

My god, my car must be clean to have gotten that reflection!

Think I might have been abraded by crayfish and gravel on the line. Fished the same spot last week, all I got back in the morning was a ball of cotton wool wrapped around the hook. Had the fish on for a couple of minutes, felt it come away from the overhanging tree, then 'twang'.

I found that on Ardleigh, I could get bream after bream some nights, yet others it was carp or two to start, then nothing else all night long.

Not a happy bunny, a proper carp run at 1.30 this morning, followed by a blooming cut off. Sling rod down in disgust climb back into sleeping bag, swearing.

I used Daiwa Sensor for years, good line, stood up to plenty of abuse and a better line at budget price than many of the more expensive lines. I now use Gardner Pro, and love it. For a 0.35 15lb line it casts well, does stand up to gravel and snags. As Yonny has said though, if you are looking for an out and out casting line, check diameters, (and shock leader rules), as you will need to up the price you pay.

Got three of them, not bad reels, but with 15lb 0.35mm line do not expect to be casting mega distances. Good for playing fish, easy to use and stand up to a fair bit of abuse

Nice, that will do a treat!

The KD rig, (capitalised as its re-inventor was Kenny Dorsett) was originally used with a shot on the hair and a pop-up on the hair to keep it low to the lakebed, critically balanced. It works best with a short shank curved hook, Gardner Mugga style. Personally, and it is not a Korda dig, I found that Korda Kurvs simply were not sharp enough and did not hold their point for that long in water. Look at your hook holds, where is the hook ending up in the carps mouth? Middle of bottom lip perfect hair length, deep in mouth too long, edge of lips or losing fish, hair too short. I'm going to merge the two KD rig threads as this post answers both

I must confess I buy mine direct from Maplins, or Solar Tackle if I need short lengths. I don't worry that the Maplins stuff is black with white writing on it, I'm sure that the carp can't read the small print.

As said, don't limit yourself to carp brands. Eyelevel make good fishing sunglasses, or without looking, I think in one or some of those links, I recommend an ebay shop called sunglasses warehouse. They may be worth a look. I think I paid £10 including carriage for my last set from them, about 4 years ago, and unlike me, who usually sits on or drops them out of a tree, I still have them. I do also have a brown lense set from Eyelevel.

I agree although the bit about floater fishing I think is standard, they can be very circumspect with floaters anyway. For some reason I have not had good results when using a long hair with dog biscuits, and I almost shank hook them, with an extremely short hair, and the biscuit tight to the hook.

I know others use braid on a Spod rod, but I will not for a number of reasons: Firstly I have had braid cut through the rings on a Spod rod, the tip and butt guides, within 6months of purchase! Secondly I like my fingers, I have seen braid cut through to the bone on a miscast, and I have had a couple of scrapes where braid has 'wrist wrapped', where a finger stall does not cover. Thirdly braid has minimal stretch, so hitting the clip on a hard cast could see your spod braid snapping as it suddenly pulls up tight. The mono I use is the same as my normal mainline, with a 50 or 60lb Shockleader. Bear in mind I can cast a full big Spomb on my Spod rod. Half to three quarters full I can get over 100metres!

Same for me, I'd rather not use a pod, but if situations dictate it then I do

I use a size 4 for most of my fishing, with big or small baits, bottom baits or snowman. I keep saying it, but look at where you are hooking (or losing) fish. If the fish is hooked in the middle of the bottom lip, then the hair length is right. If hooked at the back of the mouth, or scraped down the back to the middle, or even the cheek, then usually the hair is too long. If you have hooked the fish right at the front of the lip, or are losing fish then the hair is too short. The hair length gap is the distance between the hook and the bait, so it is that that needs changing. All that gets confused and screwed however, as your background baiting can change how long a hair you need; usually the more groundbait, pellets or particles you use as your baited area may see you need to shorten the hair. Next thing is pop-ups I tend to fish tight to the hook as the mechanics may be different

I agree, the 1 1/2lb test curve is a sensible option. Look at Barbel rods, my current rod for exactly that purpose and a few others is a Shakespeare Agility Barbel rod. The first fish I played on it was a double figure carp caught on a floating dog biscuit, but I also use it for ledgering with leads up to 2oz, for swimfeeder fishing for bream and roach as well as carp.

If you are tight on a budget, I think the JRC Contact 2 man is your type

Closest off site is probably Swangey or Cranworth Woodrising.

I won't use Superglue anywhere near my rigs, I don't like the smell myself, it may not put fish off, but I won't chance it. I have also found that any repair or fix with Superglue is likely to break at less pressure; prevents needle or hook knots flexing or moving and gripping themselves as they tighten with a fish on. I use BC's method of a couple of turns below where it exits, or silicon or shrink tube. If you put the tubing on after tying the hook knot it is fiddly, but possible to get the hair out of the back of the tubing. Another alternative is a piece of tubing, either shrink or silicon, along the shank to hold it in place, basically as a blowback rig, but tight in place instead of able to move as a blowback rig.

You get used to it, very quickly. Since Baitrunners came into major fishing around the early 90's I have been on and off with them, Baitrunners, Baitrunners, Big Pits, using front drag with no free spool, Baitrunners again, then the Beastmasters. You learn the method on the reel you use.

It has a quick drag system, basically baitrunner on the spool.

Reels I can honestly recommend Shimano Beastmaster 7000's. A lot of other reels for various brands are all made in one factory and I don't think QC is as good as Shimano and Daiwa.

Only knew to be fair from when I had buckets delivered to shop, and ones without those spacers could be a pig to separate

You reckon some of that was due to going plastic on the gearing? The brass gear cogs seemed to last forever, yet newer plastic ones strip very easily, or slide. The reel finishes don't seem as nice now either.

I honestly think that unless you are a massive caster then 50mm rings are a waste. More difficult to protect in transport, heavier than more suitable 40mm rings. The larger ring was to deal with a particular line situation on the cast, feeding or funnelling it down with a particular shaped and sized reel. In terms of budget rods, the current Fox range of Warriors, or Shimano Velocities are worthwhile, or even look at Shimano Alivio DX's. The DX's are underpriced compared to some other budget rods! The Velocity is a recognised name, whereas Alivio is probably not. Here is something for you, and it really pains me to say it, Shimano on the reel side in the basic Baitrunner and cheaper range is going downhill in terms of quality, compared to say 15years ago, but the rods are coming forward.

I had a foam packing piece inside the bedchair box, that is now in the centre section of my bedchair. Have a look at this little cutie http://www.wychwoodcarp.co.uk/products/bank-life/sleeping-bags/morpheus-extreme-4-sleeping-bag/H2401 Bearing in mind it is a tackle manufacturer, a decent price, not with other brands massive mark up. Something else I like is the temperature rating, it actually tells you a temperature rating it is suitable for, not just 4 season