salokcinnodrog

Get a spare mesh tube, but make a slit down the side so you can thread your hooklink down it, cut off the PVA you need and put it onto spare tube, then first in either a couple of floating dog biscuits or foam nuggets, your hook and bait, couple more nuggets, then your free offerings. Do NOT push down hard with plunger, but gently just to compress. Slide PVA off tube and cut down PVA to create two tags ends to overhand knot around hooklink. Extra work, but if it works it's worthwhile. The alternative is PVA bag filled and with lead inside, then hook into bottom of bag.

Oh yes TFG deserved the bad reputation they had, however since Dave Lane became consultant quality has improved immeasurably. Bivvies that don't leak, brollies that do the job properly and decent alarms. I still wouldn't trust everything until I've seen it in use, but I can vouch for the Power Brolly, Hardcore Brolly, Lok Down leaders and Mag alarms. A mate of mine has the Power Brolly, and I had the Hardcore Brolly, until a few months ago when it was ripped out the ground and turned inside out during a hurricane force wind. My fault probably for setting up facing into the wind, (not the first time). I gave it to a mate, and he has repaired the wire holding the spokes in situ. Even then it was a couple of years old If you go through last years TFG catalogue, Dave Lane gives a short blurb on the alarms. Of those I sold when I was in the tackle shop, none were ever returned!

Whiplash is awful stuff! I used it for pike fishing and it is tangle city. It tangles round an anti-tangle boom, and the hook and uptrace would both get caught above the float.

JRC Contact 2 man is worthwhile though

Welcome to Carp.com. You don't need to spend that much money to get good alarms nowadays. TFG Dave Lane Mag runner alarms work out at around £89 for the 3 and receiver. Other alternatives are the Atts system by Gardner, or possibly Delkim EV's. Although I am a committed Delkim user, having owned ST's for 20+ years, if I went new I would be looking at The Mag Runners or Atts

For most fishing, especially rivers I would say 12 or 13 foot is best, but for still waters I think 10 - 12feet is fine. The main reason for a 12 foot rod is the water depth, in as much as you want a rod longer than the depth you are fishing, not easy to fish a float in 10feet of water with a 10foot rod, unless you fish a sliding float. Not many modern commercials are more than 10feet, hence the name of the rod, Shimano Forcemaster Commercial. The shorter rod is perfect for tight tree lined swims, for handling nice sized carp without being too long, and I would use it on most waters around now.

I played around with the Forcemaster rods when I worked in the tackle shop, and they were one of the rods I would recommend to people for children coming into fishing, because they have the power to deal with bigger fish at an affordable cost. The Hyperloop reels I would avoid though, they do feel a bit stiff. For the same sort of money reel wise look at the Drennan Red Range http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/drennan-red-range-reel?gclid=CIu4sLP1qtMCFUkQ0wodutwCbw Even though I am a committed Shimano reel devotee, the Drennan is far better!

Was going to offer this, which I use myself http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/wychwood-morpheus-extreme-4-sleeping-bag

For many, many years I used Daiwa Sensor in 12 or 15lb. 15 in summer, 12 in winter when there is less weed about. I was given some 15lb Gardner Pro to test, just before it came out when it had the name Pro Carp, before Daiwa made the point of Pro Carp was registered to them, so the name was changed to just Pro, but became available in a dark or light version. I did some serious testing with the dark version, knot strength, and what knots worked best, abrasion resistance, and shear resistance, a straight pull over a sharp edge, casting ability and twist. The test results are on here somewhere I can honestly say, these two 'budget' lines which cost around £10 are far better than many more expensive lines. They also contain a true 15lb diameter of 0.35/0.36mm compared to the 'false' breaking strain of a number of 0.40 or 0.38mm lines which are rated as 15lb, but which are actually 18 or 20lb lines. There are times when a more expensive line is needed, for a purpose, casting or particular strength or abrasion resistance like snag fishing.

Reels? Shimano ST range 6000 around £55

A piece of dissolving foam around the hook and 'linklet'. The main boom has a loop knot at both ends.

Tungsten tubing, forget it, tungsten putty, no chance. They don't manage these! I got hold of as many Ace ones as I could when Ace got taken over by Shimano. Slight modification to the rig, to work nicely for my purposes. Pop-ups to be honest can be a pain with Crays, who will rip anything bait wise apart, but I can use a mini soaked wooden ball, just not too long, or use, and dry it out again. The smell or taste of the bait soak then impregnates it.

I like those, although putty on crayfish waters is a big no no. I do have a slight modification to deal with that though, may have to take some pics to put up. Basically a tungsten sliding bead on the 'linklet', below a swivel, and the end knotted and blobbed.

Me no bother with quick link, nearly always a braided hooklink to swivel or 'O' ring. (A large rig or o ring sits right inside a rubber tulip bead better than a swivel). I have a short length of tubing going through the lead, and out if I need to protect the line at all, probably around a couple of inches longer than the hooklink. It's also easier to lick and stick PVA bags around tubing than mainline I rarely use leaders at all.

Why change what works? As the say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'! The one thing I would say, CM has picked up on, I do NOT like lead clips anyway, and would prefer an inline lead setup. In fact, put everything in the bag, bait, hook, link and lead, works a treat.

Some of This years rods have gotten an American influence in blanks and rod rings, using Pac Bay guides and blanks, which are some of the best in the world. I have used Pac Bay blanks and guides to build rods myself, and despite trying I could not break the guides, which are better even than many of latest Fuji rod rings. (Described as Shimano Hardlite guides, although some in catalogue are quoted as Pac Bay). The Shimano Velocity are a 2015 model/design! The latest models are Tribal XS1 which are available in 2.75, 3 and 3.25lb. For the money you have quoted Free Spirit would be my choice, unless you can find a set of Fox Torque rods which were around that money for the pair, but that is also a 2015 design.

You are missing the point, the test curve is the weight needed to pull the rod tip 90degrees to the rod butt, it is NOT the power of the rod. There are different types of rod taper, fast actioned (usually high test curve, tip action casting rods), through action, medium fast, or even parabolic. How the test curve works on each different taper is relative: The tip actioned rod is exerting more pressure on the hook, whereas a through actioned rod is more 'forgiving', so less likely to pull the hook out. If you wish to argue, go ahead, as I said, I have been building rods on and off since the 1990's.

I had one like this, although Web-tex did sell exactly the same stove at a cheaper price. I did decide to get a new one recently, just for the sake of it, and went for a TFG Thermolite which is now around 6months old I guess. The other is kept as a back-up. https://www.totalfishinggear.co.uk/buy.cfm/carp-accessories/tf-gear-thermo-lite-stove/39/no/62195 Gas wise, some brands of gas are better than others! In summer a standard Propane/Butane mix is ok, but in winter I try to get Iso-butane/Butane/Propane mix. One 500 size canister tends to last me a 4day session and a bit, as soon as I finish one canister in a session I buy another spare, so I always have a spare with me.

Dicky, Don't make assumptions about me. Firstly I am Autistic, and a trait of that is explaining myself properly, and having the last word. I don't bother with ego, it makes absolutely no odds to me, I don't bother with it. I know what I can do, know what I can't and know what works best for me. I also know a fair bit about rod building, rod actions, test curves and balancing a rod reel combination, for me. You can put more pressure on a fish with a through actioned rod in a lighter test curve than with a heavier test curve tip actioned rod. The tip actioned rod is normally a casting rod, and at closer ranges, unless you slacken off, will pull the hook out. This heavier rod of say 3.25lb on a weedy water is more likely to pull the hook out as well, again, better to use a lighter rod of 1.75/2lb with a more through action. I have owned a few rods over the years, my current fishing rods are 3.25lb where I need to cast well over 100metres at times, but even with my 2.75's I could hit 115 or even 120metres with Big reels, 90metres with 10000 size Baitrunners. Now those swims I put pictures up of, where I used a through actioned rod, I was able to play the fish with no worry about pulling the hooks out.

I use the front drag or clutch on my marker reel to allow me to pull line off the reel. I haven't had Daiwa reels for years, I found Shimano back in the 1990's, stayed with them ever since as I know a Shimano reel won't fail.

My point was, I do know what I'm talking about, with the pictures and t-shirt to prove it. In fact, on one water I 'accidentally' landed a 20lb plus ghostie on a surface fished dog biscuit on 6lb line from a lily laden swim on a lighter Avon rod, the same rod I use for roach fishing. A 'tippy' rod with a heavier test curve can pull hooks out, whereas a through action rod has more playing power all the way through. Even Terry Hearn has stated he has a preference for a lighter test curve rod for his floater fishing as it balances better than his heavier gear

Weedy? I have landed fish from those swims on that rod, with 15lb line and a 15lb hooklink, as well as being able to drop to a 5lb hooklink for smaller fish to low doubles in clear swims, and using the same rod for chub on the river. I did actually land the fish in the bottom pic after it got the munchies! I found that the through action of the Pro Specialist had more 'oomph' than a higher test curve rod, less hookpulls. I did plenty of floater fishing myself, and that top lake is around a mile from my house.

I prefer to use a 1.5lb test curve Barbel style rod. I landed no end of fish on a 1.5lb Daiwa Pro-Specialist rod, to well over 20lb. I recently bought myself a Shakespeare Barbel and Avon rod, and so far that ticks the boxes. I found the heavier rods just didn't balance right

Welcome to Carp.com. Whereabouts in East Anglia are you, as GAPS club near Ipswich will allow dogs on a disclaimer, although you also pay extra for your night ticket. Day ticket wise I think you may not get so many good results, although it may be worth asking with Kirton Hall Lakes as there is nothing in the rules. Day tickets MUST be purchased before fishing online or from the tackle shop in Felixstowe

I would not use any other alarms than Delkims, although I have ST's with Atts dongles and receiver, and having worked in a tackle shop with the choice prefer not to go to Fox alarms. You can change the sensitivity, no problems, I nearly always go to +on and then to maximum sensitivity. If false bleeps occur I wind it down, and to be honest, I can't ever recall using -on. Bear in mind my Delks get used for carp, bream, tench, roach and pike fishing. A couple of Delkim advantages, batteries, PP3 squares (try to ALWAYS use Duracell) are available from most places, Fox batteries can be alarm specific, tackle shop or specialist shop with some of their sizes. Delkims are the same since the original launch. The alarms look the same, current ST's are still the same looking as 1994 ST's, TXi's the same as their version, and EV's the later releases, even if the components have been updated. With Fox, your alarm may not be the same model in two years time. Indicator wise I have Solar indicators, Titaniums, before them I had Quiverlocs. They work as swingers or tension arm, and I can use them with semi-fixed, running leads and slack or tight lines.