salokcinnodrog

I picked up this abomination last trip: a shop bought preformed leadcore leader, with the lead clip tight over the hooklink join, but it is the leadcore leader itself that worries me. I had retrieved it from a tree, all tangled up, just above water level. I have no problem with the rig itself, although the plastic hookbait was still held in place by a bait stop, which if it had landed and tangled in the water, would have been fishing continuously and permanently until the hook rusted away, potentially leading to tethered fish Please, please if you use leadcore, don't use it in snags or weedy waters, it is lethal. Personal choice, please, don't use it at all.

If your usual lead set-up is catching then why change it? Even then, as it is working at the moment, I wouldn't think to change the way I attached my lead, but more tweak and fine tune the rig if I stopped catching. If you need to cast further, to maximum distance, then I may consider switching to a helicopter lead, but I don't particularly like them any other time.

I use running leads most of the time, undertow and current allowing. I think bite indication is much better than a semi-fixed lead. You can use the large ring on the swivel straight on the line, my only worry with that is that if that ring gets a scratch or nick in it, it may damage the line, hence my preference for a proper run ring. If you are buying run rings, Solar, Fox and others all do them, most come in a kit complete with run ring, link and protective beads.

The loop does pull out when it snags up, which is why I still use it. A short length of Amnesia pushed in and through, with the ends lighter blobbed to stop them pulling out on the cast, but allowing it to pull out on any tension or snagging

I used to use plasticine as a weight for chub fishing, moulded around the line or as a drop off weight moulded around a couple of shot on a paternoster link. After time it sets solid in the tackle box, and no amount of kneading will make it go soft again, so some blocks had a loop of line pushed through them.

I must admit I have been enjoying watching this season's football. The Premiership is much more open, the big four, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal seem out of it. It is very refreshing to see Tottenham and Leicester so far fighting for the top spot, after spending far less money than the other teams. Claudio Ranieri has been keeping his players motivated without appearing big headed, and they are certainly doing the do on other teams. As for Spurs, quietly keeping on keeping on, and winning when they play.

I test every single hook. As I take it out of the pack I check to see the point is ok, and if I can bend it by hand, and When I pull my knots tight I pull the hook with the grip holes on a pair of forceps. I know I'm pulling the centre of the bend, but any weakness should show up between those checks. I know it's not relevant now, but I have used Kamasan B175's in the past for the bent hook rigs, and I did used to bend them mid shank. I never had one of those go wrong, straighten or bend out. In fact I do still do that when I use them on pike traces as the upper single hook, and again, not had a problem. I think some branded carp hooks are a cheaper copy of some other hooks, the pattern being arrived at in response to other brands being there first, a tackle brand making cost cutting exercises or a compromise of cost vs strength and reliability. In other words I won't trust some tackle branded hooks at all. Get a hook pattern you can rely on, and don't just follow fashion. Get the right hook for your fishing; don't use a thin gauge hook near snags or where you need to put the pressure on.

I'll put the quote below my post because so much of it is relevant, and interesting, but the bit that strikes me most is your comment about Korda hooks. If they are that soft do you think or feel that the point is easier to blunt while in use? I wonder if that may answer the question of me missing fish on a Korda hook a few years ago, the point had been blunted. I changed to another brand of hook, I think it was the Gardner, but may have been a Gamakatsu, and the bait in exactly the same spot produced fish. I'm certain that because the Korda hook was blunter it may not have been pr icking and was being ejected. When it comes to hooks I am quite fussy, Gardner Muggas and Gamakatsu GP204's served me well.

Old school:

Must admit I've never had a problem with Gardner Mugga's in standard or Continental versions, although I have been using Solar 101's now for around a year. I very rarely get hook pulls, maybe it's because I am probably anal about rig design and make-up. To me a hook pull is usually down to too short a hair for the situation you are fishing in, although I did find that helicopter and silt rig (bomb on the end of the line) set-ups I did get a fair number. I have a feeling it may be the angle of line pull is 'wrong' with them. The last hook pull I can remember was on Ardleigh, when I was using a stiff hair on a stiff rig, I had played a fish for a few minutes when the fish just fell off. Takes on there were so few it was not a nice feeling. I considered the issue, and now avoid a stiff hair as I think it prevents the bait being taken in properly.

I wanted to fish braid in the weed at Taverham, but just decided to see if I could splice Merlin instead of knotting it. The rig idea just evolved from that. I think the original tubing was silicon tubing over the eye of the hook. The hair was my standard hair attachment anyway, or with whipping thread, as no-one had published the knotless knot back in the early 1990's.

As I said, it doesn't make it a complete length of 50lb Merlin; it still has a breaking strain of 25lb in the section between the splices. Sadly not the clearest picture, but you can make out the end of the splices. I tested it by pulling on both ends with forceps, I could not physically break it. Therefore the weak point will be the mainline to swivel knot, a fish would be carrying at most a 15cm hooklink, the hook itself can also be ejected should a fish be lost. Frank (Levigsp) has explained in the past how a hook can be ejected The shrink tube at the swivel end, is simply to reduce tangles.

Tied one up with 25lb Merlin while on the bank this weekend. I say tied, spliced one up this weekend. Dental Floss whipped hair, spliced hook and swivel, the hook fitted with a shrink tube kicker. I'll add picture to this later