salokcinnodrog

For Carp fishing I use a few nylon hooklink materials. 15lb clear Amnesia. 7lb Berkeley Trilene XL 12lb Drennan Sub Surface Fly Leader in green or brown These hooklink materials are the ones I use for surface fishing and bottom fishing on the occasions I am happy to use a nylon hooklink (which on day sessions I often do). The Amnesia will take a Rapala loopknot at the mainline end, and a 3 turn blood knot. The Drennan and Berkeley I tend to use a knotless knot to tie the hook on, and then my standard Uni knot at the swivel end mainline join.

The Main Lake and Jacobs Creek are absolutely jam packed with weed, some swims in summer on the main lake are unfishable, and I do mean it in the proper sense. Now my view on Jacobs Creek is that it is not quite as the management say about it, and the management view that it is jam packed with 30's is not quite the truth. I understand the analogy about golf, but then I find golf hard to comprehend, why whack a ball from one end f a course to the other, attempting to put it into 18 little holes, and I find golf boring, whereas fishing is not. The thing with Jacobs Creek is that it is very weedy, and you have to be able to deal with fishing in the weed. To my mind you should ALWAYS walk around a lake before you fish. You should be able to fit into the surroundings, and your abilities and skills should match. Yes, you should try to improve, to get better, which sometimes means taking a bite bigger than you can chew, but if you had looked around Jacobs Creek beforehand then you would know what to expect, and made the choice to fish it or not.

Not new, but is this any help: http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=42085&highlight=rib+valley http://ribvalleyfishinglakes.co.uk/

Try using a paper clip to attach the lead to with a running lead

Although not mine as such, I have always looked after them, I miss my Mother and Stepfathers dogs. Barnaby is mad, and has caused me grief over the years, whereas Douglas is a little lap dog but both absolutely love fishing with me. I do also miss my childrens cat, a mostly white tortoiseshell that they have called Tallulah and their Staff, a brindle that they got from RSPCA, called Bongo As for Barnaby putting me through it, have a read: http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=31800&highlight=barnaby

I found a picture of the Beach Beads that I used to use. Please note that you MUST NOT glue them together, despite the instructions. They are designed for Sea Fishing, where the use of glue may not be as big a hazard, but for carp fishing and any helicopters, DO NOT glue them. http://www.coxandrawle.com/products/accessories/beach-beads I'm not so sure about a helicopter being the easiest to lose the lead if the mainline snaps, it has to be possible for the rig to be ejected. On the occasions that I have had a snap-off on Brackens pool where the fish made it to snags, or on occasion I have overcast into a tree and the mainline snapped, I have always found that the mainline snapped at the knot between mainline and the hooklink swivel. The knot is the weakest part of the equation, and that first knot (should you be using a leader), is always the place it has snapped for me. Since I use a free running lead, I know that the fish is not trailing anymore than the rig should it get picked up.

Sorry for capitals, but straight from SWP FB: MATCHLAKE 0NE! CLOSED FRIDAY 27TH AND SATURDAY 28TH SEPT 2013 CORPORATE DAY. ALL OTHER LAKES OPEN. SUNDAY 29TH ALL LAKES OPEN AS USUAL . THANKYOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

20lb carp are now being caught out of the Traditional Lake. I have seen pics of a proper looking 24lb common

Zipp shaped Inline lead with a long braided hooklink, line aligned and a PVA bag full of pellets, chops, crumbs and boilies

Agreed entirely, the only thing as anglers that we can do is to make sure that we fish as safely as possible. Helicopter set-ups can be made as safe as possible by using a free running bead which allow the rig to be ejected in the event of a snap-off (I used to use Cox and Rawle Beach Beads), or by a few simple homemade items put together. A piece of rigid tubing with a tail rubber on the end, a rubber bead as a stopper at each end, and a ring swivel with your rig in between the beads. In the event of a snap-off the rubber bead at the rod tip end will pull off the tubing, and allow the rig to come free. It MUST (or as close to 100% as possible) then be able to come over the mainline breakage. If you want it fixed near the lead the tail rubber can be pushed onto the rigid tubing and used to cover the lead attachment (to me a lead clip), but if you do want it free running, then the rubber bead is at the end. I'll agree it can look a bit Heath Robinson, but it definitely works http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=37603

A running lead should be instantly more safe with the run ring running on the mainline. In the event of a snap-off the lead will be ejected and so the fish is only trailing the rig and at most length of line, which should allow for the hook to be ejected. On the case of helicopter rig and a snap-off the fish is likely automatically trailing a lead as well as the rig. If the rig itself is free running up and down the mainline then it should pull free of the end of the snapped mainline. However in that case then should you be fishing with slack lines (and no snap-off), then the rig can be ejected with no indication at the rod end.

I agree with yours and Gaz's comment about too much clothing in the bag. At night in the winter one of the best things to wear is a pair of jogging bottoms; they are light enough to wear comfortably and if it does get chilly out should you need to get up, then you can pull a decent pair of trousers over them. A t-shirt for the top half is also easy enough to pull warm clothing and jackets over, although playing a fish trying to pull a smock style hoodie or jacket on is a bit awkward, so I would suggest putting clothing on before getting out the bivvy if possible. As for sleeping bag, a mate of mine swears by his Trakker Big Snooze and cover, although I went the camping shop option and got myself a minus 12 bag by Coleman.

A standard rig? A D-rig is my standard pop-up rig, and it also works nicely with snowman bait set-ups. As for bottom bait, a knotless knotted hook with a decent length hair and a line aligner. The good thing about a knotless knot is that by adding a piece of shrink or silicone tubing can be converted to a line aligner easily. Now my comment about a standard rig is that every rig may well be constructed exactly the same, but you can change it by your choice of hooklink materials; braid coated or not, mono, fluorocarbon, combi-rig.

The fact that you can lower the bait in really helps. Crays can be a right pain in the bottom, although I'm certain that carp will eat small ones, even if they do leave the monsters. I've had baits that I'm positive have been crayed in the lagoons, a series of bleeps and later that night had a carp on the bait. When I retrieved the hook from the fishes lip I could see the meshed bait had been attacked, but the carp were still happy to take it.

Some good advice there from Beanz... To answer your question: I am not a fan of the chod rig at the best of times due to the tendency for the mainline / leader to be lifted up off the bottom. This effect could be magnified fishing so close in on a slackish line. The fact that the bait is popped up is also perhaps something I would avoid when fishing over particles or chops. Just because it is choddy under the tree does not mean that you have to use a chod rig. Personally I would just swing out a little bag with a bottom bait (balanced if you like). If you are worried about the chod either drag a lead through it (you can get little "rake" leads with prongs on for this) a couple of times or give it a gentle rake - just not when you're fishing or the fish are there! The last time I fished under a margin tree, I just pulled a lead across the spot once to check for big snags and lowered a little mesh bag under it. It was away in an hour... Would you go running lead? And would that be inline or on a clip or not really fussed? Do you mean a small bag just for hook or a pva bag with lead and hook in? I'm the same as HNV in that I won't use a chod or silt set-up when fishing over particles close in. In fact my preferred method, especially when fishing one rod, is with lift float tactics if possible. If that is not practical then as long a hooklink as I can get away with and a bottom bait. I feel that pop-ups are a risk for foul hooking and fishing a bait above where the fish are feeding. That is not to say a pop-up won't work, as sometimes it could be the first bait taken, but that if the fish are feeding comfortably on the bottom, then that is where I want my bait. I tend to stick to my favoured running lead set-up with a coated and stripped back near the hook or plain braid so that the hooklink doesn't sit up from the bottom.

If everyone fishes with rigs of 15cm long, or everyone fishes a chod rig with a bright pop-up then the better the fish learn to deal with it and catches go down. By changing from the norm, creating different circumstances, then the fish can't cope with them and (your) catches go up. Years ago I fished a water where everyone fished with rigs between 20 and 30cms on semi-fixed lead set-ups. As a result the carp would back-off slowly with the hook in their mouth the length of the rig, and were quite able to eject the hook. By changing to a longer or shorter rig the fish were hooked as they weren't expecting it. Switching from semi-fixed leads to running rigs also increased catches, although I didn't tell everyone that I had switched. You were confusing the fish from usual circumstances. While I have used a stiff rig with a knotless knot made from Amnesia, I feel that to some extent the hair needs to be supple (this is after a couple of hookpulls on the stiff hair), and allow some bait movement, which the stiff hair prevents. My answer to this was to switch to a D-rig, knotless knot the hook, but putting a ring on and then the tag end back into the eye and lighter tagging the end to prevent it pulling back out. The hair I would then make from either dental floss or light mono of around 4lb. In fact for a period of time it was my standard set-up with a snowman bait as it worked so well. It does work with bottom baits if the water is clear and mostly weed free. I did another version with a supple hair, which was a bit more fiddly to tie though, with a braided material (whipping thread, floss) or fine mono, and attached the hair to the eye by knot and whipped it down the back of the hook. The hook knot I then covered with a small piece of shrink tube to protect the knot and hold the whipping and hair in place. Both versions work.

Not a Noddy question at all, and partly down to the type, colour and smell of the silt where the food is or the carp feed. Its not really easy to explain the different types of silt. In really black, chemically smell rotting type silt the carp tend to feed on top of it more than in it. If they dig into it to feed they tend to get a faceful of noxious gas, so prefer not to feed in it, also I think the natural food isn't in this stuff, but usually more on top of it. Then other silt doesn't seem to be so stinky, and contains plenty of food inside it, so the carp will feed in the silt.

Me personally I have had a number of problems with helicopter/chod rig set-ups over time in terms of around 20 years fishing. The problems were bad enough that unless I absolutely have to I don't use the helicopter or bomb on the end of the line set-ups at all. I will only use them when I can't fish any other method over silt. The first problem I found was that if the hook pattern wasn't perfectly suitable and the hook wasn't taken in deep enough on a take it was prone to opening or pulling out. Another problem I found was that naked set-ups, with the rig revolving around the mainline on a swivel then the mainline was prone to breakages. This required the use of a leader or tubing to cover the problem, but in turn this increased the risk of a fish trailing a load of rubbish should you snap-off. I will say that many of the modern naked helicopter kits and pieces are a whole lot more suitable than they were. Now to take it to the difference between chod and helicopter rigs. A helicopter rig is basically a rig where the bomb is on the end of the line, with the rig able able to revolve around the line, in theory going round the line on the cast like a helicopters rotors. A chod is a form of helicopter/ bomb on the end of the line set-up, but is slightly more developed in that it also includes the hooklink as part of the set-up. The original silt rig was pretty much the same as the chod rig, but the bait was not 100% fished as a pop-up as the chod rig seems to have become. The hooklink was also not set in stone, but was still able to slide up and down the mainline to cope with the depth of the silt. A final note for you, although Tockenham is silt, it may be best to fish where the fish feed, so if they are feeding IN the silt then that is where you need to put your bait. If they feed ON TOP of the silt then that could be best.

It is very rare that I use a fluorocarbon hooklink at all, preferring to use (Amnesia top) combi-rigs to braid or coated or uncoated braid rigs. I don't like the stiffness of fluorocarbon as that may not allow the bait and hook to travel towards the fish on the suck, whereas a braid hooklink can unravel as the fish sucks. If you worry about how the braid falls in water then it may look a bit of a mess, but by feathering the cast and using PVA bags, stringers or mesh you can totally eradicate tangling. Matching the braid to the lakebed, I don't worry about it. Kryston SuperSilk although white out the packet soon takes on the colour of the lkebed, looking tea coloured, but the other Kryston braids I use seem to match up, whether Mantis, Mantis Gold or even the black version, and I have had a lot of fish on Merlin, SuperNova and those I also don't worry whether they blend in. I actually think that the softer braids, no matter what colour, are more like a bit of weed around the area, than any other hooklink so are not as frightening as they may appear to the angler.

I agree with Nige's sentiments, but unfortunately I know it isn't always practical. A couple of years ago fishing in the winter with a week between trips my gear simply wasn't drying out, the bivvy was damp, and my landing net, slings and mats were still damp each trip. Now I was lucky, I was fishing my syndicate water, and so the only place that the equipment used was this one lake, yet I know that some anglers do fish more than one water. The bugs and bogies that get from water to water may not be instantly passable as the temperature is not warm enough for them to be active, or for the carp to pass them over, yet as it warms up they may then get passed on and become active. (Levigsp (Frank) knows far more about this than I ever do). The other option is for the fishery to provide the nets, slings etc, but even then we have sticky fingers at various venues. Therefore there has to be an effective way to clean your kit between trips, but equally it may not be practial or possible for the angler, so the theory of dip and rinse tanks is a good one, but they should be checked and replenished, and the active ingredients should be safe for the fish.

sorry but your point about not getting the same deal on a bulk buying bait manufacturers is a little off the mark im afraid . ive managed to source where a fair number of bait firms get their milk proteins and i can get a 20kg sack of casein for just over £200 and that includes postage. i think it works out about £8-70/kg, now when the bait firms are charging about £15-00/kg thats a very good deal. the more sacks you buy obviously the less it is. i had a price list sent through from them and if you buy a pallet of sacks then it works out to be £8-35/kg, no doubt this is how most bait manufacturers buy there ingredients. it took me a fair few hours of searching on the net and a few phone calls but all worth while in the end. well if you make alot of homemade bait that is. and at that price you can up the milk protein content of your bait and it wont break the bank Yes and No If you buy a sack of bait ingredients from a bait company don't forget that they won't sell it to you for the same price that they are able to get it for, so the price may be elevated, or not as cheap as you could possibly get it from the original supplier. Yet because the bait company is probably buying more than you can from the original supplier they are likely to get a better discount or rebate from them. In fact there is a very good example of this in that many of the Birdfoods that you can buy from Sainsburys are originally from John E Haiths. If you buy from Sainsbury's the price is definitely higher than you would be able to get it for from Haiths, yet if you bought it from Haiths you would not be paying the same as what Sainsbury's do. I would far rather buy any ingredient with a very low price, or at a discount, yet I can't justify in many cases buying a pallet of milk protein as it simply wouldn't keep, I don't have the storage space or cold store facilities. That pallet would likely take me a lifetime to use, and would likely have gone rancid by the time I could eventually use it all up.

Thing with baits now is that a lot of ingredients have come in from Animal Husbandry. There is a massive difference in quality that you (or bait compoanies) can buy in any ingredient. Fishmeal is getting harder to source, inflation etc and so prices have gone up. I don't know how many times I have mentioned HNV's point that if you buy the ingredients yourself you are unlikely to get the same deal as a bulk buying bait manufacturer, so it may well be better financially to buy it straight from the bait company. BFM was one of the best baits, yet compared to another fishmeal I used very little of it as I had a 'share' in New Concepts Mariner Mix which was also a fishmeal bait. From that I went onto The Biollix and Trigga, almost avoiding BFM altogether, yet I knew how effective it was.

The stipulation I have on bottom bait or snowman rigs is that the hook is line aligned, as I have noticed that shorter shank hooks (even curved shanks), I don't always get a good hookhold with no extension. The hair length is also then carefully watched to match the right length for getting the hook to penetrate into the middle of the bottom lip.

I must admit that I don't buy hooks on advertising blurb, and avoid some brands as much as possible down to personal reasons. So my current hooks are Gardner Muggas or Gamakatsu GP204's (possibly the same hook pattern, maybe the same factory, as many really are despite all the different branding), and for pop-up rigs Kamasan B175's (which are the same factory as Drennan) I really don't worry too much about matching and camouflaging end tackle as I don't think that fish can identify a hook down to colour, or a lead as being a lead. My worry is that the hooks I use are good enough to land the fish I want to catch, and that my hooklink and mainline will be strong enough not to break. My hooklink for years has been a combi-rig with Amnesia and Merlin/SuperNova, or Mantis. I don't care about the colour on the lakebed as what you see in the lakebed margins is different to out in the middle of the lake. The stipulation I have on bottom bait or snowman rigs is that the hook is line aligned, as I have noticed that shorter shank hooks (even curved shanks), I don't always get a good hookhold with no extension. The hair length is also then carefully watched to match the right length for getting the hook to penetrate into the middle of the bottom lip.

Fish lost at the net to me usually points to one thing; trying to force the fish in, putting more pressure than you should in trying to get it into the net quickly. Allow them a little more time playing around before (or attempting to) net them. With barbless hooks as you net them, there always seems to be a time when you have a little slack as you move the net into position (not intentional, but trying to concentrate on fight and net into position is darn difficult), this sometimes allows the hook to pop out.