salokcinnodrog

Ok, so this weeks take was on the running lead, a combi-rig of about 15cms, which I must admit is fairly short to my usual way of thinking, and was fishing over dead weed with a snowman set-up. The carp was hooked properly in the bottom lip, and the run was an absolute screamer, even in the wind. The indicator pulled up, and line was continuously being taken until I hit the rod. Is this any use? http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=9536&highlight=complicated

Whoops Typo''''''''Foot''' I never got on with ' and " for feet and inches either I always get it muddled up - mm are much easier to work with. Although I do switch between the two! Depths and rod lengths in feet and inches, rig lengths in milli or centimetres. Fish weights and breaking strains in lbs and ounces (or lbs only in my case), yet most other weights in kilos. Confused? I sure am

I'm also a fan of braided or coated braid and stripped back section for hooklinks. I feel that the supple and soft feel is more like a piece of weed than a stiffer hooklink material should the carp be able to differentiate. Years ago I tried the silly experiment of putting a piece of braid across my lips, I could hardly feel it, yet do the same with mono or fluorocarbon and I could feel it. I also think that hooklink materials may also need to be considered in how you are fishing or the fishes feeding action. If a fish is lifting straight up then a straightened or stiffer material may be felt faster than a coiled up or naturally landed braided material. Another advantage with braid is that even longer hooklinks can be put in a PVA bag for when the fish are wary of shorter hooklinks.

Whoops Typo''''''''Foot''' I never got on with ' and " for feet and inches either

I've got a feeling I may be missing out when fishing pop-ups as I do prefer the bait tight to the shank. For ages I felt that a fish mouthed the pop-up to take it, rather than sucked it in. Yet reading through this thread, and also on something I read in Tim Paisleys Big Carp ages ago with a pop-up on a long hair as Brian Garner was fishing on The Mangrove, may produce some big fish that wouldn't otherwise often get caught. It may also explain why I missed out on a couple of particular fish from Brackens that I never managed to catch on my favoured set-up, (mind you, there could be other potential reasons, or I could also have lost them). Yet strangely my favoured hook set-up with a snowman also produced 3 30's that had never been caught before. I write "hook set-up" as the hook patterns and attachment were the same, although 2 were caught on a combi version of the rig, and 1 on a coated braid with a stripped section.

I don't think that there are many adaptations of the basic hair rig that will catch you any more fish than the standard hair rig, but there are a couple of useful tweaks Many anglers say that they are fishing a hair rig, yet the truth is that they are fishing the bait so tight to the hook shank that they may as well be fishing a shank mounted bait, or the hair is so short with minimal gap that the hair is not being fished as it was originally worked out by Kevin Maddocks, Lennie Middleton et al. In most cases simply by lengthening the hair then results can be improved. Sure it takes confidence to fish a bait 25mm or more away from the hook if you have been fishing the bait tight to the hook, but it does work I use pretty much the same rigs for all of my fishing, but I fish a set-up that I can alter the hair length to suit my fishing. It may mean that I have a rig ring on the hook shank, but it is not necessarily fished on the "blowback" principle, but more so I have an easy attachment to change the hair length to suit. As it stands, I also think that with how or where I attach a "stop bead" or mini float stop on the hook, when the bait is sucked in the hook point drops naturally into position for going into the bottom lip.

I believe the original intention was with the hair leaving after just a couple of twists of the KK and a critically balanced bait. Is the KD fashionable because of its supposed effectiveness, or because it has been renamed after Kenny Dorset? (it was first fished long before the current reinvention and re-naming in the magazines) Would getting the feeding "right" possibly with a bit more bait in the first place make the KK or basic hair rig as as effective? Or would a standard Knotless knotted hook work better if it was fished with a line aligner or shrink tube "kicker"? I've not used the KD rig in its current fashionable state, I have simply adapted the standard knotless knotted set-up, or used something totally different, by the amount fed so that I have gotten the fish feeding almost pre-occupied if possible. Or correctly, since I can't see the fish picking up (and likely ejecting) my hookbait in the middle of the pond, I have fed so that I get some takes that lead to proper runs and a hooked fish. That is not in the slightest to say that more advanced rigs don't work, but sometimes there is no reason to change rigs, when possibly getting the fish to feed more comfortably may be a better bet, and just changing the standard hair or rig length could be all it takes.

Always just one thing at a time I know it is a lot to think about, but you have plenty of ideas and experience from a number of good people that will help you catch. Have fun with the daughter and work, they always come first, unfortunately sometimes before fishing

A number of reasons for hookpulls, and even how much you feed could be part of it. You are getting takes, but the fish aren't confident, so it could be a case of making more food available so the fish are competing for it, or aren't as wary. Usually the first thing I do when I get hookpulls is simply to lengthen the hair. I work on the theory that if I am hooking deeply in the mouth then the hair and/or rig length is too long. If in the bottom dead centre the hair is right, and if I'm losing fish then the hair is too short. I noticed that you are fishing fluorocarbon hooklinks, it may be that the rig and hair is too stiff, especially if you are fishing a knotless knot continuation hair. It could be a case that simply by changing to a more supple hooklink or even just hair material you solve the problem. This fashion for fishing the hair leaving the hook at the base of the bend of the hook is also a possibility. Have a look at this: , that may explain hookpulls. I did however notice your last post, and they are occuring when playing the fish, usually to me that is a sign that you are giving the fish a lot of "teddy", (as per my last few fish losses), especially when they are close to the net. The rods may not be at fault, but simply that you are trying to force them in, not allowing the fish to take line when they are too fresh during the fight. Not necessarily slacken off, but don't try to play them so hard, give a little line, let the fish have its head, play around and gain line when they let you, not attempting to gain line all the time, if that makes sense. The hookhold in that case may be a factor, the pressure during the fight from a bait that has not been taken in and then you are really adding to a "weak" hookhold is simply pulling the hook out, so again, look at hair length.

I don't think that with running leads rig length is as critical as it is with semi-fixed. Because the line is able to run freely through the run ring until the slack is taken up, the rig length is effectively infinite. I don't follow into this theory that the lead will scare the carp either, as a lead on the lakebed pretty much looks like a stone, or will sink into the silt or clay. The main reason for lengthening the link is to avoid the lead pulling the whole hooklink into silt, which may happen with extremely short hooklinks, and to avoid the looping up effect that does happen with most hooklink materials. Obviously shorter hooklinks work better for long distance fishing, with less chance or "wrap round". After all that, I don't want a very short hooklink, or something excessively long. I have a preference for a hooklink of around 20centimetres, either a combi rig that is tangle free, can be cast a fair distance without tangling, fished with or without a bag or stringer or a coated braid hooklink that works the same. If I'm going to fish with PVA bags,mesh or stringers every cast then I will often switch back to plain braid.

but this line is misleading...as a hivis pop up i dont think hooks them because they are feeding, it the "what thats" factor and they mouth it,may be with no intention of feeding Your right mate - it is misleading. With a single, hi vis bait or over flavoured bait for instance, you are sort of enticing them to take a taste even though they may not be feeding. That is an act of bait application though - you’re not trying to get them on the munch as you believe, at that moment in time, they don't want a big feed - just an inquisitive taste. Any sort of big baiting approach in this situation would probably hinder your chances? It still wouldn't make much difference if that single bait was presented on a 'standard' pop up rig, a chod or a hinged stiff rig for instance. It’s the baiting strategy that is getting you the pickup. I've been saying that for years the baiting situation and whether the carp will feed on the bait will determine if you get a take or not. If the fish won't pick up the hookbait because they aren't comfortable with what is down there, then you simply won't get a run or any chance. It may be that they avoid massive beds of bait, or it may be that they simply won't pick up a single hookbait fished on its own with nothing around it. I don't think that it is the lead that hooks the fish either, but the speed at which it hits the lead or rod tip (running leads as the line tightens), or the strike.

That's my view as well, but even though you know that they are falsch, you still do it Far better to use a turkey baster style test in the bath to work out how a rig behaves under water

My only difference from Jez is that I often use a rig ring on the shank of the hook. It is not necessarily there for the sliding or blowback properties that it may offer, but for the simple reason that I can adjust the hair length to suit my fishing. I can attach a longer or shorter hair to the ring to suit the fishing. I prefer to use a snowman presentation, it makes it more difficult in my mind to eject a "strange" shaped bait. Rigs often fail the "palm test", yet would pass the "thumb test", but whether they fail both or not, getting the feeding situation right will mean that your hookbait is taken in more often. Then if you have got the hair length right you may hopefully get a decent hook-up and land the fish. It is down, in my eyes, because people don't feed the situation correctly, that rigs become failures on many waters. That is about the one thing that Korda Underwater Series show correctly. The fish get away with it most of the time, but the DVD's have made us paranoid and make us think that we can improve the ratio. The truth is that we can't just by piddling around with rigs.

My only difference from Jez is that I often use a rig ring on the shank of the hook. It is not necessarily there for the sliding or blowback properties that it may offer, but for the simple reason that I can adjust the hair length to suit my fishing. I can attach a longer or shorter hair to the ring to suit the fishing. I prefer to use a snowman presentation, it makes it more difficult in my mind to eject a "strange" shaped bait. Rigs often fail the "palm test", yet would pass the "thumb test", but whether they fail both or not, getting the feeding situation right will mean that your hookbait is taken in more often. Then if you have got the hair length right you may hopefully get a decent hook-up and land the fish. It is down, in my eyes, because people don't feed the situation correctly, that rigs become failures on many waters.

When I look at lost fish, I tend to consider that the hook and bait didn't go in deep enough, so I tend to consider that either I wasn't feeding enough to get the fish comfortable feeding and able to get the bait in properly, or if I can't change the baiting situation I tend to lengthen the hair and/or rig length. There is no reason to change the rig itself, unless you are using something super complicated, in which case go back to basics and a simple knotless knot and hair, or on occasions switch from that simple rig and just add a line aligner. The rig itself is very rarely a problem, just getting the fish to take the bait deeply by giving more separation with a longer hair.

so you cant remember the thread name either?? I can't remember everything

http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=54261&highlight=knot Maybe that one with the snell http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=53348&highlight=knot http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=53343&highlight=kryston http://www.carp.com/carp-forum/viewtopic.php?t=51628&highlight=kryston A few to have a go at

I wouldn't tie a basic overhand knot in a hooklink material, and even if I would, I can't tie small loops very easily as I have arthritis in my fingers An overhand knot is one of the first knots to give way and break under pressure I'd rather use a Rapala/loop knot

While I agree that the Multi rig is useful in that you can change your hook should you need to without scrapping a whole hooklink, it can make for awkward or even difficult rig manipulation in the tying of the loop for the hook. Come to that, on a standard presentation of the kk with line aligner, I have caught a number of same fish all on the same rig. I cast out a rig at Merrington, landed a 26, then used that same rig for a number of other fish at Hintlesham until I lost, or fragged it. We often overcomplicate things for the sake of it, and in many cases probably change hooks when we don't need to due to the "I change my hook after every fish" by whoever in the magazines. Sure, it may be required, but much of that is down to sponsorship, and so and so having to increase tackle sales for his tackle company. Don't get me wrong, I can probably go through a whole list of rigs that I have used and tied up, and caught on, yet in many or even most cases, it simply isn't needed. Knotless knotted rig, and standard presentation accounts for probably 90% of carp caught, and captures of other species as well

As Stoogi says, simple knotless knotted rig will work almost everywhere, and may be possible to be improved on by adding a shrink tube or silicon tube line aligner. You have a massive choice of hooklink materials to cope with almost everything; mono, fluorocarbon, or braid, coated or uncoated.

I hate the name Chod, after all, it is a SILT rig, designed for fishing over... silt The number of fish I used to lose on helicopter/silt set-ups Hookpulls, the line being rubbed away with a swivel "rolling" on the line. Far better set-ups available to fish a pop-up in my view.

I don't think that I have ever bought a rig from a shop. I've always preferred making my own, to my own specifications, although a few of my mates and I have made rigs for each other, but only those whose knots I trust, (and them mine) I'd never forgive myself if I made a rig for somebody else and it failed. As Jules says, if a rig or knot breaks, then the only person whose fault it is, is myself.

Yeah I'm using it safely i have cut down the lead clip to its minimum length and I'm dropping the lead on every take. I am using lead core because it suits the situation that I am fishing. And yeah I was trying feathering the line. Either it's not working for me or I'm not quite getting to grips with it. Just because you're dropping the lead doesn't necessarily make it safe. A leadcore set-up with a pendant or inline set-up is still a risk to fish, and it only needs a length of 15cm I reckon for it to be able to snag up and potentially tether a fish. Also leadcore means that should the fish be left trailing a rig, the weight of the leadcore will hold the hook in position, preventing the hook being ejected (rehooking), which carp can do with no weight attached on a normal rig. Leadcore is also thrown forward on the feathering of the cast, meaning that the mainline will be pulled and twist around it increasing the chance of a tangle. Dump the leadcore (or any leader), and fish tubing if you have to, or go naked. PVA then reduces the risk of tangles, be it a stringer, bag or stick.

Knotless knot for hook if I'm going to fish an integral hair, or Uni knot for just about everything else with the exception when I fish a loop knot on the combi link (I use ring swivels a lot), when I use what I believe is called the Rapala knot, but it is the knot featured in Kryston packaging.

It comes off the spool like that. I use black Amnesia myself as a shockleader for my Marker and Spod set-up, and I've noticed a few clear or lighter patches as it comes off the spool. It doesn't appear any weaker than the "proper" stuff.