salokcinnodrog

Problem with standard swingers is they are not as sensitive as a drop-off indicator. I use my Delkims as the front, but always watch the float, (on 1 rod) and respond to any bleeps on the other rod(s). The drop-off should fall off on any line movement, but very occasionally pike will scoff a bait on the spot. No matter what you do, at some point you will get a deep hooked fish, and for an inexperienced angler, it is scary unhooking them, having your nose next to a pikes mouth, sometimes with your mouth pulling the line tight to bring the hooks forward (and stomach!), one hand under the gill rakers, and the other working in the other gill to remove hooks with pliers or forceps. A couple of years ago, I had a decent 20 break me off as the line rubbed over a metal cable in the margin. A week later my mate hooked and landed it, and I had to take out 2 sets of hooks, his from the mouth, my previous weeks trace from further down in the mouth. It was his first 20, and after holding it upright in the margins for 10-15 minutes swam off safely. It is probably actually harder to unhook smaller fish (2-4lb) than a bigger one if deep hooked, there is simply no room to work, you can only fit a couple of fingers under the gill to open the mouth. If I don't have to actually put the fish on land, unhook it in the water I will. I have had numbers of fish hooked on the top upper hook (I usually use a single), and rather than net them, gill them, then 'flick' the hook free with forceps. If you net them, the risk of a flying treble catching in the mesh, and a wriggling fish catching everything up, making a mess of the fish and the net. Don't know if the pic helps, but that was a mid double that you can see i'm straddling on the mat, having just unhooked, slung the pliers and hooks out the way, and getting my fingers carefully out the way.

The drop-off indicators I use: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fox+drop+off+indicators&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=GXMuNFdRzpevgM: I have long forceps and long nose pliers for unhooking pike. I would recommend you go with somebody experienced to start with when pike fishing, they are a whole lot more sensitive to handling than carp, and until you know how to unhook them, its quite difficult. Best way I have found is to land them, then rest them upside down on the mat. Put your hand inside the gills, and as you slide down they open their mouth, leaving you to get the hooks out with forceps or pliers.

Wasn't thinking of Ardleigh to be honest. Your carp gear is fine with wire traces, although I do nearly always fish one with a float, partly because I like watching a float, partly because it gives better indication. Get your self some drop-off indicators. The pics were on photobucket, on my account, then Photobucket changed terms and conditions and started charging for '3rd party hosting'. Basically every pic I had used on here is lost, even worse is Photobucket apps stopped working, so I have lost almost every pic I had backed up to them

Its that time again. Spent a day drowning deadbaits, for 1 dropped run. Got a few more days planned, might be fun Sunday though. I've got a catering shift until late Saturday, was going to get home and go straight out with the pike gear.

Glad you got sorted. I have removed a couple of posts from this thread, and set them up on a thread of their own in UK Carp Fishing in a thread called Young Adventurer. The reason behind it is I think its worth a topic in its own right, and any way we can get more youngsters into fishing is good for us all. The link to that thread

Are you looking at doing overnights, or just as a day shelter? If its just days for the both of you in the same swim then an Oval Umbrella should do you fine, worked for years Chub, TFG, and goodness knows most tackle manufacturers all make Oval Brollies. If overnights, then Smufter started this thread a while back, it does go to two pages, so I think there are a few recommendations on there:

@finchey The TFG Oval and Power Brolly both take an overwrap they make. I do admit you have to get extra storm poles for the Oval, and it only has a half groundsheet that velcros in, but I had a spare groundsheet from another system I had. Oval Brolly, £80, overwrap £70 I think from memory. I think Phil Dalts Power brolly system is £130 ish, and I know thats a pretty good system as I have a mate who loves his.

The D Rig is probably one of the most adaptable rigs and is suitable for pop-ups, snowman and bottom baits. It is also pretty much the basis for the Chod rig. Again, you are using a standard knotless knot, but using the tag end to put the rig ring on, and putting the tag back through the eye of the hook, and lighter blobbing it. I have tied one on Fluorocarbon, just as a demonstration, but it can be tied on mono, coated braid, even plain braid or as part of a Combi-rig when attached to a stiffer boom section. The bait is attached to a rig ring. As a pop-up rig, tie a stop knot with power gum and mould putty around it at the height you want the bait popped up, use an match anglers olivette, or pop-up depth charge, or with a combi-rig, mould the putty around the knot join.

My sliding/revolving rig with the rig ring free running up and down the shank, I remember reading something similar in one of Rob Maylins books sometime before 1994. I adapted it to my fishing. It has the useful addition of being a resetting blowback style rig, able to be taken in even if the rig ring has been blown up to the eye. When I started using and catching fish on it in 2008, for a short period it made its way into a couple of magazines as newest rig available, but has dropped from fashion again. I do use various incarnations of Hinged rigs, as Multi rigs, 360, etc. The stiff boom ensures a tidy lay out, and the swivel or ring gives something that putty will stick to. On my small local, it is the only pop-up rig that works, and I have tried others!

Simple answer, is it still under guarantee? Take it back to tackle shop and get them to return it to manufacturer, or speak directly to manufacturer. Incidentally, your first port of call should be the person or shop who sold it to you. Tackle manufacturers are normally quite good if you miss out the shop though. Looking at that pic, the electronics are totally covered in that waterproofing plastic, the heat could have screwed any resistor or electronic component.

Interested, most definitely, but not sure on money at the moment.

I was with Ian at a social at Merrington. Some nice fish in there. I'd happily return

Its difficult to find a generic overwrap now. It used to be possible to get a wrap that fitted over any standard umbrella, but now with everyone making umbrella's, it doesn't seem like there is a single overwrap.

I think the magazines are good at naming the 'latest' rigs. Kenny Dorsett probably didn't christen his critically balanced rig with the hair leaving the shank after 2 turns the KD rig. I am pretty positive that some mag did the dirt on that one! Saying that, I'm sure it was Zenon Bojko or Rob Maylin who named the Helicopter rig, on the basis that the rig spun around the mainline, with the bomb on the end of the line, like a helicopter. I used to be amused that a subject talked about on here, a month later made it into the various magazines, often in Rotary Letters, and some claimed to be original thoughts. The original CarpWorld rotary's were original, but later magazines...

Got to keep practising knots

Chances are most of them are used Or I tie rigs to grab a quick picture then scrap them.

I like my rigs to look tidy, personal obsession, but in most cases, 'any' rig in the right place is better than no rig in the water at all. On some waters though, you may have to be more advanced. There were a couple of interesting threads about complicating rigs: https://www.carp.com/topic/20405-do-we-over-think-or-needlessly-complicate/ https://www.carp.com/topic/358-complicated-rigs/

Century were I think were the first and quite possibly still, the only rod company to Autoclave their rods. In basic terms the wet resined blanks have all of the air and excess resin vacuumed out of them, so they retain their strength and stiffness. A while I had a long conversation with Simon Chilcott about Century rods, and I believe he said they use carbon pre-preg cloths that no other rod manufacturer is able to get hold of from the F1, space and aeronautical industries. He also mentioned that Economic and Technological sanctions prevent China from using many of the more advanced carbons in the rod industry. This may mean that any rod manufacturer who has rods made in China is not using the best materials, and why they can produce rods a lot more cheaply as the materials are not as good, more prone to 'going off', losing their stiffness, or breaking.

Todays driving music

I'm the same as LJC, don't make things more complicated than they need to be. A standard knotless knotted rig probably catches most of the carp each week, and works for bottom baits and pop-ups. They look like pop-up rigs, with movement, but as Vik says, the pop-up may have too much separation from the hook. For pop-ups, I prefer the bait tight to the hook, although a long hair can cause confusion as per Bill Cottam and Brian Garner when The Mangrove was first opened up. My go-to pop-up (and snowman) is often a D-rig, (and often on a longer shank hook), a bit of movement, it resets and hookholds are usually nailed properly. Me personally, I tie pop-ups on, although I recently had a revelation with that as I have been meshing baits. Mesh the bait, a twist of braid (dental floss) and knot it, leave the tag ends, then cut the mesh and lighter tag it. Using the braid tie the pop-up to a rig ring on the D-rig. The bait screws are brilliant, don't get me wrong, but crayfish can remove the bait without your knowledge, or any indication. Last year on Nazeing they were so bad, even meshed pop-ups got munched! I ended up using wooden balls as 'permanent' pop-ups with a blooming great match anglers olivettes as the counterweight. In fact I ended up with tench over 12 and carp to 28lb doing that.

Saw something like that this week, a green light strip around someones bivvy door when their alarms went off. Don't think the tufty was the expected result...

I'm a fan of Petzl

I'm still using Century's Big Bertha and her DD's, and a Shimano Aerlex 8000. Still putting Spombs and spods over 100. I did get an Abu Segra Spod rod for Ardleigh, but braid wore the guides through, creating grooves, so I bought Big Bertha around 9 years ago. The reel I bought when I was fishing Earith, so thats over 10 years old as well. I see no reason to change what works for me.

Took me a while to notice this, I think braided rigs especially, DON'T have them kicked out dead straight, allow them to fall over as they go.

Must admit I'm lucky in that many swims are gravelled so water drains away, not all are though, some do become a paddy field when its wet. That nice January catch I had a few years ago, I was kneeling in water, or on a carrier bag when I was doing pics. I do carry a spare groundsheet with my bivvy, it rolls up small enough to fit in the umbrella bag wrapped around the brolly, and my spare unhooking mat becomes a dog bed as well as me walking over it. By the way Nige, check out your spelling, you've dropped an American spelling in a post