salokcinnodrog

Don't be facetious Last week was torrential rain at times, my Delks got a soaking, never let me down. Sure the vibration sensor was different to Optonics, and not being funny, when I owned Optonics I was constantly wishing they were more sensitive. I went from two vane wheels to four vane, then 12 vanes in them. I think at one point i had made vanes out of milk bottle tops! Fishing over particles I do find the maximum sensitivity useful. A single bleep can be a fish. On the Optonics I had a couple of bite-offs when they simply weren't sensitive enough. I would much rather pay for the privilege of using a British made product, from a British owned company, which has lasted, than some imported goods from China which may well have been made in some sweatshop. That is a genuine privilege which I am happy to support.

I wouldn't be stupid enough to dunk any alarm underwater, but actually according to Delkim, even if they do get dropped in, if they get dried out properly in a warm environment they will work. As for reliable, an alarm is only totally reliable if it gives you full indication, and at times, that is the vibration indication from a take that you will not get on a roller wheel alarm. A roller wheel totally reliable? What happens if it gets frozen still? That is lost indication, which makes it not totally reliable. The vibration sensing rocker switch ir whatever it is called is reliable, never had one fail myself, on runs, dropbacks or vibrations. Delkim also offer a 2 year guarantee, of their reliability.

Never had a problem with my Delkims, other than my own stupidity, like leaving flat batteries in, or breaking the battery connection wire, even then the repair was cheap and quickly done by Delkim. Purchased I think in 2000, still working, still on my buzzer bars, or banksticks for pike fishing. Oh yes, my nice carp alarms get battered and bruised, covered in mud while pike fishing as well. Please don't make me laugh about Fox alarms, I have worked in tackle shops since 1995, and the most returned faulty alarms were Fox, number of Delkims returned were minimal, in fact I honestly can't think of any. Do your Atts have vibration sensing? No? Not so reliable then are they The number of fish I have caught on semi-fixed leads when I have not had a proper run from the vibration sensing, when line movement is just noticeable, and you can put the sensitivity down enough so that ignores waves, but still picks up fish indication. With almost all other alarms you have to have a proper run, or dropback. What is the big saying? Oh yes, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Because Delkims aren't broken they have no need to try to fix or bring out a new alarm. Saying that, even then, they managed to bring out the more budget EV range, which is still better than most other alarms on the market. Maybe because Fox is broken they need to bring out a new range every few years, or maybe its because they want to con you out of more money. Money, which to be honest, you have no need to spend if you have a proper decent set of alarms in the first place.

If the NTXr was so good why did it need replacing? Cheaper price may mean cheaper components that don't work so well, not so good, or it may mean some cheap child sweat shop in the Middle East. I like Delkim because they stick with the same alarm and don't constantly change it. Part of the reason I will never change to a Fox alarm is because they keep changing the range every few years. Next thing Delkim is a British family owned business, and the alarms are made in the UK, so as far as i'm concerned, Delkim are ahead by far.

Jogging bottoms under combat trousers, or combat trousers and Hoggs of Fife Field Pro Strathmoor trousers over the top. http://www.cherrytreecountryclothing.com/hoggs-of-fife-strathmoor-trousers/ T-shirt and Fleece, or my latest is t-shirt with British Army Cold weather top over that with zip fleece and then combat jacket if cold, although I have been looking at the jacket from Hoggs to match the trousers For boots i'm on TFG https://www.totalfishinggear.co.uk/buy.cfm/boots/tf-gear-extreme-green-and-rockhopper-boots/39/no/54644

Lets see, I rebuilt my old Armalites to how I wanted them, sadly they were stolen. I now have a pair of Carp Fanatic 2.5lb TC which I use on a water which has theft problems, 3 Century 2.75lb NG's to my specifications, and 3 Rod Hutchinson The One in 3.25lb TC. I'm not bad at building and rebuilding rods, although when it gets to more than a hobby as it does at times it gets annoying. I can make a fair bit of money out of building rods for fresh and salt water. I have some lovely stalking rods, fly rods, even some gorgeous bass blanks. Most rod guide manufacturers seem to be taking a leaf out of or basing their guides on those from Pac Bay, and many of the best rod blanks come from the same source, far better than most Chinese built blanks.

I use Coated and plain braids, dependant on my fishing. No tangle problems with a plain braid if you use it correctly That may mean using PVA, corn nuggets or even feathering your casts down properly.

I find that no one manufacturer suits my needs, although there are some brands I try to avoid purposely, and other individual items from other manufacturers. Fox hooks, had a couple open up on me, and bend back into shape after the fish went, you know when you see things in slow motion? I saw the hook open out and spring back, lost me a good 30 from a local water. The same thing happened to a mate, as a result, I will not use Fox hooks. Korda hooks, in fact most Korda tackle, I avoid, although some of their v or wedge shaped hair stops have recently made it into the tackle box, albeit I found them, they are good for dealing with Crayfish in meshed baits, and also lock into wooden balls nicely. Their hooks are absolute kacke, points that blunt if you sneeze on them, and other items of tackle like hooklink materials and lead clips just not good enough. Gardner Mugga hooks, a brilliant curve shank hook, can't recall ever had one fail on me, and even though i'm with Solar Tackle I still have some rigs tied with Muggas. Solar 101's hooks, Run Rings, tubing, indicators, buffer beads, perfect. I have also given up on 'branded' swivels, most come from the same sources. Mustad, Leeda, Berkeley, Fox, Korda, take your pick, I am not paying Carp tax. I want a size 8 swivel, or a size 11

Strangely enough, I very rarely use anti- tangle sleeves over the hooklink swivel, and don't often get tangles, although I do use PVA stringers or mesh almost every cast, or a Corn nugget to protect the hook. My rigs haven't changed much over years, and I do try to keep it simple. For goodness knows how many years it was a case of a knotless knotted rig with a line aligner. That was made with braid, coated braid, or as part of a combi-link, although when I moved onto Nazeing I did start fishing with that sliding rig on the shank. The reason for that was so i could: a) change the hair length to suit the fishing. b) have a hair strong enough to combat crays. c) fish a snowman or bottom bait without changing rigs. I have put a picture of that rig above. It works with a snowman, multiple bottom baits or a single, or even as a pop-up rig.

Any standard rig can be used for a pop-up rig, a standard knotless knot rig is easy to convert, but a little thought can give better hookholds. For this pop-up rig I have used Snakebite as the coated braid, but with a short stripped section near the hook. The hook is tied on with a Uni knot, and silicon tubing to hold the hook up at the right angle. Because of my personal problems with crayfish I can't use putty, so a match anglers olivette is held in place with that tubing, and another short length at the other end of olivette. The sliding ring on the shank is prevented from going past the bend by a rig bead, and the pop-up is tied on to the rig ring. I know this rig works, I have been using it for a lot of years, it has produced double figure tench as well as carp to big weights from numerous waters.

I mention experiments regarding leadcore in my first post, I was actually trying to find a safe set-up to use it, and what length was best to use it at. Lengths as short as 6inches were snagging around underwater twigs and branches when fish swam around them, and a length of leadcore is almost impossible to break. Pendant, fished as running or semi-fixed and inline leads in the event of a break off, even if the lead came away, the leadcore itself could be enough to snag the fish. For years I used 2-3oz inline leads on Taverham Mills, straight through 12 or 15lb mainline with no problems, fished with stringers, bags, mesh or as a single bait. In most cases I was using tubing through the lead. I know various manufacturers now make inline leads with the insert, but my answer before that was to shave the end of the lead out and fix a tulip bead into it. The top of the tulip bead held the tubing. There was no need for a leader, we weren't long casting, I guess the longest cast was maybe 70yards. As there was no need for speed, I would reel in, clean and dry the bait, lead, swivel and tubing. The hookbait and hook would then go into the PVA bag, and i would drop some free bait on it, some hooklink, more free bait, then the end of the rig and the lead. The PVA was then ' licked and sticked ' around the tubing. As the whole lot was in the bag it would cast quite well, was stable, and a big fizz would show where it was as the bag dissolved.

I have mentioned braided rigs, and to tie a basic braid rig is as simple as going exactly the same as the knotless knotted rig shown above, or you can be slightly more advanced. This braided rig is tied on Kryston Merlin, the swivel knot is covered with shrink tubing, just to be sure the hooklink kicks away, reducing tangles. The hook is tied on with a Grinner knot, the hair is constructed from whipping thread, tied to the eye of the hook, protected with the shrink tube and I have made it with a line aligner. The shrink tube has the hooklink material coming out of the front at the top to create that line aligner. The hair is also leaving the hook opposite the barb, and a tiny piece of shrink tube holds it there. In the second pic, it is a plain basic braided rig, tied with the knotless knot, simple and easy to tie, and it does work

Don't forget though, you do have to buy buzzer bars separately.

Solar P1. I bought mine a few months ago, well made pod. As much as i prefer not to use a pod if possible its almost the first thing set up now! I have the short sticks that came with it, but also a complete set of four longer sticks 'just in case'.

Time for a bit of Skid Row:

The main reason for putting the lead in is to make the bag more stable for casting, allowing you to cast it further. Just by keeping the bag close to the lead, attached to the hooklink swivel you make it more stable.

That is part of my view about leaders. They are only suitable for fishing if there is no weed or snags that can get tangled up and tether within. I have long said that tackle companies often bring out tackle that is not safe or suitable for fishing, but only to make money for them. Solar tackle do sell PVA bag/mesh clips, they can actually be attached to an inline or pendant set-up not just a helicopter style lead. http://www.solar24-7.co.uk/baitshop/advanced-rig-gear55cdd7abe430c/product/qcbs-quick-change-pva-bag-system

Maize is our UK term, corn is USA term, both refer to maize I think you will find. Unfortunately we tend to stick in the US term instead of the actual name we understand.

Ok, warning to you, DO NOT use any lead system other than a helicopter set-up with Leadcore, and preferably don't use Leadcore at all, it only takes 6inches to be able to catch and snag if a fish swims around a twig, stick or root. Leadcore with an inline system, run ring or pendant lead clip is a recipe for disaster in the event of a break-off. Please don't think I am scaremongering, I used to use Leadcore, but advice from people on here, a lost fish that I left towing a leader, and having to get into the lake to release a snagged fish while I was experimenting with Leadcore setups to prove or disprove made me totally change my mind, and now I will never use it. Basically as far as I'm concerned Leadcore has no place in carp fishing.

It took me a while as I have been trying to update rig threads on the forum, but this may help you:

The next rig is a line aligned stiff rig with a hair made from soft braid. I have used Gardner Trick link in 20lb as the hooklink material. Being a stiff rig it really does prevent tangles, and can be used for long distance casting with no worries. To get it as straight as I have I have steamed the hooklink as I shrunk the tubing. I find this rig will lay itself flat and straight, and on the pick-up you want the fish to hook itself.

For those in Suffolk I thought I would put forward this little venue, of 2 lakes and a couple of stock ponds (no fishing), of mixed species, some nice roach, tench, carp and bream. I will give warning though, there are crayfish present though, and at least one big eel, of about 4lb, which was discovered munching them in a crayfish trap. The two fishable lakes are Willow and Horseshoe. Willow is basically rectangular, with an island separating the two sides, and the carp go to around 14lb as well as the other species. Horseshoe got its name as it is or correctly was basically Horseshoe shaped, however it has recently been extended slightly, a bay dug out leaving an island. The largest carp landed has been weighed at over 25lb, with another couple of 20's, although most are around 7lb. Working baits are obviously boilies, Sweetcorn, maize and pellet, although they do love a floating bait. At one end is the boathouse, and you can only fish from the central section, pegs run along the right hand bank of the centre point. The far bank is no more than 15metres away at its furthest. The other side you are fishing from the main bank towards the centre section, although towards the point you can be opposite someone. Another warning, a couple of swims do have crayfish traps attached to the stagings by cup hooks. Do not move them, or I will kill you The bailiff, Maurice, or owner Jon Hudson comes round to collect day ticket money on the bank. I will put the website up, but it is hopefully about to be rebuilt http://www.bromeswell-lakes.net/index.htm

Try this: http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/leisure/water-parks/taverham/fishing/ I used to fish Taverham years ago, and I have done a complete write up on the venue: The lake description is a post on that thread

Making pop-ups. I do make my own special pop-up hookbaits with a special flavour combination that has worked well for me. I work on a 1 egg mix with the flavours, oils and attractors as a 6 egg quantity. For pop-ups I do use Mainline Polaris or Richworths Pop-up mix, dependant on which is easily available. A 1 egg mix lasts me usually a whole year. So added to 1 egg is 5ml of Ultraspice Flavour, 2.5ml Verselle Laga Garlic Oil, 20ml Marine 17 liquid and 10ml Tunamino liquid, and the whole lot is whisked together and the base mix gradually added until it is stiff enough to roll. As I said a 1 egg mix produces enough pop-ups for a whole year, this year I rolled a load of 20mm and some 14mm baits. I boil the baits in boiling water for 1minute and then leave to dry overnight, before adding a bit of extra liquid. The 20mm I added a touch of red dye in with the extra liquids.

Shrink tube continued down the shank, and not stripping the coating off the braid on the hair apart from a small hinge where it leaves the hook