salokcinnodrog

In the words of a famous kids program "Here's one Nick prepared earlier"     

Like that?
 
Line Aligner using fake maggot to disguise the hook

To camouflage the hook in this pic I have used a fake maggot and created a line aligner with that. Again, the hook was tied on with a knotless knot and then the fake maggot threaded on with a needle

That man shaped the early years of my angling attended a talk by him blow my mind in those days (early 90's)

Kamasan B175

Just a little un on a short few hour session friday night got hammerd by the wind!!

As an ex professional dog trainer I will say this:
 
If you were to list out the majority of points of advice in this thread and action them you would possibly ruin your dog for life. If that is a little over dramatic based on the situation it is only because of her breed. A sensitive collie, you definitely would, a lab maybe a little more bomb proof. None of it is wrong as such, just to generic to be given without context. Eg, someone mentioned a clicker. Well you need a very good command of what it is, what it does and why it works for it to work. The amount of people I see using a clicker as a recall command, or to make their dog sit etc etc makes me cringe!
 
I could write you pages of advice and info on dog training, how dogs learn, how various techniques will work/not work and why, but without seeing and working with you and the dog all I would be doing is telling you how to dog train, not how to train your dog, and get the best from her and correct the issues you are having.
 
My advice would be to find a good behaviouralist and invest in one or two sessions with them. Considering you'll be living with your dog for 14 years, and a good trainer will give you real relevant ways to correct your specific issues in one or two hours it would be a good investment.
 
Where are you based? I know trainers up and down the country. If you happen to be local to me I'll do it myself for free.
 
Love your dog, enjoy her, and take advice from those that know, not those that think they know. One or two well trained dogs does not a dog trainer make.
 
Sorry if this post sounds harsh. I don't mean to sound arrogant, Just I know what it takes to get good at this stuff, and it is something that people often take too lightly. The wrong advice can be damaging and you have to live with the consequences.
 
That being said, nealjt's last post is a good one. A behaviour that doesn't get the desired response will change or disappear. apart from the compressed air bit though, which is used as an unconditioned positive punisher, and a correct gauge of reaction and understanding should be gone through before using it. Can be good, can be useless, can be bad. Depends.

I do believe that Gardner Tackle are now selling ready made Hinged Stiff rigs. Not saying you have to buy them, although I do think Gardner stuff is well made and probably one of the best suppliers of fishing tackle, but they may be worth looking at for 'copying'.

im scared of the ironing board too

Dog clicker, and a compressed air spray. 
It's not a spray as such, but you press the trigger, and the escaping gas hisses in such a way that the dog jumps.
 
Plenty of attention, good behavioural treats, positive reinforcement, and not negative reinforcement, but other than the jumping up and barking, ignore much of the negative.
 
Be firm when telling 'sit', 'stay' and the like.
If you remember Barnaby, my mum and her husbands Retriever, she and Ian could not get him to behave, stay or sit very easily. I could do it with raising a finger or eye contact.
 
The spray and clicker I mention above, it may be worth diving into a certain Rayleigh shop and see if they have one
 
Also Labradors and Retrievers can pull a bit on leads, so a lead to harness could be better than a lead to collar.

Dog clicker, and a compressed air spray. 
It's not a spray as such, but you press the trigger, and the escaping gas hisses in such a way that the dog jumps.
 
Plenty of attention, good behavioural treats, positive reinforcement, and not negative reinforcement, but other than the jumping up and barking, ignore much of the negative.
 
Be firm when telling 'sit', 'stay' and the like.
If you remember Barnaby, my mum and her husbands Retriever, she and Ian could not get him to behave, stay or sit very easily. I could do it with raising a finger or eye contact.
 
The spray and clicker I mention above, it may be worth diving into a certain Rayleigh shop and see if they have one
 
Also Labradors and Retrievers can pull a bit on leads, so a lead to harness could be better than a lead to collar.

Depends on what you want from the rig, and what lead system you'll be fishing it with. A lead clip system with an anti tangle sleeve and tubing over the swivel and something like 12lb flourocarbon mainline or even a semi-stiff coated braid will sit and reset just fine. If you're fishing it on a heli lead or something with more in-tubed swivels or loose movable points you may want a stiff coated braid or a thicker flourocarbon hooklink material to guarantee the boom will kick out straight on the cast and after a pick up.
 
I would be thinking "what do I want the rig to do in the water, and what will make it do this or not do this" rather than just "what material is commonly used." Also, use a different rig altogether if you want the same effect but the conditions aren't right for it. A variation that has a similar effect that I use a lot is a multi rig made from soft coated braid with the entire single strand section stripped and a small loop for the hook. The double coated section acts as a chod rig, and the rest acts as a supple boom link that will still kick out if a lead isn't dragging it down but will lay over anything. This on a heli lead system will fish over pretty much anything. On a hard bottom I'd want a stiffer boom and a lead clip. Depends.

Like your thinking
 
Suppose the fish are feeding on a bed of particles, and you put a pop-up out there. The pop-up level may actually be above the fishes feeding, and so ignored. The fish feeding in the silt, noses in, pop-up is above the carps feeding level, and again, ignored
 
Or a pop-up at 2cms off the lakebed, a big fish approaching from above might not even recognise that the bait is off the bottom.
 
My view with pop-ups, you need to know what type of silt, or lakebed you are fishing over, and to some extent, the depth of the silt.
 
No point fishing a pop-up with the weight 2cms under the hook if the silt is 3cms deep, and smelly, thick and black. You need the pop-up to be above the silt and bottom debris.
 
Also no good fishing a pop-up above the level the fish are feeding at.

all the above and more,,, all i can say is experiment, play with it then experiment some more.
the way i would personally set it up if i were using a feeder as heavy as yours would be as a running set up, the 2oz feeder that your using will give you a bolt rig effect.
my method, make sure that your feeder is the type that has the continuous tube built in, then strip all the bits off it so you just have the feeder cage its self. pass your line thru the feeder then slide on a tail rubber, a length of rig tube (i use about 12") and a buffer bead, finally attach a #10 swivel, i find a Palomar best for this. slide the feeder down over all the bits till it gets to the buffer bead, i would suggest Korda shok beads but only because they are the ones i use draw your swivel into the bead but only until the large ring touches.
make up a 2"  or 3" link with a clip, a VERY sharp hook and a short hair so that two grains of corn will sit on the hook bend.
 
now the important bit, pay attention to your method mix, dont just grab a bag off the shelf, tho these are good 'get you out of trouble' mixes, you cant beat experimenting, at the moment my mix is made up of,,,
 
1) loaf if sliced bread
2) 800 gram pkt rich tea
3)  small box of dog biscuits, (i use bakers complete)
4) lg tin sweetcorn
5) lg tin chick peas
6) tbl spoon turmeric
7) veg oil
 
method.
 
1) blitz bread in a blender till it will pass thru a sieve
2) ditto for the rich tea and dog biscuits, mix up with the bread crumb then bag up, split into four bags is best.
3) put half the corn and same with chick peas not forgetting half the liquid as well into mixer and blitz till ALMOST smooth (leave a few lumps in), put into a food carton (the kind you get your chinkie in is great for this)
4) heat a couple of tbl spoons of oil in a small fry pan then blend in the turmeric adding more oil if needed to get a slightly runny consistency. keep blending till turmeric goes a dark brown (but not burned) colour.
5) add turmeric to blitzed corn and mix thoroughly.
all this is best done the day before you go.
 
on the bank.
 
get a small bowl (single washing up bowl is best) chuck in half your dry crumb, make a dip in the middle and add the corn slush, mix thoroughly, it should go almost dry, add the unblended corn and peas with liquid and mix in ( dont forget to save some for hook bait).
leave for thirty min or so till all liquids are absorbed and mix should just squeeze together nicely.
put two grains on the hair, fill your feeder with the mix, best use your hands for this not those faffy method loaders gently ease your hook bait onto your feeder then put another skin over the top (double skinning).
cast out and wait.
if you dont get a take in the first 10 to 15 min rinse and repeat remembering to get it as close to your original point as poss, this will build up a nice bed of bait and also leech a nice spicy attractor into the swim.
 
a couple of points.
1) the reason i take all the gubbins out of the feeder is so that when it is fished that way it is as a completely free running rig.
2) razor sharp hooks, so that the fish feeling zilch resistance from the feeder will hook his self as he moves off.
3) most important, cooking the turmeric, although turmeric is IMO one of the greatest attractors for carp they have great difficulty in processing it unless it is cooked first. one of the main reasons Mrs carp don't use it in her cooking, damned difficult to use a fry pan under water
4) on the subject of turmeric, IT STAINS. i use surgical or washing up gloves to load my feeder then wash hands when i get home in washing up liquid first then soap.
this method has been used by myself and maybe others for a long time now and has never failed, it can be tweeked to suit yourself and the dry mix can be used as a carrier for anything else you fancy trying, tuna. wet cat or dog food, or even try strawberries in syrup for a sweet offering with a chunk of berry on the hook not forgetting to blitz whatever you put in your dry mix, top up with lake water if needed to get the consistency right..... tight lines.
 
oh and welcome to the madhouse matey

Don't think you will get a more thorough answer than this.

I'd just like to add.......nothing.
 
Ian

I use both a ring swivel or a loop knot tied to the swivel, if is simply a case of which I grab when I grab a combi rig out the rig bin.
 
I only use a ring swivel, with the rig tied to the ring, for combi-links. I am happy to tie a loop knot on combi rigs as well.
For braid and coated braid, I think that the braid is supple enough to allow enough movement, but with combi-rigs I want a loop or ring for the added movement.
 
If on very rare occasions I use a silt or chod rig, then obviously the ring end of the swivel is on the tubing I use and the rig on the other.
 
I don't often get tangles, and on many occasions I fish without tubing. A run ring sliding up and down the mainline, then two rubber beads protecting the mainline to swivel knot and to stop the run ring sliding over the swivel, or run ring on tubing, and the tubing pushed into a buffer bead.
It also helps that I cast out with PVA bags, stringers or mesh every cast, that prevents most tangles, but even without it, I am sure my rigs are tangle free.
 
I always tie a fresh rig onto the mainline, I do not use quick links, I don't like them, I have seen too many lost fish down to them, and I have lost fish myself down to them, and I don't do stick mixes as such. I attach a PVA mesh bag by the simple means of an overhand knot around the mainline or tubing above the run ring, and then the hook point pushed through the mesh.

Liverpool have sacked Brendan Rogers.
 
Really poor decision, in my opinion. It should have happened in the close season, not seven games in.
 
Looks like Jurgen Klopp has a new job

well you have got to learn somewhere mate. if that means fishing a small lake full of fish and smoothing out any creases in your fishing then so be it. you can get to know what rigs work, baits work and the most important in my book learn your watercraft. you get those 3 right and have utmost confidence in them  and you can go anywhere and catch fish be that theale lake or any other , as long as your "on fish " cos if they arent there then you can't catch them. you will always be learning no matter where you fish and no matter how long you've been fishing for. good luck

Nick, I too like fishing hard waters such as Willesley and Horseshoe and I enjoy the surroundings regardless of my catch rate.
 
I have never subscribed to the "catch at all costs" mantra and I'm happy to take a nice 20 from a water which lacks larger fish.
 
I haven't been called an idiot for some time. It's good to know that I can still provoke some level of debate. Thank you, dave_3.
 
Ian

I saw Def Leppard and Whitesnake at Wembley. Absolutely brilliant gig, but I reckon seeing them at The Don really topped it, hometown band!
 
Sad Don Valley is no more, that was a nice sports ground, played in a couple of American Football national finals there, once as a winner, beating the Devils Norfolk scum, and twice as losing finalists, both times to the Knights.

24lb Common this weekend. Solar Seafood Takeaway the bait on a snowman set-up. That will do for me.
 
Not too worried about picture quality, so just snapped a couple in a hurry.
 

Gold plated carp?

Just back from a 24 hour sesh

24lb Common this weekend. Solar Seafood Takeaway the bait on a snowman set-up. That will do for me.
 
Not too worried about picture quality, so just snapped a couple in a hurry.
 

24lb Common this weekend. Solar Seafood Takeaway the bait on a snowman set-up. That will do for me.
 
Not too worried about picture quality, so just snapped a couple in a hurry.