beanz

sometimes a bait just off the bottom is what they want...its a debate for another thread on what depth a pop up becomes a zig but it works! i think the chods "better hook ratio" is because it increases your hook size, shank length and gape. and with the stiffness should never be able to flip out backwards as often like is possible with limp links leaving the eye and lesser but still poss with a kicker or aligner. the thing i dont like is having the lead snag while playing the fish in situations where other lead set ups other then the heli wouldnt of snagged. happened twice using chods, both close in. lost one in reed roots in margin and got the other after the lead sat in a fork of underwater branch..to short from rig to lead and you risk harm or hook pull as lead bounces around the lips. im not decided on the best distance yet......so as a side question...whats a good length from lead to bottom bead??

when you say 'fluoro' do you mean boilie colour or line??? as it looks like a mono hook link to me :?which if so wouldnt take on the curve associated with the chod,though will still work,like a zig. and if the main line isnt heavy or fluorocarbon you will need to counter the buoyancy with some putty or shot. but saying that iv not seen a swivel like that and it may have enough weight one thing is... it looks like the line passes through the opposite way to how i would prefer if it was me. ....it may not its hard to be sure in the pic

nick, do you think, (or anyone else), think that the ring may not play as much as a part in the mechanics with a long hair compared to a short hair, i can see the movement of the ring being necessary on short almost shanked baits...but not so sure on longer( i know a bait is missing ) just a general question

hey phil..are you on about the rotary pit across the road oppersite the marina?? i heard that they are banning nights over there.

i havent seen that.but talking of hitting the clip............ i did see an interesting vid with a diver and a lad casting to his spot, it was an eye opener he clipped and recast and was well off, i think he pulled line off about 10 times in the end, so thats about 20-30 foot off before it went back bang on the money... if you clip up a few times over a sess on 1 spot ...you could end up miles off. i just remember for the like off me where i see it

Ripslider! ...a blast from the past spatch- there are a few things that can effect how close the baits sit to the lead...a coated braid can help and obviously stiff links, and the old skool drag back....but feeling the lead down can make more of a difference , this will make the lead drop in an arch ( the depth and distance cast will effect the radius of this "arch" though ) the bait follows the lead down but the water is pushing the bait away, as its being dragged down, and towards you, and its that friction against the water(as it comes towards you) that pushes the bait in the other direction(away from the lead)bait size effects this obviously, a bigger surface area will create more fiction. i always feel the lead down, for the reason above and for the feel. id worry if i just let it fall, if there's a the slightest tow i feel the bait could fall on the mainline side and risk tangling....thats with any hooklink material

Meant N Trap.

mouth trap is a stiff material isnt it??? ..i thought it was kordas answer to esps stiff rig bristle filament

i dont disagree though i would say that if they feel it on their lips,the hook is in their mouth .......so its too late

top tip kev occasionally ,when i remember i would pinch it onto the bunched up coating.

i think when using a stiff hinge/chod or withy/claw type rig, a bait close to the shank may work better because of its stiffness and the anti-eject properties. a simple rig though and i believe now that distance is necessary. heres a pic of my simple rig, i can use it for bottoms or pop-ups just by adding or removing the shot. i only came about using this as the coots wouldnt leave me alone for the first few sessions, so from fear of hooking them i lengthened the hair as i started of with one bait close to the hook....when i finally found the fish, it worked a treat.

does to me john

the angle of the point ... this im guessing shows to be more aggressive when holding the bait above the hook by hand,and out of water???? is it the same when being ejected by a fish????

please dont take this the wrong way......but id argue that with that many turns it has exactly the same mechanics as a knotless knot, the two extra turns are meaningless

blatant?? you talking hi vis?? if just baiting with boilies, and not a tight patch, with a pop up of the same mix, the carp will be above it,as it has to move, so at most the hook bait will look slightly bigger than the freebies if all the same size....so it goes down and its in before it expects it......i never used to have faith in pop ups but over the last few season i recon iv upped my catch rate after using them more frequently...the extra confidence knowing that a fish can move my rig and my hook isnt masked in bottom debris is defiantly a bonus.

so what do you think separates a bottom or a pop up...why a long hair on one but not the other???? whats your thinking gary???

im not sure about the direction playing a part but then i use runners and a enough slack to give the movement needed. when not being able to see the fish take my bait i base my thinking on them getting hooked by them ejecting the rig( my leads are just casting weights) i had 7 out of the 9 in a small lake in 3 months back in spring using mainly pop-ups and 2 on bottoms but the rigs all had long hairs....i think a long hair allows the bait the travel out the way of the jet flow as they blow out meaning less pressure on the bait compared to being in the mouth or on the lips, this i think allows the weight of the point to turn and drop more freely meaning direction they take from doesnt matter. the only false beep i had over that time was a liner, which had me believe was a run until i tighten up and see the line was taken right in front of me in my deep margin...i kicked my self for not having a rig there lol

It's also to do with that fact that when fishing a critically balanced bait, you're taking the weight away from the shank/eye of the hook and making the point the heaviest part - which as you say makes the point naturally point downwards. It's a rig that looks odd out of the water, but when you get how it works, is pretty clever wouldnt just 2-3 turns on kk be the same...im yet to understand what the extra turns after the hair do???

oh ka-heeeev you know my thoughts on the search function ...93 pages! i going to have to pass on a 90% hook up rate unless.........

my problem i get get my head around is....when its blown out ,the hair is folded back over the same twisted line on the shank as it would be if its just a standard KK. the KD bit plays no part on ejection..........or does it???? educate me

so is the kk less effectual ??? and could the same effect be gain by less turns on a kk???

i cant get my head around how its any different to a standard knotless knot once in the fishes mouth....maybe with a stiff hair but not with limp braid

surely you must have a good garden center near to you ?????

i had my 1st 30 and a few other good fish on 20 inch links, i was on a weedy water at the time, over particles as well...tho when i tried it later on in the season and im sure i got done without a bleep, just too many rolling over me to have not had anything...but i didnt really have my head together at the time...with hind sight i think id cleared alot of the weed and short rigs would of scored. so yeah, definitely think too long can work against you, but does have its place, critically balance settling on top of weed id go for a long link.

but would it?? im thinking that with a runner on a slack line it should fly back as far as its sucked my main bug is im worry that it could increase the case of tangling as the bait is so near the lead with a limp braid link, i got the small bags, so to have the bait in one corner and the lead in the other it would need to be an inch, two at most. i need to get out on the bank to have a play to put mind at ease and gain some confidence with it as the one i played with at home was about 4" and i wasnt happy with how the link looped/curved....it seemed like it would A) stick up off the bottom, and B) as said, risk tangling the other thing that got my head spinning was reading a few post about hook pulls, and lengthening the rig would this make a difference on a runner/slack