jemsue5

Now as some of you know i have a rig tying business and over the last few years i've tied 1000s of chod rigs. The best hooks by far for me personally and for my business have been korda choddys and nash chod twister i never get them back or any compaints. I am going to have a play this year with the Nash gapers as i like the wide gape on them and they look a nice tough hook.

Fox ssc was my go to hook for ages i very rarely lost a fish on them. As for the kranks i think they are to flexible and i have no faith in them whatsoever, to me its a weak pattern and i dont fish to lose one i've hooked.

What can i say a short story easily read in two or three hours but absolutely fantastic discriptive writing. A tale of a man and a fish and a young boy its an insight into a different life and the respect a man can have for his quarry.

When using a small bait I use a big hook and when using a big bait a bigger hook lol.

Good memory. It opened my eyes too. Sadly many fisheries have restrictions on hook size. It was in Freespool mag and yes i have a saying that for small carp use a big hook, for bigger carp use an even bigger hook. I use size 2s for barbel fishing so a hook that size aint no problem for a carp.

Now i see what you are saying Kev but to suck in something large enough to stick both sides of my gob would be almost impossible with out it hitting the outside of my lips etc on the way in. The old Frank warwick anchor rig comes to mind and yes i have used that to catch a few. I just dont believe from the best part of 30 years carping that any super efficient rig is out there.

As far as i'm concerned the palm and thumb tests are the biggest load of you know what in carp fishing. Utter and total gash like its the same as a carps gob sucking and blowing underwater.

Having watched the scaley beasts get away with it countless times in the margins i dont believe any rig has a more than 20% sucess rate. I dont let it worry me any more just plod along catching a few here and there.

Hair and rig length i would make longer.

They suck it in they blow it out and occasionally i get lucky. I think you can see my thinking on rigs from that statement. Plenty of separation on bottom bait rigs with quite a long hair for me and chops or barrels as hook baits. Next to no separation on pop up rigs now both seem to work for me in my simple little uncomplicated rig world.

Not all ready tied rigs are crap lol. I do have a rig tying business on ebay and this year i'm looking at well over £12,000 worth of sales. It's surprising the range of customers i have from total beginners to the very experienced who are quite particular in what they want. Reasons for not tying their own vary from eyesight problems to arthritus etc which have made it hard for them. I have 100% feedback rating and will always go out of my way to help and advise anybody who ask's me for advice. Far better for a newbie to use a decent simple rig until they know what they are doing rather than use crap knots etc only to leave hooks in fish. If buying off the bay just use common sense and check feedback their are a few good lads on there who do know how to tie a good rig.

What a stupid idea, no using single sticks, no alarms at all if battery or circuit dies. I really rate the g1s and g2s but those are just stupid.

Heli rigs for me are a no no when snag fishing for me i only use free running rigs if i do find myself in that situation. I still think tight lines are a no no on chods and i'm happy with my results on them (11 fish last weekend). Beanz, i see what you are saying about the weak link but i still feel the short hooklink will travel up and off the mainline ok. I also am fishing a snag free water at the moment and i feel i would be most unlucky to suffer a crack off infact i cant remember the last one. I dont use LC so i dont need to worry about that getting tangled of cauught up on snags etc. I can see your point though and if my water changed my rigs would also change to suit.

I hate backleads more than my ex mrs and i really dont like her

i worry though that if i crack off or get cut off, that the weak link will go before the hook link leaves the leader....if thats LC i dont see how(without the leads weight) it can get dumped.... i fear it may make it half way, but then would the two ends twist around and never get free??? scary thought I dont use a leader or leadcore though. But if you are using a chod and you get cut off/crackoff surely you are set up that the hooklink just pulls off over the leader.

I always fish it on a mega slack line and takes are usually flyers. I usually have it set that the rig is set to fish about 30" up from the lead over most bottoms. If fishing over deeper weed or really messy bottoms i might fish it 60" up from the lead. To me it just suits slack lines and i never have good results on tight lines but saying that i never fish tight lines anymore unless snag fishing. The chods just suit the way i fish at the moment, no marker rods no spod rods just find a bit of bubbling etc and quietly put a bait on to them.

Fish the lead on a 12" weak link

Here's a little something for you to think about when setting up a chod/silt rig. Get a piece of line or leadcore and fix you lead on the end. now stick said piece of line an inch up from the lead in to your mouth bite down on it and shake your head. Now obviously you will get whacked around the face but at the same time you will realise that it would be easy for mr carp to use the lead to help it get rid of the hook during the fight. Now get the line 12" up from the lead and do the same thing, the lead hardly moves about and it is a lot harder to use the weight of the lead to help get rid of the hook. I now have my bottom bead at least 12" from the lead when using the chod and hookpulls are pretty well a thing of the past for me while using the rig.

They suck it in they spit it out and if we are lucky the hook occasionally catches hold

Never heard of any carp from there but its a stunning pike and eel water. I would expect any carp to be livebaits from many years ago.

Just fish a slack line to keep your line down. Backleads are a accident waiting to happen in regards to losing a fish. To me a totally not required piece of tackle.

Snell or Domhoff knot is the way to go, like Doug says only twice through the eye. Personally seeing as the hook is sitting below the bait i like to use a bigger hook and very rarely go below a 5 or a six. Had nearly 50 fish in the last few weeks with most of them being mid double size all on size 6s with 15mm pop ups.

You wont weaken the hook you are only sharpening the point upto the barb at most. The strength of the hook is in the bend, if the hook penetrates past the barb which it should do easier with a sharpened hook it should never open up.

The way i look at is like this, i want the sharpest hook possible and the only way to get this is to sharpen them myself. Yes they dont last quite as long and the extra fine points i get might turn over a bit easier but so what a hook cost's pennies and the sort of waters i fish you want that hook to go in everytime you get a bite. Sharp hooks hook fish not 3 or 4 oz leads and a proper sharp hook is one of if not the biggest edge you can have.

personally i think both are indespensible