ando

As a start use braid for a soft bottom and weed and stiffer materials for firmer clearer bottoms however braid is also good on firmer bottoms. All rigs tied correctly and presented properly will increase your chances. you can have the best rig in the world but if you leave it to short and plug it in silt the bait will not be easy for the fish to find. Which ever you use i would suggest you make sure it sinks to the bottom by adding putty to it. once a braided hooklink is wet you can run it through your fingers to remove any air trapped in it. I have caught using stiff and braid types and also braid and mono hairs. I like coated hooklinks because they are more versitile.

try the Korda website, they have a section on rigs and rig tying.

There is a group of 4 of us going to France next year. We need a van that seats 4 people and can take all the gear. can anybody give details of any vehicle that will suit our needs and any company we can go to. We live in Suffolk.

Korda Longshanks never lost a fish i think it may be down to using the right rig for the right hook. you are always going to get a few bad hooks in a pack from time to time because they are massed produced in factories.

you will get a million answers to this one the main reason for braid in my opinion is presentation. eg if you are on a soft bottom your lead may plug meaning a stiffer link will point up in the air as were braid will fit the shape of the bottom. it is also useful in weed for the same sort of reasons. Korda IQ soft is a sort of compromise i been catching on the stuff. but beware if you have cats in the lake

korda for me as well

try colouring in your braid with marker pens, this will really break up the line of the braid try two or three different colours to your braid it really does work

i will always use mono or a flrouocarbon if the link is not too long. i think most braids are too visable and reduce your chances of a take

i toyally agree the leaders i use a no more than 3 feet First class stuff on as part of a running rig i have heard of guys using 10-12 feet. not good. i would not recommend a new fisherman using leadcore until they a are certian they are tying rigs properly and there knots have been tested against a few fish. i use the korda running rigs sorry salokcinnodrog:D

looks good to me too. helps keep it above the weed. me personally i normally just have the same lead (grippa) straight onto the braid to start with, i find it helps identify if in weed or thick soft silt as it will jam and not work properly. i will then revert to a simular set up as in the link if required.

break a whole line off at once put the end one through the loop and pull it tight against the bait and twist to break off. also when you get to the last couple use small pair of forcepts. i have seen some sort of adapter thing in one of the mags that is supposed to help in this department as well.

you wont see me on a 167 acre water. come to think of it you probably wont see many people at all. we dont agree on hooklegnth but then you cant be perfect lol :D :D :D only joking you have made my day because you know what you are talking about

be minful of what is between the rod tip and the rig when back leading. the diagram given by trees gives an ideal situation when to use a back lead. also good for close margin fiching imagine if you had a thick weed bed in the middle it is likely the back lead would be doing more harm than bood. you will have more angles in your line causing reduced bit indication and alot of line will still be off the bottom. the same applies to large gravel bars. you risk a break if a hard take pulls your pinned down line accress the bar. i have also had a take where the fish moved left to right with the backlead acting as a hinge no bleeps on the alarm i noticed the line moving. it was only a high single carp but food for thought. try flying back leads in the situations i have mentioned they are a weight that starts at the end of your rig tube/lead core/leader and when you cast they move back up the line pinning a bit more down.

it is good to use when using a flourocarbon hooklink it presents the bait at a better angle and when the bait is picked up the hook should be at a more agressive angle and has more chance of catching the fishes mouth. very good for floater fishing ( not the flourocarbon)