moorsey

Spot on Nick.

I am a fanatic for testing things and the only hooks that currently do the job properly for me are the Gardner covert muggas or Atomic grabbas. Both brilliant hooks.

That's a bit close to the truth. My grandfather came over from Russia at the turn of the last century Nick im interested on your thoughts on the line acting like it is pulled through a tube when immersed would you care to elaborate, im sure it was you not so long back who mentioned this:) "The dynamics of any object moving through water." I quick example that you can try for yourself is to cast out a float rod and allow the line to form a big bow [can be on the surface so that you can see the action or you can sink the line] and then pick up the rod and see how much line you can straighten before the float moves. That is indicative of how good the indication is on slack lines.

I agree BUT there are a lot of articles written which are the product of a fertile imagination. I have spent many many hours paddling around in my lake in order to find which rig blends the best sensitivity with the biggest percentage of hook ups. A lot of the current published rigs have never been tested.

Absolutely spot on. The lead is not needed to set the hook and all of my big fish have been caught on running rigs with leads of less than 2oz.

It doesn't matter which type of leader you use nor does it matter what you do to it to improve it, you are still transferring the weak point from the hook link swivel to the top of the leader.

How can changing rigs make you a better angler? I have been carp angling for 45 years and I am now using the same rig that I started with in 1967 and I go carp fishing to catch carp so developing as an angler means learning how to find the fish and how to present a bait to them in the right spot. K.I.S.S. will serve you well.

Quite simply, NONE of the tubing items to which you refer are necessary. A well tied hook will be at least as effective as a hook with a line aligner and sometimes the latter can close the gape of the hook and reduce its ability to take hold. Rig tubing was introduce to reduce tangles when we started using braided hook links. It DOES NOT protect the fish from being damaged when mono or fluoro main line is being used. Where exactly would you fit it when floater or zig rig fishing?

There are now several run rings which also allow the lead to break free if snagged.

My own personal opinion of that set up is that it is dangerous. I feel that the hole in the top of the tail rubber is far too small and will jam up on the slightest piece of detritus or even blanket weed. Having lost fish because of flying back leads jammed with blanket weed [and they meant to slide] I can't see how the lead-clip and tail rubber can slide safely.

I see from some of the posts that there is some thought that "if the lake is murky then it doesn't really matter what we use. How wrong can you be? Have a look at the link below and watch the film titled "can carp see our rigs?" http://www.underwatersecrets.co.uk/

ive never used running rigs for carp,what situation would you normally use them in as you say where possible I use running rigs with light leads for all of my lake fishing and I use the same set-up, but with heavy leads, for river fishing. The "boltrigsemifixedleadclip" system came about from the myth that it needs a heavy lead to hook the fish.

I agree Jez. How would the tackle companies ever exist if all anglers thought like we do? There's only so much "innovation" that can be built in to a run ring and a buffer bead. Mind you my tackle bag now fits in my pocket. Keith

Fluoro all year round. If it's the best when the going is tough why change?

Two things:- 1. If you insist on using tubing it must NEVER have a separate length of line through it and then this tied to your main line. That is actually worse than using a leader. 2. Your rigs will work much more effectively without it if you try running rigs and, in the event of a snap off, the fish should be left with just a hook link.