moorsey

MOORLAND FISHERIES ROBIN “RIG-SHY” EDEN’S RECORD BREAKING WEEK 21ST AUGUST 2010 Hi everyone. Well I’ve known Robin for a few years now and new he was a special angler with all of the necessary skills and a fantastic amount of water-craft but, even so, I was not prepared for the week that I have just had the honour to watch. Before I get on to Robin’s stat’s let me first say a well done to Len Young who came out for a 48 hour session to wish Robin happy 40th birthday and managed to bank 10 carp [8 of which were thirty plus] including “The Pipe-Smoker” common at 44.10 lb. Brilliant angling and well done mate. Now on to Robin’s facts and figures. His catch totalled up to 1743.04 lb of fish in less than a full week’s fishing. He arrived on Friday morning and spent the day socialising and walking the lake. He then set up in Pampas, having found some fish in the weed, and even then he offered the swim to Bob, who was staying until Wednesday, and was more than happy to find another swim to fish. He started fishing before breakfast Saturday morning and had landed 2 fish almost immediately. He continued to catch fairly regularly until Monday morning when he informed me that he hadn’t had a bite since 2am and felt that the fish had moved away. Another short walk and he found them again in front of The Oaks and down the Southern arm, again in among the weed beds where I had caught from the previous week. He didn’t fish for a good part of Tuesday as he drove down to Lyon airport to collect Len and this trip was repeated on Friday evening to take Len back. Unfortunately I was unable to join in with fishing with my good friends as my family were also holidaying with us and I don’t get to see my two elder daughters often enough as it is. Robin remained in The Oaks for the rest of the week and carefully fed and caught regularly. I believe that he used around 20 kg of Infinity Baits boilies during the week. Here are his totals for the week:- 52 fish in total including 4 catfish of 25.00 lb, 35.00 lb, 35.14 lb & 49.08 lb. 48 carp which included 35 over 30.00 lb of which 20 were over 35.00 lb and 7 were over 40.00 lb. He landed 1 double, 4 low twenties and 8 upper twenties and the thirties and above are listed below. LOW THIRTIES 32.04 lb, 31.08 lb, 30.00 lb, 31.08 lb, 34.10 lb, 33.02 lb, 30.14 lb, 30.08 lb, 32.06 lb, 31.08 lb, 34.12 lb, 32.00 lb, 32.10 lb, 34.00 lb, 34.08 lb. UPPER THIRTIES 36.12 lb, 37.10 lb, 35.08 lb, 35.06 lb, 39.14 lb, 36.10 lb, 39.02 lb, 35.14 lb, 37.02 lb, 38.00 lb, 37.14 lb, 36.00 lb, 36.12 lb. FORTIES 46.00 lb mirror [“Chunky”] 41.00 lb common [new forty] 40.04 lb mirror [new forty] 40.06 lb common [new forty] 40.14 lb mirror [new forty] 44.08 lb common [“Nelson” at best ever weight and Robin’s 50th fish of the week] 47.06 lb mirror [“Benign” at best ever weight] Simply by reading the weights of Robin’s fish it would seem safe to suggest that we should expect to see 10 of his thirties become forties for the autumn once they start on the proper pre-winter feeding spell. I think that we should also be prepared to see some of the recently un-caught, known fish such as “Clover”, “The Unknown” and “The Hoover” join “Waddle” and “The Long Common” in the fifties club. All of the fish seem to be holding fantastic weights for mid-summer and it seems that it is the amount of food holding in amongst the weed beds [masses of bloodworm in the roots and thousands of snails on the stems] which is producing the free protein, body-building “supplement” which is maintaining weight and condition for these fish. I don’t want to wish my life away but Lord only knows what next spring holds in store for us. Keith

We didn't spot it at the drain down but with 7 of us all catching fish and check weighing them [plus all the mud] it obviously slipped past.

Hi Dan Thanks mate. Bob hasn't had any more yet but the fact that his 42.00 was the leather which we thought was dead has made this a very special week. Both his fish and my common were not banked at all last year so how weird is that? Keith Look forward to seeing you again mate.

I know this is going to sound like "blowing my own trumpet" but I can't resist adding this post. [and I have paid for the advertising lol] With 7 anglers set up on our lake we had nobody fishing the Southern Arm. With some patches of weed showing and red hot, still conditions I was convinced that the fish would be "drinking in" the oxygen being given off by the weed. By Monday, still no-one wanted to move so I decided to do a short session half way down the arm. I set up in "Leaning Tree" and cast over the weed to fish in the far bank clearings under the forest trees. I fished 1.5 ounce running rigs with no tubing nor leaders and used Tiger Line fluoro main line with a Ghost/braid combi hook link. My bait was Infinity Baits Caviar and Black Pepper and I put about 100 freebies over each rod. To cut a long story short, in 42 hours I managed to land 10 carp weighing:- 31.03 lb, 31.12 lb, 33.15 lb, 34.00 lb, 35.01 lb, 35.08 lb, 36.10 lb, 37.05 lb, 37.08 lb [all mirrors] and one common of 51.02 lb. [new PB common]

Combi with a very short hinge section tied in very supple material.

Sorry to jump in here late but none of the leaders [leadcore nor safe zone] follow the lake bed as the sales blurb suggests. They are simply not heavy enough and are too stiff. The other misleading thing is the name. "Safezone" is named as it was suggested that it makes an area close to the bait which appears safe to the fish. It doesn't mean that it protects the fish by making the rig safe.

It's good to be able to say well done again fellas. Good pic's

Whatever you do don't get him onto lead core rigs.

Hello mate. If you google "keith moors knot" you will find diagrams of how to tie it. Keith

Right let me add my fourpennorth. I use main line straight through with a light lead on a running rig and that system has been very succesful for me and will continue to trip up fish on most waters. When fishing over a steep bar which has sharp objects over it I would still advise some kind of rubbing leader to enable you to land the fish without putting them at risk. You need to think about exactly what you need and if you can use tubing succesfully then why not? however if your tubing isn't producing the fish then by all means use lead core but use it properly. My advice (which also applies to the other types of snag leaders) is firstly to ensure that your mainline is strong enough so that you are not liable to leave a fish towing the leadcore. Probably 15 lb main line is ideal. Secondly use the lead core or other leader tied "helicopter" style so that the hook link can slide off if you do suffer a break and also make sure that any beads above the hook link swivel can also slide off easily. Thirdly use my own knot (Keith Moors Knot) to fix the lead core to the main line. I speciffically designed the knot to ensure that there are no tag ends left showing to pick up even the smallest piece of weed. Be safe and be lucky. Keith

You are absolutely spot on Fenboy, a man after my own heart. As far as I'm concerned there is no advantage to having, and therefore no need to have, any kind of stop up the line. I have fished light leads on running rigs for many years now and have caught stacks of big carp without the need for any additional "self hooking" aids. With a sharp hook and slack, heavy lines the bites are invariably fliers and don't need striking.

That looks good Tony. If you hold the "stiff" section horizontally you will see what I mean about the way the hook drops on the hinge mate. Keith

Hi Tony The trick that I use is to tie the braid to the fluoro first and then tie the hook using a "snell" knot. If you start the snell knot with the fluor/braid knot against the eye of the hook when you finally pull it all tight you end up with a very short hinge. It has been nailing some very big carp for me already this season so it's well worth trying mate. Keith

why's that Keith? Im stumped as well. When i tie my own, true, combi rigs out of 2 different materials, the braided section can be as little as half an inch, upto two thirds of the entire length of the hooklink. For e.g. If my hooklink is 9 inches, then the braided section will be 3 inches in length. It works for me. Two reasons that have been discovered after doing many many tests. 1. The shorter the length of braid the less prone to tangles. 2. The closer the actual "hinge" (ie the connection between braid and mono) to the hook the more of an angle the hook makes when it "drops" down into the carp's mouth. This angle is the edge for getting a good hook hold.

The albright knot to join the braid to the mono and make sure that the length of braid is shorter than the length of the hook shank. Keith

I don't think that any size of lead will be allowed within the next five years. The problems may be that the replacement materials may need to be much larger for a similar weight.

It's a running rig for me too without any type of leader nor tubing and to make it just that little bit safer I use the Enterprise snag-safe run rings which shed the lead with a pull of 5 or 12 pounds (depending which one you choose)

I totally agree and it seems that 2 oz is almost the critical weight to stay below. I have even tried a 2 oz lead boated out to 200 yards plus and the hook hold was superb.

NEVER use braided main line without some kind of fish protection. This is the only time that I would always use a section of leader. The only time that I use braided main line is on the river but I then use 55 lb main line with a 110 lb braid casting leader and about 4 feet of 30 lb fluoro as fish protection and then an 18 lb fluoro hook link. That way any breakages should leave the fish with just the hook link to deal with. Keith

Yes mate. My lake is a clay bottomed estate lake so that is the rig that I use virtually all the time. The only thing that I sometimes change if I'm fishing into the real soft areas is to extend the link between run ring and lead with about 6-12" of lead core (see I do use it). By splicing it to the lead and then a swivel or loop on the other end you can still hook it onto the run ring and its length will keep the ring above the silt/weed. My own choices of fluoro are 1. main line = Big-carp fluoro 2. hook links = ESP soft ghost When I am using fluoro tied to a "D" I always use ESP "Stiff Riggers" because the eye is designed for mono type hook links and sets the hook at just the right angle. With a combi rig I use ESP curved shanx with a supple hair. As Nick said they are just my own personal choices based on experience and confidence. Hope that helps. Keith

Hi Sam, I use running rigs with light leads all the time now and I have messed around with all sorts of beads etc and the best that I can find at the moment are the ESP "helicopter buffer bead." They are a longish bead which fits right over the swivel and i then use a quick link for attaching my hook link with a long tapered boom which covers the quick link and fits inside the opening of the buffer bead. All knots and swivel etc are then covered and keeps it nicely tangle resistant. Hope that helps mate. Keith Hey keith, i have been using running rigs since i started fishing in august. i couldnt use straight through mainline because i was getting tangles on every cast. as soon as i switched to tubing tangles were a thing of the past. how do you do it? lol I'm guessing that you are using braided hook links or combi links with quite a long section of braid. To use them and reduce tangles you are right to use tubing or to feather the cast in order to straighten out the hook link just before it hits the water. Personally I prefer fluoro hook links tied to a "D" or combi rigs with the braided part shorter than the shank of the hook and I still feather the cast to keep it all straight. You will find that the "lob" type cast or even the underarm swing are the worst for tangles mate. One other tip is to use a small stick bag to pull the hook link through which will reduce tangles. If you don't want to add a food to the stick you could use glugged sand which will add to the flavour but not the food. Hope that helps. Keith

I agree Frank, I think I will still continue to use my bolt rig set ups but I will definitely try running rigs from now on! And you know what its like, if the running rig starts to produce fish, then all 3 rods will soon be on them! Haha There's one massive difference with running rigs over bolt rigs. You know when the fish has picked up the bait and don't have to wait for it to move the lead. On top of that the lead does very little to hook the fish. Another myth.

If you cut the swivel off of the lead they are even less prone to tangling.

You might even be able to afford hooks now then. lol.

Hi Sharpy and Fumanchu. I have been fishing running rigs with no tubing or leaders now for quite a few years and they are quite simply superb. Use light (under 2 oz) leads and the hook holds are superb because the lead begins to move fairly early on and as it trundles across the lake bed it "vibrates" the hook home. My entire set up is as follows 1. ESP stiff rigger on "D" rig or curve on combi rig ( but the braid part of the combi must be shorter than the hook shank length) 2. Soft Ghost hook link with figure eight loop. 3. Quick link to take hook link and boom slid onto hook link. 4. swivel to hold quick link. 5. ESP helicopter bead to protect main line knot. 6. Enterprise snag safe running ring with lead weight attached. 7. Main line to rod/reel. As an addition if you are fishing over weed or soft silt you can extend the distance between the run ring and the lead by using about 12" of lead core spliced to the lead and with a loop to attach to the snag safe. This will keep your run ring above the weed or silt and allow you to still use 7" hook links for better bite indication. It all works well for me and I set up one of our anglers with that set up last weekend and he has since landed several carp including two at 46.00 lb plus so the rig works for all sizes of fish. Keith