ouchthathurt

I’ve used both quick change and spinner swivels pal, without any issues, but nowadays I just use the korda spinner swivels as they’ve been designed for the job, no bending open the QC swivel to get the hook eye in! I use size 11 swivels for all my rigs, the smaller and less obtrusive the better!

I’ve used both hooklinks with the spinner rig without any problem mate, I tend to attach it to the spinner swivel with a figure of eight loop and another loop at the other end of the boom for the quick change swivel. A grinner knot to the spinner swivel will be fine, but I personally prefer loops either end.

The spinner rig is my go to pop up rig, I’ve used ESP cryogen curve shanks and korda kurves in size 6 and 4s with no issues. In fact i prefer the size 4 to be honest. Whilst I use it with a helicopter set up, it can be used with a lead clip arrangement, but I probably wouldn’t use it with an inline lead personally, I find inline leads lend themselves to short soft braided hooklinks and pva bag work, I would be worried that the nose of the lead would dig in taking the hooklink with it. As I use fluro or at least a semi stiff hooklink of between 8-10 inches (to suit the lake bed I’m fishing over - silt) an inline lead would negatively affect the presentation if the lead did plug in nose first. Of course that doesn’t mean an inline lead wouldn’t work over a hard lake bed, but a helicopter or lead clip arrangement would be my choice.

Grass snakes do enjoy the water. I got my club book renewed today, just gotta sort some time on the bank.

I much prefer using a leadcore or unleaded leader as opposed to a naked set up. I’ve used both types extensively, and have found the unleaded to be more supple (obviously!) as well as a bit thinner. My only slight problem with the thinner unleaded material (Nash version in my case) was getting the top bead/silicone sleeve to stay in place. I use the old silicone sleeve method with a bead pushed lightly on it as a top bead. So the silicone sleeve must fit tightly so only the bead can move and pop off easily. With unleaded leaders, I used a dab of rig glue on the leader where I wanted the silicone sleeve to go, then slide the sleeve over the glue before it set. This is down to personal preference as when fishing naked, i have an inherent fear of tangles! Could you fish one set up on each rod side by side and see what suits your needs best? Or are you planning the choddie on one spot only?

I very much doubt that the carp would ingest foam or cork, they often suck into their mouths inedible items to test them to see if they are food or not, plus they take in stones, sticks etc when feeding and are extremely well adapted to filtering out the food and spitting out the inedible stuff. So I think if they took in a bit of foam or cork, they will soon spit it out when they realise it’s not food. Provided you’re using a proper zig set up, and the foam/cork hook bait is secured, it shouldn’t come off anyway. I’ve seen carp suck in Fag butts, they soon spit them back out!!

I use 12lb mainline and pva bags without a shockleader with no problems, I tend not to fish pva bags at range anyway as they can reduce my accuracy. When beachcasting, I would often use leads in the 4-6oz range and the casting style would demand a shockleader as the forces imposed on the mainline by the rods t/c, the actual casting style, (half pendulum, full pendulum, OTC, etc) and the added weight of a baited 2-3 hook trace, or a mackerel fillet or peeler crab etc, the initial air resistance of the baited end tackle, not forgetting the hostile nature of the sea to begin with, all these factors place a far greater strain on a mainline used for beachcasting than the strain placed in a carping environment. most modern carp lines snap at a higher strain than their stated breaking strain, and most modern set ups can, in the right hands, put a 3oz lead a long way with little force or effort. I’ve had a rod fail before the mainline when casting extreme range (twice!) it’s a case of being sensible, I’m happy to blast a 3 1/2oz lead as far as I can chuck it with 15lb line, if I was using a lower b/s line, of 10lb say, I’d use a length of 20lb line as a shockleader, or if it was a common tactic, if fishing a water where extreme range fishing was the norm, I would turn to a tapered mainline. (I would also use these on waters where leaders are banned) but to be honest, I haven't needed a shockleader for years, diawa hypersensor has reduced diameter for its b/s so I can use a line of 15-18lb with a line diameter of 12lb(ish) modern mainlines give us more options these days

Well done mate, keep up the good work!

Good choice there mate, you shouldn’t have any problems with them.

Especially as he was a London firefighter from the 70s to the 90s! Mind you, he did go over to the London fire boat, so maybe he learnt a lesson!! Lol!

It may be just my personal experience, but in the colder weather, I seem to catch more commons than mirrors. I read that commons, due to a genetic difference have higher levels of haemoglobin in their blood which means they have the highest blood oxygen levels compared to other strains, leathers especially. As oxygen is essential to digestion, this may allow them to feed and digest more effectively in colder water, yet cold water has the highest levels of dissolved oxygen content, which would suggest that oxygen is readily available, so it may make no difference at all!! Could it be that certain carp can feed in colder water? Or does the venue and number of anglers on it have an affect? I.E. more bait and leads going in keeping the carp on the move, thus using more energy which needs replacing more?

Thanks pal, a very important point! Many people don’t! Fortunately I have several bags of sand from knocking up sand/cement mixes to build a wall/repairing masonry work so I’ve been using them to secure the ladder. My dad fell off a ladder while on a roof years ago and badly injured himself plus going to ladder related accidents in my work on ambulances has highlighted the risks so I’ve always been wary of ladders! it’s ironic that he was a firefighter, you would have thought he’d be good on ladders!

I wish it were that simple mate! I’ve got to render the back of the house, the bitumen paint is for the bay window roof and the kitchen roof (an extension) needs to be completely stripped and the felt replaced... then it’s repaint the exterior front and back, then redecorate the entire interior which has just been replastered throughout. I’ve done a new kitchen and bathroom so it’s bringing it all together now. lockdown has a lot to answer for!! 🙄

I’ve just brought a load of one pot render roofing felt and bitumen paint, time to drag out the ladders... 🙄

I would probably start with prepared nuts if you’re new to them mate, saves the faff and associated issues with preparation as poorly prepared or uncooked nuts can be dangerous for carp. With prepared nuts you know they are safe and ready for use. You don’t need to feed loads of tigers and they are usually recognised as a food source pretty quickly.

Cant beat Stilton cheese paste for chub!

Some of the best baits are based on the fruity/fish combo mate, aminos and peach, big fish mix and plum, tangerine and squid... your best bet is to find a reputable high quality nutritional bait, stick with it and build your confidence in it, the more you use it, the more the fish find it and eat it, the better it becomes.

I wouldn’t worry too much about getting 10ft spod/marker rods mate, having the extra leverage the extra 2ft with the spod will make casting easier and it’s always a good idea to be able to cast markers and spods at least to the same range as baited fishing rods, if not further.

With all this expertise and experimentation with the different goo’s, we will have to start calling you Elmo Hamidi...

I don’t zig fish, (I’m proper pants at it, something I need to remedy!) but I always use drennan super specialists in sizes 10-6 for all my floater fishing. Recently I’ve used the super specialist in the wide gape pattern when I can find them, but I’ve never had a problem with these patterns for floater fishing. Used the super specialists for as long as I can remember and the wide gape versions for the last 2 seasons, but I struggle to find them in my local tackle shops.

I know what you mean, my first carp rods were 1 3/4lb t/c and 11ft long, I moved onto 11ft 2lb test rods that bent through to the butt cap. Back then, a 3lb rod was a broomstick! Now, 3lb test is about normal! My rods are fox torque, 12ft 3lb test rods that have a lovely action. If this is a recent problem you’ve been having, (I’m guessing since you fined down for winter?) then that would suggest to me that you may need to adjust your end tackle to filter out the other species if carp are the intended target pal. I'm glad you’re finding the forum helpful mate, don’t be afraid to ask questions on here, there are a lot of very knowledgeable people that will help and we learn through asking questions! We all have areas of angling that we are perhaps “weaker” at, I am probably the worst zig rig angler going! Lol!

Well my leadcore leaders are 40-50lb breaking strain, but my mainline is 12lb, so that’s the overall breaking strain of my set up. I couldn’t apply 50lb of pressure as although the leadcore (correctly spliced) could take it, the mainline would part long before! I wouldn’t worry about the leader breaking strain too much mate, the over all strength of your set up is governed by the weakest component.

Don’t ask me! I don’t know! Lol!

A water not far from me has always had a boilie and floating bait ban, hence the banks aren’t very crowded and you have free reign to be able to move about. The owners wanted a pleasure water where anglers could come and not see swim after swim packed with little green domes. They are only small venues, quite intimate. Pellets or meat in the margins will produce some lovely carp. I actually don’t mind the fact boilies are banned, it gives me a chance to refine other baits and methods which in many cases, I’ve neglected for years. I mean, I have probably fished luncheon meat maybe 2 or 3 times in the last 15yrs? Yet it was my go to bait as a kid.

I don’t have a problem with someone coming to wake me if they have a carp need photographing, one lad woke me to take a pic of a low double then apologised afterwards as it was “only a little one” it happened to be the first carp he’s ever had from the lake, after a fair ole wait, so he was over the moon! That’s no drama as far as I’m concerned, I was happy to congratulate him and share the moment. I blanked... 🙄