nigewoodcock

I think it does! lol

Give them a call. The number is easily found on the net or at local tackle shops. How close to Ellesmere do live?

Thats exactly what was supplied to you if you had a look at the link Like I said, I only copied and pasted what was already there for you - amazing what information you can get if you put a bit of effort in - in this case, two clicks of a mouse button That's the point I was trying to make, Nige. Sorry if it sounded like I was dissing you. Ian Haha The after "If there is not at least a venue to start at amid all the venues listed...... " was not intended for you Ian

Thats exactly what was supplied to you if you had a look at the link Like I said, I only copied and pasted what was already there for you - amazing what information you can get if you put a bit of effort in - in this case, two clicks of a mouse button

All I did was copy and paste from the link you supplied Welder. If there is not at least a venue to start at amid all the venues listed......

Alcott Farm - Worcestershire Alvechurch Fisheries - West Midlands Anchor Meadow - Warwickshire Avon Andy's Fishing Lake - Herefordshire Arden Fisheries - Warwickshire Astwood Fishery - Worcestershire Baden Hall - Eccleshall, Staffs Birch House Lakes - Derbyshire Bishops Bowl - Warwickshire Blythe Waters - West Midlands Brick Hill - Northamptonshire Bridge Lake - Oxfordshire Broad Acres Fishery - Worcestershire Butlers Hill - Warks/Oxon Chequered Lake - Shropshire Clattercote Reservoir - Oxfordshire Cob House Fisheries - Worcestershire Coombe Pool - West Midlands Coppice Lane Pools - Staffordshire Dingle Fishery - North Warwickshire Docklow Pools - Herefordshire Earlswood Lakes - West Midlands Evesbatch Fisheries - Herefordshire Fisherwick Lakes - Staffordshire Furnace Mill - Worcestershire Hamstall Pleasure Fishery - Staffordshire Hawford Bridge Fishery - Worcestershire Heyford Fishery - Northamptonshire Hillview Lakes - Gloucestershire Holt Fleet Fishery - Worcestershire Holt Hall - Warwickshire Hollyhurst Lakes - West Midlands Hopsford Hall - Warwickshire Kingfisher Trout Lake - Herefordshire Kingston Pools - Warwickshire Kingsbury Water Park - Warwickshire Lannys Lagoon - Warwickshire Leigh Sinton - Worcestershire Lower Broadheath - Worcestershire Makin Fisheries - Warwickshire Meadowlands - West Midlands Naseby Reservoir - Northamptonshire Oakham Farm - Warwickshire Packington Somers - West Midlands Parkers Fishery - West Midlands Pipehill Fisheries - Staffordshire Patshull Park - Shropshire Pool House Farm - Staffordshire The Riddings - Warwickshire Rookery Meadow - Worcestershire Ryton Pool - West Midlands Seven Meadows - Warwickshire Avon Stockton Reservoir - Warwickshire Stone End Farm - Gloucestershire Stoppo's Pool - Staffordshire Temple Farm - Leicestershire Twyford Farm - Worcestershire Watersmeet - Gloucestershire Weston Lawns - Warwickshire Wildmoor Waters - Gloucestershire Willesley Lake - Leicestershire Willow Farm Fishery - Worcestershire Woodland View - Worcestershire Woods Farm - West Midlands Any of them any good?

Would the bead slip over a sinker Jez? Not seen one in the flesh. I suppose it's not too much of an issue if the rig will 'pop' over the bead anyway

Basically I tie mine as follows. From Lead, all mounted on the mainline: Lead (with swivel cut off) – weak link of low b/s line – large eye swivel – Korda shockleader sleeve – the rig – ESP shock bead – slim float stop (set to required depth) In the picture I have not used the weak link as there was a clean bottom with no snags present. If there was weed in the vicinity or any sort of snaggy areas then this would be incorporated in the set up. I don’t use this rig when fishing into weed but I am working on an idea. As an extra safety measure I have now switched to using a slimmer float stop so the ESP bead will pass over the stop under pressure. If this fails then the running large eye swivel that the rig is mounted on will pass over the bead under very light pressure. I use the shockleader sleeves to stop the swivel and line working at horrible angles whilst playing a fish. It also lets the rig sit nicely during the cast. If there is a pretty much uniform lake bed out to the area fishing, I will sometimes use a flying backlead and / or backlead. This gives that extra bit of resistance on any pickup, if required. I do however, find that a slack line approach works fantastically in most situations as the set up has predominately been used as a single bait approach.

I took some photos of how I tie it the other day. I will upload them tomorrow and post them up.

It's not just Wick that you get for your money

What do you feel the reasons are that you require one? That is a better question to start with.

Thats me Hows it been down there? Any ice free waters?

That pretty much has the lake covered then

I'm a club member - but on the other water. Not had chance to fish it yet though as it has had a lid on it since my ticket started. What sort of info are you after dukeboy?

Maybe just a touch over half an hours drive you have the Cotswold water park - Plenty of fish over 30lb and lakes to suit all

Your not far from some cracking lakes

Chris, as you are 'just trying to learn' I would stay away from trying to understand how to tie all these different rigs and stick to using something quite basic. Then, as you come across different situations, you may feel that you have to change something in the way of your presentation of bait or rig mechanics to catch or keep catching. This thought will lead you into using the best rig for that situation - not just a rig that you have seen on a forum or in a magazine. As you gain more experience you will continually learn how to tie new or even just variations of rigs to deal with different scenarios you are faced with. To get a more useful answer, a different question could be 'What are the reasons/situations behind using a snowman bait' If you think that the answers you get are relative to the problem you are trying to overcome then you can look into the variables you are faced with that will decide which rig to use. It's a case of walking before you run but you are active within one of the best sources of information when you no need it.

You know I need a seat per cheek!!!!

One word.... GUTTED!

why because not every fishing situation requires a slack line. So what is the situation you are trying to cover? You may get a bit more of a response if you let on a bit more.

I use one of those safezone leaders with a quick link on my setup. I found with braid straight through that the braid would wrap around the run ring trapping the float. This was increased when fishing weedey waters, as most of the lakes I have fished in the last few years are. The safezone leader slips nicely through the run ring every time with the right choice of float for the job. I lose hardly any sensitivity when feeling the lead (tested on a range of known features) as compared to lead straight through. Certainly nowhere near as much when using a full mono shockleader. There is still only one knot - I use the loop to loop and cover with shrink tube to tidy it up - as the lead clips on.

I see where your coming from but I think the lead is just obscuring the view

yeah i have shimano super ultegra in the larger spool version. they come with 3 spools so i have 2 spare. Load up your 300m of Xline on a spool then attach a cheep mono line as a backing and wind that on until the spool is full. Next, take the spool off, put on an empty spool and fill from the preloaded one you just removed - this should leave you with a fill to the brim reel with exactly 300m of Xline and the remainder in a non expensive backing. Back to his original question. How does he know he is loading 300 mtrs in the first instance? By simply counting the turns of his handle

yeah i have shimano super ultegra in the larger spool version. they come with 3 spools so i have 2 spare. Load up your 300m of Xline on a spool then attach a cheep mono line as a backing and wind that on until the spool is full. Next, take the spool off, put on an empty spool and fill from the preloaded one you just removed - this should leave you with a fill to the brim reel with exactly 300m of Xline and the remainder in a non expensive backing.

Once again I presume you are talking about close in, margin fishing here cos like I said before, anything further out than that you would have real difficulty seeing what was happening anyway. In the case of the gravel bottomed lake though I would make my end tackle as subtle as possible And make my bait act as natural as the freebies by counterbalancing it. Also shortening the hooklink could help along with lengthening the hair to make sure you have a much greater degree of separation between the hook and bait. To be honest, on the silty venue where even close in you are not gonna see much at all, I would experiment and try the same as above, but cos you cant see the carps reaction to anything, then i feel its gonna be trial and error. Either way, I feel pulling out a rig that’s all whistles and bells rings here and swivels there is just gonna hinder your chances of a take. I wouldn’t be at all confident of doing something l;ike that. But thats just my opinion. If I thought (or knew) the fish was 'picking' or 'mouthing' the bait then my first thoughts would be the opposite to yours Ant. I would want the bait as close to the hook as possible with the hookpoint just clear of the lakebed or even upside down My theory being that as soon as the carp touches the bait with its lip, it has a chance of being hooked - mega sharp hooks required I think. Admitidly your not going to have many runs like this but it may get you that fish that you are targeting - if thats the way it feeds Could be a load of cobblers though