zander1

That depends on how the carp pick up bait tbh mate. Trial and error is the only way to find out but a 1cm gap between the hook and the bait is a good place to start You may find a gap of an inch works better or no gap at all.

you will prob do it in an hour with a brisk walk

Tie your own pal- much better- learn to tie a few knots sufficiently The hook is the most important so pic a reliable pattern and make. Deep silt- longer hook links can work well

Thats a killer tactic on some good stocked waters- the pellets attract the carp and keep them grubbing around- the pop-up is the only visible bait. Hey presto- banged out loads like that: if i can remember it was 18 fish upto 20lb (my only 20) + 2 bream Also- A size 8 hook is fine for your fishing apart from a korda size 8 which is more like a 6 believe it or not (compared with drennan super specialists and fox arma points) even with hooks the size 6 and bigger you will still catch but it may cause unnesasary damage to the carp you catch. And one more thing- learn to tie your own rigs as soon as possible- get a coated braid and some Fox arma point hooks (ssc or sssp size and some swivels. Yow ill need to learn to tie a knot less knot and a grinner knot (or fig of 8 knot) and thats about it- your on the road to catching

Some good points on this thread

Ahh never noticed. well why not stick with owner, i believe they are one of the best hook makers in the world, they make the fox arma points too boot Maybe its your knot that is at fault?????? When you tie the knot less knot, do you get any slip or do you get any line wrap under the eye lassooing the hooklink???????

Fox Arma points mate, all the way. they do every pattern you will ever need and their eyes have good closure. I believe the out turned eye pattern is called the SR.

It is definitely one of the best pop-up rigs going, but my Turf pop-up rig which is a very similar setup is awesome- only ever had 2 runs that didnt end up as fish on the mat out of over 100 carp in a year from the Turf pool alone , ive now been using that rig 3 years It is my choice for pop-ups nearly 90% of the time no matter where im fishing as i have so much confidence with it

Yes Or bellow the bait on the hair, or just on a straight forward pop up rig so that the hook is still suspended with the bait, but its only just held down on the deck by the tungsten putty (rather than a shot).

Tungsten putty- its the muts nuts

Im with everbody else on this- grinner over blood knot anyday I to do snag fishing- 15lb sensor - if you want the best out of it, use a grinner

The float trapped on a length of stiff link virtually eliminates tangling. I will give it a try the next time i use an adjustable zig

Yeh its similar Tryzard, I haven't got the float trapped on my set up- it runs like the lead does- as its bouant it just sits behind the hooklink swivel Its the adjustable zig thats a pain- it tangles no matter how good you are at casting

Is that the adjustable zig??? I know a few areas where i have obserevd the fish but there is only one spot where i managed to induce a take on a bottom bait (wasn't a proper run), zigs are the way to go- i had a take off a zig using a drennan super specialist hook and i failed to connect in time (don't know if the weed caused much of a delay in striking????) Tell you what though Tony- Bring on tomorrow, im going back and reckon ill have a 20 on the mat off a zig. beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeep!!!

Im using the stem on the marker. I used to use a wire trace and a cork. Ahh right, Put the running rig on a boom????

Horses for courses

TBH Tony, Fishing in weed has created a few problems that im working on, to refine my set up. Lead wise- im unsure of what is safer- at the end of the day it doesnt matter wether you use an in line or pendant lead, running or semi fixed it is still on the mainline and will be covered in weed. On my bottom bait rigs i use an in line lead running and on the zig i use a pendant style lead. I have no idea which is safer and tbh i dont know which is better as ive only just started fishing a weedy water. I prefer pendant style leads if there is bottom debris (run of the mill light chod) but weed seems different, the in line lead seemed to pick up marginally less weed than the pendant lead but i dont know if the mechanics of the rig will be affected by it (the lead pulling the hooklink down further in the weed). With the pendant style lead i am hoping that the eye of the swivel will sit above the weed where possible but tbh i dont think this is happening which means both set-ups aren't effective in weed running- if i were to use a bolt rig id use a semi fixed in line lead but i will not fish a semi fixed zig. this is where my dilemma comes in- i haven't got a clue what to do for the best. This was the exact zig rig set-up that i used (for the first time i might add) last week in the weedy water. My normal set-up gathered far too much weed around the components when i cast out and so i tried to make the set-up more slender. I know the hooking arrangement works so its just the lead set-up that i need to play around with. (i struggled to get a marker float -the korda stem kit- to come up in some areas as the weed is so thick) Normally, on a clean bottom, i would have a quick link or loop and no anti-tangle sleeve but as i was fishing in weed i didnt want that extra pivot as there would be a good chance it would be clogged with weed and wouldn't help at all- just another snagging point. However, with out this point/hinge- the hooklink doesnt come straight up from the lead- instead there is a slight curve from the end of the sleeve (as its a tight line set-up). May have to put the hinge back in. Lead wise, I hope that the massive bore of the running link will help the safety and sensitivity of the set-up rather than the thinner bore of an in line lead or normal lead swivel- (even the korda "big eye" ones on their leads are smaller than that nash running link). Will it work??? I cant say for certain, weed is new to me. But i like a challenge Your thoughts anyone???? (a bit of background info on the pool- 4 acre, gin clear 26 rig shy carp- easily spooked buy anything and everything, 9ft deepest- average of 8ft and a few shallower bays. Thick blanket of weed)

You already know this though and so I needn't have bothered.

How will you have any confidence in your set-up unless you catch a few on it???? Say your on a water where you can catch 1 fish a month if that. You get your bite on the zig and loose the fish/ don't connect with it because you in your wisdom thought it would work the way you set it up and it doesn't. What do you do ??? wait until the next bite where it fails again??? its like fishing blind. Besides- like a day on a runs water will hurt your ego. You could go on a runs water for the day- refine your set-up. You'll have confidence in them and problem solved I know my set-up works, The pic was just tied up quick to show the general idea of how an intured hook is fine. My proper arrangement is more refined dependant on the buoyancy and size of the bait being used. (balancing bait and hook size etc) You can never tie the perfect zig- you will not connect with every run even on the runs water- 28 runs and 26 fish isn't bad though. The carp will always have several feet of line to play with before he gets hooked. Id like to try a zig using a fluro and see if the stiffness (compared to mono) hooks more fish but while my fine mono seems to do the trick I will stick with it Personally I find a running rig setup (on a fixed length zig) with a tight line and some weight on the swinger to be the most efficient and sensitive set-up. I have a large bore swivel/runring on the zig, a rubber bead ( the ones that are elongated to cover the hooklink swivel as well) and an anti-tangle sleeve on the hook link as im currently fishing over weed and so the running properties don't work as well. On a clean bottom, standard swivel on the lead, small rubber bead hook link tied on to the mainline swivel with a loop (or quick link etc) and no antitangle sleeve. Job done. I like to avoid adjustable zigs as they tend to tangle, I have still used the adjustable zigs to good effect though. You will probably still try to shoot me down. Jack

Just to let you know Tony, there isnt alot in that,probably less than when its in the water as the baiting needle was just to get the bait to hold the hook flat so you could see the hooking arrangement, i wasnt holding the other end of the line, it was just overhanging the box and table. Catch a few pasties on it, you'll soon know if its working right or not- you'll have a cracking day on a runs water later on this year with them

This seems to work. When the foam pulls the hooklink up from the lead its as tensioned and the hook sits like a "claw" dependant on how you set the hook/bait. Just literally tied that one up. just by changing the amount of wraps around the knot less knot you can create more aggressive or less aggressive "claws" and make the hook hidden by the bait. Each to their own, i wouldn't mind using an out turned eye hook but i prefer inturned eyes

The video talks about not using hooks with intured eyes as it can break the hooklink. I wouldn't worry about that too much- ive never had that problem- i use wide gapes, fox arma point sssp's which have inturned eyes, or drennan super specialists that have straight eyes, of fox sscs and havent had the zig break near the hook. Go for the finest gauge wire you can get away with, fox ssbp's are a great pattern, but too heavier gauge for zig hooks- hence why i like the widegapes in this shape/pattern even though the korda hooks aren't as good as arma points in general. (i could word that better but cba) BTW, The Fox arma point hooks are made by Owner- need i say more

I also tie the majority of mine on the bankside now. I will tie a couple up at home and put them in the wallet just to get me started when i first arrive at the venue, but if things change, or i need to adjust something, then out comes the materials and i can tie one there and then to suit the situation. Its much better that way IMO. I totally agree with you Tony, i think that doing this has put more fish on the bank for me as the hook is sharper than one thats been used. Plus- the rig is the perfect length for what i want to do that day and the materials are more easily matched to the lake bed costs a bit more material wise but i think its worth it Ive still got my tried and trusted rigs in my wallet- but i always check the hook point- if its not out the packet sharp- it doesnt get used.

Same- i only trust my own knots and if something goes wrong i only have my self blame. I love tying my own rigs anyway