zander1

I do that if i want to use shrink tube with flurocarbon and especialy mono in case the heat of the steam weakens the material

I am a perfectionist when it comes to detailed art/ drawing and design, I spot inperfections in everything, everything i buy, everything i do, Its a natural eye for detail. My dad is a toolmaking engineer and a damn good one at that, my uncle is a drafts-man, its in the blood. I havnt been carp fishing long, and i dont know anywhere near enough about watercraft as i would like, but in general it is a work in progress and only experiance can teach me, however i maticuously map where i am fishing, i will cast (for example) so that instead of my line crossing gullys near to where my bait is, i will cast parrallel or even into the gullys so that my line is sitting as flat as possible to where i am fishing, i will change pegs to hit the same spot untill i am happy, i think about wher the carp will becoming from and how he will pick up my bait as to try and increase my chances, its not a hard water that i fish, but i want to get into the right frame of mind now so that it becomes habbit. some times, if i am thinking about a specific problem, i will design a rig on paper first, i'll be thinking about the rigs mechanics, and then when i am happy i will tie it up to specification, and play about with it in a bowl of water, make a few changes and then use the rig, makingany changes that are needed as i "evolve" my fishing to suit. This is most likely OTT but i have convinced my self that the mechanics are important however they probably arnt. Every fine detail is taken into acount ie: the amout of hinges, the spin of the hook to get the besthook hold ect. I am convinced that a size 8-6 ssc armapoint gives me the best hooking potential and hook hold and so 90% of my rigs incorparate these hooks. There is a good chance that i could catch similar results on a simple, no singing and dancing bells rig, but i think that the changes i make increase my potential to catch and is a huge boost in confidence. I have forgotten the point of my post now and for that i appolagise, I know there was a point to what i was saying Sorry that it is a long winded reply Jack

well ok then I know what your going through with that one mate , all too well I get a bit "trigger" happy when i am free lining, im not sure whether i do it more on the top than i do on the bottom but i do catch more free lined on the top. When im fishing free line on the bottom, i tend to strike to early- im not sure if its reaction and excitement or wether its just bad luck or even if its a carp bite at all?. I am always weary of deep hooking a fish as well It seems a bit more simple when you you can see that the bait is definitely in the carps mouth but even then i strike to early alot of the time

I did one and sent you the link on the other thread we were on, doesnt matter tho Its a nice mirror mate, massive tail The most fun ive had free lining has got to have been last summer, i went (with a few friends who arnt realy carpers, more silver fish anglers but they fancied ago at the carp,) to a fishery that they normally fish- (Its called millride and is in Essington but its not a particularly nice or good fishery for anything but still) Any way, it was a bright morning and i was the first to arrive, i was sent a text saying that they were going to be late and instructions as to which lake they wanted to fish on the complex. It was a nice looking pool- full of lilly beds and had an island in teh middle (well it was like a sticky out bank that had been cut off from the pool which sort of divided the pool into 2 bays) I baited up 2 rods and cast out to teh island and one to a lilly bed, id got a small carp (6-7lb) on from the island rod just as my mates arrived and so i landed it and then we sat and chatted for about half an hour. It was 10:30 by ths time and the heat from the sun was getting stronger. (it was a T-shirt off day lol) As we were chatting and i was scanning the lake with my Polaroids i notice carp sitting just under the surface scatted all over the pool (nothing big unfortunately- a few decent doubles would probably have been the biggest in there?) I brought my other rod in so now i hadnt got a baited rod in the water and started to flick some of the good old dog biscuits in, some tight to the lilly beds and some in open water (couldnt reach the island but got pretty near). After 10-15 mins of them being out, the lilly beds closest to me erupted with movement Instead of tackling up my controller float gear, i just used good 10lb line straight through to my size 10 ssc and baneded a dog biscuit on, i drop the line across the top of a lily with the bait just over hanging the lilly pad- I had 5 from the lillys in 2 and a half hours all free lined in this way, it was so much fun even tho the biggest was about 9lb at a push as they were like little rockets right under the tip of the rod dashing for the safety of the lillys, one nearly done me in teh lillys but ichange the angle of "attack" and the carp shot off away from the lillys It was teh most fun Id had in ages

Wheres my thread gone??? But ok then Personally, i think the carp may have been trying to see how the bait would react to the current created by his tail fin and then by sucking at it- to determine if the food was safe/ not containing a hook??? rather than just trying to remove the bread??? Nick may have a few good ideas on this one??? actually i could list a fair few people on here who could suggest alot more about it???

This is a must read !!!! Its got me thinking in a completely different way,and ive only read the first few pages as yet