newmarket

Hawk , you sound like a very knowledgable gentleman , helped by years of experience no doubt . Can i take it by "general rule of thumb" with regards to hair length , you mean as a starting point and then shorten or lengthen the hair accordingly accordingly to how your session is going etc ? Or do you stick to your guidelines rigidly come what may ? Reason i ask is that , in my relatively limited experience , no two carp feed the same way and i certainly couldnt predict it . Unless of course i'd been stalking the same target fish for a considerable period of time of course in which case i may have caught on

Seems like you've been really working at it Andy , and beginning to reap the rewards too by the sounds of it . Miles better than drifting from venue to venue wondering why your not catching ... A few could do with taking a leaf out of YOUR book mate

Thought so

Gardner muggas for bottom baits , kamasan b175's for pop ups ( bait closer to hookshank ) Easy

I dont agree that tubing is pointless with a size 8 hook i believe it is down to the hook pattern . I'd use it on a size 12 if i thought it might improve the hooking potential . Also , for what its worth , i dont believe in that palm test ( or thumbnail test for that matter ) . Hooklength behavior underwater cannot be the same as on your hand . Mind you thats what forums are for , to air differing opinions . Lets see how the thread develops si . Cant understand why your mate would say your hairs are too short and yet offer no explanation or solution ?

Great book title for sure . Andy , is springate the fella with the beard a la Yates ?

Morning si , i tend to use 1.2 mm shrink tube and only use it if i feel the hooking potential can be improved by turning it " inwards". Many hook patterns these days have that already-turned angle anyway so dont need it imo . As for length of the hair ,i usually start with having about 3/4 of an inch between top of the bait and the hook and then shorten or lengthen it during the session depending on hookholds ( like Nick , if the hookholds are in the scissors or not great it gets lengthened or shortened if the hookholds are too far back) and whether i feel the fish are "getting away with it". Have you ever seen a KD rig si ? No shrink tube and the hair virtually comes off the eye of the hook . Flapping like a good 'un :)

Cor Yeah !

How close to the reeds are you ? Might be worth freelining the worms if you're close enough ?

Try mono Andy , probably allow the worms more natural movenent ???

Designed for catfishing but could be your solution jokke ? http://www.catfish-tackle.co.uk/acatalog/Rig_Tubing__Stiff_Tubing.html

Apologies in advance for the text talk BUT .... LMFAO !!!! :) Now THAT is clever lol

Golden pheasant chick ( one of 3 eggs ) hatched out literally 30 minutes ago ... This place is becoming a menagerie ....

I think you are going to have to PM me that one Mr Emm

Excellent ! :) Strangely enough mr Read is one of the few pro/sponsored anglers that i've got a lot of time for . He puts your gear over really well and doesnt appear to be up his own ( so to speak ) unlike a lot of others i could mention . I think i'd hang on to hom Ok crawling session over ....

Thats outrageous :) :) Only joking Richard BUT If its good enough for Lewis Read .....

Thank you for posting Richard , Lewis has proved the lines durability . Please thank him for me

I think fudgey was hoping it is in sarfend

Lewis read uses the light blend ? And its good for more than a year

Well found nick , thats the thread that made my mind up for me

I knew that andy . Beza told me . He's a long suffering fan

Thank you chicken george Either way they had to go . Could you imagine it ? 8 of em at 4 am ffs ... Mind you i should of kept em ....first complaint and i woulda grassed up the dealers next door in case it was them

I know the feeling mate i got drug pushing junkies living one side and 300 corpses living on the other