daleg2008

Size 8 What size bait are you using? i use 18mm or 20mm with size 5 and size 4 hooks.

Agreed increase the hair length, basic physics really. be warned though ive hooked a few pasties in the belly etc... as they get frustrated that they cant eat the bait, they roll on the bottom and somemtimes pick up the hook. or if your not short on money or bait then feed them off with particles in another area of the lake.

A uncaught carp is an easier carp to hook in my opinion. i came up with this conclussion when i hooked a pristine 23lb common that some how evaded capture. its believed that you can tell that a carp hasn't been hooked because of the flap of skin in there mouth. some people believe that this disappears after the hook penetration wound heals. i believe this to an extent, but i think it takes a few hookings for it to deteriate. so if the carp has never been caught or the flap of the skin is large then the hook has something else to catch on. as wilfster said some carp have softer mouths because the lake is silty etc... and some have harder mouths because they feed on gravel etc... the lake im on now i can tell which carp prefer grubbing around in the silt and the ones who prefer the cleaner areas. the ones who are regular silt grubbers as i call them have jet black mouths where the silt has stained them. just something else i thought i would throw in

Any chance you could expand on that statement? My survey of what rig to put out is based on length more than anything else. I have now grown comfortable with fishing a curve shank hook on a simple knotless knot rig made out of supernova. Mainly because i rushed into the hype of rig making without understanding it and just got my self confused From what i can figure out is the rig should be decided on the lake bed and the food item you are using. My basic rule of thumb is if in silt then use a longish rig especially if fishing boilie, but what happens if you fish silt with particles? as they say smaller food items you should use a small rig as the carp are not moving and could eject a long rig very easily. Then gravel ban its clean you can shorten the rig because of no chance of the rig burying. Am i correct in saying that? Its the same with the lead system, that should be decided on what the lake bottom is, shouldn't it? as i feel a lead clip inline etc.... is virtually useless in silt or soft clay etc... as the lead goes first which could leave the hooklink swivel buried and making the presentation awfull. Whats your views guy's?

Waders are on my list of things to get atm. just short on cash bloke turned up on a work party the other day with a pair of chesties he had bought from Aldi for a £5 dunno if they still do em or not i have never been to Aldi but could be worth a try nice one ill check it out

Whats the verdict on backleads and indication then? someone on here must use them?

the same as above

why because not every fishing situation requires a slack line.

So backleads and float stops. anyone know what indication is like on straight through mainline with a running lead and using a backlead? cheers

Waders are on my list of things to get atm. just short on cash

I all ready use x-line, but i doubt it is on the bottom when fished on a tight line. unless you know otherwise? i watched a carp come up from my rig and follow the mainline up and swim under the rod tips. i thought you cheeky blighter

Anyone got and ideas of pinning straight through mainline down? the obvious ones are putty and flying backleads, but big lumps of putty will expensive if you lose them and flying back leads change the line angle to much. any ideas welcome cheers.

Tony.bi wouldn't know i use amnesia in 15lb and size 6 stiff rigger or fox ssc. i had a dabble with the bristle, but didn't get on to well. 3 bits of pop up corn with a piece of cork between each piece is good. this was my first experiment as it was a runs water and didnt respond that well to boilies. ive never tried tiger nuts yet, but should imagine its the same principle as the corn. i used to drill my pop ups 3 quarters the way through and plugged with cork. this made them a bit more buoyent. untill havin a blonde moment and learning that boiling paste and wrapping it around a cork ball is the same thing.

if you dont want to use boilies on the chod you can use pop up corn or tiger nut. the enterprise ones should be buoyent enough if not use a piece of matching foam as well.

The whole point of side hooking a bead is that it grips whatever its side hooked on. there is no set diameter like on the normal holes, whatever diameter you pierce through rubber it will grip and not move freely. thats why side piercing beads on any leader is a big no no! but maybe your moving freely is different to mine. i used to set my leader beads that light that you could sneeze and they would come off. i use to replace all the leadcore beads that came with it with 6mm or 8mm beads that looked huge, but passed any small loop and kneedle knot in a breeze. the question is how many people bother? i feel sorry for the day ticket water carp