willi4692

Interesting....................so are you saying a Carp can tell the difference in weight from a freebie and a hookbait, how much does a standard sized hook weigh? Also if that is the point of using the cork, you would only need a tiny bit to equal the weight of the hook, I always thought the use of cork was to produce a neutral buoyancy hookbait or a pop up? Well thats the theory, you put the cork three quaters through to critically balance it. The cork at the back will pull the eye of the hook up making it effectively weightless, which in turn, make the point heavy and hang down to catch the bottom lip. But as i said it's all theory, not fact.

I stand corrected, never fished it myself just going by what I have heard and read.

Korda way or not, the cork is to make the bait the same weight as the other freebies as the hook adds weight. As Beanz said you can do it either way it doesn't matter.

Find the fish and fish for them, no point fishing if there is no fish there. DON'T feel as if you have to spod, I have found boilies to be better than spodding at linear. Also on Oxlease you may be required to cast at range so be prepared. Give them a ring before you go as well to see how it is fishing. May i ask why you are restricting yourself to just Oxlease? When I go I look around my first choice, if i can't find the fish or if it's too busy I look at another lake.

Tolpits is small but deceptively difficult, have a look around on the net for photos of the fish. Lesters and Plodder are the biggest at low to mid 40s. Couple of fish deaths a number of years ago now, Bullet Hole Common, Big Common and The Box died, but the jewels of the crown are still in there. Just to warn you, you need to live within 15 miles of Watford town hall to join (look it up on google maps), need to get your payment in as soon as the season closes because its first come first serve. Also just to note it can get busy. Good Luck Will

What sort of fishing are you after? Hard, easy...? You could use the feature on this website were you can view listings of lakes in this area. Stanbrough Lakes is good for a quick session after work, have to be off by dark though. Stay away from Holwell Hyde at all costs, over priced and the stock are in terrible condition. Never fished Willows or Bowmans but have heard mixed reviews. Big fish venues would be Tolpits on the Watford Picators club, North Met Pit, Bowyers Water and Stanstead Abbotts. Tolpits and North Met possible to get on to next season but the rest have very very long waiting lists, upwards of 10 years. Cheers Will

Never heard of this venue before and it sounds like a complete nightmare. Whats the size of the water and the size of the carp? Got to be a reason to fight through the snotties!

Kryston hooklink materials are some of the best on the market. Recently I have been using Suffix Camfusion as I fancied a change and have been impressed so far.

Really???? what materials do you use fella??? I cant stand the half blood myself in all honesty, plaomar isnt bad. Never had a half blood go using braid, monos it goes occasionally. I use the palomar with any material just an all round easy to tie and very reliable knot.

£125 I should say!

Cheers Nick, I have found out that Bowyers Water has a long waiting list but North Met I could get onto next season, I think I'm going to go have a look around North Met and see if i can get a feel for the place. And I can't lie £165 a season for some stunning Forties sounds too good to be true.

Palomar or the half blood get my vote

Over the last couple of weeks finances have become rather tight and its made affording a 200 mile round trip every week almost impossible, not that it wasn't already! So a venue closer to home is what i have been looking for, I came across North Met Pit and Bowyers water and was wondering if anyone here fishes it or has fished these places? I have a general idea of what the stock is, just wondering what people think of the two venues? Cheers Will

HA! All depends on the bait your using in how to set up the rig. Too broad a question I am afraid

At first I thought this was going to be a nice tale

I fish in the thickest of weed and what works for me is the simple lead clip. Make sure the lead clip is wet before you push the rubber on and also push the rubber on very slightly. The rubber is simply just to stop the lead coming off on the cast. You will find the lead will come off on the take and the fish will rise to the surface 9 times out of 10. If the lead doesn't eject still you can cut the clip back as well. Cheers Will

I believe that mainline straight through only helps to keep your rig less visible to the fish. As long as you fish slack and your lines are tight to the bottom mainline is very hard to see and you may find that a leader is easier to see! May I ask why you are using a leader?

Just remember if St Johns is brimming don't just set up were you can fit in, find fish on one of the lakes and fish for them. I went a couple of years ago to find St Johns packed, looked round Manor found a good group of fish in a corner were no one was fishing, two single pop ups cast out past the fish, reeled back on the surface dropped the bait bang on as stealthly as i could and i had 3 fish on the bank within an hour up to 19lb. No monsters but it was 3 more fish than anyone else had had. The fish moved out, 3 hours past no bites, gear back in the car over to Oxlease found some more fish for the night, had 1 bite in the night, again a mid double. I guess what i'm trying to say is be willing to move onto fish and move lakes, no point fishing if the fish are not there. Cheers Will

St Johns is massively pressured and at this time of year you will basicly be setting up were you can fit in, not necessarily on the fish! All the lakes have good heads of 20's so i wouldn't be too fussed what lake i end up on. The following is copied from another thread from about 2 days ago and this was my response: Fished it on a social about 2 months ago and had 3 on st johns up to 24lbs 1oz. I was using a big spread of boilies, cell and activ 8, but i feel with all these places there is no set method. Just go with a method you trust, for me its boilies and more boilies, find the fish, no point fishing for fish that are not there and don't restrict yourself to one lake, walk round all of them if necessary, speak to people and find out how the lakes are fishing. Always remember that just because a lake is supposed to be the 'hardest' doesn't mean it is at the time! St johns etc may be fishing badly at the time and it may be that Hardwick, that is supposed to be harder, has fish coming out, suddenly hardwick is easier at that time, just don't go with pre-concieved ideas. Just to add before you go give them a ring and see what is fishing well, no point paying £50 for two days fishing on a lake that has gone dead! Cheers Will

This lake needs shutting down and a right make over done on it. The state it was in the last time I looked at it, banks all over grown, water stinks to high heaven, fish with badly damaged mouths from bad angling and human feaces in the bushes because the owners couldn't be assed to buy a toilet for their fishery. The owners of that dump need to take a look at it and consider the fish and not lining their pockets. I fished it for 12 hours about 5 years ago when i had just moved into the area and didn't see a single baliff and had kids basicly setting up in my swim and what I caught looked like they had been caught left on the bank without a mat and hung by its head and had the hook torn from its mouth, to add to this i caught a carp trailing a rig with the lead tied to the line, thank god i was there to unhook it. Stay away at all costs! It will save you money to fish stanbrough, fish in good condition and well baliffed. I may add I went there once and this was my experience, it may have improved in this time but I will never step foot on its banks again. All I wanted was a quick piece of pleasure angling whilst I couldn't get to my syndicate at the time and it made me feel sick. Cheers Will

Fished it on a social about 2 months ago and had 3 on st johns up to 24lbs 1oz. I was using a big spread of boilies, cell and activ 8, but i feel with all these places there is no set method. Just go with a method you trust, for me its boilies and more boilies, find the fish, no point fishing for fish that are not there and don't restrict yourself to one lake, walk round all of them if necessary, speak to people and find out how the lakes are fishing. Always remember that just because a lake is supposed to be the 'hardest' doesn't mean it is at the time! St johns etc may be fishing badly at the time and it may be that Hardwick, that is supposed to be harder, has fish coming out, suddenly hardwick is easier at that time, just don't go with pre-concieved ideas. Just to add before you go give them a ring and see what is fishing well, no point paying £50 for two days fishing on a lake that has gone dead! Cheers Will

Scaling down is the way to go. Size 10 hooks, 10mm boilies, maggots etc. Nothing too complicated although i am not fan of fishing maggots on maggot clips. Make a D rig out of your hooklink material, i prefer IQ soft for this, and put the maggots onto a piece of dental floss via sewing needle,try not to burst them. Tie a grinner knot and slide it down to the maggots and tie the dental floss to the ring of your rig. A bit of tubing over the eye helps it to flip. Spod maggots and 10mm boilies over the top, don't go mad though little and often seems to work there. Cheers Will

A rig i have had a lot of success on is using the IQ soft tied with a palomar knot to the hook. I then tie a supple braided hair straight to the furthest bend as it starts to turn towards the point. Attach a hook stopper to stop the hair from sliding off the hook (although the knot, usually a half blood, shouldn't slide too much on the hook). Add shrink tube over the eye of the hook and shrink at an aggressive angle. This adds a bit more solidity to the knot holding the hook and aids flipping. This rig is very hard to see and flips very quickly and i have had countless success on it. It is also suitable for all lake beds as IQ soft isn't as stiff as other flurocarbons and settles over the contours of the lake bed. I can take some photos if people want to make their own decisions on the rig. Cheers Will

I only bought some yesterday but thats not to say they havn't stopped making it. I wouldn't have thought they would stop making it as coated braid is the most used hooklink material around and they would be losing a massive market if they let it go. The hybrid stiff has been reduced in the amount that is produced as many found it awkward and too much hassle to use (steaming it to keep it straight and to strip it etc). Check the korda site it may be in their news feed. Cheers Will

Linear Fisheries 7 lakes on day ticket and 3 on syndicate £25-24 hour 3 rods - prices are higher on hunts corner Carp to 45+, good tench, bream, pike and pleasure species as well Toilets, showers and secure parking http://www.linear-fisheries.co.uk/