yonny

I've used them all buddy. They all do a job but: - The spider is imo a tiny bit too heavy so not great for big distances. - The dot is a tiny bit too light so while it's great for heavy baits (boilies) it's awful for light stuff (pellet/maggot etc). - The fox can be a pig to retrieve unless you get a specific technique dialled. I keep going back to the good old spomb. You get good'n's and bad'n's but a good'n cannot be beaten imo.

Both are excellent. The hydro in 15 can cope with a hell of a lot and the specimon in 18 is nigh on invincible.

It has gone on a bit of a tangent hasn't it lol. If you try it you must give us feedback👍

Getting worse still. They've just shut Mallard (unheard of in my lifetime) due to high nitrate levels. I think they're worried with the thunderstorms this weekend that they could be looking at an oxygen crash.

🤣😂That's a new one to me. All this stuff (sound/light travelling down line/inherent magnetism of metals) is why people end up with their heads up their backsides. There really is not that much to worry about in carp angling: Present a bait well..... in an area the carp are prepared to feed..... when the carp are there, feeding. If we're not catching, 9 times out of 10 it is because one of the above requirements has not been met. The other 1 time out of 10 has nothing to do with sound/light travelling down line or inherent magnetism of metals imo. It is due to some other environmental factor that can normally be determined by careful and comprehensive observation. If the people that come up with these crazy theories spent as much time trying to present a bait well in an area the carp are prepared to feed when the carp are there feeding, they would become a very good angler very quickly. Imo.

Every single carp that has ever been caught on rod and line was hooked on a piece of metal bro. All fish can detect electrical impulses - but a piece of metal cannot give off an impulse. It can have an inherent level of magnetism, but it cannot give off an impulse. We can agree to disagree but imo if fish could distinguish metals none of us would ever have caught a carp in our lives.

No idea mate. Personally I just don't think it needs to be there. Any half decent rig that resets itself will do the job if the feeding situation is fostered effectively imo.

The Savay lads used to do this back in the 80s. There were several version including one with multiple "whiskers".

Me too. I have a close pal that I fished with on 3 different waters over a 5 year period. I always fish pop ups. He always fishes bottom baits in bags. My average was MUCH bigger, every year, on every water. Not conclusive, but a very good indication.

I just answered that lol:

I just do not believe that for one second. The ronnie/spinner is imo right up there as one of the most effective rigs of all time. It's deadly. I've caught LOADS of carp on it. Imo you can see very clearly in the Korda vids why they spook and that is because they know something is different, simple as that. It could be the way the hookbait behaves or it could be that they can see some part of the rig (they're not smart enough to know what a hook or a lead is but they can tell something is different). But they are just too inquisitive to ignore it imo. As long as the rig resets and there is food about they will normally take it eventually imo. It's like when we fish on the surface. Unless you have them troughing like pigs you see them clock the hookbait all the time. They look at it, back off, come back, look at it, back off..... then on the fourth or fifth lap they take it. They just can't help it. Totally agree. Creating that feeding situation is 100 times more important that than the hookbait or the rig imo. If you have any half decent rig that can reset itself, with any half decent hookbait on, it'll work if you can create that feeding situation.

No matter what anyone thinks of Korda, those vids were a revelation. I don't think any of us realised just how frequently we get done. Fact is we're likely getting stitched up numerous times before we get a take. It was these vids that taught us just how important it is to have a rig that can reset itself. That alone makes watching the vids invaluable imo.

It's never been a problem for me dude.

It's difficult market mate. I was chatting to the guy that ran Carp Superstore (recently closed down). He was telling me that Angling Direct were selling reels at a price cheaper than he could get them at cost. It is just so hard to compete with their buying power. Worry about that later though! Good luck with your plans fella.

I have. It's absolutely hilarious. Brilliant.

I've used the mc nut and have friends that rate the Poacher gear. They're both half decent baits. Pick the one YOU like the most and stick with it. They will both catch you carp.

Likewise, I agree. Disagree, they're not that smart imo.

I saw Terry Edmonds (casting tutor) put a smiley on the FB post which made me chuckle.

It's getting worse Kev. They're banning bait boats (hurrah!) and shutting swims because nitrate levels are that high due to so much uneaten bait that fish are dying. Jeez, it sounds terrible!

Guess who........ is jealous.🙂

This. Flouro is awful imo.

I don't think you can improve on a bog standard ring swivel (like @Its-grim-up-north's example). Even with my ronnie/spinners I only use shrink to close the gape of the QC bit, I don't take it down over the barrel. Loads of movement.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, it's essentially a particularly safe 360. A novel idea for sure.

The Fox Exocet is highly rated but I don't think it offers anything the GT-HD doesn't buddy.

I personally am not a fan of the low stretch lines. Low stretch is achieved through pre-stretching. Pre-stretching is great for feeling the drop and for distance casting but you sacrifice abrasion resistance which, when you fish very weedy waters like me, is probs the most important characteristic in a line. I would stick with the GT-HD tbh. It's a great line for what you're after. It's better than the Touchdown imo.