yonny

Brilliant Next up - a new bivvy lol

The Specialised Hookbaits are lovely but don't expect them to catch you carp from spots that other baits won't. None of those fancy baits will do that fella. If I was you I'd go in with any old half decent (but cheap) bait, put it about a bit, and work out the areas the carp are happy to feed. Once you've done that it's time to start chucking the good (i.e. expensive) stuff in to really get them going. Bait is just one part of the jigsaw. IMO (and I know some will disagree) it plays a lesser part than we carpers traditionally thought. I truly believe if you have feeding fish in front of you almost any half decent bait will work. It sounds to me like it's the rest of the jigsaw you should be concentrating on at this point. Your priority should be finding the areas from which they are catchable. The most expensive bait in the world wont catch owt if it's in the wrong spot bud.

The Simon Scott article was available on the old baitworks website. I can't see it on the new one.

My problem is I've developed a phobia of using anything else once I've found a hook that works for me. Last year I dabbled with Nash hooks in the spring and lost a couple fish - in the bin they went and back onto the Atomics (no idea why I changed in the first place tbh, just liked the look of the chod twisters for HSRs). I only chucked one more rig out all year without an Atomic hook attached - it was a multi rig with Drennan Conti on (again, no idea why I changed, I was just tinkering for the sake of it....idiot) - had a run and proceeded to lose an upper 30 common at the net to a hook pull. Would have been a PB common..... Therefore I simply don't dare try these new ESP hooks unless everyone and their mum starts raving about them when they're released. I really like the look of them, just too scared to try them. As the old saying goes - If it aint broke, don't fix it....

http://esp-carpgear.com/news/e-s-p-cryogen-a-hook-revolution/ I've heard of the treatment used to harden these and believe it's the first time it has been used for hooks - if it's done well these could be a genuine step forward. It'll be interesting to hear feedback when they're released.

There's a lesson to be learned right there bud - If you've had what you believe to be inquiries on a given spot and you're not 100% sure what the bottom's like, always find out at the end of the session. All it takes is a couple of casts with a bare lead - and you're one up in preparation for your next sesh! I'd say I do more marking at the end of sessions than I do at the start. I agree that on 'proper' waters marking up can spook the carp - therefore if I can get a drop and I know I'm on fish it's good enough for me - but I never walk away without having a quick chuck to determine the substrate.

When you put it like that I suppose I check every hook too. Not sure that's an effective test fella, you have no defined pass/fail criteria. A hook that passes may fail once you've had your weetabix....

You mean you test every single hook? Or you test a given brand/pattern prior to using? How do you test them fella?

We cannot say for a fact that the Korda's are softer fella - all we can say is that nealjt's test result and my findings re sharpening are indicative of a hook that is softer than some other brands. If they're softer then yes, they would blunt more easily, it is a given. So you should be mate! It's the single most important consumable item in our tackle box.

I don't know anything for a fact but I do have an assumption fella - that being that Atomic hooks are harder than other brands. I've sharpened my hooks for years and when I fist started using Atomic I found they took at least twice as long to sharpen which for me has to indicate higher hardness. As I mentioned previously high hardness is not always a good thing as it can lead to embrittlement, but I find Atomic are heat treated right in the sweet spot - hard as nails yet tough as old boots. You are essentially performing a simple tensile test there. I wish I could give you some kind of equation or statistic that would tell us if your result is any good or not but alas, I cannot. It sounds quite low to me (based on similar tests I perform on similar components at work (although my testing is in compression rather than tensile)). Unfortunately I've never tested anything with such a thin gauge so I really cannot give you an answer of any value..... What is interesting is that you obtained a higher result with the size 8 fly hook than you did with the size 4 Krank (which clearly has a thicker gauge). This would suggest that either the fly hook result is very good or the Krank result is poo. Do you know, the second hardest hooks I've ever sharpened are the Gamakatsus...... I found you can sharpen Korda's by having a kitten lick them....

Afraid not bud, that would temper the steel which will reduce core hardness and hence the hooks strength.

They're just not strong enough for my liking bud. That said, I'm a Nene Valley chap so have to deal with serious weed on most waters. Dude - My experience, as QA Manager for a manufacturer of heat treated carbon steel fasteners (the same process used to make hooks) for the automotive industry, tells me it's a fact that if the yield point is exceeded even once, you've weakened the hook significantly - spring rate is compromised so the hook cannot absorb shock as intended. Therefore when stresses on the hook reach a certain level the hook WILL bend rather than flex - it's just a question of whether those stress levels will be reached while the fish is being landed. I'm not saying you can't land fish on modified hooks (as you say, plenty have been landed), just that IMO it's not worth the risk - it's asking for trouble fella.

Not a good idea fella - You'll exceed it's yield point which will weaken it. Personally I wouldn't go near a fly hook for carp.

Can't say I'll write off all Korda gear but I'll certainly avoid the hooks. I've already written off Nash, Fox, Drennan/ESP.... I'm running out of options. TBH Atomic hooks are all I use anyway nowadays - they've never let me down.

The vast majority of hooks come from China but it's a myth that all Chinese manufacturers are bad fella. Some are very. very good indeed. The problems start when the tackle brands try to cut costs by using the cheaper manufacturers (which are the guys you're referring to). It winds me up - it's fair enough that the tackle brands want to increase their margin, that's standard business practise, but if they choose to go down that route than they should have a robust inspection of product when it gets to Europe. It's clear that in many cases they don't do any testing whatsoever - they just take it for granted that the hooks are sound and then come out with their "you'll always get a bad batch" rollocks when they fail in the field. In those cases you have to blame the tackle firm as much as the manufacturer, or more so in my mind.

Sounds to me like there's an issue with consistency with these Kranks. One fella says they're flexible which is actually a good thing - they're heat treated high carbon steel (same stuff knife blades are made out of) so they have a high spring rate which allows them to flex slightly so they can absorb stress and maintain there original shape. Another fella says they bend which means his batch was too soft (i.e. spring rate was too low and the material yielded). Another fella said they snap meaning his batch was too hard hence they were brittle. You hear folks giving it "you'll always have a bad batch from time to time". I can tell you now that's absolute rubbish. If the manufacturer has control of their process you shouldn't get any issues like that. Therefore if I see a single hook fail I'll avoid that manufacturer altogether - no second chances.

Horror stories starting to emerge on other forums. Apparently the pin that holds the lid on is prone to walking out of the hole. There's been lots of reports of them failing. Fox have actually acknowledged a problem of FB: "our guess would be that the pin on the hinge has worked its way loose through not being flared enough this is the only issue we have seen with the hinge since the product was released, the hinge was bomb proof in testing, it just appears a small percentage of the tens of thousands we have made have not been flared quite enough by the pneumatic press". Worrying.....

Mine arrived yesterday. It looks good but I aint used it yet.... Basically my fist impression is that they've fixed all the problems I saw with the Spomb. Can't ask for much more than that. Looks well built but looks don't always tell the full story.

Just to second everything Kev said, and to illustrate how hard Kingy can be: I've fished Bluebell a couple of times a year for the past 10 years or so. I started off with Bluebell lake and it took me a good couple of sessions to get to grips with that properly. Don't get me wrong it can be hectic on Bluebell but most people still blank all the time. Those fish have seen everything. Anyway, Kingy; I have fished the lake twice. On my fist visit I had an upper double mirror and thought hey-ho this is gonna be easy, just fish it like the other waters. How wrong I was. The second session, earlier this year, I spent a blank night on the lock bank and saw loads of fish topping in the far corner. First thing in the morning I moved round there and set up as quietly as possible. The fish stayed in front of me and I thought I was in for a cracker. To cut a long story short, I spent 2 days and nights with fish all over me trying everything I could (and failing) to get a bite. At one point I had a group of 12 fish visiting a tiny gravel spot in the margins every half hour. I managed to get 6 chops (i.e. 3 boilies, halved) on the spot and sat back to see if they would be taken, no rig on the spot at this point. Twenty mins later there they are, they were straight over to the spot. As soon as they saw those chops they spooked, and I mean spooked properly. Turned, did the off, and didn't come back. How do you go about catching fish that react to 3 boiles like that? I've been fishing for carp for 15 years and like to think I know a thing or two about catching them, but those fish in Kingy did me up like a kipper. One thing I will say is it must be the most exciting blank I've ever had, and I can't wait to get back there at some point. All the same, if it's your first visit to the complex I would start with one of the easier waters and even then don't count on having a red letter day. Unless you're bang on numbers of fish even Bluebell, Mallard etc can be tricky.

A 20 from horseshoe holds the merit of a 40 from the monument as well...... Proper carp for proper anglers.

Disagree. That may be the point of the rig for less experienced anglers (the chuck-it-out-and-have-a-beer brigade) . For those that are experienced, the point of the rig is to fish spots that cannot be fished effectively with more conventional rigs. It can be used to chuck at fish showing over an area of unknown bottom but that is a secondary purpose. I would never dream of putting a choddy on a clear area.

If it's not clean on the deck then whack a split shot an inch or two under the hook on the rig you're already using. Comments above are correct, what you're doing already will catch carp from any water. Job done.

The Linch Hill complex is the best in Oxford. Christchurch and Willow lakes can be fished on a day ticket.

£5 for 3 zigs is VERY pricey! You can get 100m of Drennan double strength for £5. That will make 33 10ft zigs.

Lets try again..... I used this rig in 2012 thinking I had invented it. I called it the anti-eject chod. I caught my first UK 40 on it so immediately thought it was the best rig ever. Over the course of the season however it didn't outfish the other rigs I was using. I use a much less complicated version now although still quite different to the standard chod. I remember seeing that rig on the Korda website shortly after I had though of it and was well gutted my "secret" was out!!