carpepecheur

Personally, I would use around 6 cms. That seems to be just the right length to get the bait into the mouth before it tightens against the lead. My thinking is that any longer length just gives the carp more time to eject the bait.

I am grateful for your misunderstanding because it has given me another idea to follow up. That’s the big benefit of forums like this. I don’t need an edge over other anglers because I am lucky to be able to fish waters with virtually no other carp anglers on them. My main competition is with myself.

It suits my style of fishing - big open snag free waters. Depends which side of the "slack lines versus tight line" argument you favour. For me it so simple, cheap and effective it is a no brainer.

Judging by the replies it seems I have not explained the Active Lead system very well. I live the life of a recluse and have no contact with other anglers (apart from the odd digital exchange such as this) so communication is not a strong point of mine. I will try and be a bit clearer. First of all the lead is a bog standard, in line, torpedo or bomb shaped lead. It has a swivel at the blunt end which detaches in the event of a crack off to avoid a carp dragging the lead around for the rest of its natural. The ONLY difference I make is to hammer a steel washer onto the slimmer end. Ok I sometimes paint it black. It is no more complicated than that. It may lack some aerodynamic qualities but, because of arthritis, I always use a bait boat so that does not bother me. You use it in exactly the same way as any other in line lead. You wind in the slack line but then gradually increase the tension until you have a slight bend in the rod. If it slips whilst doing this, repeat a couple of times until it holds. Unless the lake bed is completely smooth this doesn’t take much. You sit there and watch your rod tip. All the time your rod maintains a bend then you know your bait is untouched. The slightest movement by a fish of any description will cause the weight to slip and the tip to straighten. If it is a carp then it is usually followed by a one toner as it bolts, frightened by the sudden small movement. It may only be a small bream, in which case it might not get the bait in its mouth but it can still release the tension with just a very small tug. So, if you see your rod has straightened but no line is taken out, you know immediately that the bait has been interfered with. I have found by trial and error that a weight of around 60 grams is ideal. I have been using this system for over 5 years now and rarely miss a take. The secret to its success is, I believe, a short hook link – which is where this discussion started.

I can only describe what works for me Leonard and what I find easiest to use with confidence. Chacun à son truc as they say around here.

I am not sure what you mean in the last line of your post Gordon. Once the the rig is set the only force is upwards when a fish takes. In my experience I very rarely miss a take. In that rare event, I always know I have been done because the rod has straightened. I have also observed the same thing as you when a carp drops a bait that seems to have been taken well. That is why I dropped using a hair and put the boilie directly on the hook link in a rig I call "The Spinner". I made a rather poor quality youtube clip of it to try and explain it to some one. It s only a tank test using an artificial mouth but I think you will get the idea.

I found a you tube clip I made 5 years ago where I tested it in my swimming pool which might help show the idea.

Good question but that is not how it works. The washer is forced onto the lead so that is a permanent fixture. You have to experiment to get the washer to match the lead diameter. The downside is that there is a bit of drag when you retrieve it but with a fish on you would never know it was there. I will try and add a photo of one.

My sincere thanks, Leonard, for your disapprobation of my comments. It tends to lend them more gravitas than they deserve. You admit “can't pretend I understand the theories perfectly to be honest” which speaks volumes. I have spent a lot of time testing, filming, and comparing techniques and am happy with my conclusions. If you have trouble coping with ideas on this forum I suggest you make yourself nice and comfortable under that bridge of yours. I remember now why I rarely post on forums these days.

It would be more difficult to get the small initial movement that I am looking for when using a heavier lead. I tend to use 60 grams. I have experimented with the leads with small anti slip nodules on. I think they are called cling ons or something similar. They do work but not quite as well. It was Fank Warwick's work with adding a split shot to the curve of the hook to get it to drop into the bottom lip that led me to develop my spinner rig. I filmed the mechanics of a shot on the bend of the hook and it did work up to a point (pardon the pun). It seemed to work better with small baits and long hairs and also depended on the vertical angle of the fish. If the fish was vertical it could take the bait straight out of the mouth. With a spinning bait the hook rotates in the mouth finding a hold irrespective of these variables. I have found something that I can understand, am comfortable with and have confidence in. IMHO, above everything else, confidence is paramount.

I agree with Greekski. The shorter the better but specifically when using a bolt lead. If you are using a running leger style of rig then perhaps the thinking may change and of course the presence of weed and silt need to be considered. The length needs to be just long enough to allow the carp to take the bait into its mouth then the bolt effect should do its magic. If you have a longer link you are simply giving the carp more time to eject the bait. I add an extra twist to the bolt effect. I force a wide steel washer onto a bomb style lead so that it is just the angler side of the centre of gravity. I then wind my line as tight as I can, getting the washer to dig in. I use mono for its stretch and also put a bend into the rod fished sea angler style. When the bait is taken, just a very small upwards force is required from the fish to cause all the tension in the line and rod to release the lead and jerk it towards the angler. This movement may cause a hooking action in itself but I believe that the small movement panics the fish into bolting before it has time to eject the bait. I will try and upload a diagram to show what I mean. If I am using a boilie I give myself an extra edge by not using a hair. I have a rig that spins the bait the moment the bait is picked up and spins the hook inside the mouth looking for a hold. It works perfectly for me but again it relies on a short link.

It is some years since I experimented with pop ups and never really found them more successful than bottom baits. That may be because I fish relatively deep water (7 to 10 metres). I can imagine that natural food which does waft around in shallow water will sit flat on the bottom at greater depth due to its reduced buoyancy so fish expect stuff to waft around at shallow depths and not at greater depths. However, as I said, this is pure speculation. I totally agree about creating a feeding situation. My most successful technique is heavy and prolonged pre-baiting with a single bait usually either maize or VERY cheap boilies. Fortunately hardly anyone else fishes the places I do so I do not have to worry about other anglers cashing in on my hard work.

You make a good point Yonny. I must confess I am more interested in the academics of the idea than any practical use. Having said that I usually fish in depths of 7 to 10 metres so the idea does have relevance. Another question has popped into my head. Are pop ups more attractive to fish at some depths more than others? I would hazard a guess that they would be more attractive in shallower water but have no data to back up that thought.

Yes very good info but if you want to make and test your own boilies, not everyone has access to a pressure vessel. However with a bit of imagination and the junk found in the average garden shed you can do the required tests.

I have read this thread with interest. May I suggest that there is one variable which has been ignored and that is the effect of water depth? If I understand the requirements of the op correctly he wants to make a boilie to be only just buoyant. If so you should design the boilie to be the required buoyancy at the depth you intend to fish the bait. The deeper the water the less buoyant your bait will be. I did some tests some years ago and made a very poor quality recording of my experiment. However it will demonstrate the point I am making.

Never fished there but you could try https://lesbrochetsduroy.jimdo.com/règlements/ Just put the URL into google translate if you don't speak French.

Hi Luv, I make my own unhooking cradle. I also suffer from arthritis and as I get older the cradle I make gets higher. I made a video of one a few years ago so if you or a friend are handy in the workshop it will give you the general idea how to go about it. You can make it to the height that suits you. Hope this is useful.

Sorry, this is going to be a rather long answer on my favourite non-topic. I am readily willing to accept that there is a correlation between change of air pressure and fish activity. I am as certain as I can be that change in pressure does not CAUSE that change in activity. It is vital to understand the difference between cause and correlation. Science shows that a change in air pressure (atmospheric pressure) causes a corresponding change in pressure in the water (hydrostatic pressure). If you do the maths, a change in atmospheric pressure caused by a typical storm event only causes a small change in hydrostatic pressure equivalent to a few centimetres of water column. What this means is that, even if a carp could detect that small change in hydrostatic pressure, it could not tell the difference between that change and a change caused by swimming a centimetre or two deeper or shallower. Let me give you a true analogy. I live in a remote village in rural France with a very poor internet connection. I observed (the correlation) that, every time it rained, our connection became so slow it was unusable. It seemed obvious that the rain water was getting in somewhere and I spent a lot of time checking everything in the house to try and locate the problem. I eventually gave up and called out the telephone engineer. I explained the problem to him and he just laughed. He said he did not need to do anything. Every time it rains, the kids in the village go inside and watch Netflix. This takes up all the limited bandwidth that is available. That is the problem. Then he gave me his call-out bill! So understanding the CAUSE is vital to interpreting the CORRELATION. Atmospheric changes cause all sorts of changes in wind, temperature, lighting etc. etc. And more importantly these may differ according to where you are. So what is true for say Essex is not necessarily true for mainland France where, in Summer, high pressure seems to dominate all the time. In France I have had some spectacular catches with high pressure, bright sun, high temperature and no wind. Best tip is to ignore pressure and watch what the locals do. It may not improve your catches but you will have some cracking barbeques 😉.

I had the same requirement as you. Smaller reels for a 9 ft rod. I went for these https://www.decathlon.co.uk/avocet-bronze-freespool-6000-id_8361049.html. I am very happy with them

The sort of atmospheric pressure change typically experienced in UK only represents a hydrostatic pressure change of 2 cms. In other words a carp can feel the same effect of an extreme air pressure change by swimming just 2 cms deeper. i just thought I would put it into context.

Buy a cheap Canon point and shoot camera on ebay. Down load the free CHDK (canon hack development kit) from the web (just google for info). You will then be able to program your camera to do anything you want including an intervalometer with bracketed shots. I paid £5 for an ixus 50 and have been using it for years to do self takes.

I have been using the same xplode since they came on the market. It has not broken yet which is more than can be said of the spombs I have had. The main advantage for me is that you can fill it and close it one handed while holding the rod in the other hand so I find it much faster to bait up an area. I am not a massive caster so have no worries on the distance score. Main downside is it does not retrieve as nicely as the spomb - but of the two I much prefer the xplode. I always have both in my bait bucket but always choose the xplode first.

I have been using the explode since it first came out and would not consider changing back to a spomb. Just because they do not have the marketing power of Fox does not mean they are inferior. I understand you CAN get them on ebay in UK. If not, Pacific Peche in France do a mail order service to UK. Look out for special deals on that site from time to time.

By coincidence, I downloaded book one for my Kindle half an hour before reading this thread. Kindle is the only way - especially when fishing

It is available for the Kindle (or any other digital platform) here I wish more publishers of classic works would do this!