carpepecheur

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!

It does not happen to me very often but when it does it can be difficult to see and retrieve at distance. I attach a small float and foot or two of line to the spomb and then use a weighted treble hook attached to floats which I cast across the spomb to retrieve it.

This is one of my favourites of my local lake 3 miles away. It was taken using a cheap camera dangling from a kite.

I described an idea for a rig here in July. I have since been testing it. I was disappointed to miss the very first run I had using this method. Since then I have had a further 5 runs, all resulting in good fish. It is outfishing any other rig I use except when I use giant maize (for which this rig is not really suited)

Now you sound like a Viking! I would not like to argue with Kevin Madocks Nick. I bet he was told his hair rig was "overcomplicated" when he first publicised it! From what I observe looking at under water footage and from my own tests using a suck and blow tube in a tank, when a carp goes into eject mode, it gags rather than spits. It is not like when you spit out a mouthful of foul tasting liquid it is more like when you gag on a fish bone. (I hope that makes sense!). The bait is pushed out with all the water that was sucked in and the hook stays underneath the bait which interferes with it making a hookhold. Like you, I used to think that a longer hair would increase hooking chances but I have changed my mind as a result of the tests I have done. So now in the words of Isak Walton "first catch your carp" (to prove the point)

Some very interesting responses here. Gary, I understand what you say about a carp's mouth being sensitive to the hook length. With regard to the rig in question here, all I would say is that it is no more spooky than any other rig. Regarding the rig you alluded to, I will later PM you an old idea of mine on similar lines and perhaps we can compare notes (am away for a few days in the Carmargue at moment) Liam, I think the tight line versus slack line is another (interesting) discussion. I am only thinking of using this rig with a bolt lead at the moment. Regarding hair length, I disagree with you. If it is too long, the bristle will only turn the hook underneath the bait. I believe, if the bait is tight against the hook, the whole bait will turn leaving the hook in an aggressive position. Salokcinnodrog (is that Welsh for something?), I googled "swimmer rig" but that seems to refer to having the rig ring on a D just above the hook eye. As far as I can work out, the "bristle rig" seems to be designed to make sure the hook comes out the same way it went in. I have messed about with tube and a cross bristle to act like an anchor but that is not what I am trying to achieve here. I am trying to get the carp to turn the hook through 90 degrees when it sucks in so that when it blows out the hook is alongside the boilie (and not underneath it) so that it has a good chance of catching hold. If, on top of that, all of the bristle goes inside the mouth, there is the added bonus of it being more difficult to eject. I am still trying to find fault in that logic.

Overcomplicated does not mean it does not work. I do not think it is over complicated anyway as I explained in my last answer above I have no interest in what “known” anglers do except when they give me ideas. It goes without saying that you need good watercraft to be successful but that does not excuse you from not using the best end rig you can. Gaz said “in all honesty there probably aint a rig out there that works how we think it does” and I totally agree with that. I have watched hours of video where carp spit the bait out and now use a suction device to test my rigs in a tank. The first lesson I learned was that my favourite rigs did not work the way I thought they did. That is how I ended up with me current suggestion. Liam hit the nail on the head when he said “If i dont strike and wait for the lead to hook the fish they spit the bait vout 9 times out of ten”. Exactly, that is my point. I want to change those odds to 8 out of 10 or even 7 out of 10. I appreciate your comments guys. The question I have is, “is there anything wrong in my reasoning how I think it will work?”

I have a habit of reinventing the wheel. Does the rig you used have a name?. I agree with you about the length of the bristle. I will need to experiment. I totally agree with the KISS principle but this is a standard stiff rig with the hook link cut short and a supple length added. Why does it look terrible? Yes it is very easy to tie but your last words are so true. You must have faith. As far as I am concerned the jury is still out

Jerome Moisand has produced and watched many hours of underwater carp videos and has come to the conclusion that anti eject rigs do not work. He argues that the force of water when the carp blows out just pushes everything in front of it. I did some tests by sucking and blowing water into a glass tube testing various rigs and came to a similar conclusion. I tried to find a way to ACTIVELY turn the hook when a carp sucks in and came up with the idea of "The Spinner" which has already been described here I was very disappointed when I missed my very first run using "The Spinner" but since then it has proven to be an effective hooker. However there are some reservations regarding it. It has been suggested that it provides the possibility of hooking outside the mouth before it is sucked in. I have never seen this in practise or in tank tests but the worry still remains. The other reservation is that, every time a new bait is needed a fresh rig has to be tied. This can be a bit of a pain. In an effort to prove Jerome wrong, I came up with a second ACTIVE hook turning rig which I call "The Turner" The following diagram shows how to tie it:- The next diagram shows "The Turner" in use. First a bait is mounted on a loop of dental floss and held in place with a boilie stop. The two ends of the floss are then used to tie the bait onto the rig ring on the hook. The idea is that as the carp sucks in the bait, the bristle comes against the lip of the carp and starts to turn. There is little likely hood of the point penetrating on entry as it enters bend first. Once inside the mouth, the hook is in an aggressive hooking position when the carp blows out. But in addition to this, if the end of the bristle also goes inside the mouth, it will stop the carp easily ejecting the hook. This is very much at the idea stage as I have yet to test it in the lake. I fish a clean bottom, with my bait inside a PVA bag so tangles on casting are not an issue. This is my first attempt at tying the rig. I would appreciate any helpful comments.

Yes you are certainly right. I forgot to say that I fish almost exclusively with my bait in a pva bag specifically to avoid tangles.

I must put my hand up for re-inventing the wheel it was not Cobelyn's fault. I am often accused of re-inventing the wheel but who knows, I may find a better shape one day. I think you are referring to something called The Weighted Drop Rig. I have been unable to find it on the net (and am too tight to buy his videos!). Could you manage a sketch of how it works? I used to be a fan of putting a shot on the bend of the hook until I started testing them in my "think tank". I believe the idea started with Frank Warwick. The weight seems to help the hook drop out of the mouth rather than into it. It depends how vertical the carp is when he blows out. Anyway the point you make about outside hook holds is a good one and I have been thinking about it. If the weight between the hook and boilie is increased so that it just sinks the boilie, the length of line between the bolie and the second weight can be adjusted. The longer that distance is, the further the boilie goes into the mouth before it starts to spin. The important thing is that on sucking in, the hook is shielded by the boilie and outside hook holds should be avoided. I am planning to give it its first test this evening. Now if only the carp will co-operate!

Yes I saw the smilies but haven't worked out how to use them (wink smiley here)

I tie my rigs from scratch every time. I rarely reuse them. The boilie goes on first before tying the hook. I do put a small rubber float stop above the boilie to stop the hook slipping down. No I have not fished it yet because I only dreamed it up today. Tomorrow will be the first test. I do not keep schtum about any of my ideas. My local lake is so rarely fished the chances of anyone competing with the same rig is about a million to one. I prefer to share ideas so that I can get feedback from more experienced anglers and hopefully make improvements. So all feedback is gratefully accepted.