peg101

I've had a play around with some different materials and have made a few different rigs to try. The Gardner Trip Wire that I got free with a mag subscription is slightly stiffer than some Korda IQ2 that I bought. I've tied a variety of rigs and the stiff hairs look least appealing. I'll get some photos up and give them a go next weekend.

Fortunately there are no bream in this county (Japan). Unfortunately the nusiance fish equivilance (Hera buna) is worse as they just sit there tethered and don't swim off! I was using single B5s in 16mm or 20mm that had been glugged.

I was fishing over firm silt. The bottom was really clean. I was fishing in open water about 65m using a micro bug bobbin that was just 'cocked'. I had added a flying back lead and an actual back lead when I changed the set up.

I just came back from a long session where i am i`m sure i was getting `done` by some carp who seemed to be able to throw the hook before bolting (giving a few more bleeps than you would normally get from a liner). I eventually caught one and dropped one by shortening the hooklink down to about 4 inches, adding some silicon tube so that the hair came off the bottom of the bend of the LS hook and upping the lead size to 5oz. At the time i choose this over moving to a running rig as i thought the lead wasn`t doing it`s job but i`m now thinking that the much bigger lead could have actually helped the second carp throw the hook. I didn`t get a bite on the rods i changed to coated braid with just a tiny amount stripped back at the hook to create movement. I still need to try a running rig but after a bit of reading on the net i`m interested in trying an anti-ejection `stiff rig` which is basically a stiff nylon/fluro-carbon direct the hook. There seems to be 3 options for the hair; either use the hooklink material knotless-knot style, whip some braid into the hook knot or make a D and use a ring/floss. I`ve some questions which i`d appreciate some feedback on; 1) Why is this rig difficult to eject? 2) How stiff is too stiff? Would a chod filament be too stiff? 3) Which is the best option for the hair for a 16 or 20mm bottom bait Thanks, Peg 101

I just finished reading Carp Reflections by Paul Selman and the flash I was thinking about isn`t Crabmill Flash; it is the larger one between Dragon`s Lane and Tetton Lane. In the book, when he started talking about it being deep and about visiting The Rookery i knew something didn`t add up. I looked on Google maps and Crabmill Flash is obviously in the same seam/valley but at the other end of Elworth Flash. I can`t imagine how big the salt mines must have been to sink all that land! The book was a very good read and it was great to read about some Northwest venues for a change. It did become a little "Harefield/Zenon Bojko just caught Nelson opposite me on the road bank at 293yards in the silt gully over the second gravel bar/we had a social in the Horse and Barge, gay club and curry house" in the middle few chapters (inaccurate paraphrasing by me....) but I guess this book was published long before before the mass publishing of those events over the last few years. As a fellow Northerner, I could relate a lot to Paul`s approach and logic. The Stroke Pulling chapter towards the end of the book is a classic that will make you laugh.

Yes I’ve fished it a few times as a kid. Daves of Middlewich used run a big junior competition on it every year. I managed a 3rd place and 2 wins in 3 years! Very nice mixed venue. It seemed like there were lots (and lots) of smallish carp and I didn’t realise about the salinity, crays or bigger fish but then again I had different interests back then (match fishing). Those flashes are fairly typical of the other Cheshire salt plain flashes (e.g. Little and Big Billinge on the Northwich card). I’ve also fished another flash in that valley that had a lower stock all round; not the small one across the road from Elworth / Moston but the one across the bank from there. I guess this is the third flash you are referring to? It would be interesting if there was enough subsidence/high water to sink the road and bank to make one long/big lake with room for the fish to grow!

Is Moston flash sometimes called Elworth flash?

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like a good knot for thick leaders as the leader is not whipped. I`ll give it a go!

This looks like a great knot (v. small) but I lost a whole rig last week when this knot failed on the cast. I gave the knot a really good test before I used it, I had made a few big casts that day and there didn`t seem to be any problems on that cast - the mainline just didn`t follow the leader! I did some playing around with it afterwards and found that if the coils of thinner line ride too far up the thicker line (i.e. away from the hook) a couple of coils of the thinner line can come off the thicker line onto the thinner liner allowing the thicker line to slip through the remaining coils of the knot. You can try this for yourself by teasing the coils furthest from the hook back towards the reel. Has anyone else had experienced a similar problem? I tried a `nail` knot as well but could`t get the braid to bite on the leader and the leader just pulled straight through so I resorted to a double grinner knot which is a bit bigger that I would like. Any ideas on the nail knot or another knot for snag leader to braid? (I struggled to get the leader to coil instead of the braid on that side of a full blood knot) The knot was joining a thick snag leader (60lb / 0,6mm) to braid (35lb / 0,12mm). The lead was a 4oz tournament lead. The rod / reel was a 12ft 3.5lb TC & big pit. There was a good 6 or 7 turns of the leader on the spool.