smufter

Funnily enough, I was like that with boilies when I first started lol! Had always caught my fish on breadflake, luncheon meat, corn etc. Thought I'd have to give these new fangled boilies a try and blanked the 1st couple of times. Took me a while to get my head around them.

I already use wafters and bottom baits. Rig tubing, semi slack lines to ensure it's all pinned down

I know!! I'll change bait

I'm on 14's at the moment mate, and a lot of the time I whittle those down a bit too.

I'll try this next time out Yonny. As I say, the lake bed at White Cottage is strewn with leaf litter. I normally fish with my pop up about 2" off the weight but I'll try upping it by a couple of inches next time out to see if that makes any difference at all. Again, thanks all for your thoughts. Much appreciated.

That will confuse the hell out of the young 'uns...... Unfortunately I knew immediately what you meant

I almost exclusively use n-trap in 15lb. Never had any problems with it whatsoever. I've just started trying ESP Tungsten loaded which is okay but I find the hair loop is fraying up a little compared to the n-trap and that's using a braid friendly baiting needle.

Thanks for your advice lads. I do test my rigs before I use them (in a bucket of water on the bankside prior to casting out). Just got no confidence in pop ups I guess. I've caught on popped up corn before now, but never on an actual "pop up".

Despite accumulating countless tubs of various pop-ups over the years, I don't fish them that often. Lack of confidence I guess, as I've never had a sniff on one in the past. I've read up/watched videos on the rigs involved, but the only thing I'm not really sure of is the amount of weight I need to use. My question is, can you use too much??? I don't like using putty, so tend to use Fox "Kwik-change" pop up weights. I find these much neater, and once on, they stay in place. I use Gardner pop-up rig aligners, with a bait screw, and the rig to me looks nice and neat. I will test them out in a bucket before launching into the lake and this shows me they are sitting correctly. I strip my braid back just past the weight so I know that things are kicking up as they should. But as I say, can I use too much weight? I tend to use the biggest of the kwik change pop up weights which are the equivalent I guess to the old swan shot. I just want to make sure that my rig is down on the bottom as it should be. I will vary the length of stripped braid from the weight to the hook somewhere between an inch to two, but tend to favour two inches due to the amount of leaf litter/silt in my lake. But despite the fact my rig "looks" and seems to present itself okay, (in the bucket test at least), I still lack confidence. Can anyone give me any tips or maybe point out where I might be going wrong??? Could it be the weight I am using???? Cheers m'dears. (My "business end" looks exactly the same as the one pictured below)

You can pick them up on the 'bay for around a fiver. Well worth the money, very small (and light) you don't even know you've got it with you. One of my better buys. There are other makes out there but I think this one is the best. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gardner-Tackle-Peel-Pull-Braid-Stripper-Carp-Coarse-Fishing/263241449212?epid=1405351307&hash=item3d4a69befc:g:JdUAAOSwua1Z0flv

I'm trying the ESP tungsten loaded but find that the stripped part forming the hair loop is fraying up a bit, and I'm using a "braid friendly" baiting needle. I don't get this problem at all with n-trap. In all other respects I'm finding it fine. I use one of these Gardner stripping tools to strip the coating and it's perfect, doesn't damage the inner core and is much better than using teeth or fingernails. Has a handy little knot tightener built in too!

Tell me about it Ian lol! Next Tuesday will be different though. I can feel it in my water.

Well used it for the first time yesterday and got to say I am mightily impressed with it. Casts well, but more importantly sinks well, which is what it's advertised to do! It hangs nicely through the rings, the only thing I can't comment on is it's fish playing properties, 'cos I blanked! Got snagged up in a tree going for a really tight rig placement and had to pull for a break. Very strong, it went off like the crack from a rifle when it eventually did break. Just a little bit of curly wurly at the very end, snipped that off and it threaded perfectly through some new rig tubing. So far, a big thumbs up from me. Just got to wait until I hook into a fish now.

If it were me I'd be looking no further than the FreeSpirit CTX Creepers. At just over £100.00 each a bit of a no brainer really. I'd be proud to have those in my bag.

Errrr washers "on" will bunch the line up towards the back of the spool. To get it to load more to the front you'd take washers "off" (if there are any)...

Ahh! That will be a different subject for review Ian...... When I can also comment on it's stretch etc. I'm interested in it's sinking properties initially, to see if it lives up to it's name. Technium sinks reasonably well, so its that I'm comparing it to

Have taken the 15lb Technium off my spools and reloaded with the Asso. Initial impressions are good. Plenty on the spool to load 3 XT-A medium longcasts up to the brim. It has bedded down on the spool nicely, and hangs through the eyes of the rods limply, something which the latest batch of Technium wasn't doing. Despite being thinner than the Technium, I had no problem at all threading it through my tubing, and the knots to my swivels (tucked half blood) seem to be strong and neat. Won't get a chance to use it until next Tuesday, (wife is off work tomorrow so no session for me), so will update once I have actually fished with it to let you know if it's sinking properties are as described, and how it casts. Nice colour too, a sort of brown/green which should blend in with White Cottage's lake bed well. Fingers crossed, but looking good so far.

Counting in days now, 'cos it goes quicker..........97

I've ditched the 3 rod buzzbars on my pod and gone back to the two. 3rd rod oinked down the margins sitting on a pair of Cygnet "short and stumpys". Great little sticks, weigh next to nothing and as the name suggests are both "short" and "stumpy" so take up next to no room in the bag.

Just checking the specs on the Mad Dragons and the KNX Colts and I see they are a carbon/fibreglass composite blank, whereas the Black Widows are carbon. There won't be a lot of difference, maybe just a few grams but if you tried the two side by side I can almost guarantee you'd find the Widows a better casting tool. Prologic are a very underated manufacturer, their rods tend to get good reviews over here. My money would be going into the Fox's personally. But watching the video for them they look a bit "tippy" to me, so for distance I'd be tempted to go for the 13ft 3.5 model. That will give you the distance you need and it doesn't look like they are pokers. But what do I know......

Not me Sir. I used the same weights, whether I'm fishing in the UK or France. Maximum would be 2oz but most times it's just 1oz. I up my line when I go to France purely to be on the safe side. For both mine and the fishes sake, I'd rather be using 15lb line fighting a 40 than 10 or 12. Not that I am going to "haul it in"..........but the last thing I want is for the line to give up and leave a fish with a hook hanging out of it's gob.

Coiling up more than usual Yonny, and spilling over the lip. Haven't loaded it any differently to usual, and not over filled. Not as supple as it usually is. My only concern with loading the Asso line is it's a bit of an "unknown" to me as far as stretch is concerned. But I've paid for it so I might as well use it!

Mmmm. It's my favourite line usually but this stuff is proving to be a bit of a headache if I'm honest.

I tend to use 12lb line for my "domestic" fishing and have my spare spools loaded with 15lb for when I go to France. At the moment I am using 15lb Technium on my main rods but it's not behaving the way it usually does, maybe it's a bad batch? I'm tempted to take it off and reload my spools with the Asso line I bought the other week.It's 16lb apparently but the diameter is slightly lower than whats on them at the moment.

B-110 for me Geezer