maccadinho25

As a general rule of thumb, if the fish only run to doubles, I use stepped up match gear... over 20lb I use proper carp gear... fishing a lighter softer rod will alleviate any damage in smaller fish... plenty of stepped up match rods, float or feeder, that are perfectly capable of landing doubles.... 3000 for float and 4000 size reels for feeder is plenty for carp up to mid doubles

Always nice to receive thanks for advice and opinions. 
Something else that may be relevant is the lake bed, if much of it is silty, the fish that feed regularly over silt may possibly have softer mouths than gravel bottom feeders. 

I know what you mean, my first carp rods were 1 3/4lb t/c and 11ft long, I moved onto 11ft 2lb test rods that bent through to the butt cap. Back then, a 3lb rod was a broomstick! Now, 3lb test is about normal! My rods are fox torque, 12ft 3lb test rods that have a lovely action. If this is a recent problem you’ve been having, (I’m guessing since you fined down for winter?) then that would suggest to me that you may need to adjust your end tackle to filter out the other species if carp are the intended target pal. 
 
I'm glad you’re finding the forum helpful mate, don’t be afraid to ask questions on here, there are a lot of very knowledgeable people that will help and we learn through asking questions! We all have areas of angling that we are perhaps “weaker” at, I am probably the worst zig rig angler going! Lol! 

Thanks all, good to get different suggestions. I am aiming for doubles and up and the fish yesterday in particular were not expected to say the least! I do use a float rod too and yesterday caught an 8lb mirror on a size 18 hook on it 🙄
I think I've picked the other species up and more smaller carp when I downsized the pop ups I used in winter so as mentioned I may increase this and get a spool of lighter line set up. There are bigger fish in the waters I fish I just haven't found any yet. Saying they a few weeks back a smallish orfe took my pop up with the set up above and there was no damage at all.
Will have a think, thanks.
Edit: yes I have a carp care spray etc so all fish are treated and rested before return to ensure they go strongly

A water I fish for carp to double figures, I still concentrate on fishing the float with sweetcorn and lift float. 
 
If you put in much groundbait, you get other species more than carp so I use loose fed sweetcorn. 
 
On occasion I do use pop-ups I don't put any, or very little, feed around them. In fact I almost fish them zig rig style, well off the bottom. 
 

Re read this and seeing the fish you are catching I would go down to a method feeder rod or float rod or like Nick has suggested an Avon style if you can find one nowadays 
Match style route would be better 

Sometimes smaller fish take a a hook too far back in the mouth, on waters with a stock of fish up to the 10lb mark  it's a rod in hand job hitting bites before they hook themselves might want to avoid using a hair rig if you are.

I must admit I would only be using Specialist or Avon style rods on a water like this, with 8lb line. 
 
Hook size sounds possibly a bit big, for me it would probably be a 14 or 12.

I believe the action of the rod is more in keeping of it rather than the test curve
I would up the size of the hook personally I couldn’t even see a size 10 nowadays lol

Have you seen any evidence of the barbless hook moving during the fight? 15lb mainline and a size 10 seems a bit unbalanced, have you tried upping the hook size? The thicker wire may help spread the load as it were. Are you aiming solely for carp? Or are you just happy with whatever comes along? If that was the case, I’d probably go down the Avon/quivertip route or a float outfit with lighter line and smaller hooks. If I was aiming for solely carp, I’d increase hook size to an 8 or 6 and use baits that smaller species can’t easily take. 
 
do you use any form of clinic or carp antiseptic solution on your hook marks before returning them? This is important regardless of size as it can help heal marks like these and prevent infection. Some also harden on contact with water, so will help minimise bleeding. 

Small carp have much softer mouths and are more susceptible to damage... if the fish don't go over 20lbs in the water I'd consider a softer rod and lighter line... the thing with using a 15lb mainline is with small carp you tend to get em in quick so the damage could be occurring at that point... and if, as I said, the fish don't grow much over mid double size then I'd say that a 2.75lb rod is a bit heavy... I'm sure other lads will have their own theories... but thats mine for what its worth

Well my leadcore leaders are 40-50lb breaking strain, but my mainline is 12lb, so that’s the overall breaking strain of my set up. I couldn’t apply 50lb of pressure as although the leadcore (correctly spliced) could take it, the mainline would part long before! I wouldn’t worry about the leader breaking strain too much mate, the over all strength of your set up is governed by the weakest component. 

Excellent - cheers guys. I should hopefully start learning more as i get back in to it 👍

It might be due to being plugged into clay, sand, silt or in between/on gravel. Absolutely no issue with it at all. I cast out and leave it, never pull back after casting as when you pull it after casting like you do you could easily drag the hook into debris or into gravel and damage the hook point. Cast it in and tighten up to it, that's it. 

Even if you 'land' on gravel there is often a layer of silt on it. The lead plugs in, you drag it free, then you tighten the line.
 
Best bet is to cast, gently reel in, slowly, until the line tightens, do NOT move the lead.

Try pulling your hook length through a small pva bag of stick mix it would protect your hook when you pull and give you time to straighten the rig. Sounds like it’s a shallow water ? Feather the line before the rig hits the water which would help with the plunging of the lead weight. 
Good luck 👍

If you are fishing with a heli setup and casting on something not rock hard, like silt or soft clay the lead will often bury a bit in the debris. When you pull the line the lead will therefore be harder to eject from the bottom but after you have "unplugged" it, it will be easier to drag across the bottom. 
I wouldn't recommend moving the lead at all though unless for recast since if you do you have no idea what your rig is pulling into. You might very well pick up debris or blunt your hook if fished on gravel or such.