hutch

I can second this, i find this happens more when the bait has something like a piece of fake sweetcorn on top, people think it makes the bait sit up from my findings it kicks out at an angle. 10mm avid highlites are great for snowmen be warned there very buoyant though

Whilst we wait for Dr NM to add to his diagnosis, Didn't know you were using a snowman if that is the case that hair with 12mm and 15mm might be a bit short as the bait will be sat right on top of the hook (which is not a bed thing sometimes), but if the fish are a bit smaller might be worth giving them a cm or 2 to hang themselves and take the bait right back into the mouth cavity taking the hook with it.

Nige has already mentioned a trailer, also what other species are present in the lake, I have known small tench and bream pick up the bait and just run with it in there mouth. From looking at your pic there does not appear to be much wrong, I would try shortening that hooklink by half, there is a chance they are using the long hook length to shake the hook before connecting to the lead. Also worth playing around with hair length try a little bit longer or a little shorter and see if they connect any better

Oh are you using the Danny's version of the D rig (its a sliding d rig btw), sounds to me like something is getting strangled at some point. Il have a look at the knot diagrams in a bit and see if i can see where you maybe going wrong. Out of interest what hooks are you using ?

You sure you aren't damaging the material when blobbing the D section ? Ive been using this hooklink material for a while now using the same rig and had no issues so far

For the rig you have linked the video for the lead sits in a clip you cant see it in the video as the tail rubber is slid down over the top. The rig in the video basically constructs like this, thread a length of tubing (weather that is anti tangle or tungsten based) on to the main line, follow that with a tail rubber and then the lead clip, attach rig. The lead clip will slid onto the swivel the better ones come with a peg to fix the swivel in place to aid lead ejection, place lead in the clip slid the tail rubber over the clip (how far you push it on depends on how much pressure you need for the lead to come off when snagged), push the tubing into the tail rubber and your done. Make sure the length of tubing is longer than your rig and then a little extra to help stop tangles.

Is there an optimal length for the fuse wire on that rig

Pop up rig = Multi Rig, On the bottom straight flurocarbon D Rig normally fished with a wafter, very happy with the hook holds with this so far.

I have a fox zig disc, 1 turn of the disc is 1 foot makes measuring out and storing zigs very easy

And whats wrong with a normal D rig that there is a need to radically change it, as already mention I don't see the mechanics in the rig that improves the original, for me it falls into the category of rig created to sell terminal tackle rig.

A quick search using our fav search engine seems to say http://uk.farnell.com/ do them I would also bet CPC do them as well, hope this helps

I'm the same as Bob SHR or multi, which one would depend on how high or low you want the pop up to sit, SHR for high multi for low.

You ever had problems with scale lift CM when using braid

Am I right in thinking your using an old school running lead, if so nothing wrong with that. I would think the tubing is to help limit tangles

Is there a reason for needing the pop up to be presented high or is that just the way you like them to be

Very under used these days but seriously good hooks, just out of interest why the small eye

In what sizes ? Would you not bee better using a spade end hook ? I know its more work to whip then on but would give you a neat presentation if you require the area round the top of the hook to be small and neat. I think some of the Drennan specailist patterns have smaller eyes

Maybe avoid totting up the RRP on all that lot NM

As far as I know steam wont effect the line or the hooklink material, in fact it is useful for straightening certain materials, with the shrink tube be careful not to use to much so that when u steam it down it doesn't close the gape of the hook to much, if you want to create a line aligner i use a slim baiting needle to pierce the tubing and pull the hooklink material through the tubing and then steam it at a slight angle.

@Ross Sorry it wasn't directed purely at Nick its just he seems to have a good idea when it comes to items like this, I always read what anyone puts right or wrong, some of the info you get here you could never acquire from reading the mags.

Out of interest Nick have used any of the more supple fluoro's in this type of situation, as they may not stick up or look as obvious

I personally use a fluoro leader but remember the length that you can set your chod would be dictated by the length of the leader

Sounds about right to me, its essentially a helicopter rig using just the mainline, the 1 thing you need to watch is the fact that swivel that connects the hooklink is running on your main line so you run the chance of cracking off if it grates through the line, to combat this you can use something home made using beads and tubing to house the rig (there are a couple of threads via the search that cover this in more detail pics included), a chod bead which basically houses the rig and stops it grating on the line or something like a fox heli sleeve which has a thin piece of tubing that comes of the lead sleeve so when in carp battle mode the link slides onto the tubing off the sleeve to stop it grating.

Would depend how hard the crust is on the top of the silt, if the water is clearish and you see the spot try dropping a lead on it and seeing how far it plugs in which be my major concern about using a fluro rig in this situation, if the lead plugs into the silt on cast then you are going to be left with a section of the hooklink sticking straight out where the lead has plugged in, personally i would probably use a supernova braided hooklink in this situtation Bait wise a slow sinker/wafter or a snowman should just sit nicely on top of the silt

I do , don't use to the same lengths Phil does but brilliant for presenting a wafter when fishing over smaller particle baits