[Recommendations on stove]

Trangia all the way

Fantastic things

No more horrible expensive propane cans for me

And no more going without tea in extreme cold

[Unhooking hooks]

Barbed hooks should ALWAYS be removed with forceps

Far more precise, quicker, and less dangerous to the fish

[Leadcore free alternative for chod rig]

I now (having only just heard about it yesterday bizarrely enough) prefer the hollow leadcore method

The ends must be gently burnt before threading the line through (this gives the top bead a slight buffer to stop it being completely free running)

The top bead can be plugged with a bit of spaghetti or better still a piece of PVA solid stick if you are using a big lead, big bait, or PVA mesh bag

And the bottom of the leadcore sleeve must be glued to the bottom mainline knot or tied with the mainline

I never put any sleeves over swivels on at the lead end, to me it looks tacky, bulky and obvious, it is swivel off, plug a 6mm rubber bead over the wire loop and put another rubber bead above that = perfect minimal buffer

[Leadcore free alternative for chod rig]

Heard a brilliant one today that I cannot believe I didn't think of before

 

Simply take the lead out of leadcore and thread your mainline through it = line completely protected

 

Or just use a thinking anglers naked chod runner bead (nice little things)

 

Or just use a tiny length of tubing plugged into two beads (superglue the bottom bead, works fine)

 

Another one I have done for years is just use a good strong line of 15lb with a very good quality smooth flexi ring swivel running on it naked (there is only one for the job and that is an ESP Hi-performance Uni link swivel, beautiful little things).. this is a lovely little ultra simple minimal setup that I would use far more were it not for my enduring obsession with simple running rigs