Lead Size And Why

[dannyash]

Afternoon all, hope your enjoying a better Saturday than me ( Im a stoke fan  )

  Im currently fishing a gravel pit that has a fairly unknown stock of fish,  its fed by the Trent so fish do come and go during floods, fairly standard gravel pit, gin clear water, hard bottom with a light silty covering. The stock is unknown but the fish that are in there aren't really under that much angling pressure, it crossed my mind weather upping my lead size from a normal 2oz lead to something bigger 4/5oz even.

This got me thinking about how different anglers have a different opinion on this subject, for example, frank Warwick has stated that one of his biggest edges is using leads of 5oz minimum size. However another angler will quote that using light leads have given him such an advantage. Is it a simple case of its only an edge if its not the norm on that given lake, is it only an edge because it is the opposite of what everyone else is doing? Or am I simply reading too much into this 🤣 

I feel for my given situation fishing for un-pressured fish, fishing with a bigger lead would be better as the fish would more than likely bolt after feeling the lead, rather than sitting the spot trying to spit the hook. 

 

I think it would be interesting to see how each of our opinions and experiences differ or how similar they are. 

Cheers Guys

[salokcinnodrog]

I tend to use the 'right' lead size for my rods.

 

So for my 2.75lb TC NG's I use a 3oz lead, for my 3.25lb TC The Ones I use 3.5oz leads.

 

The reason is simple, I know that optimum weight and a 3 bait stringer will cast maximum distance, and whichever rod I pick up, I know I can cast the same. If I need to change casting distance, usually shorten, I can add more baits on a stringer, or remove if I do need to cast slightly further.

 

At the moment, due to undertow I am fishing semi-fixed leads as well. I have found lighter leads, under 3oz can be moved (and if the inflow was pouring in at Nazeing)  I could need to go up to 4oz.

 

However, when I can fish running leads and a slack line, I found the 3oz on my NG's was exactly right.

 

[smufter]

I will try to use just the amount of lead I need to get me to the spot I'm fishing. On my regular lake, lots of silt and shortish casts required, I'll be on a 1oz.

If I'm on a water where I need a bit more distance I'll go up to a 2oz if I need to. But that's about it. 

But I always use running rigs and want to create the least disturbance I can. I hate it when I'm on a small venue and hear a 4oz lead with it's attached rig hit the water....

 

[carpepecheur]

For me the weight of lead is not about casting. I use a lead for the bolt effect.

 

My thinking is that as soon as a carp takes a bait it can eject it whenever it feels uncomfortable about something. Therefore you should minimise the time between taking the bait and the bolt effect starting by having as short a hook link as possible.

 

To give an extra edge I usually fish my leads against a very tight main line. To enable me to put a lot of tension in the mainline I fit a steel washer to an inline bomb shaped lead. The washer catches on the bottom but the slightest movement, caused when a carp takes the bait, causes the lead to slip and to move in the direction of the tight line. This very small movement makes the fish bolt straight away and it virtually hooks itself.

 

I find about 150 grams is about right for this.

[dannyash]

16 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I tend to use the 'right' lead size for my rods.

 

So for my 2.75lb TC NG's I use a 3oz lead, for my 3.25lb TC The Ones I use 3.5oz leads.

 

The reason is simple, I know that optimum weight and a 3 bait stringer will cast maximum distance, and whichever rod I pick up, I know I can cast the same. If I need to change casting distance, usually shorten, I can add more baits on a stringer, or remove if I do need to cast slightly further.

 

At the moment, due to undertow I am fishing semi-fixed leads as well. I have found lighter leads, under 3oz can be moved (and if the inflow was pouring in at Nazeing)  I could need to go up to 4oz.

 

However, when I can fish running leads and a slack line, I found the 3oz on my NG's was exactly right.

 

I know what you mean mate, so your giving your rod the ideal casting weight to suit the distances required. Im just pondering on weather upping the lead size for my application will be a help or hinderance. 

I would say distances would max out at 100 yards on this particular venue, I may end up fishing opposite ends of the spectrum on 2 rods when it comes to lead size and see which one does the business ( hopefully anyway )

Appreciate your feedback mate.

Dan

[kevtaylor]

On 14/09/2019 at 18:12, dannyash said:

Afternoon all, hope your enjoying a better Saturday than me ( Im a stoke fan  )

  Im currently fishing a gravel pit that has a fairly unknown stock of fish,  its fed by the Trent so fish do come and go during floods, fairly standard gravel pit, gin clear water, hard bottom with a light silty covering. The stock is unknown but the fish that are in there aren't really under that much angling pressure, it crossed my mind weather upping my lead size from a normal 2oz lead to something bigger 4/5oz even.

This got me thinking about how different anglers have a different opinion on this subject, for example, frank Warwick has stated that one of his biggest edges is using leads of 5oz minimum size. However another angler will quote that using light leads have given him such an advantage. Is it a simple case of its only an edge if its not the norm on that given lake, is it only an edge because it is the opposite of what everyone else is doing? Or am I simply reading too much into this 🤣 

I feel for my given situation fishing for un-pressured fish, fishing with a bigger lead would be better as the fish would more than likely bolt after feeling the lead, rather than sitting the spot trying to spit the hook. 

 

I think it would be interesting to see how each of our opinions and experiences differ or how similar they are. 

Cheers Guys

I think you've hit on the answer to this IMO

How many anglers stick to leads in the 2 - 3.5 oz range, prob 95% plus.  Therefore leads outside of the standard range can be harder for them to deal with.

[chillfactor]

@Emmcee mentioned something recently.... can't remember which way round it was , but Em or the other guy  was banking more fish than others & it was down to lead size,  5 oz leads were being used but instead of copying each other one went the other way & fished really light leads & low & behold better than average results were also the result . Backs up what Kev mentions above .

[ouchthathurt]

I often use larger leads than the "accepted" norm - for instance, at the moment I'm using 3.5-4oz leads routinely. I have chosen the lead size to suit the angling situation that I'm in. 

my last water was tiny, approx an acre, a lovely dinky estate type lake, with a good head of carp to 35lb where the angling was up close and personal. A lead on their head was the kids of death. So I would often use leads of 2.5oz. These were flicked into the margins or lowered under the rod tips. I wanted a lead with enough mass to ensure the hook set properly on bolting, yet minimise disturbance when casting. However I did find towards the end that the carp were used to dealing with leads in the standard 2-3oz range and were often getting away with it. So I went up to the larger 3.5-4oz range but flicking them into the bankside foilage above the spot and lower them in by hand. That upped my catch rate as they weren't used to seeing those leads or dealing with them.

Another little trick I used to do was when the carp were stacked up in the narrows (the lake was triangular in shape) they would be in the narrow bay in numbers, the narrows were covered by 2swims that didn't really produce, even if the carp were in the narrows as the water was shallow and placing a bait in the narrows just spooked them out into the main body every time. I would fish the swims to the mouth of the narrows, placing baits quietly along the patrol routes they used to travel in and out of the narrows, then purposefully cast a bare lead into the narrows which made the carp drift off out of the narrows, along their patrol routes and over my baits... Caught every time! 

My current water is a largish deep windswept pit that suffers from undertow dependant on wind strength. I find the bigger leads help me feel for a drop in the deep water, as well as in the wind and undertow - as well as being larger, it's easier to keep a direct line to the lead without moving the lead or allowing the undertow to pull the lead off the spot.