New to carp fishing - advice needed please

[Dan Woods]

Hi all, I have started going fishing with a couple of friends and fully got hooked, excuse the pun! I’m now trying to get some equipment and wanted to ask for some advise please. To start with is line, leaders and rigs. I have watch hundreds of YouTube videos and got more confused. I have managed to get some reels and replaced the line with 12lb monofilament but want to possibly add a fluorocarbon leader and use it for my rigs as well. The lake we are fishing is very clear with a gravel bottom. The reported carp are between 12-35lb. Questions I have are

What strength do I need, I was looking at the seaguar invizx

Should I put a leader on as well as using it for rigs or just use it in rigs. 

If I use a leader, what length? 20ft?

Thanks in advance, any advice gratefully received

Dan

[framey]

Check the rules to see if you are allowed to use a leader in the first instance

having a knot above the lead can be dangerous if not made correctly.

if you have a spare spool you could buy a spool of fluro and have that on the spare set.

you could always use small cylinders of putty to keep the line on The deck and instead of fishing tight let a little of the spool so it sinks, once mono is wet it gets heavier anyway so it will sink more.

sometimes less is more anyway.

[Dan Woods]

Thank you. Is 12lb line ok to catch up to 30lb or should I have gone for stronger?
 

Checked the rules and doesn’t say about a leader. If I was to use one would you recommend I put it on my rig too?

Thanks

Dan

[framey]

12lb is fine as long as the water isnt weedy or snaggy 

remember a leader will join the main line via a knot so it needs to be as small as possible so it doesn’t get choked.

The leader goes between the mainline and the weight it doesn’t go on the rig.

around 20 foot will be fine.

you can also buy tapered leaders that go to around the same diameter as the main line and start around 40/50 lb

Edited 1 hour ago by framey

[salokcinnodrog]

3 hours ago, Dan Woods said:

Hi all, I have started going fishing with a couple of friends and fully got hooked, excuse the pun! I’m now trying to get some equipment and wanted to ask for some advise please. To start with is line, leaders and rigs. I have watch hundreds of YouTube videos and got more confused. I have managed to get some reels and replaced the line with 12lb monofilament but want to possibly add a fluorocarbon leader and use it for my rigs as well. The lake we are fishing is very clear with a gravel bottom. The reported carp are between 12-35lb. Questions I have are

What strength do I need, I was looking at the seaguar invizx

Should I put a leader on as well as using it for rigs or just use it in rigs. 

If I use a leader, what length? 20ft?

Thanks in advance, any advice gratefully received

Dan

Welcome to Carp.com.

A clear lake is absolutely fine with 12lb line. Adding a leader, especially fluorocarbon creates other problems in that it will need to be checked regularly and changed, the same goes for fluorocarbon hooklinks and rigs.

Fluorocarbon while it stretches (the same as mono, 15-20%), does not go back to the same length, it is not elastic like mono, it stretches until it breaks. Personally I would not bother with a leader, fishing the mainline straight through.

At around 40metres with the rod tips roughly parallel to the water, the line will be running along the lakebed anyway.

The other thing with fluorocarbon, despite being close to the refractive index of water, it still casts a shadow even though the line itself invisible to the eye.

 

Rigwise, try to keep it simple, a basic knotless knotted rig will produce as many fish as everything else shown on tackle brands videos and YouTube. In the 1990's I started using that type of rig (on braid), I still use it now however many years later. My exceptions are when I use pop-ups and do go to a D-rig.