Comments on: Winter carping tip – quick dissolving PVA stringers

By: Shaun

Shaun — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:00:07 +0000

The Glugs and Dips are PVA friendly. Best to make bags as you require them though rather than in advance with glugged baits as it can soften the PVA after tme.

Similarly be wary of PVA bagging too many oily pellets and leaving them in a bucket of oily pellets. This has the effect of waterproofing the PVA which dramatically increases the melt down time. It can be a useful trick for very deep water but generally speaking you want the PVA melting as soon as possible.

By: David

David — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:28:31 +0000

Shaun – do any of the Quest glugs or dips leave PVA relatively untouched ie. if you glug some freebies will they melt a pVA bag before it gets out? Or do you need to use a special type of PVA?

By: Shaun

Shaun — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:31:25 +0000

One thing worth mentioning is that PVA will always shrink/melt back to whatever knot has been tied into it. Make sure all knots are away from the hook so that the PVA melts away from rather than too the hook. Thus leaving the tight globule (not sure if that is a proper word but I guess you know what I mean) of PVA away from the hook rather than on it with baits stuck there.

I use more Stocking Mesh PVA than anything. I like small 20mm size bags packed as tight as possible. I always insert the hook into the side rather than the knot end. A small point but it makes for much better presentation in the winter. Again the PVA melts/shrinks away from the hook rather than back to the hook.

By: David

David — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:04:00 +0000

Another thing I’ve noticed when using PVA string. When experimenting in the margins to see what I’m actually getting on the lake bed I find the string shrinks rapidly before it melts.

So if you’re looking for good spacing between your free boilie offerings on the lake bed make sure you seperate them by at least a couple of Cm’s on the string.

Probably makes very little difference to the carp but the fact they pull up tight together does mean that it’s harder for the water to attack the string & thus get it to dissolve.

This could be one reason the string can sometimes come back undissolved.

By: Gareth

Gareth — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:23:53 +0000

Hi Roy, Yes I guess we have all reeled in and found the stringer still on. First time it happened to me the rig had been out all night…I now use PVA tape over string as I feel it dissolves faster and is good in cold water.
A good tip though. And a nice common there.

cheers
Gareth