I started playing around with different ways of camouflaging my end tackle to suit the lake bed I’m fishing.I’ve started fishing a large 70 acre gravel pit in the south west which holds a small amount of large carp that have proved themselves to be hard to catch, so I’ve been taking my end tackle to the next stage to see if I can blend it all in to match the lake bed. After playing around with making my own leads and camouflaging them I started to play with a lead clip, then the rubber and the rig tubing. All you need is a blow torch and some powdered coating which will match your lake bed.
by Ron Key
American Signal Crayfish are here and they are spreading virtually unchecked. I first encountered them a few years ago in the Colne Valley where there were actually stocked in some waters to cultivate as food.They eventually escaped and have now spread over the whole of mainland UK. They are much larger than our native crayfish, and carry a fungus that is deadly to them. From an angling perspective they are so frustrating. The crayfish are relentless they will try to eat everything; this includes your hooklink and boilie stop.I gave up using mono hooklinks very quickly as the crayfish nipped the line seriously weakening it.I use soft braids or coated braids now; they tend to fold when nipped rather than deforming but they do need examining regularly for damage.I also hide the hair stop when possible as this is usually the first thing to be eaten, leaving your boilie free for the crayfish to rob you.At best the only indication you will get is a single beep of your buzzer and you are no longer fishing.
Steve Vaughan wrote:
Could you recommend what sizehook to use with 18mm baits, I’ve been using size 8 but find i am missing lots of runs on this size
Hi Steve
That’s not quite as simple a question to answer as a lot of people might think, and it certainly isn’t straight forward.
Firstly it depends on the hook itself, as each manufacturer seems to make up their own sizes and they vary immensely. Unfortunately there isn’t a national standard hooksize to work from. For example a size 6 Korda long shank is dimensionally a much bigger hook than say a Drennan super specialist of the same size. (more…)