How often should you change your line and what causes the deterioration in it’s stated breaking strain?
I changed my main line prior to my recent trip to France and have already stripped it back off to be replaced.
Replaced after just one week may seem excessive to some people but if you think about it thats 7 days solid angling, fishing near overhanging trees with some underwater debris. Not to mention a few Carp played on it and in hot sunny conditions.
I use Berkeley Big Game for most of my general fishing and at around £10 for 1700 odd meters, it’s not exactly expensive. A useful tip is to have backing line on your spool and only replace around 250 meters. The reason for 250 meters is that it is well past my maximum castingdistance and if I have to strip back a few yards near the hooklink then I have a bit to play with. This also applies to if I have a crack off for some reason. (more…)
by Pat Gillett Over the last few weeks I have been doing a few short afternoon / day sessions, with the longest one being no more than 10 hours. This really is my favourite type of carpfishing. I have kept the tackle to a minimum and been very mobile in my fishing. By moving around a lot (sometimes up to four or five times) and closely watching the behaviour of the carp I have been able to catch one or two fish when the going has really been pretty slow.
The Midlands Estate Lake I have been fishing is about 4 acres, crystal clear and very shallow (no more than 3 ½ feet deep). It also has an increasing amount of weed has the weather warms up. Stocking levels are not particularly high with approximately 35 fish. Because of the water conditions it really is a better ‘nightwater’ with most angler’s catching very little in the day. But I have always believed in the old adage of ‘catching on my own terms’ and as such I have still not fished a night on this water. (I get more enjoyment catching in the daytime). (more…)
Whenever I cast out any rig I want to be confident it doesn’t tangle and that when it settles on the bottom the hook isn’t masked by any weed or bottom debris. I almost always mask the hook with either PVA tape or PVA foam or both. Trapping the hair at the same time definitely also prevents tangles. In the photo you can see two set ups that I use for 90% of my fishing.
I use the Extra Wide 20mm PVA tape from Kryston and PVA foam nuggets from SolarTackle. I would be totally lost without these products, both of which melt completely and never leave any residue at all.
In the first picture the rig on the left is a simple single bottom bait. In this case the hook is masked with a few turns of extra wide PVA tape which has been licked a bit to make it neat and compact - as you can see the hair is trapped at the same time. This is also a good set up for distancefishing.
Summer or winter, weedbeds are well worth a serious look at as being a good holding area for carp. I’ve found that clear spots in the weed are often a good area to put your hookbait - especially on a short session. I’ve fished a lot of very weedy waters, both here and on the continent, and most of the time I find takes occur during the hours of daylight from these clear spots.(more…)
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