In this article I would like to talk about some different ways of getting more out of your carp fishing. Recently I have started to do a few things differently and I think it is making a difference.
Firstly the length of hooklink. Over the last few years articles have talked about using shorter hooklinks but I don't see many people using them, I'm talking about very short 21/2 – 3inches. I reckon some anglers are not keen on this because your bait is sitting very close to the lead, but your bait is not always the length of your hooklink away from the bait anyway, lots of times when you've cast the bait follows the lead down and could be sitting right next to the lead unless when you tighten up you move the lead! If you don't like your bait very close to the lead why is that?, is it because you think carp can recognise danger when they see the lead! I reckon on well fished waters carp are cautious of leads that's why I've starting using the ‘Stonze'.
Stonze Rig Diagram
Recently down at Pallington Lakes where the ‘Stonze' are produced I was part of a team of nine anglers who were filmed for a video on the ‘Stonze' system. All the anglers fished the same lake and used the ‘Stonze' system with the very short hooklinks and used the method with Pallatrax boilies. Over 48 hours 984lb of carp were caught plus tench and roach.
I noticed that directly you cast out you would get small fish attacking the method and would get bleeps and knocks until the bigger fish moved in and you would get a run. If we had all used 3oz leads and 10 inch hooklinks I'm convinced we wouldn't have caught so many fish. If you use long hooklinks carp can pick up your bait and move twice the distance of your hooklink before they tighten to the lead.
Different Rig 3 Diagriam
If you have ever fished the margins and seen carp picking up your hookbait you will know what carp can do! I've seen them pick up the bait, lift up and hover above the lead and eject the bait and hook a few times and move onto the freebies mop them all up and swim away. I'm sure when you're fishing your bait is being picked up lots of times and being ejected without any indication. A very short hooklink could make a difference to these situations.
Another thing I would like to talk about is indication, recently I was fishing a lake in France and I had a bait on the far margin about 90 yards, during the night I had a bleep but no more. When I woke in the morning my indicators were in exactly the same place but my rig had been moved 30 yards to the left with hook snagged and no fish. I had had a take and the fish had been able to move all that way without me knowing.
If this had been during the day I would have seen the line move and the rod tips would have indicated something! Have you ever seen your rod tip slam round before you buzzer makes a sound, there is a lot of stretch in mono lines and fish can move a long way before you get any indication especially at distance! What can we do about this? Braided mainlines would make a lot of difference but I don't like using them and they are banned on lots of waters, what else? I think using tight lines with heavy backleads and heavy indicators could make a difference also I like to use single banksticks with the rod pointing directly at the bait with the rod as low as possible. I do think backleads can make a difference, I am sure fish do spook off lines, it all depends on the type of water you are fishing, if the bottom is flat and featureless a backlead will keep your line pinned to the bottom but if there are bars, weed etc your line will still be visible!
I do think backleads can make a difference, I am sure fish do spook off lines, it all depends on the type of water you are fishing, if the bottom is flat and featureless a backlead will keep your line pinned to the bottom but if there are bars, weed etc your line will still be visible!
