greekskii

I currently use size 8 quick change swivels in to the buffer bead. They fit nice and snug. The bead isn’t stiff so has a slight bit of Malubility. Mine are from bank tackle. I used to use a tiny bit of silicone but now use anti tangle sleeves. Just for peace of mind. I do believe if you were using a stiff material it would be fine. One thing I will mention is the clip for the lead. Big eye swivels aren’t compatible, you can wedge them in but they won’t come out. I use forceps to alter the shape and the pva strips to lock in place on the cast. The upside to this is I can ensure the lead won’t just fall out at any time and I can test the pressure required to make it drop off.

Atomic jelewyre. For me no other costed braid will beat it.

epic bit of angling mate. Well done!!

Suppose we best leave you to it! In the meantime @salokcinnodrog Do you want to give it a go?

Thought I would kick off a new rotary thread on something which is such a big part of every angler's success or failure, Lead systems. Running Rigs After using lead clips and in-line leads for a number of years at the start of my carping journey I found myself back using running rigs 90% of the time. I prefer the set up for a number of reasons, firstly is the simplicity of the set-up and secondly due to bite indication. I've found the Fox Angled Drop Off Run Rig Kit a god send on weedier lakes as it allows me to really simply drop the lead either on the take or with light pressure, I just manipulate the lead swivel to suit what I want at the time. The main reason for my love of the running rig is that it offers superb bite indication. It has been seen on the Korda Underwater DVDs that lead clips and in-line leads can be rubbish for indication whereas running rigs are superb for it. My thoughts are that on running rigs there is the initial resistance of the lead as a fish picks up the bait and spits it out whilst but then less of a tension as the fish is just pulling the line and not the lead, in my opinion reducing the chances a fish will be able to ‘throw’ the hook. I do however always use the line clip on my rods for an extra pressure point. As the fish gets up a head of steam running off it then hits the line clip which drives the hook home that little bit more. I think for snag fishing there is no better set up than a running rig, with a tight line you are in direct contact with the fish as soon as it picks up the bait, allowing you to be on your rod within an instant. The indication on running rigs is sensitive as any movements of a hooked fish will be shown as a positive indication at the alarm end. If a fish hooks itself and travels towards you, a typical drop back bite, the indicator will actually move up towards the rod as the fish will be pulling line from the clutch as the lead falls back towards the rod tip. There has been a few examples, as I will explain later, of poor or no indication using other lead systems. This is why, for me, running rigs are on my rods unless the situation calls for another set-up. Lead Clips For a number of years as I progressed in my carp fishing I was using lead clips for 80% of my fishing with some use of in-line leads when required. I felt it offered me the best way of losing a lead when required. It was a couple of years ago when I was fishing and being hammered by a very persistent Grebe I witnessed the full flaws of the lead clip. I was fishing a narrow gravel bar around 25 yards out with two rods. The Grebe found my bait early on in the session and decided to stick around all day. It didn’t take long for my hookbaits to be singled out and picked up constantly. I had a bleep on one rod and the Grebe shot up in alarm, I knew I had been picked up by it and when I went to reel in to re-cast the lead had obviously been chucked down the sloping sides of the gravel bar with only one single bleep on my alarm (I was fishing semi-tight line at the time just to note). This happened on both rods twice more, losing a lead on one occasion, before I witnessed something horrifying. Without a single bleep from the alarm or movement on the bobbin I saw the Grebe pop up to the surface with my bait in its mouth, having shaken the lead. I had received no indication that this had happened. If it was asleep at the time I wouldn’t have known at all. I vowed to never use lead clips again due to the poor indication I had witnessed. This is just my experience however and there are plenty of carp anglers who use the lead clip system to great effect and have full confidence in it. In-line Leads In-line leads still feature in my angling from time to time, if I am fishing solid PVA bags or stalking fish in the margins. In-lines are perfect for solid bag fishing and offer superb hooking capabilities coupled with a short hooklink whilst stalking in the margins. It is important to use them safely so the lead can drop off in case a fish is snagged up. For this I use the Fox Edges Inline Drop Off Kit and the complementary double ring swivels. Saying that, I would still look to use the running rig set-up if I could get away with it. I do feel that for most fishing situations however the in-line lead system is flawed in regards to bite indication. The hooking capability is evident but the indication coming back to the bank can be non-existent if a fish arcs on the line, causing all sorts of problems and most likely a lost fish. This again is highlighted alongside the lead clip in the early Korda Underwater DVDs. The diver arcs 40-50yards on a tight line without a bleep on the alarm!!! Helicopters I have only started using helicopters in the last few years due to fishing areas of deeper silt, something I'd previously shied away from. My initial thoughts on Helis were some scepticism around the lead bouncing around and bouncing the hook out, especially when using chods. However I started using the Atomic choppa droppa system, and more recently the Fox Drop Off Heli system. The Fox version is superb and I can't fault it. It works 100% of the time to drop the lead, but only when required and it's very small and tidy. It's given me a massive confidence boost in using the Heli set-up, which is great as I'm now needing to use it for 95% of my fishing, between a silty marina and a silty nature reserve. I've caught numerous fish on it now, and haven't seemed to have had any obvious indication issues or tangles so I am pretty happy with how it's working for me at the minute. All in all, I am most confident to use running rigs and have total faith in them, Helis I am now far more confident using them and the other two, I personally wouldn't use unless I had no other option. @B.C. what are your thoughts?

forgot about this one, going on the potentials list. Let me know how you get on with the wrap. maybe some pictures too

So it’s not a winter shelter then? I normally just use the same thing all year round.

Probably as it’s where it all began. Historic lakes, historic fish. No doubt in 20 years a few of the ‘now’ anglers will have books out and people will be reading them either reminiscing about ‘back in the day’ or captivated at how it used to be fishing for the carp in the waters of the 2010s. Where otters were an issue, the scene was a bit more cutthroat on the circuits, social media made stars and made them disappear just as quickly. I look forward to reading those books. And probably my own writing too, just to see the changes.

Neither have I mate, hopefully someone will have done on here to give an honest opinion. Not looking at replacing until the new year, I reckon mine will last me until then. maybe something revolutionary will be on the market by then!

I have the same thoughts as @yonny for my shelter choice. Lightweight & quick. For the last 3 years I have used and abused my JRC STI 2 rib shelter (now replaced by the JRC Defender Shelter) through all sorts of conditions. I have the overwrap for the colder and wetter months too. It's now coming to the end of it's life, with a tear at a pegging point, a broken zip on the wrap and various other little things. None of which make it unusable however. Altogether I think the shelter and wrap cost me £150 all in. So not bad value IMO for the use i've got out of it. It's withstood some brutal winds, snow, heavy rains, everything thrown at it and not once has it let me down. It weighs in at a mere 5.5kg which isn't bad, with the overwrap 2.4kg. Just under 8kg combined. It's very spacious too, I fit all my kit in there no problems, but then I do try to travel fairly light when I fish. As I said, i'm now on the lookout for a replacement, I may go with the Defender shelter as above and replace it like for like almost. The chub outkast shelter is very similar, slightly more expensive & heavier but has a couple of extra features. Both of these come in at sub £200 for shelter and overwrap. I have been looking at brollies, especially the ESP Hideout, but still cant get my head around having something to hit your head on all the time!

second that. They are epic. I'd check out the Fox challenge vids with Mark Pitchers, funny and informative. Also urban banx on the nash channel. Brilliant to watch and the eurobanx vids are brilliant too.

just very low stock ones with hardly any pressure because they've either become extremely difficult or you're not meant to be there!

I got an adapter so I can use the cheap tall slim gas canisters. Best thing I did. Did a 15L stock pot full to the brim and it used just under half of one of those gas canisters. Not bad really and being as they are dirt cheap it’s not too bad.

Bulin t4 for me. Awesome bit of kit. Actually did some particle using it the other day. Huge stock pot on it and it got it bubbling in no time.

If you have a gas bbq just put your pan on that. Be interested to hear how this goes. I’ve got my prep down to a 48hr soak, 15min boil and then sealed to keep it cooking itself overnight. Seems to work fine but a bit laborious on the fishing stove. Need to clean out my burco and get that up and running!