How to make your rigs and the line look less visible, and how to set your lines and indicatorsI’M NOT TOTALLY convinced carp can see rigs on the bottom when they are close to it – if you look at where their eyes are, they can’t see anything below them. Just look at how hard carp find it to single out floaters.
But it can’t hurt if you make your end tackle as ‘invisible’ as possible, and make sure that everything is pinned down close to the hookbait. Obviously, if you are fishing a very coloured water they won’t see it, but it’s good to keep everything out of the way so they don’t bump into the line. Get the line down on the bottom The easiest way is to fish VERY slack lines and no tubing, with the line on the bottom out of the way and nothing else on the bottom; it’s about the closest thing you’ll get – especially if you use fluorocarbon main lines. To get the line slack enough, normally after sinking the line, I will pull between 5 and 15ft, possibly more, depending on distance cast, of line off the reels and let that settle. You will find also that the indication is more sensitive like this, which is a plus. One concern people have with not using tubing is damaging the fishes flanks – but then we don’t use tubing when floater fishing do we?
Next up is to use heavy rig tubing, like the ESP anchor tubing. This is heavier than some leadcores, but it is difficult to use in long lengths, and wont hug the bottom as well as leadcore does. It is ‘safer’ to use if you aren’t sure how to use leadcore properly. You can also make random marks on it with indelible pen to break up the shape of it, if you see what I mean. My preferred material is leadcore, either ESP’s offering, or Kryston’s new Score Gold – the Score being much heavier, but I prefer the way the ESP one lies on the bottom. Two tricks are to stretch both before casting, as the braid will grip the core much tighter, and to wiggle the core to snap it along its length. This will make it sit a lot better and follow the lakes contours due to it being more flexible. I haven’t used the new fluorocarbon or tungsten impregnated leaders as I’ve seen variable feedback about their strength, and to be honest I can’t see an advantage over using either no tubing or leadcore.
These methods will get the line down around the rig, but you might also have to consider the line between the baited area and the rod, or at least some of the way back. Flying back leads, back leads and rig putty Again, slack lines are the easiest way, but they aren’t always practical if fishing at long range, over weed or if there are snags or bars between you and the rig. The only way you can really do it is by using some form of ‘flying’ back lead – I prefer the Solar ‘B52’ as you can adjust the weight of them using putty. I’ve also got some of the Korda ones, which I don’t like so much but have the advantage that you can put them on without breaking down the rig if you need to. These small leads will fly back up the line when you cast out, landing 20yds or so behind the rig and, providing they are heavy enough, will sink the line between them and the rig – as long as you don’t fish very tight lines. If you want to use tight lines, simply use a heavy drilled bullet, but check the edges of the hole so it won’t damage the line.
When fishing closer in, as well as slack lines I like to pin the line down for a few feet. This can be done using rig putty like Kryston’s ‘Heavy Metal’, but I much prefer (as its cheaper and doesn’t fall off!) to use 1cm lengths of the ESP heavy rig tube spaced out along the line. This also has the advantage of being able to be cast through the rings of most carp rods, so can be used a bit further out as well. You can also use back leads near the rod end. There are two types, captive and sliding. The sliding ones do exactly what the name suggests, you clip them on and they freely slide down the line, whereas the captive type are restrained by a piece of string which is pegged to the bank. These are actually my favourite type, as I don’t like the other type sliding down the line where it could collect weed or snag up, and I’ve occasionally lost fish as the lead slides all the way down to the lead and knocked the hook out. You also have to consider whether its worth using them. If you are casting 60yds out and there is a weedbed in between you and the rig, it’s not really going to help. I mainly use them to avoid floating weed or boats, rarely to hide the line from fish because there are better ways of doing it, and back leads can ruin your bite indication. If you are going to use them, I find the best indication is given by having the rod tips up, lead directly under the tip, and as light a leads as possible. Try and get a bend into the tip of the rod, and it’s worth watching the tips for plucks, etc. It is nice seeing it when it goes screaming off and the backlead comes flying out of the water! How tight? Once you’re cast out, you need to decide how tight you want the line. This can only really be judged on the day as, for example, a big wind and lots of weed drifting around may mean you have to fish tight lines to stop loads of false indications. Saying that, I will always try and fish lines as slack as possible. This might mean when fishing in the margins you don’t actually use a bobbin at all as it will pull the line tight to some degree. When fishing further out, I try to have a drop of a couple of inches on my indicators so that liners will register – it also means you have a bit better indication if you are fishing near snags or weed. When at long or extreme range there isn’t really a need to slacken the line off, as the last 15 or 20 yards of line will be on the bottom anyway after it settles (weed or bars permitting) so you may as well fish the bobbins at the top – if you leave a drop the undertow will only take it up anyway, but this is where ‘quiver’ type indicators come into their own. If you are going to leave a drop on the indicators, it’s worth thinking about how to make an acute angle in the line – watch the video to see why. The picture shows how the rods were set up. The left hand rod is how many people fish, especially with pods, butt ring behind the buzzers and a drop on the bobbin. The middle rod is how I try to set it up, butt ring in front, allowing an acute angle in the line. Right hand rod is how it normally ends up when fishing at range, with the bobbin at the top.
I was actually surprised that the bobbin at the top gave better indication than the left hand rod – all buzzers were set exactly the same. You have to allow for the fact the line was pulled from approx 10yds from the rods, but I’m pretty sure being further away wouldn’t change anything.
If you can’t create the angle using the butt ring, as when using a pod for example, you can buy line clips from Solar and Fox that clip around the rod. Failing that, do what we used to do before they were commercially available and just sellotape a matchstick to the rod – it works just as well! NEXT IN PART 4 – Watercraft |
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