tomhaggett
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Posts posted by tomhaggett
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No they aren't mate. Carp are lazy, fat, genetically selected pigs that make a mess of nearly every water they inhabit. Tench are natural, mysterious, notoriously hard to catch unless the density is high and they're up there with rudd as the most beautiful of all the UK species.
Not all carp are like that Andy
. There's still plenty of proper ones about. My enthusiasm for the perch is waning a little. I've loved every minute of it but to be honest I want to be back on the river exploring rather than fishing the same beats of canal.
Dales, I'm also very tempted to have a go for a big tench soon. I was going to leave it another couple of weeks but after a conversation with a mate who was carping over the weekend it transpires that there's been quite a few caught recently. More tench are being caught than carp on one particular lake despite it only holding a small stock of them.
"Bottom's up" has started at our lakes today but I can't work out if it's a positive or negative. It's a sign that Springs finally on it's way but also that my days are about to get considerably longer.
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Perhaps argument was the wrong word then Philo, view/opinion may have been more apt.
I see where you're coming from now.
In my opinion there is very little fact whatsoever in hooks always being "got rid of". No way on earth could people give evidence of enough instances for it too be considered factually correct. I'm sure plenty of hooks are shed but it is by no means an acceptable rationale for not using wire.
It's akin to saying "I'll use a totally fixed rig, complete with 4oz lead and 5m of leadcore for carp because hearsay has it that they get rid of hooks"...
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I can't agree with your argument here Philo, though I commend you for openly saying what I'm sure a lot of people have thought in the past. Most of the examples you use for leaving hooks in fish are down to bad luck and will of course happen to all of us at some point. They are largely unavoidable, if a little careless in some instances. Leaving a lure complete with trebles in a fish's mouth for the sake of not using a trace is totally avoidable.
Regarding hooks falling out... I'm sure they often do, especially when only in the extremities of the mouth, thus causing no damage to the fish. A treble though, regardless of size, would struggle to 'fall out' of a pike's throat...
I've been using a product called Wirebite, sold by the fly fishing company Rio.. It's nylon coated and fantastically supple. I've used some fairly small lures, granted they're not UL's but the 20lb gear doesn't seem to have much effect on the action of a 2" Kopyto. I'm pretty sure they do a 15lb version as well so it's worth checking out if you haven't done so in the past.
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Your last paragraph is interesting, particularly as I mainly fish vintage tackle on freshwater and often in salt....I use old rods and reels, sometimes old lines, but, I invariably fish modern terminal tackle and, if I'm fly fishing for shark for example I use the latest state of the art gear..I could use piano wire traces and broomstick rods etc...but I prefer not to...it's called progress. Some people have no problems with alternatives to wire some do, as time progresses methods and materials evolve and are accepted...take 3lb test curve rods for carp for example, lobbing out bloody great sea leads...in stillwater! (ok, hardly evolution, more a retrograde step but you should get the drift).
Discussion of knowledge gained through experience is one of the benefits of this forum. There is no "end of" (and it is also awfully bad use of grammar).
Tight lines
I completely understand that things progress but I think that's irrelevant in this case. When a "progression" is putting our quarry at risk it can't be seen as appropriate. As Andy says, it offers no real benefit but does have the potential to do serious damage. Why take the risk?
Tom, congratulations on mastering the drop shoting for Perch and avoiding the Pike. I and a number of other anglers in my local area have failed miserably to catch anything other then Pike on it. My success with the method works out at about 10 Pike to every 1 Perch and so I have given it up as a "Pike fishing method" I think I am doing it right and in the correct places, down canalised banks, bridge pillars, lock gates etc but all I get is Pike and so even though my intention is to catch Perch it must be a Pike method with very thin fluro. From reading posts on AN I am not the only one who get plenty of Pike on the method.
I totaly get Andy's view and understand his reasoning, his stance is very clear. I also understand those who except they are targeting another species and so they accept that they need to tackle up for that species and so accept they will get bio catch. However I don't understand your view, it comes across as do what I say but lets make an exception for something I like to do but no one else can do something similar.
You claim the risk to "Pike is minimal" when drop shoting, so I assume you have set an acceptable level of risk, Yes? and is that level of risk set on your experience? I was surprised to read your comments on drop-shoting and few things came in to my mind.
1, Tom has never used the drop shot method
2, Tom is a total liar liar pants on fire
3, Tom genuinely does not experience problems with Pike when he uses the method.
Been open to new ideas and trusting that why would you try to mislead anyone, I accept that how you fish and on the waters you fish then Pike is not a problem. Base drop shoting on my experiences then it is an out and out Pike method. I am happy that there are those who do use fluro for Pike with out the problems that many claim like I accept that there are those that can drop shot with out catching mainly Pike.
To be honest I don't find fishing with spinners, jigs etc any better or worse then drop shoting without wire but then I am not telling everyone else that the way they fish is wrong.
I used the words "risk OF pike" not risk TO pike. One altered word and the statement takes on an all together different meaning.
My views are based mostly on my friends experiences. I'm happy to admit that I've not used the method 'extensively', so to speak, but I have seen it used enough to come to my own conclusions. I've only encountered 2 pike, both of which were hooked neatly in the scissors as everyone I'd conferred with on the method suggested they would be.
I have a fair few friends that I consider HAVE used the method extensively and they've experienced exactly the same.. very few pike and even fewer bite offs.
I stick to using small hooks for peace of mind but you can be rest assured that I wouldn't do anything that I thought may endanger the fish. Surely that's obvious from my strong stance on the subject?!
I totally agree with the statement regarding hooks but perhaps we should refer back to the title, "Fluorocarbon pike traces". That to me suggests using fluorocarbon as an alternative to wire for trace material and in my experience most traces incorporate trebles...
I stick to my view that anybody intentionally fishing for pike with anything but wire is in the wrong. They're one of the least hardy fish in British waters, why put them at any more risk than we need to?
Please understand that I would never preach to anybody about the way they fish in a normal situation, that's none of my business and far removed from my personality. Only when fish care and welfare is compromised do I feel the need to voice my opinion.
Apologies to anybody that thinks I may have come across as a bit of an elitist. I do tend to get carried away in the heat of the moment
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Just read through all this and thought I'd add my tempeneth. It's a subject that I can't stop stumbling across on various forums.
For me, if you're going to encounter pike with any degree of regularity you should use wire. The only time I don't is when drop-shotting.
I'm fed up of reading the argument "pike sometimes take worms or boilies when I'm winding in and we don't get told to use wire for that". That, in my opinion, is a moronic statement. Yes, these things happen, but fishing a lively or a lure is a totally different kettle of fish and the likelihood of encountering pike using those methods is 100x higher than when reeling in a carp rig. When it becomes 'likely' that you may hook pike you should be using a trace, end of.
With regards to species being "trace shy", I've been targeting perch with soft plastics on a gin clear canal this winter.. so clear that you can see the bottom all the way over. I've used wire every single time, albeit a supple nylon coated version, and found I've actually caught more a fair few more than some mates that were sold on using fluro. I've always thought that if they're that worried about the trace they can't be paying an awful lot of attention to, or have much intent on taking the lure/live.
Drop-shotting on the other hand can only be done properly using fluro and the risk of pike is minimal. It's a far more static method which doesn't seem at all appealing to them and the vast majority that do get hooked are so neatly in the scissors. Though I don't accept the following as a rationalization, a small single hook is likely to cause very little damage compared to trebles or jigheads etc..
Why this is even up for debate I'm unsure. People have never felt the need to use anything other than traces in the past so why all of a sudden have they decided that pike are the next Albert Einstein. A less tackle shy species I can't imagine... they happily take totally un-natural sea baits with 2 monstrous trebles sticking out of them for goodness sake. Why anybody thought to swap tried and tested products for something that is at best risky and that offers little, or in my opinion, no benefit whatsoever is beyond me.
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I'm at a bit of a loss to be honest. I've massively enjoyed my lure fishing over Winter (see blog), but when the pike and perch have spawned it will loose it's appeal somewhat.
I'll divide mine into seasonal targets.
I think Spring (if it ever arrives) will be spent chasing a double figure tench. Unfortunately, the likelihood is that I'll either catch a carp or see a few showing and end up focusing all my attention on them again.
Summer I'd like to have a go for a double figure barbel. I spent a few years targeting them but got stuck on 9lb 8oz. I still remember the moment I struck my bait out of a 14+'s mouth like it was yesterday
. I'm sure I'll have a little go for the carp as well.. a certain upper 40 has eluded me for the past 5 years and it's always at the back of my mind. 
. That one can't go on too much longer so it's now or never really.Autumn will probably see the start of a conceited effort for a 4lb perch. I'd like one of them more than anything.
And Winter I think will be spent after a 6+ chub and a 20+ pike, in amongst some more perching.
I do like a challenge
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Any budget spod rod will fit the bill mate. Check out Chub, Fox, Greys, ESP and Wychwood for a start. You should get one for approx 50 notes.
Alternatively, look on the auction sites etc. and go down the second hand route. You're likely to get a far better rod than the above for similar money.
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Can't wait for the write-up of this.. got to be 4+ if my memory serves me correctly. Massive congrats to all of you... it seems today was a good day for perching in Berkshire.
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In that depth of water I'd ledger them. Use a large diameter run ring to cut down the resistance, and a paternoster style link if it's particularly silty.
What's your reasoning for wanting to use deads? I've always found them pretty hopeless for Perch. Are you allowed to use livelies?
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That'd make this my 16th post then... fingers crossed that'll sort it. Cheers for your help lads.
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Evening all,
I started writing a blog around a year ago. I couldn't figure out how to make it "live" back then, even after asking for assistance a few times. Regardless I carried on writing entries for a while before I gave up.
I've just rediscovered the blog and have added a few more entries.
What I need to know is how do I get it "live" on here. At the moment every time I share the entry it only comes up as a draft...
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Something like that will work as an instant bait but it's far from nutritionally complete. If you're just going for the odd day it should catch you fish but it's not suitable for a campaign.
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Finding the fish is the most important thing mate. Do a few laps of the lake, talk to other anglers and try to find out where fish have come from recently. I wouldn't set up until you have something to go on. When you've found them, fish for them accordingly... single pop ups on hinged stiff rigs have done the business for me this year.
In my experience they're waking up fast but aren't getting on beds of bait yet.. one bait in the right place would be better than a kilo in the wrong place.
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Conditions are absolutely cock on at the moment everyone.. someone must have had a good result within the last week?
Did my first night in 5 months yesterday and managed a 25 and lost one. They're really waking up... all the action came from shallow area's on a fairly deep pit.
There were even a group of fish on the surface of a different lake on the complex
.. it's only February. -
I think a lot of the decline can be blamed upon Anguilicola Crassus - A disease that effects the swimbladder and prevents the fish from migrating.
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Cheers everyone. Looks very unlikely that I'll be out tomorrow due to the snow
.Real shame to see that Chris... I think a lot of the fish otters kill are purely for sport.
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Braved it again today.. spent the morning piking..not a sniff so went chubbing for the afternoon.. fished 12 swims for 2 chub.. one little'un about 2.8 and a 5.3.
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I don't normally feel the cold but I'm ashamed to say I packed up early yesterday... that wind was insanely cold. The weathers supposed to warm a little on Sunday and a bit more on Monday so I'll probably venture out on one of those days and take a coat with me.
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Got access to a couple of pits in Berkshire that hold them.. can't think of anywhere you could try in Wiltshire other than up in the Cotswolds.
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Now that were into the new year, what targets are you all setting yourself, if any?
Personally I want a double figure barbel, 5 or preferably 6lb+ chub and a 3lb+ perch from the Kennet/K&A canal before the end of the season.
The close season's main aim is going to be a double figure tench. Though I may put in one last ditch for the upper 40 mirror I've been after for a few seasons before the rivers re-open. Then I just want to enjoy the rest of my year and diversify my angling a little, spending one day trotting for silvers and the next sitting it out for something a bit bigger.
Nothing like setting your sights high
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This sums me up to be honest.. I can't sit and look out at a set of rods that isn't set up perfectly, it gets on my nerves to the point where I can't relax until I've sorted it out.
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Fished plenty of nights in snow storms and -5 temperatures while on work experience at White Acres.. net and mat completely frozen to the floor and the lake freezing infront of our eyes. Still managed a rake of fish though.
Also lived in my bivvy for 3 weeks in early February on Farlows, again while on work experience and I don't recommend it
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ESP Longshanx come in barbless... excellent hook, had plenty of fish on them last year.
I'm pretty sure the Fox armapoint longshanks have a barbless version as well.
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Hawk,
Ok I found a "boom" in a fishwrap mag from the UK.
The Great Glossary has failed again Dales mentions a “boom” but fails to define it. It should be his responsibility.
Helicopters are perfect for the presentation of stiff rigs and booms the most popular of these being the chod rig. The rig can slide on the leadcore to prevent it being shaken out, making the helicopter the only choice for the chod.
Never use shock leaders with this set-up – it simply adds another knot that the hook length swivel would need to pass over for a carp to be free of the lead and leader.
Here’s how you make one – from the top (mainline) to the bottom (terminal end).
Adaptive camo leadcore
0.5 silicone
Camo flex bead
Saze 7 flex ring swivel
Camo heli-kit sleeve
Exocet distance lead (weight)
25 lb cortex boom (notice you can make this as long as you wish with a “zig-rig” by coiling rather than back and forth)
Size 11 swivel
Rig putty
15 lb rigdity
Size 6 hook
Rig ring
Popup bait
Bait floss
Rather than make your own, buy the Fox Ready Made Heli Rig Kits. Replace the “boom” portion with your own stiff boom material and zig rig it.
An editorial comment. You've GOT to be kidding me - RIGHT?
Phone
Sounds to me like you're talking about an adjustable zig as seen here - http://www.korda.co.uk/movies/?id=67
Phone, the boom you are reffering to is used on a particular pop up rig (hinged stiff), and helps to kick the hooklink away from the lead/leader.. not at all suited to zig fishing I'm afraid.
Marker & Spod Rods
in Coarse Fishing
Posted
Any of the few you have mentioned will be absolutely fine mate. You want something nice and stiff for marker work... a rod with a soft tip tends to fold up too much and absorb a lot of the feeling you should be getting back through the blank.