Rich Habbershaw

I've been using Ultima Power-Plus for the last couple of seasons. I tend to use 10lb as a minimum although I do have 12lb and 15lb on stand-by. Have used Maxima Chameleon 6lb in the past, for light feeders and ledgering. Going down to float rod on 4lb or less Maxima Chameleon. Have landed an 8lb carp on 4lb line and a size 16 hook, interesting but unintentional, was seriously worried the rod would give way!

I have a Shimano Nexave AX feeder, usually with a 3oz tip. I've used this for method feeders on numerous occasions, although never any higher than a 25g loaded feeder, and not had anything snap yet. The lob method always seems to work fine, and it's casting happily 30-40 yards accurately.

Just to eke this topic even further as regards etiquette...... I fish on a site with two small(ish) lakes seperated by a walkway between the two, in places wide enough to sit between the lakes to fish the margins...in others only wide enough to walk (or maybe fit a box) One sunny morning, myself and another angler both trotted out to the lakeside. I bag myself a corner of one lake, setup my rods and rests ...clearly pointing in a general direction of where I was going to fish to...aiming for the margin of the walkway near to some reeds (a notorious spot for the carp). The other angler proceeds to setup ON the walkway, a pole fisher BTW, fishing into the immediate corner nearest to me on the next lake. Not a problem I thought ... until I catch him shipping his pole ends back, making considerable noise, sky lining himself and dropping the pole ends into the water .... you guessed it, precisely where I was fishing to. Surprisingly enough the commotion seemed to ruin my days fishing, only catching a couple of lively 3-4lb carp ... the other angler caught diddly squat *surprise* Being the generous fella that I am, I left him be .... although I admit to being a little naughty and cast a few method feeders literally a foot behind him *angelic expression* Next day, when I couldn't really be bothered with the fishing, said angler is out .... you guessed it, same peg I had the previous day fishing to the margins near the walkway. Obviously he decided he was going to be a t**t the day before and generally annoy me as I got the peg he wanted. Rich

I was taught float fishing by my father-in-law on the 'Broads' a little over 4 years ago .... since then I've got the bug and learned new methods myself, which I now pass onto him Quite funny watching his face when he comes out with "That won't catch anything......" I try to teach myself one new method or rig each season. Dependant on the weather, or how bored I am at the lack of carp bites from the middle of the lake, I can float or carp ...often at the same time. If your happy float fishing ...go with it ... it's often more interesting than waiting for the buzzers to go off.

Don't forget sweetcorn is a good bait for bream ... on the private lake I use, I tend to land equal numbers of carp and bream.

PVA mesh tubing, used it for the first time last year and had an instant impact on my ledgering. Caught more fish, but my PB eluded me for another year.

I was checked three times last year, on a private 'residents only' lake ... admittedly there's a holiday lodge on site, but why check everyone continuously?!?!?

You been watching me? I went one worse last year and bought a very expensive Tilly hat. Father-in-law creases every time as he reckons I look like crocodile dundee Hmm talking of boots, does anyone know where I can get smoe decent size 6 (six) camo camo boots? Kind of hoping the mud-hole ninja look will camoflage me from the boring "caught anything yet mate?" brigade *grrrrrr*

I've finally given in and fully joined the carp brigade by going out and buying loads of Tribal fishing camo clothing. You may now officially call me a tackle tart.....or a tree ...whatever! PS The missus thinks I've finally gone mad

Personally .. I wouldn't. What's the maximum line that rod can handle in terms of breaking strain? I tend to use 10lb line coupled to a 2.5lb TC carp rod, especially if I know theres a double figure carp around. I would guess that a 1.5lb TC would result in you having to play the fish for a very long time, and very gently, as I would suspect the rod wouldn't be able to handle a double figure strength line. I'm not from the 'oik it in brigade, but I also think it's unncessary to play fish too long as it can spook other fish in the area.

All down to personal preference and what works on the day. If one of the fins is weighted, e.g the korda feeders, the weight will land bottom down so put the hook bait in the other side. If the feeder is unweighted and you place your hookbait inside, you stand the risk of your hookbait not being exposed or trapped. My own personal preference is a weighted method feeder, loaded with ground bait, sweetcorn and hemp ..usually with sweetcorn on a hair rig inside the method. Alternatively, have the hookbait outside the feeder ... albeit not a long one. PS First carping method I used ... can be a killer in summer.

Anyone know why the EA's website won't let me buy a new license for 2008-2009 yet? Trying to plan ahead for fishing first week in April. Rich

Ditto on the first week of April, first time I'll have been fishing since last October ... bloomin' June floods *grrr* Holding out for an April like the last one, seems like the months are running 4-6 weeks ahead of themselves, so April is more like the end of May. Fished early March last year, private lake site, and didn't have much success. Admittedly I was showing someone else how to fish, so I wasn't concentrating.

I've sworn by the Shimano products for years. Was bought a Shimano 6000RE baitrunner as a present last year, it's a meaty reel with a very good clutch, very smooth retrieve and the baitrunner is spot on, not had a single problem with it. Might be worth noting they're a bit on the heavy side, not a reel to sit holding for long periods of time ..... unless there's a fish attached to the other end of course.

If your using the method you could also try swapping one of the corn for an imitation piece. Bury the hook bait in the method, when it disintegrates the hook bait will float enticingly for the fish. Definately agree with the amino in Summer and they seem to go mad for strawberry or tutti-frutti glug too, I add it into my water mix for the method.

That's probably the first bait I hair-rigged and it's a corker. Really good for carp and bream. I use three pieces or corn, varying in size, 'speared' 1xthru side 1x thru front, 1x thru top to bottom. It breaks up the shape of the bait, seems to produce more bites than just three side-on. The hair should look something like this D0O--- rather than DDD--- *if that makes sense* Try attaching a small knotted bag, size of a 10p-piece of mesh-PVA, with some dried-off corn and small pellets, to the hook. Different baits for different seasons, all depends where the fish are in the water, the colour of the water and how hungry they are. Hope that helps..only been fishing myself for 3 yrs

It was an interesting article in IYCF. Seems their biggest problem at the moment is producing a small enough weight to replicate the 2oz-3oz leads we already use. From what I recall, the weight is a composite material, consisting of glass and other chemical jiggery-pokery, resulting in a substance which is near on invisible when immersed in water. Seems that it stands up to wear and tear too, as any scratches the weight obtains (if any) disappear once placed in water. Note to self : The fish fooling 'reflecting spray' didn't make a jot of difference last year..... i.e opinion reserved until proven they're safe and small enough so as not to affect casting distance.

Possible though you may find it's not so much the speed but how much slack line there is between the tip of the rod and the float. Are you sinking and retrieving the line to tighten up? I seem to have a better strike rate when striking towards my opposite shoulder to the hand holding the rod ... almost a 45 degree angle. It the float is dipping, see if there is a pattern to it. Quite often I have found the first dip to be a mouthed bait, with the second being the time to strike .. not fool proof tho'. BTW ... it's possible to be too quick and strike too hard, potentially ripping the hook from the fishes mouth.

Ahhh good to see your getting yourself a float rod. If, like me, your on the diminutive side ... I'm only 5'2" and slim built ... I can recommend the Shimano range of rods and reels. The reels are quite tiny, but equally light weight. I would go for the 11ft rod if possible, the 13ft rods (which I have myself) can be a bit unwieldy for a beginner. I think mine is a Shimano Hyperloop an a Hyperloop 4000 reel - bought for the bargain price of £20 from *gasp* Argos when they were selling off the Shimano range last year. It's a lovely rod with fast tip action and is quite happy handling the sub-double figure fish. I've caught everything from inch long roach to near double carp with it and I'm confident it can handle it. Rich

Never really thought about it before, but I can only assume (ready to be wrong) that float rods have more ring sections so as not to put a lot of strain on the lighter float fishing lines. Probably all a marketing ploy to fool us into buying different rods for different setups My carp rod has 5 rings, the feeder has something like 7 rings, whereas my float has a good 10. If your feeder rod happily handles lightweight line and you have a sensitive glass tip, then I would have thought it would be fine for float fishing. Never tried mine for for that purpose, but then I am easily fooled by the aforementioned marketing ploys Rich

Blimey girl...15lb on a waggler, seriously heavy duty *lol* I don't even have that on my 2.5lb TC carp rod, it's currently 10lb, although I do admit to having some 12lb and 15lb on standby for when I want to play with the big 'uns. I would have been concerned at the hook size, perhaps going for a 12 or 10 if your targetting the bigger fish. I've known the smaller hooks to straighten before. Have you ever used a quivertip feeder rod? Really easy to setup a basic running rig using a small maggot feeder and your usual bait on the hook. Still capable of landing the big 'uns, but without the need for the bite alarm and indicators we carpers so love. Rich

Hmmm ... I've spotted my bite indicator 'bouncing' when the bream are feeding, often catch them striking at this point.

Well done! Always nice to catch carp on the float rod, there's that sudden realisation that your tackle may not be up to the fight as you gently try to coax your prize into the net....only for it to suddenly realise your tackle aint that strong and off it surges *lol* Funny how they don't seem to do that on heavier tackle? Keep up the good work. Tight lines

Like was said earlier, aim to catch anything but and you will usually catch bream. As for bait ...sweetcorn seems to be a favourite for bream.

I think it's the model specifications ... BX being the higher. Have you tried the Shimano website for more info?