A few intersting points Stu and if you don't mind I'll share a couple of experiences and see what you think.
A few years ago I got a change to fish a southern water that although predominantly known for it's carp held some exeptional bream which I was targetting. For hookbait bait I used 2 x 10mm frozen A8's as these were all the rage at the time and the bream had switched onto them pretty quickly. The first night I had a scraper double around midnight (4 hours after casting) the fish went through my other rod and I had to reposition both during the night. Just after first light I had another nice fiish this time over 11lb. The next night I put the baits in again at 8.00pm but, and heres where I could kick myself, the activity (liners) didn?t start until arounf 2.00am and continued through until around 6.00am. What really pi55ed me off is that when the liners had stopped (yeah, dumb I know) I wound in my rigs only to find two bare hooks. On a water containing what for me would have been PB's to think I had bream all over my rigs which had obviously been baitless throughout that time was bloody annoying - particulalry as 2 day sessions on good venues are a rarity for me.
My lesson learned was that when it was likely that my bait would stay in the water for long periods then I changed to a 'firmer' bait or air dried a few hookbaits. Eventually the air dried ones also went to mush but the whole re-hydration process seemed to slow down the breakdown time. Is there that you know of a better way of prolonging bait life or would you say it was easier to move to a tougher, quality shelf life ?
Setting the bobbins - I was interested in you saying that once you cast you leave everything to settle for a few minutes. I've never done this as I have found the undercurrent puts large bows in my line particilalry when fishing at distance. This may be eggagerated in my case as I probably use lighter line than you but it's still something that surprised me when I read it. Can you explain further your reasons for doing this, especially if you then tighten up later. Or do you not tighten up as such, using a light bobbing and allowing the curve in the line to be sufficient tension, leaving the line on the bottom.
Particles - You said there was no particles allowed but you used both maggots and hemp (and pellets) does the syndicate have a definition of particles ? (this is a serious not flippant question)
Enjoyable articles by the way, keep 'em coming.
Cheers
Gary