Bite Indication

[wanderer]

Right guys, this is a much talked about subject, tight lines or slack, do you hit the single bleeps or wait for the one toner. For me personally, tight lines are a must unless fishing very short range, I feel the instant bite indication outweighs the spook factor especially in deep water or bottoms with an uneven profile, bolt preferred to running, light at short range, heavy at long. Give us your thoughts boys and the reasoning behind them.

 

[naxian62]

When you say , light at short. What IS light ?

 

[greenie62]

One of our old fishing buddies - it must be said he was not the most enthusiastic angler - found fishing very relaxing - used to occasionally loop the line round his hand/foot then lie back and fall asleep - "If it doesn't wake me up - it's not worth having!" he was known to retort when his behaviour was challenged.
Worked for him - I think he caught his best chub that way! mg:

 

[wanderer]

When you say , light at short. What IS light ?

1 ounce., heavy tends to be 3.

 

[naxian62]

Interesting. So can we expect a fish to hook itself against a 1 ounce lead, on a semi-fixed set up ?

 

[wanderer]

Interesting. So can we expect a fish to hook itself against a 1 ounce lead, on a semi-fixed set up ?

Yes, the lead on a short line, just causes the bolt, strike is recommended, the heavy bolt at long range will set most hooks, done it hundreds of times.

 

[arthur2sheds]

over the last couple of years I have been using ultra light running leads at close range... Jed Kent put me onto them, (a third of an ounce at times... just enough weight to get to my spot) the fish cannot deal with them as they do with heavier leads... I'll use 2.5 oz leads at distance (very rarely 70yards+) as my rods are 2.75lb 9' Dwarfs (don't want to overstress them)

With the ultra-light leads, I fish slack, as it's not possible to tighten up without moving the rig once in place, and I only fish it in margins, to a couple of rod lengths out...

There have been loads of discussions on slack/tight lines on this and other fora... I go with the formula of slack to tight according to distance.... slack close in, semi-slack at about 30 yards, (and experimenting with very tight at this range too) and bowstring tight for any further out... I want to see any indication of a pick up... bu&&er the spook factor

 

[ciprinus]

Interesting. So can we expect a fish to hook itself against a 1 ounce lead, on a semi-fixed set up ?

At this moment I am using a 10g lead semi slack with the bobin just holding the line down. Works for me

 

[naxian62]

This is right on topic.
I've just given myself an October challenge of catching a (one will do) carp from quite a difficult water, and as you've probably gathered I'm not to au fait with carping. After speaking with some of the regulars, most fish are caught from almost under the rod tip.
So I have been wondering if a heavy (2oz ) lead is neccessary.

 

[law]

If the bottom is flat, I'll fish tight lines and with light backleads.

Anything else, semi slack lines, so the last few feet is on the deck, but still tight enough to register drop backs.

As for hitting single beeps- no chance. I wait for the clutch to tick.

 

[nocturnus anglius]

I have seen this Slack vs Tight line debate so many times over the years, has anybody even considered that both methods are just as good as each other dependant on what bite alarm is used, albeit roller wheel or vibration.
Surely roller wheel sensing lends itself very well from semi slack to tight lines. Where as vibration sensing lends itself very well to very slack lines, as these are actually picking up vibration and not movement.

 

[robtherake]

I don't tend to go below an ounce in the edge, semi-fixed by pushing the lead swivel over a Korum sleeve and with a AAA backshot to pin the line down and the line very slightly tensioned to the backshot - my reasoning is that the massive amount of backwash from a feeding fish in very shallow water could give false takes if a light lead's shoved about, although I'll admit to never tested the theory. No alarm's needed when you use a pin with the check on - takes are usually mental in the edge and everyone on the lake hears it! Long range for me is 50 to 70 yards and at that range it's generally tight lines with the same semi-fixed rig and usually no more than 2oz of lead. I would guess that qualifies as short range for many of you. If I think they're spooking off the lines I'll add a flying back lead: don't know who makes them but the ones I use can be added to the rig retrospectively, with a slot down the side acting as a quick-change mechanism. I'll be honest, though; the carp I'm fishing for aren't rig-shy and clued-up, so I don't need to work very hard.