Slacklines or Tightlines?

[sash]

Hi Graham,

Tench avoid getting hooked on 'carp style' rigs far easier than most carp. Based on the method Gav was using and my presumptions based upon his descriptions I'd guess that the mini boilie bait he is using is in conjunction with small items of feed. Having watched tench feeding on particle feed (I'd count small boilies as a particle) I'd go with a short hooklink and short hair. I like inline lead arrangements for tench, I find them far more efficient than any other arrangement and I'd go with the leadcore and slack lines to avoid line bites / spooking the fish.

A 4 or 5 inch longrig is short enough to quickly prick a particle feeding fish (ie they are not moving far to pick up the next item of feed) and the short hair should eliminate many of the tench 'mouthing' the bait without actually inhaling the hook. Having a slack line wouldn't affect the hooking properties of the rig at all; the hook will prick against the weight of the lead usually causing the fish to bolt which will hook it.

 

[Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)]

Good explanation Sash.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

That makes sense Sash and fortunately the rigs I have made up ready are 3" to 4" in length and a hair long enough for a 10mm boilie but I intend to start off using them in conjunction with a 2oz mesh feeder and will probably progress to a PVA bag maybe even a 2 or 3 inch stick with a 2oz lead but I shall be on a learning curveat Horseshoebecause I have never fished it before and I know it has bottom weed to varying degreesdepending on where you fish. The use of pop-ups is the norm there but I am hoping to find me a clear gravellybottom if that is possible but it may result in my having to use hooklengths that are much longer than that.

 

[sash]

Try one of the smaller method feeders or an inline maggot feederwith a short hooklink Graham, a great method for tench. I'm personally not a great fan of pop-ups for tench but have done very well with balanced baits i.e. a snowman presentation of 1 sinking / 1 pop-up boilie or a stack of 2 sinking / 2 floating plastic corn pieces. An inline maggot feeder, short link and fake casters on a hair rig balancing out a light hook can be deadly at times but you might have to battle through the rudd first!

 

[Gav Barbus]

Thanks chaps plenty to mull over there,Sash the boilies would usually be complemented with small pellets and hemp or deadmaggots you were right .
Sorry my description should have had more details but I got in a fluster trying to word it.