Slacklines or Tightlines?

[Gav Barbus]

Hello chaps I am looking for somethoughts from you on what you would do in my situation .I will be fishing the margins and maybe upto 20 yards out for tench but also hopefully the odd carp,last year I was getting alot ofwhat seemed like full blooded runs but nothing on the end of about half of them.
I was fishing inline lead about two and three quarter ounces with a hooklink of about eight inches and a size ten hook with a longishhair and a mini boilie ,would not having tightlines effect the hooking capacity ?would the long hair be my problem ?
I definatly like the slacklines for the carp but is it affecting my tench fishing?
Thoughts please.

 

[Waveney One]

Why do you need nearly 3 ounces of lead for fishing up to a maximum of 20 yards out? Trying to knock 'em out? Sound to me that you are getting a lot of line bites and scaring the sh*t out of them. Try a much lighter lead and an even smaller back lead to get the line straight to the bottom under the rod tip. That way you can watch the line movement using it like an old fashioned swingtip.

 

[Sean Meeghan]

I agree with Waveny. If you're fishing tight to a large lead your line is going to be off the bottom and cause liners. You need to pin it down by back leading or, if the line sinks, letting out a bit of slack. The long hair shouldn't be a problem, but shortening it probably wouldn't affect the number of takes. An once of lead should be adequate to prick the fish and cause a bolt effect if you want it. When margin fishing I tend to use a string of swan shot as it pins down the line and isn't as obvious as a large lead, anti tangle tube, etc.

 

[Gav Barbus]

Sorry lads ,to clarify it is the slacklines I fish with a weighted leader also,my fault as I was struggling wording my question, I will take on board the size of weight I use to achieve the bolt effect, as my profile says the finnese of my methods is not great and could do with a shake up.

 

[Gary Newman]

Gav,
I think it could be down to your rig, if you're using a long hair then I'd be using a hook length of about 15 in. and a running lead set-up - i would use a fairly heavy lead as i find these work better with a running set-up, i.e. the lead stays still and the line runs through it rather than being dragged along like a lighter lead would be.
Also, if you are using long hairs then make sure you don't bait up too tightly, if I'm fishing over say a bed of hemp then I'd go for a heavyish fixed inline lead, with a short hair and hook link of a couple of inches - the fish will hardly be moving between mouthfuls.

 

[Clive]

Lead Core Weighed UpBy Dave Chilton

Gav. If you haven't read it,the above article (in Tackle) will give an interesting and different approach to margin fishing.

Well worth a read.

 

[Cakey]

20 yards out ...I would be freelining and sitting on my rod

 

[Ian Gemson]

I would use in line leads but fished running rig style, This will ensure if you have slack lines the bite indication will be a rising bobbin even if the fish swim towards you. Definatly try and get as much of the main line as possible on the bottom and away from the fish. 3.5 oz leads does seem a little on the large size especially as you are not needing the lead for casting range as such.

Tight Lines

Ian G

 

[Paul (Brummie) Williams]

Ian....you really think an inline rig at 20yds will always result in a rising bobbin with the fish swimming towards you?......i think the lead could move and the bobbins drop.

 

[Ian Gemson]

PaulWe are talking about slack line fishing therefore in the majority of cases the bobin is sat on the floor or is feather weight so with this in mindan inline running rig has a far better chance of achiving a rising bobbin than a fixed lead. Therfore if you are using ultra slack lines and the fish runtowards you a running rig set up is the only way to achive a rising bobbin. The inline lead will have to topple over to achve the line running through the lead as the fish swim toward you but this aids the hooking process. So it wins hand down every time.

I fished to day with two rigs side by side one an inline running rigand the other a side clip. The inline set up slammed the singers into the blank everytime, the side clip gave us drop back the majority of the time. If we had had slack lines oor had not enough tension on the swingers these drop backs would not have been seen and the fish would have been lost.

 

[Cakey]

a bolt rig 20 yards out should smash the indicator into the lead everytime .....I will test this week on Brooky !

 

[Paul (Brummie) Williams]

Yep Ian....you are talking indicators on the deck, i missed that point......but i have watched line drop slack before indicators smashed up as the fish took off (on a slack line set up)........a drop back would have been the first indication if the bobbins had been able to do so....thats the point i was trying to make.

 

[Cakey]

Paul I still think 99% of the time you will get a rise in bobbin .....think of float fishing with a huge bow in the line ,twitch the end of the rod and the float twitches and without the line straightening first

so as long as the fish dont run straight up the line you should get a run as long as your bobbins not to heavy

 

[Paul (Brummie) Williams]

Yep you are prob right mate.....but i have seen the line drop slack first,perhaps it wasn't slack enough?i could only presume the fish moved the lead directly at the rod.

Use the same principle that you mention for feeder fishing across rivers...eg bow in the line, a bite still registers on the tip.

Over the years i spent hours on the lawn with this and that rig trying to see how it registers, but as you say in the water it is all different

 

[sash]

I wouldn't use long hairs for tench and I'd also go much shorter on the rig. Try a 2oz inline, leadcore, slack line with a short (4 / 5") link and a short hair.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

Hiya Sash, how ya doing bud? Why do you think a short hair is better than a long hair and what exactly do you term short and long, also, pop-up or critically balanced?I aminterested because I am going after the tench at Horseshoe on Wednesday and using hair rigged baits like sweetcorn and 10mmboilie pop-ups.

 

[Cakey]

I caught just as many fish with long hair /forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

 

[njb51]

Tench don't have hair?

 

[Cakey]

all the german and french tench have hair...................

 

[Risque Manoofus]

Quote "

all the german and french tench have hair...................

What colour is it Cakey???? If its green so have the welsh ones.