backleads

hi lads been fishing a great wee water which contains a lot of carp[and another 40 just stocked last week]a guy told me if im not using backleads ive no chance of catching any carp or bream, surely this is a load of rubbish after all what did people use before they were invented, ive been fishing for carp for more than 1 year now and still no carp aghhhh help ,ps ive tried almost everything the closest i got was with a 360 pop up rig...tight lines colin[chalky].

it sounds like the carp could be line shy and depending on the geological shape of the pool bed, backleading could prove successful, alternatively you could always use leaded leaders to pin the line towards the terminal tackle to the bottom on the pool, alternatively try using two rods, one with a back lead on and one without and just monitor the amount of takes you have from either rod

cheers my friend i will give it a try tomorrow , its a old gravel quarry type place 28 feet deep in the middle and each end shallows out about 5-8 feet....colin [chalky].

good advice from the monk like he said you have to make sure you no the layout of the lake because if you dont you could make matters worse, also try flying back leads great bit of kit used with leadcore your tackle end will be pinned tight to the bottom good luck and keep the faith .

hi ritchard thanks ..colin.

Nothing much to add to above. A question are you getting line bites.

hi bryan, im getting some line bites but not much....colin

i would go with the flying back leads first. Start with a heavy one this will not travel as far up the line. If your still getting liners then you might have to adopt a lack line presentation. Cast out tighten up as normal then feed of line till it all settled on the bottom this can take a few minutes and can not be rushed. This should cancel out the liners.

If you still are not getting bites it could be you end rig thats at fault. Ie fishing to short a link in silt and burying the bait etc.

hi bryan , thanks again my friend , i just got some 20g and some 40 g back leads today ,i will try that out next time , thanks again ...colin.

Out of interest chalky are other anglers on the water catching much? Also what sort of ranges are you fishing?

hi budgie, from a momday to a friday i almost have the place to myself [and my pal steve if hes there] but from a friday night to monday morning there are about 3 or 4 bivvys camped out , and most of them have 3 -6 carp over the weekend, one of them says he get his on worm + maggot, the next thing hes showing us a huge tub of boilies, another angler called ally has had a lot of carp on bread [top + bottom] and showed me the hot spots , i got close once free lining on the bottom, ....thanks chalky. ps lol another guy said i should crush up some hallibut pellets mix them with raw eggs and hand roll them into the required size + shape then boil them [lol boilies i know] as hes had brilliant succsess with them one this same water and others....chalky.

sorry budgie forgot to mention the ranges im fishing, a lot of margin fishing [as you could cast across the place no problem, or about 25 yards awy depending on what part of the water....colin[chalky].

hi there's a couple of questions.have you tried slack lining for these carp and is it a clear or murky water.

I would go with Mossy and try fishing slack lines if I was margin fishing rather than back leading.Do you know the score on this?

If others are catching then you are obviously doing something wrong.More so as they seem to be catching on a variety of methods and baits.

Dont worry though as others are catching least you know its possible and getting it sussed will be a lot easier than if no one was getting any thing.

Simple thing is to watch other anglers,see what the sucsessful ones are doing and where they are fishing then copy!You have an advantage by having the water to your self in the week.This applies even more so if you are fishing the margins as keeping any bankside disturbance down to the minimum is essential.

Once you start catching using the other guys tactics you should find it easier to be able to see why its working and start forming your own ideas.

The bottom line is that its a lot harder to learn anything if your not catching than when you are!

Bait wise its always handy if some one is prepared to tell you the "going" bait! but if not most will quite happily tell you what has been used and worked/not worked in the past.Knowing this will help you see what type of bait to use.

As you have the water to your self in the week I would strongly reccomend trying to stalk the fish during the day.Constantly keep looking around the water for signs of carp if not the carp themselves.Location is even more important than bait.Once youve found them you can see if they visit the same places regularly.If they do try putting a few samples of your bait in for a few days.Some times you wont even have to fish these areas its just that they will get used to your bait,hopefully eat it and then recognise it again when they come across it.If this fails try actualy presenting a bait to them in these areas.Some times a nice simple natural bait like a lobworm droped on their noses will work.Once again stealth is important.

Hope that gives you some ideas and Im not teaching you to suck eggs! Good luck,let us know how you get on.

hi mossy and budgie i have not tried slack lines yet i usually let it settle then tighten up then put a light bobbin on, do you mean slack line with no bobbin on at all? as ive not done that yet, oh almost forgot the water is quite clear not crystal but not far off thanks guys....colin.

Make sure that the line is slack enough to lay on the bottom all the way to beneath the rod tip.I use a really light bobbin on a short drop.Must be light enough not to tighten up the slack.

Despite being a lover of braid mono is definately better for this sort of tactic as it sinks really well (try 15lb Maxima Chamelion it sinks like a stone)and the stretch helps cushion hard takes and surges under the rod top.

I like to keep well back from the water so the rod tips arnt poking out over it.

hi budgie thanks thats great information i wish people like you would answer like that in the magazines,instead of complicated answers and contradictions, thank you very much my friend i will put every thing you say into practice [and hopefully get back to you with good news]thanks again ...chalky.

Budgie, very silly question I am sure but how are takes indicated on a slack line?

Same as normal mate just that runs are a bit "delayed" so to speak due to the slack.Drop backs strangely enough are also "delayed" due to the slack,they are however (due to the fact that you are fishing close in) rare.With runs you often see the line tighten up if you happen to be looking at the rod tips.

The "delay" isnt a problem though if you are fishing close in.

When fishing close in be carefull when you get a take.Lift in to the fish rather than striking and be ready for the fish to go ballistic!

Some people let them run and play them normal,others (especially if you are fishing near snags) prefer hit and hold tactics.Either way a soft rod helps.

cheers budgie and nigel ...colin