Tight or slack ?

When I fish the method i tighten up so there is a tiny bend in the tip this lets me see the liners etc but also if you get a sharp pull but no bite , to me it usually indicates that the bait has come off.

Watching a video with Steve Ringer on the Guru site he recommends fishing a slack line to avoid spooking the fish , this makes sense but what do you guys do ?

Invariably those slow pulls on the tip are liners. Fish wallowing against your line. On the method feeder in those circumstances I fix a 5g olivette 3 or 4 ft from the feeder to sink the line behind it. If I still get liners I come shorter until I hopefully find the culprits.....

peter crabtree said:

Invariably those slow pulls on the tip are liners. Fish wallowing against your line. On the method feeder in those circumstances I fix a 5g olivette 3 or 4 ft from the feeder to sink the line behind it. If I still get liners I come shorter until I hopefully find the culprits.....

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Thanks - have to get some of those , good tip Peter.

Tight definitely. But agree the line needs to be pinned down, I use a small flying backlead from Korda. They are simple to use and really affective - good luck!

Tight but with a length of anti-tangle tubing that has a small weight at the reel end. If things get tough then I might go slack and watch the bow in the line for indications.

I've never fished the method but I have fished a slack lines for big carp and the method, to my eyes, seems a scaled down version of a big carp rig.

It takes a leap of faith to fish a slack line as it makes no sense how the rig manages to actually hook the carp as there is no weight to set the hook, as it has to be fished running rig style. Infact I would go so far as to say that a slack line goes against the perceived widom of the weight setting the hook. However it works brillantly, the runs are simply fantastic and liners are a thing of the past. I'd be slightly worried about fishing a slack line with a quivertip unless I'd slackened the drag off.

Honestly it works, give it a go

stillwater blue said:

It takes a leap of faith to fish a slack line as it makes no sense how the rig manages to actually hook the carp as there is no weight to set the hook, as it has to be fished running rig style. Infact I would go so far as to say that a slack line goes against the perceived widom of the weight setting the hook.

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Most slack lining I've ever seen, full on carping or match style method feeder, does rely on the rig being semi-fixed and the weight at least pricking the fish and causing it to bolt. A running rig may well work, but I'd doubt its efficency on waters where the stock density is more natural, where the fish are a bit wiser than average, or at any real distance.

I tend to slacken off my line when fishing the method and also when using a bmb and bait with pva bag

stillwater blue said:

I've never fished the method but I have fished a slack lines for big carp and the method, to my eyes, seems a scaled down version of a big carp rig.

It takes a leap of faith to fish a slack line as it makes no sense how the rig manages to actually hook the carp as there is no weight to set the hook, as it has to be fished running rig style. Infact I would go so far as to say that a slack line goes against the perceived widom of the weight setting the hook. However it works brillantly, the runs are simply fantastic and liners are a thing of the past. I'd be slightly worried about fishing a slack line with a quivertip unless I'd slackened the drag off.

Honestly it works, give it a go

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Yes that is my problem it seems counter intuitive , also you wouldn't know whether you had been "done" by the carp spitting the bait out.

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sam vimes said:

Most slack lining I've ever seen, full on carping or match style method feeder, does rely on the rig being semi-fixed and the weight at least pricking the fish and causing it to bolt. A running rig may well work, but I'd doubt its efficency on waters where the stock density is more natural, where the fish are a bit wiser than average, or at any real distance.

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Sam do you think that is true that fish on more naturally stocked lakes are a bit wiser than average ? Especially at the business end of fishing which is actual presentation.

Now in unntauraly stocked lakes , especially the ones I fish locating the fish is much less of a puzzle, I would have little idea how to solve that problem on a large natural lake and from reading your posts you tend to do a lot of stalking.

But I have dabbed for commercial carp quite a few times and been amazed at how quickly they can blow the bait out , it seems like almost a muscle reflex. Also I have sat most of a day on a commercial and missed every single bite till I switched to an extremely light float then I started converting bites into fish.

If you think about it if a commercial puddlle has 300 fish in and on average 10 anglers a day are catching 5 fish , then probably these fish are being caught once a week. Surely this fish would develop a reflex against the hook which is faster than a fish being caught once a decade ?

Now I am not saying catching commercial carp is more diificult , far from it , I would imagine they are much harder to locate , much more wary of noise , have many more places to escape to etc etc but how a natural fish can wise up to bait is beyond me.

An additional thought a "natural" fish would be conmsuming far more natural food so might be more wary of an artifical bait, still in the hypothetical circumstances we are talking about here both fish , natural and stocked , have already picked up the bait.

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Another additional thought , am I setting up my rig properly ?
I have hooklink , swivel , bead , feeder so the whole thing is free running anyway , should I be looking to make the feeder semi fixed ?

sam vimes said:

Most slack lining I've ever seen, full on carping or match style method feeder, does rely on the rig being semi-fixed and the weight at least pricking the fish and causing it to bolt. A running rig may well work, but I'd doubt its efficency on waters where the stock density is more natural, where the fish are a bit wiser than average, or at any real distance.

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Sam if you use a slack line, and I do mean slack, with a semi fixed weight and the carp comes towards you what indictation do you get? TBH it's a set-up where the indictation is masively comprised.

With a running rig if the carp comes towards you, as the lead stays in place the line flows through the lead so you get a positive indictaion. A running rig creates a more sensitive set-up than a fixed lead. As to what set the hooks, I honestly can't say, maybe water pressure on the line? I just know it works and it's very efficent, more so than you'd think.

Sam I've used the slack line running rig on completely wild naturally stock waters abroad, I fished with it on low stocked UK waters and I've fished with it on more heavily stocked commerical French venues. I don't doubt it's efficency but I have no idea why it works. I've never used it for 'match' sized carp only they're bigger brothers but I don't doubt it'll work.

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bennygesserit said:

Yes that is my problem it seems counter intuitive , also you wouldn't know whether you had been "done" by the carp spitting the bait out.

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Use a bit of silicon to trap the hair on the shank of the hook. If the silicon tube moves an you get no indication you've been done.

Yep, it's massively counter intuitive. It's a bit like plastic baits, you can read all about them but you still wonder until you try 'em.

bennygesserit said:

Another additional thought , am I setting up my rig properly ?
I have hooklink , swivel , bead , feeder so the whole thing is free running anyway , should I be looking to make the feeder semi fixed ?

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Completely free running if slack lining.

stillwater blue said:

Sam if you use a slack line, and I do mean slack, with a semi fixed weight and the carp comes towards you what indictation do you get? TBH it's a set-up where the indictation is masively comprised.

With a running rig if the carp comes towards you, as the lead stays in place the line flows through the lead so you get a positive indictaion. A running rig creates a more sensitive set-up than a fixed lead. As to what set the hooks, I honestly can't say, maybe water pressure on the line? I just know it works and it's very efficent, more so than you'd think.

Sam I've used the slack line running rig on completely wild naturally stock waters abroad, I fished with it on low stocked UK waters and I've fished with it on more heavily stocked commerical French venues. I don't doubt it's efficency but I have no idea why it works. I've never used it for 'match' sized carp only they're bigger brothers but I don't doubt it'll work.

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Exactly right, IMO. I will add if fishing a combi-rig in conjunction with a running rig, the carp find it even harder to rid themselves of the hook.

I always like to have a bit of a curve in the tip as lately I have been getting drop-back bites and slack-liners that have resulted in hook-ups. Plus it's probably a hangover from beach fishing where you always fish with tension to the rod tip.

When fishing on densely stocked commercial waters,its best to fish a slack line or pin it down to -A avoid lots of liners ,which maybe mistaken for a true bite and struck at,resulting in foul hooking...B-to stop the fish from spooking as they brush against it......bites will always be registered as a pull round,as the fish will hook itself against the weight of the feeder,and bolt.....Chef

Well im amazed how many people are using slack lines and back leads with quiver tips and method feeders.
I was thinking about it recently because on my carp rod i alwsys either fish slack lines or backleads to avoid tigbt lines cutting straight through the water for the carp to spook by either seeing or touching

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---------- Post added at 19:17 ---------- Previous post was at 19:15 ----------

and was thinking i maybe missing a trick on my quiver and was wondering why in hard conditions why matchmen dont back lead to increase the chance of a bite but maybe they were all along theres me thinking i was planning on trying something revolutionary lol

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---------- Post added at 19:21 ---------- Previous post was at 19:17 ----------

Only thing i do like about having a slight bend in my tip though is that my rod talks to me i can usually see when the fish are attacking the feeder by the knocks and nudges on the tip and this helps to dictate how often i feed and wether to stick to the same spot i wotldnt see any of this on slack line

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---------- Post added at 19:22 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

Thing is are people saying backleading / slacklining results in more bites otherwise theres little point doing it

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Also leaving the line slack ensures that the feeder does not move,once settled on the bottom,which is important,especially when fishing up far bank slopes,where there is a drop off.I always clip up and cast to exactly the same spot,having confidence that the fish are there or will move in is the key,if you keep casting to different spots you will never build up a swim,clipping up to islands is vital,to insure you never snag the feeder.....

Fishing the method or a pellet feeder or bango with the hook showing, hair or no hair, slack or not.

Don't matter how many liners you get, I just leave it until it goes, because 9 times out of 10 it will.

I'm refering to a commercial water with fish in, when feeding, they don't spook or spook for long

To be honest chefster i am pretty good on the method feeder and i purposely make my home made banjos on the heavy side 33grams with bait prob more than 2 ounces. And gently ever so carefully place my rod on my rest as if im trying not to drop and egg off my spoon in the egg and spoon race as i believe not moving the feeder after touch down is critical to success

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tonybull said:

Fishing the method or a pellet feeder or bango with the hook showing, hair or no hair, slack or not.

Don't matter how many liners you get, I just leave it until it goes, because 9 times out of 10 it will.

I'm refering to a commercial water with fish in, when feeding, they don't spook or spook for long

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OK so we dont need a forum now -We,ll just call it "Ask Tony":wh

And i always clip up and cast to the same spot but somedays after a certain amount of time you realise that maybe it isnt going to happen and after spotting a fish reluctantly change spots reclip and have gone on to catch from the new spot

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At the end of the day everyone just fishes with what there comfortable with doing,some are open to new ideas,some just carry on as they were.Personally as a match angler i am always looking to improve my catch rate,this often means listening a lot to other anglers and taking things on board