For me here at Oakwood good carp care is vitally important. We owe it to our beloved carp to fish responsibly, handle, treat and release them in the safest way possible so they always remain in the best health, ensuring they always live to fight another day. Whether it’s a 10lb carp or a 40lb carp they should all be treated in the same way, as some of the little ones will one day become the ones we are after!
Rough coated or smooth leads?
Good carp care first applies to sensible fishing and using safe rigs. Tubing on the main line can help prevent scales being removed during the fight which could lead to infection and more fish friendly hooks patterns is a good place to start along with lead coatings.
“Lead coatings” I hear you say, during the last few years I swapped lead manufacturer. I was using the smooth coated leads but was fishing a sandy, gravel bottomed lake at the time so needed something different to blend in. Off I went to the local tackle shop and purchased some great looking leads that matched the bottom perfectly, rough coated ones.
I set about my fishing and started to catch my quarry. Now when I have a carp in the net I always bite my line and remove the lead before I lift the carp out of the water and I started to notice that the leads were covered in fish mucus. I watched this over a period of time and it was clear that the rough coating was removing the carp’s natural protective layer. To what extent I don’t know but food for thought as this is clearly not a good thing! I have now changed back to the smooth ones because of this.
Clips may need to be opened slightly first so the lead can release easily.
There’s has been a multitude written on various rigs over the years so I will let you decide which one you choose, you just need to make sure everything releases properly so the carp is not left towing around anything except the hook link should the mainline break. Leads, beads, rig tube and anything else used should drop off the main line easily.
Developments in angler’s rigs and in the rig components used have advanced enormously in recent years. Lead release clips are great but make sure you wet the tail rubber before casting out and don’t wedge them on too tight otherwise it won’t do the job it was meant for! The tail rubber also accepts rig tube which creates a nice simple, no tangle rig and if you dab a little superglue on the end of the rig tube before you insert it into the tail rubber this will ensure it does not ride up the mainline during the battle.
Personally I’m not a fan of leaders unless absolutely necessary. In some situations they are required, such as fishing over high gravel bars etc, to avoid cut offs continue reading…
