Carp LeadsAnglers often go to extremes not to lose their leads when fishing, but this whole concept works against them because a carp will use the weight of the leads and the softness of mono lines to set a continual bounce on the line between the hook and the tip of the rod which can either snap the hook length or pull the hook.
Anglers are beginning to realise that heavier leads are needed to set the larger hook sizes to the bigger carp, but often do not realise that it is essential to drop the leads.  The use of larger inline leads up to 5oz can cause problems;  when the carp is hooked and the angler lifts into it and tightens down, the lead can travel along the leaders and become trapped at the knot between the leader and mainline, which again can pull the hook or snap the hook length undoubtedly causing mouth damage.
Leads can become trapped for several reasons;
  • when the loop on the leader which attaches to the mainline is quite large
  • when leaders and leads are mismatched
  • when rubber beads and float stops are incorporated onto the leaders to act as a bolt effect
  • where the wrong swivel is being used into the lead, but which jams the lead on the swivel
  • where tungsten puttied leaders are used and being tightly pulled through inlines, these leads cannot then detach from the leaders
More and more double inline leads are being used which are not always safe even though they are supposed to release.  Anglers fishing a normal UK set up (see first photo of this article) will put a second lead behind the inline set up, passing the leader through that lead as well so that there are two captive leads on the leader.  The carp can end up dragging these double leads on a crack off or snap off, resulting in mouth damage and even death.
I am constantly thinking of ways to make rigs safer for the carp and came up with the idea for my Distant Piggyback Dropper when fishing larger lakes and rivers at a distance in France, where I have not been able to find a ready supply of large leads and because foreign leads have variable sizes of inner sleeves which do not necessarily fit UK swivels.
This set up works just as well on lakes where there might be high winds and waves and also on fast flowing rivers when even a 5oz lead does not hold bottom.  There seems to
Fishing Holiday at Vaux