Help and advice wanted to returning Angler

[Buffers]

Hi All,

Its a good thirty years or so since I last picked up a rod and reel, my children have got me back into fishing having wanted to learn themselves. And things have certainly moved on a bit especially in the carp world, boilies etc etc.

I purchased for myself a Wychwood rogue rod and a red wolf reel the reel came with line on the spool, 10lb .

I have been out fishing twice this weekend, to the lower pond at longleat and the some local lakes to home, teeming with carp.

Could anyone advise/help with the following questions?

a) On both occasions I used a waggler with sweetcorn, using No10 hook. On both occasions had several good strong bites and on striking either the fish fell off, the float came flying out of the water with no fish or on one occasion just broke the line. What am I doing wrong?

b) On the second occasion some guys were catching good size fish on nothing but floting dog biscuits, how is this set up i.e do you need any additional weight on the line to get some distance, whats a pellet band do and how do you use it?

c) how do you stop the line curling off the spool even when the bail arm is set?

d) I used weights on either side of the waggler float after several casts the float had moved the weights down the line, is this normal? had I not squashed the weights on the line enough or does this weaken the line, is theer another method to secure the float in place other than a float rubber?

e) The children were given 4.0m whips and preston rigs at a recent environment agency family fishing week, we tried them out at Longleat, they both had big bites and both rigs snapped, we were told to just tie the rig line to the eye at the end of the whip is that correct or is there a better method? They semed to fail on the one of the two loops at the end of the rig?I guess they need stronger lines though?

Many thanks if you can help

kind regards

[BiGmIkE']

hi, good on ya for gettin back in to the game and heres a few suggestions on ur quieries...1) try putting ur sweetcorn on a hair rig and or try not to strike TOO early and fast.
2)floating dog buiscuits is as simple as it sounds ...on the buisness side try to use use 4lb line and a size 6 hook...the night b4 you go fishing soak some dog buiscuits (mixers) in water for 2 minutes then empty the water and leave them to air out over night...when u arrive at ur pond tie on aur size 6 hook and hook on a dog buiscuit so tht an edge of the buiscuit is in the curve of the hook then sneak up on some nearby carp (within castingdistance) and throw in about 5-6 freebies when the carp are confidently taking cast above them and throw in 4 more freebies near your bait and you should hopefully catch .
3)make sure u dont have a baitrunner on or ur tension knob on the bottom is tight this shud not let any line run off.
4)try using drennans puddle chucker floats as they simply clip onto your line.
5)ask at ur local tackle shop for assistance with elasticating your whips.

[Norfolkboy]

Hi and Welcome to the forum

A) It happens to a lot of us...missed bites! Make sure your hook point is exposed when putting the sweetcorn on...I would say use a hair rig like Mike says, but if you're a beginner, it may be a bit complicated to start with.

B) Dog biscuits are great in summer months when carp are cruising on the surface. You can just freeline them (no float, shot etc.. just a hook) I'd go for a size 10 or 8. You can glue the biscuits to the shank of the hook, soak them and put them on, hair rig them or use a bait band. What I've been doing lately is using a liquid colouring and then they can be perfectly hooked with no mess and they stay on.

C) If I were you I'd replace the line...it shouldn't coil off!!! Most reels that come with line on are ok, but the line is always cheap. Buy some Daiwa Sensor, it's only 6.99 for over 1000m of line. Re-spool your reel and it shouldn't coil off if put on quite tightly.

D) By the sounds of things, you weren't pinching the shot on hard enough. It will damage the line if you move them up and down the line while they're still pinched on, so if you want to re-set the floats depth, un-pinch them off, move your float up then pinch them on again..

[Omahayank]

Hey from across the deep and welcome.
I can't be of much help w/ most of your questions, but, I do know the answer to "C". Norfolkboy is right. New quality line is ALWAYS going to help any situation, it can even make up for less expensive gear (read=like mine) I would recomend Berkly Trilene XL or XT. But thats a personal preference...every member of this forum will have his own, you will find yours too.
Good luck and Good fishing