Essex-Fishing

LOL..the quotes are getting longer than the posts..
I never said carp without a curtain will die Just that if you DELIBERATELY attempt to hook them in the top lip and they do still have the curtain, then the hook is far more likely to find the curtain and you then have no hookhold.
Float fishing shallow?? Thought we were talking about floater fishing ?? And of course more of your surface caught fish will be top lip hooked, because you've designed a rig to hook them there
I'm not talking about lip damage, I dont think I even mentioned it. I said the bottom lip will give a better hookhold, so why persist in attempting to hook them in top lip.
I can see no valid reason for attempting to get the hook above the bait. They cannot see a hook sitting below a floating bait because its in thwe shadow of the bait, and all your actually doing is increasing the chances of a poor hook hold.
This is however all just my opinion, based on my fishing experiences and common sense and I'd be happy to hear other opinions too.

The Suncken Zig Is The Way forward boys

Insted of using a zig rig why not give a sub float rig ago they are alot easier to cast than zig rigs and can be fished in any depth of water. And the height that your presenting the bait at is easily changable with out recasting.

I think I`d better stop with the quotes

I`m sorry twads I misunderstand when you said bye bye fish.

My point about the float fishing shallow was to make the point that there are other rigs/setups which are designed to hook in the top lip. I`ve hooked thousands of fish in the top lip and managed to land 99% of them.

With regard to a topside hook. Its not the hook that is being hidden but the last bit of line before the bait. In the end I suppose its a trade of between getting more takes but maybe less hook holds if a curtain is present, or fewer takes and more chance of a hook hold. Although IMHO I think the disadvantage is minimal.

for those who are a fan of presenting the hook topside, you can buy imitation dog biscuits with a small shot in the bottom that outweighs the hook but without sinking the bait. i have used before and not 100% about it personally.

ben-magictoys - by sub float rig im guessin you mean dangling a sinking bait close to the surface using a float? if so, yes i have used before but i prefer the zig because it anchors the bait in position. with float/freelining the bait easily drifts way out 'the zone' lol

using the sub float rig above, instead of an actual float, i used imitation bread flake as a kind of disguise lol and dangled a small ball of bread below. i did manage a few fish aswell! : )

You Can just Fish The Biscuits On A Hair

you can indeed!

try soaking them in turkish delight flavouring (rose water i think!) and red food colouring. something different!

I do a few tricks to my mixers
and when i get the fish going on hard mixers
i start to introduce soft 1s that ive prepeard.

I agree Hogweed, the disadvantage is probably negligable in most cases. I just dont like disadvatages.

On the subject of presenting the bait with no line visible, somebody showed me a rig last year but not used it. He called it 'the snag rig'. Its an evolution of the beachcaster but requies no float and lead, but it does require overhanging bushes, pads , reeds or similar to be in the feeding zone.
Its basically a helicopter type set up with free running hoolink on the line ( or governed by float stops..) It has a weighted cork on the end instead of a lead, held in place with a simple overhand loop and bead or swivel which is attached to the cork end with a drawing pin.
The rig is cast into the bush, pads etc so the cork snags, then the rod tip is adjusted a la beachcaster till the bait just sits in the water, with the hooklink rising vertically from above it. When you get a take, the line is pulled from the cork, and the hooklink slides down to the swivel or bead, leaving with fish and nothing else on the line.
It has limited uses because it requires something to cast the weighted cork into, but in the right conditions is a killer.
The cork can be subsituted with legnths of cut down wooden broomstick handle if you want it to be harder to pull the drawing pin out.

hmmm..Suncken Zig Is the way forward
o---Bait popet up
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|---Flourocarben Hooklenth 3ft or so
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0---Inline Float
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0_________________________----------Line To Alarm
Lead on a run ring with beads/swivals


Just Used Like Maker Float Set Up

hmmmmnnnn that sound like a really good idea twadds, might try giving that a go at some point this summer. cheers.

Its good coz u can jus pop it up every hour or so or take it down to the level the carp are at

I have caught on the sunken float method, great for deep waters too....

loving the diagram there ; )