Carp Catchers Blog

The Needle Knot is a very small neat knot used to tie a mainline to a leadcore leader. As for knot strength the needle knot rates at approximately 100%. The kneedle knot is the prefered knot when considering carp safety as due to its compactness it allows beads, hooklinks, rings etc. to slide of easily in the event of the mainline breaking. The Items you will need to tie this knot are leadcore in this instance I am using ESP Bulk Spool Leadcore  in the Choddy Silt colour, a largish sewing needle, a lighter, some scissors and your mainline obviously.

Step 1

Pull out an inch or two of the lead from the leadcore.

Step 2

Snip of the lead wire

Step 3

Insert the kneedle into the empty leadcore sheath and seal the fibres with the lighter to prevent fraying

Step 4

Thread your mainline through the kneedle and thread the kneedle through the leadcore and out of the side approx. half an inch in

Step 5

Pull the kneedle and mainline through the leadcore sheath

Step 6

Lay the kneedle alongside the leadcore sheath like so

Step 7

Whip the mainline around the leadcore and kneedle 5-6 times in the direction of mainline

Step 8

Thread the tag end of the mainline through the eye of the kneedle

Step 9

Pull the kneedle and tag end through the loops created by the whipping

Step 10

Moisten the knot then slowly pull the mainline and tag end in opposite directions to bed down the knot

Step 11

Carefully snip of the tag end

The Finished Kneedle Knot

Your knot should look even neater as I have used an extremely thick line for photographic clarity.

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Best fishes,

John�

Korda’s new range has at last arrived. The new Adrenaline carp mainline looks really good, it very limp straight off the spool so it should cast really well. The Adrenaline also has a very subtle brownish shading which changes tone every so often to help break up the contours of the line. These changes in tone should help to blend the line in with the lakebed and fool those wary carp. The New Korda Choddy Hooks  look ideal for the now famous chod rig and also the hinged stiff rig. The Kurv Hooks have been designed for those of you who don’t like using shrink tube to flip the hook over in the carps mouth. Both hooks are Teflon coated to prevent glint in bright conditions which should hopefully help disguise your rigs. The korda holiday Guide kit or Book will be useful to those of you planning your first carp fishing holiday abroad. Another pukka new bit of kit is Korda Drop Zone Marker Kit , this kit complete comes with two unique leads which look like they will be ideal for those of you feature finding on weedy waters.

Best fishes,

John

Here’s the final two pictures from Adams great french catch they weighed 46lb 2oz & 37lb 5oz respectively. Adam landed all his carp on P Line Fluoroclear Mainline which we supplied to him recently. The venue was Maison Du Lac Blue. Well done again Adam and thanks for the photo’s and catch report.

Best fishes,

John

New products are coming in all the time here’s a rundown of some of them. The new Tactical Photo-Chromic��Range of Terminal Tackle is in at long last�and very impressive it looks too! pop in and have a look see. ESP have brought out some nice little items. Their Bulk Spool Leadcore now comes in weedy green, choddy silt and sandy gravel as well as the original camou. ESP have also released a new Crystal Carp Mono Mainline�which looks great. Finally from ESP come in and check out their v. chic Urban Hoody and Camouflage Polarised Sunglasses. On the bait front we have the new Dynamite Baits�Fresh Prawn range of Boilies and attractors which are made from fresh liquidised prawn instead of eggs, the Monster Tiger Nut and Source Stick Mixes are also in.�We’ve also�got some of�the Baitcraft T1 Freezer Boilies as well as the Cow Cola which smells awesome a real Carp catcher this one methinks. Mark Mckenna who owns Baitcraft has been�doing a series of articles in Carpworld and very informative they are too, if you get some time give them a read.

For those thinking of buying new Carp Rods in the near future an understanding of test curves may be of help. Carp Rods normally have test curves of 2.5lb, 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.5lb there are others but these are the most common. So if a Carp Rod has a test curve of 3lb what does this mean? The test curve, in this instance 3lb, is the amount of weight needed to bend the Rod tip round to a 90 degree angle whilst the Rod is being held horizontally. The test curve of the Rod is usually used as a measure of stiffness of the Rod Blank and consequently its’ casting capabilities. As a basic starting point the stiffer the Rod the further it should cast. There are other things to take into account though before splashing out on those lovely new Carp Rods. The first thing to consider is your casting ability and also your ability to compress a Rod to its’ fullest extent. When a Carp Rod is fully compressed on a cast it is at its’ maximum backward arc and allows the furthest distance to be obtained. So if you can’t fully compress rods of 2.5lb test curve then it’s pointless buying rods with a 3lb rating. The other important point to consider is the Action of your new Carp Rod and I will explain its’ importance in a future blog. I hope this has been of some help to those of you new to Carp Fishing.

Best Fishes,

John

In the last blog I suggested that now would be a good time to change your Mainline in preparation for your first session of the year, but which one should choose? There are a number of factors to take into consideration, due to the cooler temperatures of winter the presence of weed should be minimal so out and out tugging line probably won’t be needed. The cooler temperatures will also kill off most of the micro organisms and algae, this results in the water�becoming gin clear. Another consequence is the metabolism of the Carp and silver fish population slows down so they do not root about in the silt as much as they do in the summer, this further contributes to the water being crystal clear. We therefore need a line that is not easily visible to the Carp.��Fluorocarbon Mainline fits this bill admirably as it has the same Light Refractive Index as water. What this means�is that light passes through the fluorocarbon line at the same rate as it does through water, making it virtually invisible.�Fluorocarbon has further advantages for Carp Fishing, it has much less stretch than mono mainlines making it much better for bite registration. This�can be of particular benefit at this time�of year as the Carp havn’t fully woken up yet and bites can be very timid so bite registration is of paramont importance if we want to catch these crafty critters. Fluorocarbon is also much heavier than nylon line so it’s really good for�those of you who like to fish slack lines, but bear in mind my comments regarding timid bites.�Another advantage is that Fluorocarbon is impervious to water�making knot strength more reliable, it also�does not deteriorate due to the effects of�sunlight so it can last longer than Mono Mainline�

Happy Fishes,

John

With the recent spring like�sunshine and mild weather many of you who prefer not to fish during the cold weather will be dusting off your�Carp Rods� and thinking of your first carp fishing session of the year. Now is the time to thoroughly check all of your tackle. Check that your reels are still whisper smooth if not give them a thorough clean and a little oil. Check that you have all the terminal tackle that you need and tie up a few fresh rigs ready for the off. Give your rucksack and carryalls a good sorting out so that you are not carrying a lot of unwanted tackle and rubbish around with you. One of the most Crucial things you should do is change your Mainline, if its been on the reel for 3 months or more definitely�change it�(unless its braided mainline). You do not want lose the fish of a lifetime or any fish for that matter for the sake of a few Pounds.�The majority of Carp�Fishing�Mainlines cost less than the price of most day tickets so don’t fall at the first hurdle.