Carp Catchers Blog

The Seaguar knot was specifically designed for attaching fluorocarbon to monofilament. Fluorocarbon has become very popular in recent years with carp anglers due to its sinking and invisibility properties when submerged in water. However fluorocarbon has a very poor tolerance for incorrectly used and poorly tied knots. The Seaguar knot forms a reliable connection between fluorocarbon and monofilament, is easy to tie and the finished knot is neat and does not compromise the strength of either material.

Below are two ideal products for tying fluorocarbon leaders with.

Korda IQ Fluorocarbon

Step 1.

Hold the monofilament and fluorocarbon leader together.

Step 2.

Form a large loop in the leader and mainline.

Step 3.

Twist both loops anticlockwise three times.

Step 4.

Pass the tag end and the entire leader through the loop.

Step 5.

Moisten and pull all four ends to tighten. Trim the tag ends and your done.

Give it a go.

Tight Lines

Dave

This Spool knot is very simple to tie and is used to attach your mainline to your spools before you refill your reels.

Step 1

 Pass a loop of line around your spool.

Step 2

Now pass the free tag end over and around the line, creating a loop.

Step 3

Then wrap the tag end 3 times around the line, closing the loop.

Step 4

Now pass the tag through the loop created above the twist of line.

The picture below illustrates what the knot should now look like.

Step 5

Moisten the knot and gently tighten down.

Step 6

Now keeping the line moist slid the knot tightly up against the spool. You are now ready to reattach your spool and start loading your new line on.

Tight Lines

Dave

Here’s a handy little tip for getting really neat knots. Instead of using saliva to bed down knots use a dab of Lipsalve which is easily obtainable in chemists or supermarkets and comes in handy tackle box size containers. It will give you a much tighter knot with no line burns or pig tails.

Best Fishes,

John

Running rigs are very over looked these days by the majority of carp anglers but if used correctly they can improve your catch rates in the right situation. They are advantageous in that they will give you indication as soon as the bait has moved rather than when the lead moves. Fished with slack lines the running rig setup will give you good indication before the line has even tightened. It also means that if your mainline breaks the lead will be released easily.

For this demonstration I used Korda Safe Zone Sinking Rig Tubing, Korda Safe Zone Run Rig Rubbers, Korda Size 8 Swivels, Korda Ring Clips, Korda Silicone Sleeves and a Korda Pear Lead.

Step 1.

Thread your mainline through your desired length of rig tubing.

Step 2.

Now thread your mainline through the ring on one of the Korda Ring Clips.

Step 3.

Then thread on the Korda Run Rig Rubber and push the rig tubing into the narrow end of the rubber.

Step 4.

With the tag end of you mainline tie a Palomar knot. Double over the tag end and pass it though the eye of a size 8 swivel.

Now tie an overhand knot with the doubled over section of your mainline.

Then pass the swivel through the loop created by doubling over the mainline.

Moisten the knot and tighten it down gently before trimming the tag end.

Step 5.

Pull the swivel inside the Run Rig Rubber.

Step 6.

Now push a silicone sleeve over the swivel of your choosen lead and hold it down so the top eye of the swivel is exposed.

Step 7.

Clip the lead onto the ring clip.

Step 8.

Now slide the silicone sleeve back up over the eye of the swivel and over the ring clip.

Notice how the eye of the swivel attached to the lead has been left exposed, this is to allow the setup to lie flat on the lake bed.

To change to lead all you have to do is slide the silicone sleeve back down and swap the leads.

All that is left to do is attach your rig by either using a Korda Kwik Link or tying it directly to the swivel.

Give it a go.

Dave

This Carp Catchers Blog is going to show how to tie the 5 Turn Twice Through The Eye Clinch Knot. The Clinch Knot is an improvement on the blood knot. It was devised by carp fishing pioneer Jim Gibbinson and is a real belt and braces knot. The 5 turn clinch knot is normally used to attach swivels but there is no reason it could not be used to attach hooks. Ok carp catchers lets get started.

Step 1

Thread your line through the swivel

Step 2

Thread it through again

Step 3

Pull the tag end through about 6” from the swivel and lay alongside the mainline or hooklink

Step 4

Whip the tag up over the mainline or hooklink back towards the swivel as per photo. Do this 5 times

Step 5

Tread the tag end through the loop created at the swivel end

Step 6

Thread the tag end through the loop created at the opposite end to the swivel

Step 7

Moisten and carefully bed down the knot. Cut off tag end

                                                                                      5 Turn Clinch Knot

Best fishes,

John

One of the problems with using leadcore is the size of the knot used to attach it to the mainline. In a previous blog I showed you how to tie a proper needle knot, which is an extremely small and strong knot. In this blog I am going to show you a very good alternative devised by Keith Moors. Keith used to write for the mags in this country before he bought a carp fishery in France and moved there. Anyway on with the demo.

These are the components used to tie the knot.

I’ve used the ESP Bulk Spool Leadcore  in sandy gravel as I find it really easy to work with. I’ve used the Korda Fine Baiting Needle because it has a really wide body which helps to stretch out the leadcore sheath making easier to thread things through.

Step 1

Pull out about 2 inches of the lead

Step 2

Trim off the lead

Step 3

Singe the end of the leadcore sheath with a lighter to stop the sheath fraying.

Step 4

Loop the end of your mainline

Step 5

Trap the loop in the needle and close the latch of the needle

Step 6

Pull the looped mainline through the leadcore sheath, it should look like this

Step 7

Thread the end of the leadcore down through the loop

Step 8

Pass the leadcore over the bottom part of the loop

Step 9

Thread the leadcore over and under the top part of the loop

Step 10

Thread the leadcore over and under the top part of the loop again

Step 11

Gentley tease down the knot, then pull down tight

Step 12

Pull back the leadcore sheath to expose the tag end

Step 12a

Snip off the tag end

Step 14

Let the sheath go and you have your finished leadcore leader knot. Small, strong and unobtrusive!

Best fishes

John

The Albright Knot is the perfect knot for joining mono to braid, which makes it the ideal knot for combi link rigs or leaders. Below is a step by step photographic sequence showing how to tie The Albright Knot.

Step 1

Form a loop in your mono or fluorocarbon.

Step 2

Thread your braid through the nylon loop

Step 3

Whip the braid around the nylon going away from the loop about 5-6 turns. if you

are a belt and braces person you can whip another 5-6 turns going back towards

loop but I have never found it necessary. The version shown makes for a neater

more unobtrusive knot.

Step 4

Thread tag end of the braid back through the nylon loop the same way it came in

Step 5

Gently tease the knot together

Step 6

Bed the knot down tightly, it is probably best not to moisten this knot before tightening

Step 7

Trim tag ends

Step 8

The finished Albright Knot.

Best fishes,

John

Tying a pop-up to a D-ring is sometimes necessary when using pop-ups which lose their buoyancy if pierced with a baiting needle. A lot of anglers just don’t have the confidence to tie pop ups because they feel the pop ups may come off on the cast. But if you use the slip knot demonstated below there should be no danger of them coming off . The Bait Floss used in this demonstration was the ESP Bait Floss.

Step 1.

Remove about 4 inches of Bait Floss from the spool and form an overhand loop. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Now form another smaller overhand loop inside that and pass the tag end through both. (See pictures below)

Step 3.

Tighten the smaller loop to form a knot this will now have formed a slip knot with the bigger loop. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Place your chosen pop up inside to loop and slowly tighten it down until it grips the bait, then tighten it fully making sure it tightens down into the pop up. If the pop ups your using are not soft enough for this to happen I find it helps to make a small groove in the pop up for the bait floss to sit in. (See picture below)

Step 5.

Now tie the bait to your rig with 3-4 overhand knots and blob the tag ends with a lighter being careful not to burn the rig or your fingers. (See picture below)

The bait should now be secure enough to stay on your rig for the entire period it’s in the water, give it some practice so you’re confident enough if you have to do it on the bank.

Tight lines

Dave

Some interesting news for those of you experiencing problems with knots for fluorocarbon. One of the big American line manufacturers has done some research on knots and fluorocarbon. They found that one of the most popular and strongest knots the palomar, weakened fluorocarbon by up to 30%. Gardner Tackle who have considerable knowledge on fishing lines, suggest using the blood knot, which is usually considered one of the weakest fishing knots. So you might want to consider doing some knot tests yourselves armed with this information.

Best fishes

John

The Leader used in this demonstation is the ESP Tapered Shockleaders tied using the Mahin Knot.

Step 1.

Form a small overhand loop with the shockleader. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Now pass your mainline through the loop. (See picture below)

Step 3.

Then whip the mainline 7 times up the leader. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Now whip the mainline 6 time back the other way and pass it back through the overhand loop. (See picture below)

Step 5.

Moisten the line thoroughly and slow tighten it down so it forms a nice neat knot and trim the tag ends. (See picture below)

The shockleader is now ready to use, the knot needs to be atleast 3 turns onto the spool with the knot positioned at the bottom of the spool to avoid it getting snagged on the cast.

Tight Lines

David