Cundiff Q&A Spring 2016

Q&A WITH JULIAN CUNDIFF

Q&A should I be using Q When slack lines and when do

Julian Cundiff

Medium range and bobbins adjusted accordingly

they need to be tight?

JOHN TREVETT, MACCLESFIELD When wrote my first major book Practical Carp Fishing in 1993 I spent time discussing this very point and here we are 22 years later and despite all the advances in tackle and thinking my opinion is still pretty much the same. The closer in you fish the slacker the line can be. Note I said can rather than should be. Carp on most waters know they are being fished for, anything we can do to make them less wary is advantageous. A line that stands out, collects detritus and is very visible is not likely to aid your chances so tight lines can act against you.

Carp on most waters know they are being fished for, anything we can do to make them less wary is advantageous.

MARGIN FISHING

MEDIUM RANGE 10-50 YARDS

OVER 50 YARDS

Totally slack lines. The rod tips are well back and the line literally hangs from the rod tips so that the Diffusion leader is flat. The lightest Optic head is just sat up on my rod mat. Any movement will register usually a screaming take.

Lines moderately slack. Tighten the line carefully then put the rod on the buzzer and pay off line until a medium Optics bobbin hangs an inch above the rod mat. Any movement will have the bobbin shooting up or down and registering on the R3. I call this my slightest touch setup.

Lines tighter, with a larger Optics head and a drop of two or three inches maximum. At 90 yards or more the lines are bowstring tight, the rods pointing directly at the end tackles and the heaviest Optics I have will be almost tight to the rod blank.

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NASH E-ZINE SPRING 2016 worried about PVA Q I’m going snotty and not dissolving. What can I do?

LUKE HICKSON, ELY Although I’m a big fan of PVA the advantages of it are negated when it is used incorrectly. The honest advice is that not all PVA is the same and it is worth getting a variety of bags and seeing which dissolve best in cold water. That also applies to PVA tape and string too.

Simply run a bowl of cold water and do some tank tests. It’s amazing how some do break up as advertised and some quite frankly are rubbish. The new Webcast PVA mesh coming from Nash is very good in cold water so keep an eye out for it!

How well does your PVA dissolve? The new Webcast is brilliant when temperatures are still low

If you are using bags or sticks as much to reduce tangles as anything else try using foam nuggets – they are great with single hookbaits. In warmer water I squeeze the ends of two nuggets around the hook and as the water forces its way up the centre it pushes the nuggets apart and off.....bingo. However in very cold water they can stick too well and go mushy. At this time of year put the PVA nuggets in a PVA mesh bag by pushing two nuggets into a loading tube and carefully knot both ends. I then nick the hook point through the outer mesh and cast it out.

You have the buoyancy of two nuggets but the tiny bit of mesh your hook point is through soon dissolves in the coldest of conditions and up pops your nugget bag.

No tangles, something to bait up to and a perfectly presented rig over any bottom.

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Julian’s Snotty PVA Solution

1

Push two dissolving nuggets down the Webcast loading tube and carefully out the bottom without compressing them.

2

Knot tightly behind the nuggets and snip the foam ‘bag’ off. You can prepare several in advance if you keep them dry.

3

Nick the hook point through a couple of the fine fibres of the Webcast mesh in the centre of the bag before casting.

4

The foam bag keeps the link off the lake bed and when it breaks away it takes the PVA residue with it and allows the rig to settle perfectly over any bottom.

5

When the nuggets surface you have a visual target for free offerings if you want to put any over your hookbait.

Q&A WITH JULIAN CUNDIFF a shift worker, is it worth me fishing mornings Q I’m in the spring or not?

If your time is limited pick a venue carefully for the best chance of action

NEILL ENSON, KNOWLE The honest answer is that it depends on the water you are fishing and picking the right water for the time you have available – it’s called smart angling. Full time carp anglers, or those that have the ability to pick and choose when they go fishing don't have that issue and they can literally wait it out. On some waters it can be midday which is not much use when you and I are at work! So if you are restricted to mornings you need to pick your venue wisely. If it’s a productive water like Chestnut, Drayton or Brasenose then most times of the day and night will be good for a bite and it’s a case of getting in the right areas for a morning bite. When I fished Lakeside and Strawfields 7-9 am was good for a bite BUT only in the right swim. So my advice is UNLESS you know your local water produces in the morning then look for more of an action water. Then you still need to be in the right swim. A few mornings of looking and listening will soon give you the clues you need.

If you are restricted to mornings you need to pick your venue wisely

like the idea of dips Q Ibut surely they wash off the bait as the rig sinks?

JASON PADWICK, WAKEFIELD A lot depends on which dip and how long the hookbaits have been in soak and what they are added to. Last spring to autumn I used the awesome 4G Squid and all my hookbaits were left soaking in the 4G Liquid Bait Soak. The pop ups and balanced baits were hand made in early spring and all were glazed in it and have been ever since. All I did was add some of the dip to half of the pop ups and bottom baits in March and gave the bag a good rattle until most of the dip was soaked up. I didn’t want them soaking in it but glazed in it.

As my pop ups and balanced baits have been used up I simply add a few more unsoaked ones to the glugged bag. Occasionally I add a bit more glug but by and large not a lot more. These glugged ones really do work better than unsoaked ones I’ve found. Even when wound

in after an overnighter if squeezed my hookbaits still leak out the glug.

So picking the right dip for the right bait goes a long way to giving the most powerful, attractive hookbait.

Get them soaking now and you will have a big edge over the angler next door who probably only does his the day before. This year the only difference is I will be soaking baits with the Key Liquid Bait Soak rather than the 4G Squid, the principle remains exactly the same. I have no doubt a dip used correctly is a big help, but remember there’s also the option of Cultured Hookbaits that are surrounded by the slow

breakdown culture skin to boost the smell, taste and food signals around the hookbait without needing any dipping in liquids at all. I’ll be using them a lot this year as well!

Cultured Hookbaits – localised attraction and no liquid or dipping required

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Q&A WITH JULIAN CUNDIFF

can I conceal my Q How mainline better if I don’t like backleads?

Diffusion Camo leaders help keep everything sat down on the bottom

JIM LEWES, PORTSMOUTH Carp on most waters know they are being angled for a lot of the time. This puts them on their guard and anything we can do to reduce this fear factor helps.

Having a mainline high in the water does not help in any way shape or form. Not only does it stand out when tightened too but as suspended silt and weed drifts into it then it looks more like a washing line than carefully concealed fishing line.

Fishing your line slack is a big advantage in that it keeps the line on the bottom NOT above the lakebed. Not only can the visual effect spook the carp but if they catch it with their fins they do panic and swim off.

Believe me I have seen it happen many times. So slack lining helps providing your line is not inherently buoyant as some sadly are. I love my fluorocarbon as it sinks like a brick, hugs the bottom and is out of harm’s way. However it’s not the best choice in all waters and sometimes you need a monofilament and the Nash D-Cam also sinks brilliantly and the colouration of it helps blend it in. Keeping your rod tips low and pointing directly at the end tackle helps and avoiding

I love the Diffusion Camo Leaders which naturally sink and are soft and mean that the three feet zone around the hookbait does not have a thick dark line going into it.

very heavy bobbins stops the line being tightened and lifted off the deck. I love the Diffusion Camo Leaders which naturally sink and are soft and mean that the three feet zone around the hookbait does not have a thick dark line going into it. Keeping your line clean by wiping it with a tissue when you wind in helps too. I put a tissue in my right hand around the mainline between reel and butt ring. Winding in under firm pressure doesn’t half clear a lot of crud from your line. All these little tips do make a difference when added up and make that mainline a lot less visual which can only help.

PS I don’t like back leads either!

JULES’ TOP TIP Spring is very much the time for one bait or just a handful in the right place. Each water can have its own patterns but 30 years fishing hard in the Spring has taught me that one of the most consistent places for early action is around marginal reedbeds.

Carp love to hold up in reeds, they offer some of the first natural food larders and when the sun shines each of those stems is spreading warmth into the surrounding water. Any reedbed getting early spring sun is a great daytime area for a bite.

Remember to ensure your end tackle is strong enough and your rods are locked in place securely!

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