Carp Fishing Top Tips For Braided Main Line

Carp Fishing Top Tips For Braided Main Line

By Henry de Beer 

 As there is almost zero stretch in braid the fight from a carp on braid (compared to monofilament) is unreal as the feelings transmitted through the braid are magnified 50 times over those of mono.
Some anglers are terrified that the hook is going to pop out at any given second and it can be a bit heart-stopping at first as you will feel every head-shake the carp makes.
Some suggest the use of a leader to help soften this.
Others disagree as they say that they always feel in complete control throughout the fight.

The main tip here would be to play the carp a bit more gingerly until you’re used to what you can, or cannot, get away with and try to keep a tight line on the fish all the time; this prevents any movement of the hook.
One thing you do have to watch is when tightening up after casting out; you have to do it much more gently than you would with mono. Because you are in direct contact with the lead and sudden movement can dislodge the lead, especially if you are fishing on the slope of an island or the side of a bar, you could even pull the rig from a clear spot into the weed.

If you are going for a big chuck and you hook it over, it will take skin off; so always use a finger guard (finger stall) or a Gardner Casting Glove for casting.

Make sure your rod is firmly anchored as some of the takes can be frightening; with rods pulled into the water if the baitrunner is set too tightly.

There are several kinds of braid available, but for long distance fishing (300 meters plus) buy a sinking braid, rather than a floating braid.

With floating braids you can ‘anchor’ the line (with the help of line weights such as captive backleads) below your rod tips (watch out for crabs; suspend slightly off the bottom) and at the region of your hook length (with the help of flying backleads) but most of the middle of the line will float on top off (or just below) the water surface; easily picked-up by trolling motors etc. on boats and canoes.
Sinking braids are very thin (compared to mono), yet extremely strong for its diameter and ideal for long distance fishing (300 meters plus) with bait boats or canoe; and although they are quite expensive, and spooling-up three big pit reels with braid will initially be a costly exercise, they could easily last you two or three seasons; much longer than mono. 

Henry de Beer

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Gardner Tackle Sausage Rolling Tables

Gardner Tackle Sausage Rolling Tables

Review by Henry de Beer

Made especially for Gardner’s Longbase Rolaballs (used to roll boilies), the Sausage Rolling Tables are double-sided, thus they enables you to roll and cut sausages in two different thicknesses; either 12/16mm, 14/18mm or 20/22mm. 

Quick and very simple to use (even with stiff mixes) the Rolling Tables does the job of producing perfect sausages – leading to consistently round boilies every time.

Form your boilie mix into a rough sausage and then place it on a smooth, flat surface like a table.

Using the correct side (for the size of boilies you are making), place the Rolling Table over the mix and slide from side to side, rolling the mix into a smooth, even shape. You should feel the Rolling Table moving down-wards as the sausage is formed to the correct size. When the Rolling Table cannot drop any further (and is dragging on the rolling surface) you know the sausage is the perfect thickness. Then all you need to do is trim the sausage to the required length (using the tables cutting edges) and then transfer it to your Rollaball Longbase to form the boilies.

Simple and easy!

For really large quantities I would recommend that you use Gardner’s giant rolling table called the Baitmaster Adjusta-Table that will roll sausages from 8mm up to 28mm. 

Some mixes have a tendency to expand at the sausage stage and this can affect the roundness of the finished bait. The Baitmaster Adjust-Table is provided with intermediate settings specifically to solve this problem. Simply turn the dials clock-wise one click from the required setting, e.g. if you want 18mm baits try the 17mm setting on these mixes.

Watch a movie on how the Gardner Tackle Sausage Rolling Tables work.

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Gardner Tackle Rig Handbook

Gardner Tackle Rig Handbook

‘The Ultimate Rig Guide’

Review by Henry de Beer

When times are hard and cash is far from easy to come by it’s always nice to get a freebie. So to help your angling improve and keep a bit of cash in your pocket, Gardner Tackle has nowreleased their own Rig Handbook. 

This handy 34 page booklet is packed full of useful hints and tips hints that will help everyone from beginners to experienced anglers improve their fishing.

‘The Ultimate Rig Guide’ features step by step instructions on how to put together 8 tried and tested hooking arrangements with info from numerous Gardner Tackle team members. 

This well illustrated rig manual is very handy to pop into your carryall or tackle box for short sessions, just to offer some on the bank advice when all else has failed. 

It also features some very useful sections describing different lead arrangements, and explaining when to use them. Plus loads of information on all of the Gardner Tackle hook patterns, rig materials and vital accessories that are required to make your rigs work and perform how they were designed to. 

So in the words of the Gardner Tackle Team ‘This booklet offers an invaluable (common sense) look at some of the most effective rigs available to both the carp and specimen angler and we know it will help our customers put more fish on the bank over the coming months’. 

You can pick up your FREE copy of the Rig Handbook ‘The Ultimate Rig Guide’ from HENKOR at 784 Trumper Street, Waverley, Pretoria. Tel: 012 3320179) or download a PDF e-version by clicking HERE

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