Normally by early January the leaves have fallen water plants and weed are dying off the water is very clear.
The best tactics to adopt are the use of flourocarbon combi rigs. The invisible boom section should be 16.5cm with a front section of braid 4cm long which is attached by a loop to loop knot for extra strength.
Hook bait needs to be highly scented to attract fish. I use peppermint & garic or indian spice either as a pop up or in a snowman style presentation and attached to inline lead. (e s p have an excellent range of these leads )To be sure that the bait slowly sinks.
Present in a PVA bag with PVA foam nuggets inside it to aid this style of presentation. The bag will sink slowly and the hook will not be snagged on debris.
We have a strong and reliable range of snag hooks and flourocarbon booms which are fused for extra strength not knotted.
This season we have developed a ronnie rig style fused flourocarbon boom which is very strong and used by many of the guys on european snaggy waters especially on the famous rainbow complex. They are equally good on British waters. This rig sits attractively on the bottom and gently wafts around
The hooks best used are cru centurion, continental snag hook or the new Ats predator hook which has the smallest barb on a carp hook produce.
It is hardly visible but can be snapped off cleanly if a bailiff insists on a completely barbless shank. Flourocarbon is without doubt the deadliest tool for this style of fishing.
