I have been using large pva sticks (35mm dia.) with heavy leads (5-8 oz.) on a lead clip due to the situation I have encountered on the river I am currently fishing. I have been catching well if I can keep the lead on when the rig hits the water. I have had the lead eject on impact, lead clip arms snapping off, and the body of the clip snapping using distance lead clips with a wire arm. I am slowing the cast down as it gets to the water's surface. I have tried smaller diameter sticks, has helped but seems to have reduced the number of takes. It has gotten to point where I am thinking about going to a running rig or an inline both of which I'd prefer not use due to snags present.

Wondering if you guys have any ideas or work arounds on how to resolve this issue.

What are you using to create pop-ups from your bottom bait base mix? I have settled on corkballs after trying cork granules and commercial pop-up mixes combined with my base mix. Are there any other options for turning my basemix into pop-ups that closely match my bottom boilies?

I have not used the helicopter rig much in my 30 years of carp fishing due to a few articles I read in magazines like CarpWorld, Total-Carp, etc. The articles talked about the rig causing poor hook holds and increased the chances of dropping fish during the fight. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with the rig, is there any truth in these articles?

In reply to Post #1
Like the others said, store them in a room with a stable temperature and out of the sun. I shake mine up every couple of days. I store mine in small paper bags (lunch size). I use my bottom bait mix but sieve out the bigger chunks for a smoother paste.

Any idea if a Shimano Big Baitrunner like LC14000 XTB Reel will cast as far as a Shimano Big Pit reel like Ultegra 14000XTE Reel if used with on the same set up - rods, line etc? Are the spools shaped differently?

In reply to Post #14
Yes, tigers help avoid the cats but does not deter the smaller carp. May try bunching 5-6 tigers on a hair and see it gets through to the larger carp.

In reply to Post #7
Kinda feel bad calling small carp nuisance fish lol.

In reply to Post #4
I really wish that was an option but with the number of small carp in the waters I fish I need to go with larger baits in an effort to keep the rods in the water long enough to get through to the larger fish in the shoals or the loners hanging around the edge of them. Don't get me wrong it's fun catching any size fish but there are times I want a nice lump in the net.

I am fishing for wild, unpressured carp and roll my own boilies, which I have settled on 18mm for the past 20 years. I have occasionally rolled 24 and 30mm baits in the past but have not done so in 8-10 years. I have been thinking about rolling bigger baits again but can only justify doing it for baiting at range with a stick. Do any of you guys who have fished the big Euro bodies of waters (lake, river, reservoirs, etc) have any thoughts on why bigger baits would be beneficial on wild waters? I don't have to deal with nuisance other than catfish which have as big, if not bigger mouths than the carp. Just want to make sure I'm not overlooking a good reason to have 24mm+ boilies on hand. Thanks guys.

Boilie rollers,

Have you noticed issues when rolling your boilies in a room with a temperature of 55F/13C or below? I roll mine in my basement but with the extreme cold we have been having here in NY that's what my basement is sitting at, its normally 60F/16C+. I rolled a mix I have been using for 20+ years, which normally rolls great, but this time I was having issues with the boilies "donutting". I dropped to smaller nozzles until I was making dumbells, only way I could stop the "donutting". Any thoughts on this?