The Underwater films that Korda has been producing for well over a decade now have helped open our eyes to what goes on when our rigs are in the lake. Like the videos or hate them, there is no doubt they have helped anglers catch more carp.
In the latest feature film, Danny Fairbrass and Tom Stokes are fishing at Norton Disney, and the footage recorded was described by the team as the best and clearest film they have ever produced, with multiple carp being caught and rig mechanics being tested constantly.
Weighted hook
One of the biggest revelations from Danny's time on the rods was incorporating a weight on the hook. While this isn't an entirely new method, it certainly converted more pick-ups into hooked fish and is something we seldom see anglers using anymore.
So effective was the idea that Tom went to his tricky syndicate lake and banked three fish, including one that hadn't been caught off the bottom for over four years, a testament, he said, to how good adding a shot to the hook really is!
"That shot on the hook was a huge revelation," Tom revealed.
"Since the filming, if I'm fishing a clean, hard spot, I have got a shot on the hook!" he added.
"Straight pointed hook with a shot on it, the success rate was ridiculous," Danny said.
THE BEST CARP RODS WILL HELP YOU GET YOUR RIGS OUT WITH PINPOINT ACCURACY.
Lead setup
What lead and lead setup to use is something carp anglers will debate over until the end of time, but on the clear spot the lads were fishing, it was clear to see that the inline lead was the most efficient at hooking fish. Added to that was an anti-tangle sleeve to help kick the rig out away from the lead, and Danny seemed to have created a rig that was hooking far more fish than it was being ejected.
After the first day's filming, Tom had this to say:
"My rigs were nowhere near as efficient as I hoped they would be. I was using a helicopter setup, something I have loads of confidence in, but on this occasion, it wasn't the one."
MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE BEST BITE ALARMS TO ALERT YOU TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR SWIM.
Material and length
As we have learned from previous Underwater videos, the material your rig is constructed from and the length you choose can massively impact both how it behaves and how efficient it is at hooking fish.
In carp fishing, most people consider a rig length between 5-8 inches to be the most effective, but it has been proven that the shorter the hooklength you can use effectively on your chosen spot, the better it will be at hooking a fish. In fact, a very short three-inch rig, made completely out of stiff material, was far superior to anything else that was cast out.
"I've said it before on the Underwater series, most people use far too long a hooklink. That definitely hit home. I went from a 5-inch to a 3-inch, and the success rate was ridiculous."
"As far as we are concerned, for this type of clear spot and size of fish, the holy grail had been found."
IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST UNDERWATER FILM, YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE...
