The top change you can make to increase your chances of getting your target carp is always to sharpen your hooks, when you're carp fishing.

Why does it matter?

Because you take a fresh hook out of the bundle doesn't mean that it's sharp. If you don't believe me try this with another hook you take out of the packet:

• Take a jeweller's eye glass or loupe and with a steady hand, move the eye glass to within about 20mm of the hook point.

• Move it in and out to achieve focus and then shift your eye position in accordance with the glass to within 30mm to acquire a really close view.

• The lift level should come in perfect focus. You'll observe that the idea is actually circular!

What this implies is that, though the radius of the point is small, it will be simpler for the carp to eject the rig and it will raise the threat of a hook pull. Because of the constant degree of angling pressure, big carp in France are becoming extremely successful at eliminating stations, thus paying attention to your hooks is crucial. A sharp hook will enter the mouth of the carp better and features a better chance of sticking to the mouth when the carp attempts to eliminate the platform.

The solution: sharpen your hooks

Some organizations offer a full hook sharpening kit but you can perform the same results by putting together your personal kit which has to include:

* Jeweller's eye glass or loupe

* A hook hold

* An excellent record

* A refine

* Vaseline

How to sharpen your hooks

Step 1 - Utilize a hook clamp to keep the hook securely in position. You can use other clamping devices too such as for instance a tool maker's hold (your fingers or a couple of pliers won't be as much as the job!)

Step 2 - Working in individual strokes from right to left, work with a very fine record to check out the contours of the point. This will be achieved in a few gentle strokes. On examination, the 4mm roughly leading side of the point should appear fully gleaming and in the side the hook point should appear razor sharp with a few magnetised filing dust (don't check out the next phase until it is!)

Step 3 - Repeat the process (working in the same route as before) for each side of the hook until it's razor sharp when viewed from directly above with the spectacle. Use your hands or a cloth to wipe off excess filing debris.

Step 4 - Now take the hone which will work better if you dip it in water previous and during use. Follow exactly the same contours of the land while you did with the file in the three planes (top, left and right side). Inspect with the eye glass after you have honed each face with several strokes. You should accomplish a point that at 20x magnification is indeed sharp that the point disappears to nothing!

Step 5 - To try the sharpness of the carp rigs hook, carefully place the hook point against the end-of your finger and let go. The lift should be sharp enough to hold there all alone with or minus the weight of 2 x 20mm carp baits. Obviously it will do this having a blunt hook in case you stab it in your hand but it takes the very finest of points to complete this trick precisely by simply resting the point against it. Then it's not sharp enough If the land does not pass this test and you have to begin again.

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Step 6 - As this technique removes any coating that has been on the hook, we need to protect it against corrosion whilst in the water. A sharp hook would have been a blunt hook in a matter of hours with no anti-corrosion protection. Just apply a small amount of Vaseline on all sides of the point to guard it throughout fishing.

When you're out carp fishing, one of the problems you encounter is telling the difference between a big liner and an aborted take.

A typical scenario goes like this: you're patiently waiting for a carp to pick up your bait, and each of a sudden you get a flurry of beeps from your alarm or possibly even the end of one's rod begins to nod and you think you have a fish hooked. You're sure the lead has shifted and hurrying towards the rod you readily strike in to what you expect to be a huge carp however it actually turns out to be fresh-air. You wind in, frantically hoping to produce contact with the fish but to no avail, there's nothing at the end of one's line. You inspect the hook, then inspect the carp rig and wonder what happened. I recently created a method to enhance your carp rig that will tell you if you have had a large liner or an aborted take.

How to switch your carp platform

For sometime it is been widely recognized that introducing a little bit of silicon pipe to slide over the shank of the hook and capture the hair can be used as a telltale sign to indicate whether or not a carp has taken out the bait. Given that is all well and good, I have tried it but I have managed to move on. I am very happy with the performance of my carp platform and I do not desire to change the way it works. With my rig, when the carp accumulates the lead, shakes its head or goes off, the lead will fall off the silicon tube, slide down the road and become a running rig, ergo avoiding the carp from utilizing the lead to swing out the catch and providing you good bite indication no matter what way it swims.

So what I started doing recently is leaving the tail that is left after I have tied the 5 change double knot about 30-40mm long. I then slide the silicon tube over the end of the eye of the swivel which pushes the tail forwards towards the swivel. Once I'm all set and ready to move, I slide straight back the lead off the silicon tube onto the mainline. Then I consider the long knot tail and poke it into the hole in the centre of the inline lead where in fact the insert was previously. Holding the tail against the silicon tube, I gently slide the lead back off over both silicon tube and the tail to tarp the tail. Only try this hard enough in order that the lead only grips the pipe when held by the baits. This is how the rig will likely then fish, butt stuck ready for action. If a fish sees the lure, shakes its head or moves off, the cause slides off.

Knowing you've had an aborted take

In this example, say your hook was not sharp enough or the fish was only nicked and the carp fishing gets away with. A couple of seconds later, you strike into outdoors, reel in and check the cause. If the end is now totally exposed, un-tucked if you like, you know that you have just been done and a rigorous examination of the hook is needed. What happens is this: when the guide slides back, the end jumps out and kicks forwards because the silicon tube bends its back towards the swivel. On the retrieve, the guide slides back over the silicon and the swivel, and stops the tail from re-entering the hole. Therefore regrettably, you've had an aborted simply take, but at the very least you could be almost hundreds of sure that that is what it was.

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Realizing it was just a large liner

In the next example, let us say a sturgeon or a large catfish sees among your lines having its pecs and gives you a spectacular mini get. Since it will be taken by the mainline the lead gets ripped sideways over the gravel. The guide doesn't lose connection with the silicon tube pushed within the swivel because it is being pulled onto it. You attack what you believe to be a real take and then feel no weight. You wind in, inspect the lead and the tell-tale tail remains neatly tucked to the lead. Now you know that it was only a big boat, you've still got to re-do the pole but you'd have wished to do that anyway after the rig and cause (particularly the hook) have been dragged on the bottom.

The thing is you know just what happened by considering the state-of the end in the lead so give it a decide to try next time you are out and remember: the lead never lies!