There are various carp rigs which will allow the lead to drop off once you get a take but like most rigs they are suited to various carp fishing situations such as a lead clip set up a great method which will enable the lead to pull free should it become snagged but I wouldn’t use one in heavy weed as they can become weed chocked and the clip will not be able to serve its purpose,  or there’s the inline lead set up where by the leader or lead core is ran on the outside of the lead the tail rubber and swivel are used to hold the lead in place until a pick up and the lead is dropped once the swivel is pulled free from the lead a great method but again has limitations to its use. 

Carp fishing at Rainbow

Whilst carp fishing down at rainbow previously I had always opted for a lead clip setup it served its purpose well not every time but most, but due to angling pressure and fish wising up I was finding more and more that the fish were able to spin up your rig in the wood work with many aborted takes so began to think along the lines of maybe a running rig or semi fixed running rig (bolt rig) but importantly would have to drop the lead upon getting a take so as not to jeopardise landing the fish, and then realised that I could achieve this by using the stripped piece of lead out of the lead core leaders, by having a free running swivel that ran down my lead core leader to a buffer bead I was able to attach the lead to the swivel by twisting a small piece of the lead wire between the swivel on the leader and swivel on the lead, dropping the lead instantly upon the swivel hitting the buffer bead due to the lead link snapping releasing the lead instantly. The rig itself works really well but obviously using it back home had its problems one being the ability to cast the rig, I had to think of ways to do this to stop the lead link snapping on the cast but one which wouldn’t affect the ability of the lead releasing upon getting a take and the simple but affective answer to this was pva by tying a piece of pva mesh between the free running swivel and swivel on the lead this formed a link strong enough to withstand a good cast but would dissolve whilst the rig sat on the lake bed allowing the lead link to do its job upon getting a take.

You can also adjust the strength of the lead link to suit the weight of the lead being used by wrapping individual strands of wire around each other.

 The beauty of this method of losing the lead is the wide range of rigs and methods it can be incorporated into I love fishing chod rigs carp just cannot seem to ignore a brightly coloured pop up carp bait and when fished chod style once the hook enters the mouth if set up correctly it rarely leaves the carps mouth without grabbing hold of the bottom lip, and these rigs are perfect for fishing over silt and in weed.

Carp fishing in the weed

I have been fishing a venue where there are a lot of big fish where the weed beds are really thick and the carp do love getting in them and on a couple of sessions have lost fish due to them weeding me up so have now incorporated my lead drop of system into my chods and have found the best way of doing this is to splice a large ring at the bottom of the leader and place a buffer bead above this, you can then effectively attach your lead to the large ring via the lead wire link and tie a piece of pva mesh between the ring and loop of the lead enabling you to cast the rig without the link snapping.

More carp on the bank

Another point I must make is more often than not when you hook a carp and your lead is dropped instantly from the rig the fish will come straight up in the water clear of any snags or weed which otherwise could potentially claim your prize as if the carp think they have got away allowing you to gain full control of the fish early on and allowing you to pull the fish clear of snags or weed and proof of this recently was when I landed a 45lb 8 oz leather using this chod method, I got the take from a large weed bed but as soon as the lead was dropped the carp came straight to the surface and enabled me to play it safely away from the potential hazards that lurked below. 

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