It’s absolutely fascinating to scrutinise how different anglers perceive the necessity to tailor terminal tackle to suit specific spots. There seems to be polar opposites within the very top echelons of the carp angling elite. Some are utterly anal in adjusting hook links to suit the colour of substrates, whilst others are far more focused on maintaining optimal hooking mechanics and applying bait accurately but rarely give rig concealment a second thought, largely because they know their rigs work as they are ) – and then some are inbetweeners...

Personally speaking, I have to know a spot is absolutely cleaned off, either through ferocious drops or rattly gravel pull backs, before I consider adjusting the terminal to make it even less visually obtrusive. Then it would need to be gin-clear water and probably shallow before I felt there was any potential issue.

Of course, if I have had the opportunity to go afloat or can see a spot is cleaned off because it’s in the edge, I naturally presume it is scruffier than a whore’s drawers, so I always tend to use darker coloured hook links or materials that cover all situations (i.e., Fluoro hook links). Perhaps this is ingrained because of my experiences of bitter disappointment when I have been able to check spots, such as the time I swam out to a really productive spot, that I fully expected to be polished and wonderful, and it was mud with sticks in!!!!

Most the lakebed on all the venues I fish is generally dark, so consequently blind cast baits are more likely to land on dark lakebed than light… Most vegetation ends up off black after a good soak, and everything is dark so I hedge my bets most the time. It’s really that simple.

Bear in mind that a lot of my angling is work nights, and it’s mostly dark. I don’t think they have developed night vision yet!

I’m still mindful though and choose the nearest colour for the general lakebed – you just need to look at the lakebed in front of most swims. If I fished on venues that were largely light coloured, I would naturally adapt this approach to match the prominent substrate colour.

Few of the lakes I fish have significant sandy areas, and most of the smooth glidy spots are generally clean silt that has been worked and the debris washed off by the actions of feeding cyprinids. You can tell by the lead drop, sand giving a hard drop and clean silt a thud or pat down. The key is to feel whether the lead plugs when you first try to pull it back – if it doesn’t and it pulls across the lakebed with minimal resistance then you can shout “BINGO” at the top of your voice across the lake! It’s allowed…

"I love fishing in silt as it tends to harbour a lot of natural food and effectively hide the terminal"

I love fishing in silt as it tends to harbour a lot of natural food and effectively hide the terminal, but my whole perception of suitable (efficient) terminal arrangements has radically evolved. Heli rigs are popularly ‘sold’ as silt rigs, but the issue is when you have liners or a big undertow kicks in it can drag your hooklink down with the leader as the anchor point is on the end of the line. It’s just not consistent… Whereas a lead clip and long hooklink means that anchor point is before the hooklink so no matter what happens in terms of the mainline that rig is set.

Clay spots are identifiable by a good hard drop and caking of clay on the lead. If you want to pick more clay then it’s worth using a shape with corners and/or a sand finish, as both these things seem to help pick up the substrate clay.

I best wrap this up after a quick word on lead colours. I just tend to choose nice natural stone-coloured leads for most my fishing – again they are dark when wet and tend to look inconspicuous wherever they are chucked, but in reality I’m not that fussy. Any reasonable non-glossy dark lead will generally be OK. The day I become anal on lead colours is the day I am certain I see a carp react to a lead. It hasn’t happened yet (thank goodness).

With so many technical aspects of carp fishing that need to be in alignment for consistent success it’s difficult to master every aspect, but being mindful of making your tackle generally well camouflaged is time well spent and general good practice, that’s for certain…