Dropping the Lead in Carp Fishing

Dropping the lead in carp fishing is a controversial subject, should you drop the lead and if so, when?.

Recently there has been some terrible advice from tackle companies advising carp anglers to drop the lead all the time. Whilst dropping the lead can be helpful in some circumstances most of the time it’s just not necessary. I view this tackle company advice as a cynical attempt to sell more leads and inline safety rig kits. The inline safety rig kits are £4.99 at the time of writing and the ‘special lead weights’ are starting at around £1.50 each. You can clearly see why it’s beneficial to a tackle company to have you dropping leads, it’s the perfect way to transfer your cash into their pockets!.

Dropping the lead in carp fishing (click to watch)

Unless you’re fishing a very weedy or very snaggy water and losing a lot of fish you don’t need to drop the lead at all, dropping the lead is a tactic for weed and snags. When you drop the lead you get rid of downward pressure on the carp during the fight and they come to the surface quickly with no lead in the setup trying to sink. It’s getting the carp to the surface and away from snags and weed that allows you to land them and not lose them, it’s a really good tactic but only in those circumstances. Regarding leads, they are expensive but you can get them cheaper. If you go onto a reputable fishing group on facebook like the North West & Cheshire Angling group and ask where anglers are getting their carp leads from you’ll get a whole host of answers giving you the names of local lead makers who charge 50p-60p each for a lead, that’s just one third of the cost of a tackle company and I’d advise my fellow carp anglers to make use of your local lead maker. You will have to buy in bulk though, at least 10-15 leads at a time. You can also make your own carp leads, Lead Moulds start at under £20 these days and making them yourself is something that’s easy to get started with, it’s a bit of a dirty job though and not for everyone.

How to drop the lead in carp fishing, tie your line to the same side of the swivel

All you need to drop the lead in carp fishing is an inline lead, no inline safety rig kit is necessary and dropping the lead is simply a case of sliding the tail rubber back onto your rig tubing or leadcore leader, snipping the main line at the swivel and then tying it to the same side of the swivel your hooklink is on. Doing this prepares the inline lead for drop off style fishing. Push the end of the swivel into the lead housing and then push the tail rubber onto the end of the lead and tighten it all down nicely. This should leave you with the lead in place but the rig tubing / leadcore and line will be running around the outside of the lead and not through the middle. Under pressure the tail rubber pops off and the lead will separate from the swivel and drop to the lake bed leaving you attached to the carp. It’s a simple system that really doesn’t require the ‘tackle company’ approach that’s far more costly for you. Check out the video above to see how it’s done.

Inline safety carp rig set up for dropping the lead

To sum up, only drop the lead in carp fishing if you’re losing a number of carp to snags or weed, if you don’t need to drop the lead then don’t do it. Make your own carp leads or buy them cheap from a local lead maker and drop the lead the old school way so you don’t incur any extra costs for rig bits you don’t need.
Tight Lines.
Mark.