Using anti tangle tubing – for those places that lead core is banned

I have posted several times on my love of leadcore and have even written an article about it that was published in “De Spigel” magazine, a local Dutch Carp fishing publication. So you all know that I love leadcore and have been using it for that last few years.  My love of leadcore is tempered by the plain fact that it can be so dangerous if used in the wrong hands (see an upcoming article on the safe use of leadcore) and due to this some lake owners have banned it out right. Whilst I might not agree with the bans I will always respect the rules and where it is banned I will use of of two solutions, either plastic leaders or tubing. For a long time I always used the plastic leaders as they ape lead core in almost every way but recently I was tempted to try going back to tubing. I also like to use lead clips, they are a wonderful invention and they really come into their own when distance is not the primary issue bit getting rid of the lead is. If you are fishing a weedy swim the lead clip will allow you to loose the lead should the fish embed its self into a weed bed. Also should you loose the fish the lead clip will alow the lead to be discharged ensuring that the carp is not trailing a heavy lead as well as the leader.

As Fox has just released a new range of tubing in several different colours I though I would give it a go and see how it can be incorporated into my fishing.

So what do you get in the packet ? well you get 3 fully complete rigs complete with tubing, lead clip and quick change swivel as well as 6 anti tangle sleeves. Top marks to Fox for including 6 of them so that you can leave them on rigs without having to buy more. Anyway lets look at how they can be used in an effective setup.

The above picture shows the “business end” of the lead clip and the anti tangle sleeve. It is worth pointing out that the tubing is only pushed into the back of the tail rubber and does not need glue. If you glue it, the rubber will become brittle and the tubing will snap ruining the rig. Before you can use if for the 1st time you will need to dissable it to be able to tie the mainline on to the back of the kwick change swivel.

To do this pull the little plastic peg out of the clip as in the picture above. Do not loose it as you will need it very soon and Fox do not ship spares 🙂 Once you have the swivel removed thread your mainline down the tubing so that it comes out at the end that is pushed onto the tail rubber. In order to do this smoothly I suggest that you cut the mainline with a pair of scissors / cutters at an angle like so

Note that the line I am using is 17lb mainline and it threads through the tubing with ease so I doubt if you will have any issues given that this mainline is so limp I have had issues i the past with tubing from other manufacturers. Once the tubing is threaded, thread on the lead clip ( make sure that you put it on the right way around 🙂 ) then tie on the swivel with you favourite knot, I have used  a Trilene knot which I blogged about recently like so :

Once this is done, the next step is to replace the little plastic peg. Pull the mainline firmly to pull the swivel back inside the lead clip and once it is back in place properly ( it should virtually disappear back in side) push the little plastic peg back in :

It is critical that this peg goes back in ( you will hear a little “click” when it is in properly) as if you do not then the swivel could pull out of the clip and allow the whole rig to turn into a “running lead” setup which would prevent the lead from discharging. Speaking of leads to attach a lead to the clip slide it onto the bottom of the plastic lead clip “prong” and before replacing the tail rubber make sure that you moisten the back of the lead clip with saliva.

It is important that you moisten the back of the lead clip before each and every session if you leave your leads attached to the rods when not in use. If you do not it could lead to the tail rubber getting caught onto the clip and failing to discharge – which in the best case could cause you a lost fish. If you fish with PVA sticks (and if you don’t you should ) you might notice that occasionally the lead clip may discharge on the cast, ie it might eject the lead when the PVA stick hits the water due to the sudden drag of the PVA. If this happens to you it is easy to solve ( and appear to only be apparent on big casts) by tying some PVA string around the back of the lead clip like so

This will prevent the issue of the lead ejecting on contact with the water with a big cast whilst keeping the rig safe as the PVA will dissolve off after a few minutes in the water.

Anyway putting it all together with a rig involves attaching a rig to the Kwick change swivel and placing the anti tangle sleeve over the swivel. It is critical that you use the anti tangle sleeves as they keep the loop of the rig in place and stop it “riding up” and potentially coming off in a prolonged battle. Once it is all in place it should look like this with the rig on the right and the mainline going through the tubing on the left :

For the purists amongst you, I could have trimmed the PVA but as it is going to melt off any way I normally leave it where it is. Please also note the position of the tail rubber, I have not pushed it completely on as it only needs to be be on about 5mm, any more might stop the lead ejecting when you need it.

Did you like this post ? Do you want more ? Do you want me to cover other areas ? Please let me know either by posting a comment below or my mailing me using the “Contact me” section at the top.

As Fox has just released a new range of tubing in several different colours I though I would give it a go and see how it can be incorporated into my fishing.