Selecting the right lead

With all the discussion & debate that surrounds baits and tackle for carp, it’s sometimes easy to forget the simple things - like selecting the right leads! The thing that people forget is that choosing the wrong type of lead could see your bait sitting under a pile of silt, not hooking the carp effectively when it takes your baited rig, even in terms of casting, it could ultimatley be the difference between hitting the spot or being way short of the mark.

Selecting the right lead for your approach is essential, yet so often on the bank you see rigs made to do one thing being used with leads made to do another. So the question, How do you select the right lead for the situation your fishing in ?

First we need to know the difference between the two main types, swivel leads and inline leads. Swivel leads, are those which have a small metal loop moulded in one end which can be attached to a snap swivel (most come with a swivel attached). Inline leads are those which have a hole through the middle of the lead for the line to feed through. Both types have a specific purpose.

Swivel Lead
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pear20100g.jpg

Swivel leads are perfect on waters with a soft or silty bottom. An inline lead is prone to diving into the silt and burying the hooklink on the cast, so when fishing silty waters a swivel lead is the better choice, and with practice can be feathered down to the bottom on the cast. The type of set up you are going to use will also have a bearing on whether you use a swivel or inline lead, for example, a swivel lead would be needed to fish the heli or free running rig.

Inline Lead
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...line20lead.jpg

Inline leads are best used on hard bottomed waters where the lake bed is made up of gravel, clay or compacted sand. When casting the lead will hit the water nose first but with the bottom being hard it won’t embed itself in the lake bed. The main advantage of an inline lead is that it acts extremely well in terms of the bolt effect. Most inline leads have the majority of there weight at the hooklink end of the lead, and as it’s semi-fixed, as soon as the fish extends the hook link, it will be met with the majority of weight in the lead, this increases the chance of a good hook hold.

Shape Selection
There are different body shapes to suit different needs, most are available in either swivel or inline form.

Distance "Zip" Leads
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...tance20Zip.jpg

Distance Lead
Designed for gaining maximum distance when casting. There are slim in design and have no flat sides so are extremely stable in flight and have more weight at the bottom half of the lead. Ideally suited to hard bottomed waters.

Zip Lead
Zip leads came from tournament casting and for a long time were deemed as the best long cast lead. More recently distance leads have come to the forefront with many anglers choosing them over the old style zip lead, however, they are still a favourite with many anglers who find them perfect for distance fishing, they also have the ability to be pulled back out of heavy silt at distance due to there slim body shape.

Pear or Dumpy Lead
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...umpy20Pear.jpg

While not being able to cast these the same distance as a zip or distance lead, the dumpy pear is still capable of a good distance with a good chuck. When you think of pear leads you should think of accuracy. Other than a ball lead it’s probably the most effective condensed lead there is, and I find them perfect when accuracy is needed from the cast, especially in strong winds.

Ball or Cannonball Lead
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...Cannonball.jpg

Without any doubt this is the most condensed lead available, and if your looking to get a bolt-effect into your rig, or you need the fish to feel as much weight as possible on the initial take, then this is the lead for you. They can be a little difficult to use and they’re not every anglers favourite lead but they are extremely effective at what there intended to do.

There is now available along the same lines which is effectively a square lead with the corners cut off and a taper on the swivel end. It is similar to a ball lead in the sense it was more condensed than a pear or square pear, but perfect for use on sloped sections of the water where a ball lead would just roll off.

Grippper leads
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...20style201.jpg

Gripper leads, as the name suggests, are made to hold steady in tough conditions.
More suited to river fishing where the flat nobbled shape allows them to grip to the bottom more efficiently than a normal smooth sided lead, but anglers also find them perfect for fishing steep shelves, bars, or marginal drop-offs.

Coatings
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...Leads20065.jpg

Coatings have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. At one time most leads were bare metal, and some still are, but the majority now have a coating.
A coating has two purposes, first off it gives the lead a protective shielding. so there wont be no sharp edges if it gets snagged etc.
Secondly they offer a certain amount of camouflage, and you can find a whole range of colours and finishes to suit almost any lake bed. When it comes down to coatings it really is a personal choice.

As for whats in my lead bag, well i have a choice of leads but use dumpy pears and flat pears a lot, there are a couple of grippa leads in there but have not found a situation where ive needed to use them yet. I have a couple of inline leads aswell for when i change to the shocker rig, which i have been known to use on one particular water to great effect.