Thinking Anglers

The Ultimate Lead System!


The majority of my angling each year is done on tough weedy waters, the sort of places where bites are few and far between. When tackling waters like these every part of your approach has to be analysed thoroughly to ensure when those special chances come along you’ve done your bit and it’s simply down to the carp and a bit of good old lady luck!

The advantages of breakaway leads have been well documented over the past few years and for me the benefits are clear. Let’s be honest the humble lead though pretty much essential in angling these days serves just two purposes. The first is obviously to get you out to the spot your fishing and the second is to help hook the carp. From that moment on the lead is working against you not only by increasing pressure on the hookhold but also by having the chance to jam up in either weed or snags!

Using a lead clip eliminates these issues by ejecting the lead but only if it becomes caught in something or the tail rubber is pushed on very lightly. For me though leads clips and the corresponding tail rubbers are just too bulky and obvious, especially in clear waters which i generally target so I much prefer a breakaway helicopter system. Not only do they carry more finesse but they also possess much greater versatility when it comes to the type of bottoms they can be effectively used on.

You’ll see from the photos that the system looks very simple but believe me every component has been carefully selected to ensure the setup performs to its maximum and even now probably 5 years on since I first started using this lead system I’m constantly looking for ways to improve it. The recent additions to the Thinking Anglers range has seen a complete overhaul of the components I was using previously and finally I’ve arrived at a lead system that suits my type of angling perfectly.

The new oval beads are without doubt my favourite little tweak and have taken the system to a new level not only in terms of functionality but that all important subtleness my angling demands. Couple these with the new leadcore which blends in perfectly around weedy spots as well as being far more supple than many brands on the market and the non glare heavy rings (designed specifically for this setup!) and your left with what I believe to be the most effective and versatile lead system available today.

By employing a simple weak link (PIC 1) the lead will drop off practically everytime on the take ensuring direct contact with the carp with no risk of the lead jamming up. For longer casts (50 yrds+) strengthen the weak link with pva string (PIC 2) and when fishing over softer bottoms simply move the top bead further up (PIC 3) the leadcore to prevent the hooklink being dragged into debris. Perfect!

Keep Thinking!

Phil Buckley

Click on image to enlarge