You guys are like a bunch of old ladies slapping eachother with your handbags, hahahahaa!!! And Pappi is the one who has a big stone in his handbag, hahahaa!!!!
John had a clear leader on if I can remember correctly, so eventhough his mainline was orange, the last few metres of line leading up to the hookbait was not. So it shouldnt be a problem. The second reason why he used orange line, is that the rowers coming past can see it quite easily. Well I think that is probably just a bonus...
Offcourse the water being murky also helped conceal his line, as someone pointed out earlier.
I have seen a friend of mine who fishes the Protea champs and SA champs use flouro-yellow leaders. he does this so he can see when the fish is close (when he can see the leader). But in comp fising you create a feeding frenzy and in this situation the carp really dont give a crap about a piece of high-viz line in the swim, all they want is food...
But I do feel with fishing for big weary carp, high viz line might not be the best option. There's no scientific proof, but looking at how well carp can see, I'd rather be safe and have my line concealed.
klipperus, mono = monofilament. If I was you I would fish with mono until you have gained confidence in this style of angling. After all the time I've been fishing this way I still prefer my monofilament line. As Spod mentioned, its much more forgiving. Its abrasion resistant, it stretches which absorbs some of the pressure of fighting a fish, etc. It's does have its downsides, but its overall the best option.
Braid is good as well, but I would say it comes into its own more when you fish long to extreme range where you want to have instant indication of a bite. especially when fishing near snags or obstructions. When fishing like this you also need that extra direct bullying power on the fish to prevent it from going into those snags, obstructions.
But the danger with braid, especially when you are not used to it, is that you can easily put too much pressure on the fish, tearing the hook out of its mouth...
Spod, hope I didnt just repeat all that you said earlier, hahahahaa!!!
About shock leaders, I think if you do alot of casting, it definitely helps to have them on. And I have found the same Sufix leader material to be VERY abrasion resistant. Whenever I've had a fish caught in reeds I wasnt really worried. Got in my boat, when to get the fish and 99% of the time the fish was still on and the leader still doing its job.
Just one tip though, is that if you are using leaders, the leader will have quite a thick diameter. This means the knot you use to tie the leader to your thinner diameter mainline, needs to be tapered, so that when you cast, that it goes through the eyes of your rod as smoothly as possible. if the knot is bulky it could damage your rod's eyes and/or snap the mainline at the leader, on the cast.
I hardly ever do long range casting, and mostly use my boat to go and place my lines, so i dont have to worry too much about a tapered knot.
Tapered knots = Mahin knot... cant think of another good one right now, lol!
Hey about lights on the water, that only comes into play when you are fishing close-range and near the margins. Loud noise and music, well, seen many times how it can switch your fishing off.
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