Dear Spug,

Tight lines, slack lines, locked up, and clipped up – what do these phrases mean and when should they be used?

Mr. S. Holloway, Salford.

Tight lines: Using tight lines is a popular way of having your main line as tight to your lead as you can after you have cast out. The reason for wanting to do this is that the second the carp picks up the bait it will feel the greatest resistance possible to help set the hook into its mouth, especially when fishing at longer ranges where there is a lot of main line lying across the lakebed. The way to achieve this is as follows: after you have cast out, carefully let your line settle and then slowly pull it back as far as you dare WITHOUT moving the lead, then place the line into a line clip (usually near your reel on the rod), which holds every thing tightly in place. When the fish swims away the line will pull out of the clip and the free spool will engage.

I often use this method of fishing and also find it stops a lot of unwanted bleeps in windy conditions.

Slack lines: I use slack lines when fishing in the edge or if I know I am close to fish. The reason for doing this is to try to conceal your line and avoid spooking the fish. What I mean is that if a carp swims along the margin and feels a tight line, it may well spook before it even gets anywhere near your end tackle, which is not good! Slack lines are also a very good way of fishing for liners; when carp swim past and touch the line you invariably get a registration on your buzzers, hence alerting you to their presence.

Slack lines helped me fool this beauty.

Locked up: Locked up fishing is basically the same as fishing with a tight line, except that you also adjust the baitrunner, making it much tighter on your reel, so that when the fish picks up the bait it struggles to take any line on the take. People fish this method when fishing close to, or around, snags, thus preventing any unnecessary losses or fish getting stuck in the snags. A word of warning; if you are fishing locked up you must be on your rods at all times, as a strong take could easily pull them in.

Tight lines are very good when fishing at extreme range.

Clipped up: This is where you have placed your main line or braid into the reel clip. The reason for wanting to do this is to stop your end tackle casting further into the lake than you want it to, i.e. to a marked baited area or just in front of an island or overhanging trees. With a little practise this can be an awesome carp-catching skill to have, you just need to learn to cast with the right power – if you cast too hard you will snap your line and lose your end tackle.

Line clips help you cast with great accuracy.

Hope this helps, and be lucky.

Spug