For some time now I have been experimenting with captive back leads, an experiment that was born out of necessity at first. I was fishing a lake that had speedboats and wind surfers on the water during the daytime, but one where I wanted to leave my baits in position for the late afternoon feeding spell. The problem was that due to the weed and severe gravel bars I did not want my line permanently held on the bottom once the boats had gone. By using a captive back lead I could simply release my line once the boats had gone.

I soon began to realise other advantages such as avoiding the attentions of swans and geese who patrol the margins after dark. Also, when drifting weed becomes a problem in the autumn they prove invaluable when dropped directly below the rod tip, offering less line for the weed to cling onto. There were a couple of products on the market but neither was what I was really looking for so I started making my own. Now, at last, Fox have released a proper, working, captive back lead. No more swan problems in the night, no more drifting weed wiping out your lines as it chugs past on the wind and, obviously, lower line angles to fool wary carp.