• Whats the second hook for on the bait-up screen under hook bait?
  • The second hook is used for hair rigged baits. Some of the baits that are created, can either be hooked, ie attached straight onto the hook, or hair-rigged. Luncheon meat is one example of this. Baits, like maggots, casters etc can't be hair-rigged, and have to be hooked ( the first hook ). However, boilies and other generally large or hard baits can only be hair-rigged. 
  • When using lures and flies, I assume the lure/fly overrides fiddling with the bait change option? So I dont end up fly fishing with a dead mackerel if I accidently press 'C' .
  • Yes, you are right, a bait is still displayed in the bait section though but it is not used. The reason the bait dialog can still be accessed, is so that you can use the loosefeed and groundbait options still.
  • What effect do swimfeeders actually have on the sim, and what bait do they use? Ground? Loose?
  • They do have an effect, however using them on some venues can be counter productive. Generally specimen fishing is done with a feeder attached to attract the carp. What they do is when they hit the water, they start dispensing the feed onto the bottom, creating an area around where you have casted with feed. This is more accurate than groundbait and loosefeed. The downside to them, is the splash they create, especially if fishing shallow water.
    The type of bait they take depends on how each feeder was created, some are created to take just loosefeed, others just groundbait, and some created to take multiples of each.  
  • Is there a real difference in the different boilie flavors and thier effect?
  • Yes, there is a massive difference in boilies. The Pineapple and tri-protien boilies i've found to be the most effective, but it changes from venue to venue, even peg to peg in some cases. It won't be known even by the creator if a particular bait is good or not on a venue that's been created, the only way of discovering it, is by fishing with each. In some cases also, you may find that using a certain flavour boilie will bring more fish, but not necessarily the bigger ones.
  • Are there any 'live' baits for sea fishing?
  • No, there are no live baits at all. The program code can't accomadate the movement of the livebait in the water to the extent it would require.  
  • Is there a 'pause' button 'in-game' so to speak. Its a nightmare when the doorbell rings in the middle of a carp fight!  I thought the M button also paused it, but I came back to find a small tench had run to the other side of the lake!
  • No, there is no pause button during normal fishing. There is a pause feature when fishing offline matches though. The 'm' key can be used when you haven't got a bite, and the game will pause when a bite comes along, and restart after it is maximised again, but there is still a time penalty.
  • Am I right in saying that you have actually incorporated bait wieght !?  I found my float would sink with boilies but be ok with corn.
  • Yes, the weight of the bait and anything placed on the line has an effect. Different floats can cope with different baits though, some lighter floats will sink with even small pieces of meat, others will actually take boilies. It is possible to fish light floats with heavier baits than they can handle, by fishing overdepth, but this tends to have the effect of making the bites less sensitive. If it's not too far overdepth though, it shouldn't affect the bites too much. Also, I think there is a cork ball attachement, which can be added to the line like shot, which will help also with the heavier baits. It has to be a case of balance though, otherwise you could find the bait comes up to the top.