Hooklengths... aaargh!!!

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James Bradshaw

Guest
Okay lads - after reading millions of words on the ''mono. vs. braid'' argument, I decided on... fluorocarbon! <s>. But then I read that THAT'S not so clever either... Is there a majority vote anywhere on this subject? If it helps, I'll be fishing 3 different waters this coming season... Water 1 is about 3 feet deep, snaggy as hell, and no more than about 5 rod-lengths out... Water 2 is about 8 feet deep, no major snags as such, distances are from under the rod-tip to 3-ish rod-lengths out... Water 3 is experimental (ie. I might not bother! But I'd like to - if I knew how!)... I've got a big gravel pit (10 acres+) to try... (If it helps... waters 1 and 2 are river off-cuts... they DO flow, but only just...) But I'm confused as to whether to go for stiff rigs, braid rigs, combi-link rigs... I've read about all of these, and they all sound great in theory... but then, in the next article, someone else will say that what I thought would work, is in fact crap! It would help me a great deal if I knew what you experienced carp fishers use, when, and more to the point, WHY.....?!?!?!?!
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
Very difficult to answer as some people swear by one method...and others...well...use something else. I would suggest seeing what other anglers are using...then...copy them with one rod, but try other methods on another. Keep a record of what is happening and hopefully u will see a pattern. I often find that using a totally different method to the other anglers can work wonders.

I personnaly like to keep things very simple. I have fished waters where i have been told that only braid will work, but i have caught on nylon etc. The simpler the rig, the less tangles etc. especially fishing at extreme range.

Also, dont discount freelining or float fishing. Freelining is sooooo effective close in. I cant understand people fishing 3 oz leads with back leads under the rod tip...lol
 
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Andy Thatcher

Guest
Rob has picked up a point about keeping a record. I'd be tempted to use Snakebite as it can be used as a stiff rig initially then turned into a combi rig very quickly if needed. I haven't had this product let me down, let's add as yet !
It is a matter of confidence. Use what you are confident with and if it seems lacking start playing.
 
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Philip Inzani

Guest
James if you have not already done it I would also recommend you look at Snake skin or Snake Bite as well. I have used both but have to say I prefer Snake skin (the one with the multistrand core) I dont like the core they use in snakebite and wish they had just left it as standard silkworm.

If you strip just an inch or two back from the hook it will be very tangle free but still offer a very subtle presentation. Down side is the cost but I think once you start using it you will be converted.
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
Strange, I find snake-anything horrible. It is as subtle as a brick in the face and does not lay flat on an uneven bottom. I have seen some underwater video showing snakebite on gravel, silt, weed and clay and in silt, it was sticking straight up of the bottom!!! Not much better in weed either.

And to think, some people go to the bother of backleads etc to hide the main line, but have an end rig that looks terrible!

(expecting a heap of abuse on this one..lol)
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
I rather like snakebite, especially with Grolsch and Scrumpie
 
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Philip Inzani

Guest
Rob, yes I must admit you do have a point. The plastic coating does have a tendency to sort of spiral up and can loop a bit. I use the 12IB version which I think is the thinnest and that is not too bad but I can imagine some of the higher/thicker strains may loop even more. I store mine on rig boards where it is stretched out and I find that this does tend to minimise the problem a little certainly better than when you first take it brand new off a spool.
I was also initially wary that due to the coating it was thicker and therefore easier to spot than say silkworm or mono. However I think it depends on where you are fishing. I think that it looks very much like a bit of weed which I am often casting near or into on the waters I am fishing. On a clean bottom/clear water it probably would stick out a bit and may not be the best choice. I dont think any one hooklength is the best choice everywhere but I think SnakeXXXX is a pretty good all rounder and IMO I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. At the end of the day I have been happy with my results on the waters I have used it on. I guess its up to each person to try it on their water and see if its acceptable there.

Ron, amazing, I had this mental image of you all sorted out but first you dent it with your fluorocarbon hooklink usage and now you undermine it completely with the confession that your downing pints of Snakebite! ....do you have any tattoo?s ?
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
No I don't have any tattoos. Des Taylor introduced me to snakebite in the Horn & Trumpet in Bewdley.
 
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Philip Inzani

Guest
Well I suggest you get some and shave that head pronto!

....joke by the way!
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
How am I to keep my head warm and keep the sun's rays away for a start.

And do tattoos hurt? I need some new tackle first.

By the way I have just bought a bivvy - A Relum 1 man. Any good?
 
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Philip Inzani

Guest
YOU HAVE A BIVVY!!!!!!!

Right thats it, the picture is complete. We have Ron "Carpbuster" Clay sitting in his one man bivvy knocking back a Snakebite. He chuckles to himself as all his rods are armed with the latest fluro hooklinks....boy is he going to slay this lake or what!

Only thing ruining the scene is the forked stick cut from the hedgerow propping up his stainless steel buzz bars but you have to hold onto some tradition don?t you ?
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
I've got rid of that too and bought a pod complete with Fox micron buzzers. I'm looking now for a pair of 3.5 lb Armourlites. Any offers.
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
Wow, Ron, I'm impressed...seen the light or what...at this rate you'll be wheeling everything around in a wheelbarrow next...
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
Ron,
I'll do your tattoos and for free!! the blackcountry way....indian ink and a sewing needle!!!......complete with wrong spelling!!
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
Yeah, i could just imagine Ron with 'hate'and 'hate' on each knuckle...none of this 'love' and 'hate' nonsense some of these people have...
 
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James Bradshaw

Guest
Thanks for your comments, lads - but as you all seem to disagree, I'll just have to experiment, I guess! I agree with Rob's comment re. the obtrusiveness of Snakeskin/bite... and as 90+% of my carping WILL be done either under a float or freelining, rigs aren't really THAT important to me - I just want to make the hooklength as detection-free as possible (hence my thinking about fluorocarbon). Oh... I have a shaved head, and tattoos everywhere (and yeah, the obligatory earrings!)... do I qualify as a carper now?! (What you said about carp in weirpools in one of the other threads, Rob... me and my dad were walking a stretch of the Lea yesterday, and came to a weirpool just as a bloke was chucking in some bread; so we stopped, expecting to see chub, but about ?-a-dozen carp came up for it... and they weren't babies! I'll be having me some of THAT later this month! (If I can tear myself away from my chub, that is...))
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
James....told ya so mate. Cathagena weir has several carp pushing 30 pounds...ooops..let that slip..lol....and that was 15 years ago!!

Also, at Fishers Green, I have hooked a Barbel on one cast, then a 5 pound chub, then an 11 pound carp and then a 9 pound bream. Its menatl down there..lol
 
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Andy Thatcher

Guest
There are also quite a few hidden up on the Glaxo stretch of the Lea in Ware & Hertford Marina. Spent quite a few evenings fishing for them listening to Euro 96. First river 20 just as Sheringham scored against Holland !
 
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Stewart Bloor

Guest
When Scholes and Beckham scored last night, I blanked...
 
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