ok then - how often do people discard traces?. after an amount of uses, or perhaps once they took enough stick?

Also, which brands do you prefer?.

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Well, I'd have to divide things into trace for lure-fishing and traces for live/dead-baiting.

I think my traces for lure-fishing take quite a beating compared with bait fishing, so I keep a very close eye on them and I always take half-a-dozen freshly made-up and tested traces with me, every trip.

As soon as there's any sign of moderate-bad kinking or twisting, or the slightest sign of fraying or damage, I just tie-on a new trace.

I mainly use wires from American Fishing Wires

__________ ______

DG

I can only agree!! I prefur to make my own traces, As soon as there is any sign of damage kinking etc its time for a new one!

It's also a beggar to spell when you're drunk

DG

[ 27. May 2004, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

quote:

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Originally posted by macdaddymac:

.. I prefer to make my own traces ....

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Which brand(s) do you use?

DG

I use good old seven strand and Wonderwire (I have stock of this but believe its no longer available) I prefer the latter for Budgie flinging and lure casting as it does not hinge.

Use seven strand for trolling. Use a mixture for normal deadbaiting.

The worse damage to a trace, particularly a lure trace which takes more punishment than most, occurs at either end at the joint with the swivel and clip. The odd kink in the middle you can live with but damage at the extremes is not always spotted especially if you use shrink tube to cover the knot or crimp. I use titanium wire exclusively and have done so now for over two years and dont cover the crimp with shrink tube. Its trouble free, rarely kinks and the swivel and/or clip give out long before the wire does. I inspect the joint after every trip and if there's a slightest doubt then I repair it. Since using Dave Lumb's choice of swivel and double action clip for about 18 months its becoming rare for any part of the trace to deteriorate.
I use only single strand titanium, the multi strand titanium proving to be suspect. It gradually broke up at the crimp, in spite of using a proper crimpimg tool and flaring the ends of the crimp. The strands are inflexible and I suspect that is what causes them to snap. It takes a little trial and error and a few experiments to reach a combination of trace ingredients that work for you but its worth playing around with.

gerry castles

[ 27. May 2004, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

I should also add that the 20lb titanium makes a good reliable pike fly trace.

gerry castles

i use fox 30lb easy twist for most of my piking (im mainly a dead/live bait angler),also use fox trebels,in sizes 6 and 8 semi-barbed,my traces are beteen 20-24 inches long or two feet.i attach my traces to swivels/hooks via crimps,i purchased a proper pair of crimping pliers(yes again fox!) and i tell you what there bloody brilliant nice tight ,neat finish, the sliding second trebel and end swivel are covered with a length of silicone tubing,the end trebel is not as i like it to pivot n and move freely on the -hopefully finding a good hold on the strike!
i replace every tace after a fish i dont trust kinks! jacks can mess up the trace more than the big girls,as they go bonkers headshaking like mad,for this reason a dozen or so taces are made up the night beforea session and stored in da rig bin.

[ 27. May 2004, 09:23 PM: Message edited by: ratty46 ]

i use wonderwire, its the best i've found (for lure traces anyway) i dont have a regular brand of swivels or snaps, just whatever looks good when i need some, i think the current ones are mustad