I am a newb to carp fishing.

How long should my hook length be:

I have been told that it should be very short. Is this true????

Please help me.

Thanks

Quest.

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Hi Quest,

Bit of a tricky one this, as different lengths can work at different times. If I’m fishing boilies I usually use a length of between 6–10 inches. If I’m using naturals like maggots or worms I tend to use hook lengths between 10-12inches

What baits are you fishing?

Ive found it really depends on where your fishing. if your fishing on the bottom using a pop-up bait then i would suggest only ever using a 6" hook length, also if your fishing on a very hard bottom like rock of gravel it can also be an advantage to use a 6" hooklength. if the area is full of slit or mud then you will want a longer hooklength such as 18"s because the lead will sink and drag the bait closer to the bottom. if you fishing on the surface then you reall want to position your bait at least 2 foot from your surface controller.
hope this helps.

Ah,the proverbial "how longs a piece of string"!

as julian says it depends on bait usually !!

i can go down to as small as 3inches, as long as 12inches, depends on the bait really

sometimes the fish can be spooked from short hooklinks, if your using pop ups, you might want to try a hinged rig (not wanting to get to technical due to be a newbie to the carp world) as popping a boilie up on a short link might not be the best presentation alternatively you could use a braided hookilink and use a small shot or rig putty to balance it. I think i could go on for ages about different rigs etc.. if you want more info, drop me a pm or an email and will answer in a bit more detail

dont tho over complicate things and dont let the rigs worry you, if you start to worry about your igs, you will lose all confidence in them you will find that you will coem across 2 or 3 rigs that suit your style of fishing, and as they say if it aint broke dont fix it !!

speak soon fella and welcome to the dark side

I will be using x2 bollies on a hair/bolt rig with a size 6 hook.

Quest

4 to 8 inches then matey i would say experiment with the lengths though if you dont catch on a shorter length, tie a slightly longer one

I tend to use hooklenghts of about 5 to 6 inches.
The reason is that I use alot of pva bags (and big bottom baits, normally pellets) with the hooklength threaded throught the bag so it sits on the hookbait and camoflages the hooklength.
This is all used with a nash safety semi fixed bolt rig, a 2 1/2 or 3oz lead and 12lb Esp ghost.
The Esp ghost is stiff and makes a great stiff rig.
As the lead does not go in the pva bag I use a short hooklength to keep them close together to aid casting.

Rudd,

Out of interest, what hooks do you use in conjunction with your 12lb ESP hooklinks? Also, do you tie the hair out of the same material, i.e. knotless knot straight through or similar?

Cheers…

Julian

julian
you wasnt asking me, but i too use ghost,ive found esp raptors to be very good sharp and strong
attached to the hook via a knotless knot and a grinner at the swivel(i also use a dab of superglue).tying a hair of the hook with a diffrent material?(bit fiddly?)why do that?>is the hair to thick?i was moaning that it made bugger all diffrence to my chubbing but worked well with carp and barbel,them chub are summit else i tell 'thee proper' bo