yendis

Its too bloody hot to work. So I have to go fishing or die of boredom.

The packet didnt state the hook strength. I have now bought some more Preston hooks which are stated 'extra strong' but unfortunately they dont seem to be available in banded hair form.

OK I use ready tied hooks historically from habit, but I have also gone over to using banded hair rigs, which is working very well for me now. So tying my own hooks whilst adding a band is a bit daunting, but Vagabond, who is clearly a very senor gentleman, has shamed me into at least trying, whilst, maybe sipping some merlot. Yesterday I had my best day so far, 4 carp, 1 tench (first for 50 years!), and few roach to boot. Looking forward to my next outing now. Thanks for all the replies on this topic.

OK, thanks for the tips. I now seem to have overcome the breaking line problem but on my last outing I still lost a good fish within a few seconds of hooking it. On inspecting the hook trace I found that the hook had deformed quite badly. I was not quite straight but certainly out of shape, enough to cause it to slip out. I never had these kinds of probems when I was a lad, so I am on a steep learning curve here. Maybe it is happening because I now have access to a fishery with some bigger fish, and I have a much stronger rod than the old cane ones I used to manage with. Also the lake is small with lots of lilies close by, and need to try to head off the fish before they snag me up. The hooks to nylon I used were of Preston make. I now need to find a better brand with stronger (pre-tied) hooks. Any suggestions please?

I have always used pre-tied hooks with a loop, tie a loop in my main line then just slip the loops into each other. Never had a reason to use a swivel, as it just seems an extra component that is unnecessary, may fail and if using a short hook trace may scare off the fish? But I will consider that so thanks for the tip. Now being a 'senior' fisherman, manual dexterity and eyesight is not quite so sharp, and although patience is a virtue, it seems to be in short supply when trying to tie intricate knots. Anything that makes hook attachement easier is a bonus, but only if it is strong and reliable. I am on a steep learning curve but at least I am now 'into the fish' which is a good start, and a confidence booster. When using pre-tied hooks, if I use a swivel do I just loop the hook through the swivel?

I didnt feel like I was putting much pressure on my rod, and the rod is nothing specail. But now I have beefed up the line and knot, watch this space for either a good catch or a broken rod (lol).

Nice carp. Since I started carp fishing a few weeks ago, my bext so far was last week, 3.5kg, about 7 1/2 lb. I lost a couple though that felt bigger, but have now uprated my line and knotting technique. I need the extra power since I am fishing close to lilys, and thats the first place they bolt for.

I have been getting snapped up a lot since fishing a local carp lake. I found that the breaks always occurred at the loop knot on my 8 lb main reel line. Same happened when I went up to 10lb line, which broke at about 3.5kg. I did some experiments and found that by tying it in a special way, I could increase the breaking point up to over 5kg. This could mean the difference between losing and catching some of these bigger fish. Has anyone else found a similar effect?

I fished constantly for most of my youth but dropped it once I left school. Since (semi) retiring a few years ago I have tried to recapture the spirit, but only this year it has now started to come back. Now catching some decent carp, and looking forward to the first monster. Cheers to all.