hooklength BS

[Jeffwill]

what is the lowest BS hooklength you would use for trotting? i bought some 24's online but just realised the BS is 0.7lb i was planning on using them on the lambourn but thinking they wont be strong enough if i hook a fairly big grayling opr trout?

 

If your fishing for larger grayling and "toothy" trout, you cant fish too light and you want a line that isnt going to ping when you get a bigger fish. Using light hooklengths (and tiny hooks) on a river is only really appropriate if targetting smaller species... roach, dace etc.

 

A good line to try for your "trotting" hooklength is Preston Reflo Powerline. I started using it at 3lb 6oz but found it snapped far too easy when playing fish around the 4lb mark in a flow, especially near snags where you need to bully them a bit. The next strength up is 4lb 12oz which may sound a tad heavy too some but when your trotting... the fish see the bait and if they want it, they have to grab it as it goes past so its not so crucial as still water legering say. In that strength its actually only 0.13mm diameter too. The line is supple with a strong knot strength and almost invisible in water. I have had no problems since upping to 4lb 12oz and have used it for a few seasons.

 

Coming to think of it, I use this line for my tench and barbel hook lengths at higher breaking strains too. I recommend it to anyone who has not tried it before. Its very good. Hope this helps.

[Worms]

I rarely go below about 2-2.5lb these days when float fishing. Mainly because of the previously mentioned thin diameters. Any lighter and you risk snapping off on the strike, abrasion problems and the possibility of fish with teeth. Two important things to remember, trout have lots of sharp gnashers and it's the close season on rivers!

 

I used to use superlight leaders on fly tackle but I ended up getting busted by 1/2lb trout on 1/2 lb line...........they's got teeth!

[Tigger]

Judging by the number of people on here using quite light breaking strain lines I would think they mustn't be fishing at the distances i do(due to heavy strikes) or in rivers with any ammount of weed or snags. If I was to use lines of less than 4lb I'd loose most of the fish I hook other than small species like Dace, roach etc. Even the 2lb chub i catch would give me a problem with less than 4lb line so I usually always stick to 6lb straight through which if snagged on a solid object allows me to straighten the hook with a controlled pull. Also if a fish gets bedden in weed I can put enough pressure on to pull the hook without the line snapping.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Tigger

[lutra]

If your fishing for larger grayling and "toothy" trout, you cant fish too light and you want a line that isnt going to ping when you get a bigger fish. Using light hooklengths (and tiny hooks) on a river is only really appropriate if targetting smaller species... roach, dace etc.

 

A good line to try for your "trotting" hooklength is Preston Reflo Powerline. I started using it at 3lb 6oz but found it snapped far too easy when playing fish around the 4lb mark in a flow, especially near snags where you need to bully them a bit. The next strength up is 4lb 12oz which may sound a tad heavy too some but when your trotting... the fish see the bait and if they want it, they have to grab it as it goes past so its not so crucial as still water legering say. In that strength its actually only 0.13mm diameter too. The line is supple with a strong knot strength and almost invisible in water. I have had no problems since upping to 4lb 12oz and have used it for a few seasons.

 

Coming to think of it, I use this line for my tench and barbel hook lengths at higher breaking strains too. I recommend it to anyone who has not tried it before. Its very good. Hope this helps.

Yep i agree and 0.13/4lb 12oz is what Ive been using for trotting.

[arbocop]

what is the lowest BS hooklength you would use for trotting? i bought some 24's online but just realised the BS is 0.7lb i was planning on using them on the lambourn but thinking they wont be strong enough if i hook a fairly big grayling opr trout?

 

 

Stick to a 16. Go down to an 18 when it's really tough going. Stay above 2.6lb bottom. I'd suggest 4lb to a 16 - it's more balanced.

 

grayling are not normally shy biters once you find them, and can get them interested in the loose feed. They tend to be either on or off, if you know what I mean.

[Steve Walker]

Judging by the number of people on here using quite light breaking strain lines I would think they mustn't be fishing at the distances i do(due to heavy strikes) or in rivers with any ammount of weed or snags. If I was to use lines of less than 4lb I'd loose most of the fish I hook other than small species like Dace, roach etc. Even the 2lb chub i catch would give me a problem with less than 4lb line so I usually always stick to 6lb straight through which if snagged on a solid object allows me to straighten the hook with a controlled pull. Also if a fish gets bedden in weed I can put enough pressure on to pull the hook without the line snapping.

 

When I used to use pound bottom as my standard hook length, in most cases a 2lb fish would be a bloody good one - this was Manchester canals and ponds and the rivers round there that didn't hold many big fish back then. A good day was a bag of roach and perch to maybe a pound or so, and a 2lb+ tench or bream was very much a bonus fish.

 

These days, I am more likely to be using a 6lb mainline and something like 6lb double strength for the hooklength - but I'll be targeting tench or good chub or barbel. To be honest, on the waters I fished as a kid, you could fish 6lb straight through to big hooks for weeks and never see a fish - you had to fish fine, that was just the way it was.

[Dick Dastardly]

Your right Steve times,fisheries and tackle has changed a lot.

 

Now 2-4lb fish are common place and hook length monos a lot thiner diameter to breaking strain.However if you fish many non commercial venues or even natural rivers where the bigger fish havnt taken over then you will still catch far more fish on the good old 20-18 and 1.1lb -1.7lb bottom.

 

I really must move over to this new system of "labelling" hook lengths by diameter instead of BS but old habits die hard.

[watatoad]

Your right Steve times,fisheries and tackle has changed a lot.

 

Now 2-4lb fish are common place and hook length monos a lot thiner diameter to breaking strain.However if you fish many non commercial venues or even natural rivers where the bigger fish havnt taken over then you will still catch far more fish on the good old 20-18 and 1.1lb -1.7lb bottom.

 

I really must move over to this new system of "labelling" hook lengths by diameter instead of BS but old habits die hard.

 

Diameter/breaking strain labeling you and me both Budgie...hehehe I bet you don't see many anglers on commercials using solid or build cane rods especially those old super heavy wooden handled ones...hehehe

 

Like a few on here I do not fish commercials just not my style, rivers, streams, ponds, weirpools, private lakes that have not been stocked with giants which is why my pb common carp is under 12lb a size which most commercial fishery anglers would laugh at, as would pike anglers at my lowly 2lb 9oz pike.

 

I seem to manage fairly well with other species though and usually on a lighter line than most would want to consider.

[Tigger]

To be honest, on the waters I fished as a kid, you could fish 6lb straight through to big hooks for weeks and never see a fish - you had to fish fine, that was just the way it was.

 

 

 

Yeah that was the same on waters round here when I was a kid, but they where mainly still waters that I used to fish back then and not rivers. In those days a 18's hook was huge lol.

 

 

Budgie, I always talk breaking strains and not diameters n'all m8.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Tigger

[Anderoo]

I can't work with line diameters either, I have no idea what they mean

 

For trotting for grayling, trout, chub (not monsters), dace, etc. I usually use a 3lb bottom, going down to 2lb if I REALLY have to. With a light float rod and mainline of 4.4lb I have no chance of snapping either, unless snags come into play. The force I have to use to break a 3lb hooklength when properly snagged (cast into a tree, etc.) is quite amazing. I've had wild brownies to 3lb 8oz, grayling to 2lb 11oz and chub to 3lb+ from snaggy little rivers using this. I wouldn't benefit from using heavier line, as the rod I use wouldn't be able to exert any more force than it can with the 3lb bottom. So I may as well have better presentation.

 

This is the stuff I use (Drennan Team England rig line): https://www.gerrysofnottingham.co.uk/Coarse..._Line_1838.html

 

Hook size will depend on bait, but it's usually 20-16.

 

With hooklength material so thin and strong these days, I doubt I'll ever go lighter than 2lb for anything. Like many others, as a youngster my normal hooklength line was 1.1lb, but as the fish I caught got bigger and the line I used got better, I had no more use for it.

 

For those who understand diameters, I see that the 2lb Drennan rig line is 0.10mm and the 3lb is 0.13mm. There's even an 8oz line available (0.05mm)! I'm amazed you can still get line that light!