Hooklength Re-think

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

ColinW:

I'm finding hard to picture how it is even POSSIBLE to break 12lb line with a 1.75 pound test curve rod! To do that you must be doing something seriously wrong.

i too am puzzled!

 

i think its you striking paul,i dont strike,90% of the time i have fished for barbel the wallop the rod tip round,i ignore the taps and rattles until it goes...just a case of picking up the rod,i have cat reactions,!yet i have managed to stop striking!

 

the only other thing i can suggest is that theere is some sort of horrendous snag in your swim,but many dont know or wont beleive that 15lb mono is actaully more abraison resistant than most braids bar quicksilver etc-maybe you should try that!?

 

i tell ya what i once got smashed twice in a row,it turned out that the swivels i was using had been used on my wire traces(tight git i know) and i had tied the mono to teh side the wire had been on,roughing up the eye of the swivel,result-instant break.

 

never again!took a while to work out that one.

 

[ 28. July 2005, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Ratty Fitzpatrick46 ]

[darrreng]

How can it be striking? Unless you're running up the bank and sweeping your rod backwards like you are trying to cast 100yards over your shoulder(even then Id be amazed), I dont really see how 12lb mono will break before a 1.75lb rod!! 6lb line I could understand, but not 12lb.

 

I didnt notice any details on the break its self? Was it at the knot? was it along the length of line? if so was there any fraying or damage?

 

If I were you id get some old scales and do a few tests with that mono you are using and see what it breaks at. If there was no fraying, or damage, this situation smacks of rotten line.

[Paul_D]

I would think that a vigorous strike would generate an awful lot of energy and not too much of it would disperse through braid. The mono is the obvious medium for that energy to dissipate through and the natural weak spot however well tied, the knot, being the place.

 

A bit more on my rig. I was using a bolt rig in as much as I was using Steve Randles safety rig, but even though it's more or less a self hooking set up I just cannot stop myself from striking at a solid pull around. So, I think it's probably down to my striking too! Bugger! me and braid are not going to get on. But it was fascinating watching the tip 'bumping' as the barbel tried to empty the feeder.

[Fastd]

I think the chances of breaking 12lb line on the strike are pretty low. Try tying the line to a tree outside and striking against it . I think you will find it is very hard to break. Personally I would suspect rotten line or the line laying over an old shopping trolley or something similar. In fact last time I saw pictures of the avon there were caravans floating down it in the floods.

 

The barbel shaking a feeder was something I experience on the severn and did not believe it till a fellow angler proved it by casting a full feeder out with no bait on the hook. It was amazing to watch how savage the knocks were.

 

He also showed me a way to catch these fish which helped to contribute to one of my best barbel bags ever!

 

Put a rubber band tight round the feeder and tuck a loop of your hook lenght under the band, leaving your hook and bait about an inch from the feeder. The theory is the barbel picks up the feeder and shakes it then grabs what comes out picking up your hook bait in the process. The tension of the band pricks the fish and he storms off downstream as normal

 

Obviously there is no point in fishing this method if the fish are not attacking the feeder and casts should only be for as long as it takes for the feeder to empty. But by clipping up the hook when the tip is mysteriously rattling it does account for extra fish.

 

May see you at Boston Spa one day Paul

 

Dave

[Paul_D]

Indeed Dave, and thanks for that.

[Severn Wolf]

Its not the material at fault here mate. If you`re on a self hooking rig then you shouldn`t even need to think about striking. Barbel naturally turn downstream, its part of their shoaling instinct, thats why you get dirty great two foot twitches sometimes. Even using free runners the power as a barbel goes off is enough to set the hook against a well set clutch. I`ve had hundreds and hundreds of barbel and busting on the strike has never happened. Ok, every now and again I get cut off on rocks but thats part and parcel of the areas I fish.

 

 

Mainline has just been stepped up from 8lb to 10lb for better abrasion resistance and also because I don`t drop below 8lb hooklinks and my new club has a weird rule that you have to fish with a lighter hooklink than the mainline.

 

Ease off on the striking dude, thats the real problem.

[Peter Sharpe]

Fishing with a lighter hook length than the main line is good common sense and reduces the risk of a fish towing lengths of line around with the potential to snag.

Daiwa Super Shinobi in the 10 pound bs is a wonderful hook length material, but I fish places where I feel far happier with something a bit heavier. Unfortunately, the 12 pound Shinobi seems disproportionately stiffer and thicker, but it is still my first choice.

 

[ 28. July 2005, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: Peter Sharpe ]

[Severn Wolf]

quote:

---

Fishing with a lighter hook length than the main line is good common sense and reduces the risk of a fish towing lengths of line around with the potential to snag.

---

I normally fish finer diameter hooklengths but the same strength!!! The areas I`m in are as rough as a badgers backside so going too light is courting disaster.

 

I`m just dying to hear what the club has to say when the piking gear comes out. 30lb traces and 15lb mainline, that`ll get tongues wagging!

[Severn Wolf]

Oh, I`ve used 12lb ESP hooklengths, if the barbel are up for a feed it really doesn`t bother them, the rig starts acting like a semi stiff rig. Thick mono on the Severn is pretty ok to use in quite a few situations.

[Bob Bradford]

Paul D, you are using a bolt rig, there is no need to strike, what do you mean you cannot help yourself? I think you are having a laugh, are you seriously saying you cannot control your bodily functions? You do realise that the poor fish is swimming around with line and a hook trailing out of it's mouth, just because you react wrongly, sort it out , it ain't hard pal.