a numpty asks about expanders

[darrreng]

Hi all,

 

Probably old hat to many of you, so perhaps I could borrow some knowledge!

 

Im looking for a way to fish pellets on rivers. My current method is to superglue pellets to a hair-rig for barbel, however Im now looking for an alternative method that allows me to hook the pellets direct.

 

Another important consideration is pellet size, Im looking at pellets in the 4 to 8mm size range.

 

What are the benefits of using expanders?

What are the disadvantages?

Is there a way around pumping them?

Is there a way to hook normal, smaller pellets direct, without the use of bands or hair rigs?

 

Thanks for the help!

[argyll]

Why not superglue the pellets directly to the back of the hook shank ?

[geffaz]

yes mate! your yousing 8mm right?

get a size 14 hook!

get a pellet!

take a finly serated knife or a old hack saw blade and cut a shollow goove down one side!

tiny dab of super glue into the groove!

press the shank of the hook into it with the point pointing out!

press in for a few seconds!

dip in the water for a second just to realy set the glue before the cast!

ive used this for years on both commercials and rivers and its a bloody brilliant method!

anything that picks up that pellet is hooked!

[John S]

You can buy a product called Bogie, a very sticky gel that will hold your pellets together. I've never tried it (but will be buying some soon), but you could try using some, either directly on the hook or on a hair rig....

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Why buy it when the careful use of a finger could yield your own???

[John S]

I've caught on the real thing. It has to be one of the crunchy ones though, they stay on the hook far better. The soft ones (only half-mature) come off too easily on the cast, and the runny ones are just a waste of time....

[chavender]

an expander pellet is like a dehydrated sponge and when wet will soak up water and become soft &

spongy and if immersed too long in water will go to mush,pumping them in a vacuum pump forces out

any tiny bubbles of air out of them and they will

then sink,you can just put some in a bait box and cover them with water (warm water works faster)they will assorb the water and expand then

you just give them a little squeese under the water (gently) to expell the air within them,the

tricky bit is the ratio of time in water to how

mushy (soft) they get.you could cut a elastic band into little squares and superglue these to hard pellets then hook then through the rubber pad,leave a little bit of the rubber pad sticking

out from the edge of the pellet to facilitate its

hooking,there are also apart from the normal expanders ones called jelly pellets that's been

pumped in a gelloteene solution and allowed to set giving a soft but firm rubbery pellet.

 

i hope this is of help

[geffaz]

the product BOGEY! isnt any good for the application of sticking a pellet to the hook,

get down to a pound shop and bye a stake of tubes of super for a couple of quid! bogeys only strong enuff to hold particles together! for a chuck or around the hook bait, when it hits the deck it breaks up!

expanders ar good if u want to add a little extra of your own making or a manufactures!

all a bit of a gimick if u ask me but sure ther ar a few that will disagree! maybe good if your on a heavy fished stretch and u wont to get them on somthing a bit outa the ordinary, the im sure ther ar loads of potions to try!

[Newt]

John S - this stuff will for sure hold a pellet on the hook for the cast and for as long as the pellet stays intact. Will hold 2/3/4 on if it's a large enough hook. I have even mushy ones stay on unless a fish does something to them.

 

http://www.baitstick.com/

 

[ 05. October 2005, 03:20 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Brian Carragher]

Have you tried bait bands?. A quick and simple way to attach pellets. They are a rubber/latex band with another tiny ring on the side that your hook goes through and the pellet goes in the main band. Different sized bands for different sized pellets