Light vs. Heavy

[poledark]

[quote name='BoldBear' maybe it was because the line was much thicker in those days and I needed to fish finer to get the bites? I'm not sure; but it shows that you can fish finer if your tackle is well balanced.

 

In my humble opinion you should use the strongest line and hooks that you can get away with. It is NOT sporting to have to play fish for long periods, or risk a break off.

 

We have at our disposal some remarkable line materials, so fine and strong and supple...lines that make the old nylons seem like rope, in the same way that nylon made the old twisted silks seem thick and clumsy (and I am old enough to have used that stuff)

 

My 20lb braid is as thin as 6lb nylon, and 30lb is the same dia as 8lb nylon.

 

So why not use a good braid of about the same dia as you would use nylon for your main line, and an even finer one for your hook links?

 

And while I am here, I get fed up with the generalisation that "most specimen hunters" have never fished for small fish. OK, many of the younger ones have not fished for tiddlers for very long, but that really only applies to the carp fishers.

 

I went through the various stages as a kid, but even then I was always after the secret monster, same as all my mates. I can't imagine fishing for tiddlers any more................does any one really do it? (except for matchmen)

 

Den

[Neil G]

Agree with the above

 

As a pike angler myself I see no reason to use light gear....okay, there's no need to use 3.5tc rods for river fishing if you don't have to cast far and use big baits but when it comes to line I always think using braid is a sensible option. If it's the same dia. as a 15lb mono but more than twice as strong it's a bit of a no brainer really!

[Peter Waller]

My concern, as a Broads angler, is that in using excessively heavy gear some folk don't play a fish out, thus it comes into a boat and plays itself out on the bottom boards, hence the expression 'Boat rash'.

[Neil G]

Obviusly an issue....everyone has different views on wether a fish should be played out or brought in asap.

 

I'm in the school of thought that in summer when using lures the fish should be brought is as quick as possible and, if small unhooked in the net thus never being on the bank at all.

[Newt]

Some species don't seem to take harm from protracted battles; carp and catfish come to mind. With them, going lighter is not really an issue unless you tend to have break-offs which is a whole other problem.

 

Others do very poorly if they are totally exhausted at the net and given the needed recovery time before they can swim off strongly, I've always wondered if there is lasting damage done.

 

On the flip side, if you are fishing really light, larger fish seem to barely notice they are hooked and eventually come to the net and seem very surprised to find they've been caught.

 

I don't think there is a really good, one size fits all, answer for the light vs heavy argument which is the reason we can keep having it over and over and over and ......

[Guest tigger]

Others do very poorly if they are totally exhausted at the net and given the needed recovery time before they can swim off strongly, I've always wondered if there is lasting damage done.

 

 

I don't think there's any lasting damage to a fish that's out of puff after a good fight. It's just like you or me after a bought of hard excercise, a bit of a rest and get the oxygen back in the blood and your ok again and ready to fight another day.

Maybe the workout does em good.

[Peter Waller]

For a kick off I rarely lift a pike from the water, much preferring to roll the hooks out in the water. I have had numerous summer caught pike on UL gear, and never has one come in exhausted. Its a more gentle fight for one thing.

[Dick Dastardly]

And while I am here, I get fed up with the generalisation that "most specimen hunters" have never fished for small fish. OK, many of the younger ones have not fished for tiddlers for very long, but that really only applies to the carp fishers.

 

I went through the various stages as a kid, but even then I was always after the secret monster, same as all my mates. I can't imagine fishing for tiddlers any more................does any one really do it? (except for matchmen)

 

Den

 

Im glad Den brought this up as I to dont like the use of the term "SPECIMEN HUNTER" To refer to todays one species "Carp anglers" A True specimen hunter happily fiosh's for specimens of several species. A far cry from the single species carp angler of today.

 

The other point is " I can't imagine fishing for tiddlers any more................does any one really do it? (except for matchmen)"

 

Yes I do!Sometimes I really enjoy going out for a true "pleasure" session.Here the size of the fish I catch is totally imaterial to me.Getting constant action with plenty of bites is the name of the game here. I must admit that I wouldnt want to do it every day as I would soon boire of it but to a lesser extent this could also be said for long slow sessions for big fish.

[MikeT]

In my humble opinion you should use the strongest line and hooks that you can get away with. It is NOT sporting to have to play fish for long periods, or risk a break off.

I can’t imagine there are many anglers who fish with gear they seriously expect to be broken off because it’s too light for their purposes. It’s more a question of anglers unintentionally hooking fish they’re not targeting. Following your argument to its conclusion, all anglers should use gear which would adequately cope with an accidental catch of the biggest fish which happened to inhabit their swim, whether they're fishing for it or not, according to their skill at playing and landing it (I should think this is at least as much a factor as the strength of the tackle- I’d bet Bob Nudd could land fish twice the size of mine on half the breaking strain).

 

We can all take advantage of the advances in line and tackle technology so we can fish lighter. The argument that we should use braid at equivalent diameter to old-fashioned twisted silk (with many times the strength) is, frankly, nonsense. New lines mean we can fish lighter, more safely- not that we should use the same diameters as our low-tech forefathers just so we can fish heavier.

 

Like I said, it’s horses for courses. I use the lightest gear I can get at the strength I need for my target fish (plus a bit extra for luck). This means I catch more fish, but don’t lose any more than I would have done with more old-tech materials. And I suspect we all do this, including specimen hunters. Well, maybe not the ‘vintage’ guys...

[Anderoo]

I can’t imagine there are many anglers who fish with gear they seriously expect to be broken off because it’s too light for their purposes. It’s more a question of anglers unintentionally hooking fish they’re not targeting. Following your argument to its conclusion, all anglers should use gear which would adequately cope with an accidental catch of the biggest fish which happened to inhabit their swim, whether they're fishing for it or not, according to their skill at playing and landing it (I should think this is at least as much a factor as the strength of the tackle- I’d bet Bob Nudd could land fish twice the size of mine on half the breaking strain).

 

We can all take advantage of the advances in line and tackle technology so we can fish lighter. The argument that we should use braid at equivalent diameter to old-fashioned twisted silk (with many times the strength) is, frankly, nonsense. New lines mean we can fish lighter, more safely- not that we should use the same diameters as our low-tech forefathers just so we can fish heavier.

 

Like I said, it’s horses for courses. I use the lightest gear I can get at the strength I need for my target fish (plus a bit extra for luck). This means I catch more fish, but don’t lose any more than I would have done with more old-tech materials. And I suspect we all do this, including specimen hunters. Well, maybe not the ‘vintage’ guys...

 

I think Mike's summed this one up for me, good post!

 

The other thing to add into the equation is that lighter (balanced) gear doesn't necessarily mean a longer, protracted fight. A light bendy rod can tire a fish quicker than a heavy stiff one. Think of fly rods and the size of trout you can catch with them.