Am I doing it wrong?

[tag]

As a relative newcomer to Carp fishing who uses mostly 10lb sensor line with an 8lb dacron hooklength to a 10 or 12 hair rigged hook which I tie myself, I am enjoying catching fish up to low doubles although mostly around 2 to 4 lbs.

The club waters I fish do not contain anything above about 15lbs.

Question: What are 15lb to 25lb hooklengths used for as for example Prologic Taipan and Reptillian? Surely nobody uses reel lines of much more than 15lb, and I thought that for safety's sake you should always use a lighter hooklength than your reel line.

Am I missing something ?

 

[newies_maggots]

dont have to use a lighter hook length that your reel line, i sometimes use 10 / 12 / 15 straight through all depending what size fish im going for and also how many and how bad the snags are if any..

when i went barbelling i used 10lb main and 8lb hook, which was great, as i lost 15/20 hooks on an underwater snag, so with the lighter hook length i didnt lose my whole rig.

but i think its more based on the diameter of the line, you can get 12lb line with a smaller diameter than 10lb.

 

[Water-rat]

I know what you mean tag, I cant see the logic in having a hooklength thats a lot heavier than the reel line. Surely its asking for trouble if you get snapped off...

 

[newies_maggots]

Originally posted by Water-rat

I know what you mean tag, I cant see the logic in having a hooklength thats a lot heavier than the reel line. Surely its asking for trouble if you get snapped off...

agree..

never have a hook length higher than the main line..

you might as well go straight through in 1 weight

 

[Water-rat]

A lot of hooklink material from Korda and Kryston is 15 or 20lbs B.S. which to my mind encourages the use of heavier hook lengths...

 

[phil-k]

I have used hooklinks of 15lb braid when carp fishing but find it isn't necessary on the water I fish which only contains carp to under 20lb and I get a lot more runs on a 10lb hooklink.

Mainline is 12lb fox.

I suppose it depends on the size of carp.Fishing in France for example may well call for stepped up gear.

It makes sense using a lighter hooklink as you may need to pull for a break if you get snagged.[]

 

[tag]

Many thanks for replies

 

[Enigma]

Depends if you are snag fishing or in heavy weed. high BS braid will cut through weed with ease.

 

[Hatman]

Surprised at that Enigma, snags catch rigs even when theres no angler on the other end = dead carp. Surely when its a snag pit its even more important to ensure the break point is as near to the hook end as possible?

 

[tag]

Originally posted by Enigma

Depends if you are snag fishing or in heavy weed. high BS braid will cut through weed with ease.

Surely Looney is correct, please explain.[V]

 

[Hatman]

Think the penny has dropped re high bs braid - Enigma probably means braid mainline.

 

[tag]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[The Big Fella]

Braid hook lengths can also cut fishes mouths to bits as well as reeds and weeds!

Lost count of the number of carp I caught with badly disfigured mouths. [][][]

 

[strat2]

sometimes the carpers use stronger hooklinks than the main line because of the fishes anti eject properties. so they cant eject the hook becasue it is so stiff.

 

[tag]

So everything considered it seems best for the fishes welfare to use a lighter hooklink in case of breaks, I always do, but which hooklength is best, to give good performance along with the best fish care?
Braid or mono?[?][?][?]

 

[NoFinPhish]

Firstly, if I was fishing with 10lb (ish) and below mainline, I would also favour lower BS hooklength.

Last season may main target was late 20 to mid 30lb carp on a gravel pit. Having said that, I only got to fish half a dozen times last year []

After losing a couple of fish the year before due to snapped lines (gravel bars) and straightened hooks, I moved up from size 10 raptors and 12lb xline, to size 8 and 15lb.

Have you ever tried pulling for a break on 15lb line? It's damned difficult to do.
Do you think therefore, that a carp can break it? It would take a lot of abrasion to weaken the line enough for a carp to be able to free itself when snagged.

So surely, after you reach a BS which a fish will find almost impossible to free itself from when snagged, you are doing it a favour by INCREASING the BS. This means the line will be more resistant to damage and therefore less likely to break in the first place. Very important to check your line regularily for damage in some fishing environments.

It's not always the hooklink that will get the most punishment. Mainlines fished slack over a gravel bar when the hooklink is in silt over the other side of it is an example of this.
However, the hooklink will always be in contact with the lake bed (unless you fish Bigladwigan style) so beefing this up is a start.

25lb BS hooklink will therefore help to ensure there are a lot less breakages on some types of venue, than if you used 10lb, even though 10lb line is perfectly adequate to pull in a 30lb fish.
The down side though, is when the rare break happens, the fish will most likely be trailing a lot more line.

 

[tag]

So it IS preferable, when putting fish care first, to fish with a lighter hooklength.
QED.
Thank you for your informed post.

 

[NoFinPhish]

As long as your venue is not particularily line-stressing, yes.

But to turn that on it's head, if it has no snags for the fish to get snagged up in, Halfords tow-rope would be best for fish welfare []

Choice should be a consideration of venue, target fish and visibility of your tackle to the quarry [:0]

 

[tag]

Thanks to all.