River anglers, when fishing, what length? pre-tied? do you put a telltale on them? any preferred brand?
I think the background to this, is that with so much time on my hands, I'm mulling over whether to make up a load of pre-tied hooklengths as prep for the new season and/or when we can get back out (I was thinking rivers, but this is probably relevant for still waters also)
I don't know where I got this from, but I've always taken the approach of 'thou shalt not put any shot on your hooklength'. From memory, I recall the thinking was with the earlier generation of prestretched lines, they were more delicate, and this was to avoid weak spots and so forth, even with nbr 8s and 10s being smaller. (I can't use 10's nowadays anyhow).
I always used to fish with my lowest telltale dropshot just above the hooklength knot, and I've always tended to fish with a hooklength of about 30cm. It would only be shorter if I've retied a hook and (lazily) not replaced the whole hooklength.
This implies I'd never (or only through said laziness) have a dropshot any closer than 30cm. (and as I've typed this, I'm already thinking this would be the wrong approach when when the actual purpose of the dropshot is to show the bite..)
Dave Harrell has posted a couple of great articles on FaceBook recently on shotting approaches for both waggler and 'top and bottom' and I noticed he will put a telltale shot on this hooklength, perhaps 8 inches (15cm?) from the hook.
As some context, I've been out of the UK for many years, only returned to regular coarse fishing last year. Many things have changed, including line and hook length technology.
This has got me thinking... should I make up a load of varied lengths, stick with the 30cm and put tell tales on the hooklength, are there hooklength materials that are more resilient, etc, etc..
Q to the river anglers out there.. how are you doing it?
I think the background to this, is that with so much time on my hands, I'm mulling over whether to make up a load of pre-tied hooklengths as prep for the new season and/or when we can get back out (I was thinking rivers, but this is probably relevant for still waters also)
I don't know where I got this from, but I've always taken the approach of 'thou shalt not put any shot on your hooklength'. From memory, I recall the thinking was with the earlier generation of prestretched lines, they were more delicate, and this was to avoid weak spots and so forth, even with nbr 8s and 10s being smaller. (I can't use 10's nowadays anyhow).
I always used to fish with my lowest telltale dropshot just above the hooklength knot, and I've always tended to fish with a hooklength of about 30cm. It would only be shorter if I've retied a hook and (lazily) not replaced the whole hooklength.
This implies I'd never (or only through said laziness) have a dropshot any closer than 30cm. (and as I've typed this, I'm already thinking this would be the wrong approach when when the actual purpose of the dropshot is to show the bite..)
Dave Harrell has posted a couple of great articles on FaceBook recently on shotting approaches for both waggler and 'top and bottom' and I noticed he will put a telltale shot on this hooklength, perhaps 8 inches (15cm?) from the hook.
As some context, I've been out of the UK for many years, only returned to regular coarse fishing last year. Many things have changed, including line and hook length technology.
This has got me thinking... should I make up a load of varied lengths, stick with the 30cm and put tell tales on the hooklength, are there hooklength materials that are more resilient, etc, etc..
Q to the river anglers out there.. how are you doing it?