A question of hooklengths?

[peakoverload]

This might sound a daft question but I'm not sure what's best to do.

This weekend I hope to return to one of my club lakes where I had some good success last weekend. One thing I noticed whilst fishing last weekend is that some fish were spitting the bait out very quickly and I suspect that they were feeling the line (I was using 6lb Maxima tied straight through i.e. no separate hooklength).

This weekend I want to try using a very fine hooklength both on my float rod and on a ledger rig which got me thinking.

How safe is it to use shot on fine hooklengths? We all know that shot will weaken a line where it's attached wouldn't that be doubly so for fine hooklengths?

If the use of shot does weaken fine line noticeably should I be using very short hooklengths of just a few inches so that I can avoid placing any shot on the hooklength?

On my Carp rods I use 12lb or 15lb Maxima line, what would be a suitable hooklength to use (in terms of breaking strain) with that when the Carp in this lake average 7lb but go to 25lb?

[NICK R]

the normal way is to have a lighter hook length than main line ,this will then cause a week spot if the fish gets snagged up etc .For eg i use 15 lb line but only 12 lb for my hook length ,For carp at the size you are on about i would only fish a 12lb main line with a very light hooklength ie 8/10.

I fish a lake where the fish reach mid 40lbs and fish a 15lb line ,45 lb lead core 15 lb hook link ,the weak spot is the joining of the 15lb to the 45 .
you have to remember is is the rod that combats the pull of the fish .I have caught fish to 57lb only useing 15lb hook lengths

hope this makes sense

[devondave]

my local lake fishes amazingly well this time of the year using surface tactics.....for this i use 4lb straight through... a match rod and a centerpin reel..... the lake i fish is stocked with nothing but fish between 10 and 25lb and i have landed them upto 25lb on this gear!......light line is fine providing you use a suitible rod to go with it.....i dont think i could of done the same with the 4lb line if i was using one of my 2.5lb tc carp rods!

the lighter the better i say and let the rod do all the work!

[BoldBear]

If I am fishing at a fairly close range (up to 30 to 40 yards) I use a forgiving Diawa 2lb tc powermesh Carp rod with line between 8lb and 12lb and have landed a fair ammount of high doubles with it over the years (20lb upwards) without too much trouble. Balanced tackle is the key. I would only use heavier tackle if I was fishing snags or at a distance.

If you suspect that the fish are feeling your line then why not try a soft braid, I use a sandy coloured 'Barbel Braid' which matches the coulour of the bottom (I don't like the black and white braids which can be easily seen), or even a multistrand trace or coated braid with a short bit stripped. You can get away with a much higher breakng strain of braid compared to the main-line as it is much finer and supple.
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