salokcinnodrog

I used to use plasticine as a weight for chub fishing, moulded around the line or as a drop off weight moulded around a couple of shot on a paternoster link. After time it sets solid in the tackle box, and no amount of kneading will make it go soft again, so some blocks had a loop of line pushed through them.

I must admit I have been enjoying watching this season's football. The Premiership is much more open, the big four, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal seem out of it. It is very refreshing to see Tottenham and Leicester so far fighting for the top spot, after spending far less money than the other teams. Claudio Ranieri has been keeping his players motivated without appearing big headed, and they are certainly doing the do on other teams. As for Spurs, quietly keeping on keeping on, and winning when they play.

I test every single hook. As I take it out of the pack I check to see the point is ok, and if I can bend it by hand, and When I pull my knots tight I pull the hook with the grip holes on a pair of forceps. I know I'm pulling the centre of the bend, but any weakness should show up between those checks. I know it's not relevant now, but I have used Kamasan B175's in the past for the bent hook rigs, and I did used to bend them mid shank. I never had one of those go wrong, straighten or bend out. In fact I do still do that when I use them on pike traces as the upper single hook, and again, not had a problem. I think some branded carp hooks are a cheaper copy of some other hooks, the pattern being arrived at in response to other brands being there first, a tackle brand making cost cutting exercises or a compromise of cost vs strength and reliability. In other words I won't trust some tackle branded hooks at all. Get a hook pattern you can rely on, and don't just follow fashion. Get the right hook for your fishing; don't use a thin gauge hook near snags or where you need to put the pressure on.

I'll put the quote below my post because so much of it is relevant, and interesting, but the bit that strikes me most is your comment about Korda hooks. If they are that soft do you think or feel that the point is easier to blunt while in use? I wonder if that may answer the question of me missing fish on a Korda hook a few years ago, the point had been blunted. I changed to another brand of hook, I think it was the Gardner, but may have been a Gamakatsu, and the bait in exactly the same spot produced fish. I'm certain that because the Korda hook was blunter it may not have been pr icking and was being ejected. When it comes to hooks I am quite fussy, Gardner Muggas and Gamakatsu GP204's served me well.

Old school:

Must admit I've never had a problem with Gardner Mugga's in standard or Continental versions, although I have been using Solar 101's now for around a year. I very rarely get hook pulls, maybe it's because I am probably anal about rig design and make-up. To me a hook pull is usually down to too short a hair for the situation you are fishing in, although I did find that helicopter and silt rig (bomb on the end of the line) set-ups I did get a fair number. I have a feeling it may be the angle of line pull is 'wrong' with them. The last hook pull I can remember was on Ardleigh, when I was using a stiff hair on a stiff rig, I had played a fish for a few minutes when the fish just fell off. Takes on there were so few it was not a nice feeling. I considered the issue, and now avoid a stiff hair as I think it prevents the bait being taken in properly.

I wanted to fish braid in the weed at Taverham, but just decided to see if I could splice Merlin instead of knotting it. The rig idea just evolved from that. I think the original tubing was silicon tubing over the eye of the hook. The hair was my standard hair attachment anyway, or with whipping thread, as no-one had published the knotless knot back in the early 1990's.

As I said, it doesn't make it a complete length of 50lb Merlin; it still has a breaking strain of 25lb in the section between the splices. Sadly not the clearest picture, but you can make out the end of the splices. I tested it by pulling on both ends with forceps, I could not physically break it. Therefore the weak point will be the mainline to swivel knot, a fish would be carrying at most a 15cm hooklink, the hook itself can also be ejected should a fish be lost. Frank (Levigsp) has explained in the past how a hook can be ejected The shrink tube at the swivel end, is simply to reduce tangles.

Tied one up with 25lb Merlin while on the bank this weekend. I say tied, spliced one up this weekend. Dental Floss whipped hair, spliced hook and swivel, the hook fitted with a shrink tube kicker. I'll add picture to this later

It came out as a tongue twister even on a keyboard!

On a splice it does not double the whole length of the hooklink, and it will still break at its expected breaking strain, just not usually on the spliced section. A spliced boat rope, is the example of that as I have seen a rope snapped under extreme (gale force) wind and waves, and it snapped above the splice. I have tried the same with a spliced hooklink, and again, the pressure under stress, pulling the hook and swivel, the Merlin snapped along its length, not in the splice. In actual use, I have never snapped or had a break off of the hooklink with a braided hooklink, although I have had a combi-rig knot give way (my fault, I cast out the same rig after landing a decent 20 and had another take very quickly). Correction, I can think of one occasion at Earith, almost an instant take after casting, and I had the hooklink give way, as a cut or bite off. It is possible it was a catfish, maybe a pike, but that is the only occasion. This hooklink snapping midway would leave a fish with a hook and at most 150millimetres of trailing line, and that can be ejected, even if it is a barbed hook. As an aside, double posts happen if you hold your finger on 'post' for an extra second or your internet 'freezes'.

Just been having a think, how would splicing the hook on work for you? It does give a stiffer section near the hook, and then whipping on your hair or even using a sliding ring on the shank stopped with a rig stop bead? If you do splice it, with the stiffer section you could use it for a pop-up or snowman rig with the rig ring, or with a whipped hair as a bottom bait rig.

You may find this interesting: http://www.carprus.eu/about-the-company.php Splicing stronger than knotting I knew about, and boat ropes are spliced for loops at the end, learnt that as a kid when using a dinghy on the broads, hence my splicing experiments with braids in the early 90's.