How long is yours?

[Ddgx]

I did a 7 hour day session on Saturday, and during the day the bailiff happened to catch site of my end tackle and seemed to sneer at the overall length of my hair. His criticism being that it was absurdly short. I had decided to trying no more than 6" overall length for winter after reading and seeing in a few places that it might result in more hookups if the slower moving fish have less room to play with before they hit the weight of the lead. This is the first time I've ever fished this short, everyone has their opinion of course, but it knocked my confidence somewhat. So I'm just interested to learn how long you're fishing, why, and do you adapt the length depending on season. Ps I blanked. It was very quiet all over the lake, but I am kicking myself because I feel like I could have turned the session around if I had have been prepared to move (fish showing and fizzing elsewhere almost all day long).

Edited December 2, 2014 by Ddgx

[Ddgx]

Sorry, should use the appropriate terminology. Am referring to hook length. You're right of course, it can I think be too easy to see tackle tarts turn up to a water, or listen to a bailiff and assume that they know what they're doing. I guess added with not actually hooking anything on sat it added to the feeling of not being confident in the setup. I will persevere!

[grangemilky]

It's quite common for balifs to think they know best. They may fish the lake, and may catch fish, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

These days my hairs remain a similar length, but if I venture more of a 'runs' water I change it about. If they are feeding funnily and not getting good hookholds, a longer hair gives them a bit more confidence, if it goes the other way then a smaller hair helps. I prefer to sit with the bait just brushing the bend of the hook, enough movement so the hook can 'turn' but not so much that it encourages tangles.

Can you post a pic of your set up?

[salokcinnodrog]

I'll give you this, covering both hooklink and hair length;

 

My hook links are usually between 15-20 centimetres long, 6-9inches as most of the lakes and rivers I fish are pretty weed free, and I use running leads, which may mean I can get away with shorter rigs than if using semi-fixed leads.

 

My hair length is always changed dependant on where I am hooking (or losing) the fish.

 

I start off with the hair leaving the shank of the hook directly opposite the barb of the hook, and the hookbait about 5millimetres below the bend, hanging freely, not touching it.

 

If I start losing fish, or hooking them at the very edge of the mouth, then I lengthen the hair.

 

If I am hooking them deeply in the mouth, or can see the hook has scraped down inside before finding hold, I shorten the hair.

 

If the hook is dead centre of the bottom lip, hair length is spot perfect.

 

Some additionals for you though;

If you feed more particles, groundbait or pellets, a big bed of free bait, then you may need a shorter hair and hooklink than if you feed just boilies.

In other words, how you feed may also contribute to how long a hair or hooklink you use.

 

If you fish in weed, then you may need a shorter hair to keep the bait tight to the hook.

 

Finally, pop-ups are a different kettle of fish altogether, and in most cases, should i use a pop-up, then the bait is on an extremely short hair, more shank mounted than on a hair at all.

[grangemilky]

Just read your next post....as for rig length, generally as short as possible. If its a clean bottom, I have been as low as 2 inches, believe it or not, I have had success with 2 inch hook length and a 1 inch hair, it just looks so wrong though and looks like it shouldn't work.

 

6 - 8 inches is average, and will always work, but on the right day, anything from 2 inches to 2 feet will work. Just find what's best for you.

[Ddgx]

I must admit 6" seems unnatural to me in some ways although I believe in the logic of using it that short in certain circumstances. I will say I wasn't having particular trouble with hook placement or losing fish mid-fight with my usual, longer hook length. Why change then you ask? Well, having seen a tonne of underwater video footage, and all of the bait ejections that didn't even registered at people's alarms, I got to thinking; how often have I been an unknowing victim of that? Especially in winter with fish feeding more infrequently and shyly. I think the point about finding what works for you couldn't be truer, just look at the variation in opinion in this thread. As subtle as most of it is! Not moving is still playing on my mind, I will not make that mistake again.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Ddgx

[Ddgx]

Absolutely. I've heard it said a million times since I came back to fishing. I was sat there on the day thinking, over there, over there is fish. That's where I ought to be. Then my other silly self denial side of my brain convinced me that, well, what if we're about to move off the path of the fish of the year? Of course, fishing I am learning has so much more self discipline, situational assessment, logical thinking than I think bad fisherman and non-fisherman realise.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Ddgx

[Ddgx]

It's amazing but in my younger years, as with many things in life I think you can get swept along like a sheep to participate in a way which matches how you think you should be fishing based on what others or the scene is doing. Not necessarily on what the fish are doing. I frankly didn't realise there was any other way back then. Pure Ignorance. Anyway, now I'd like to think I'm on the path to enlightenment I'm an aspiring catcher.

[cyborx]

don't let anyone, especially youtube tell you how to fish.

finding what works best for you is part of the great adventure that is carp fishing, it is ok to take on board the advice doled out at the carp.com pulpit but i bet none of the die hards on here take the info gleaned and use it undiluted.

i'm not saying "don't ask for advice" because that would be stupid, even Dal, nick Tim or i have asked questions in the past, its how we learn.

most of us are 'time served' but we can still learn from others, i have 50+ years from canal for gudgeon to carp but you should have seen my face when i first saw the bungee rig a couple of months ago

bailiffs are only good for one thing and i will take that with a pinch of salt and that is bait info.

i will use rigs from 3" to as long as 2ft depending on the lake or method that i am using at the time.

enjoy your learning curve and tight lines

[cyborx]

There are catchers and campers in this sport, it is up to you where you reside, I have 4 -5 hours in an average session to catch fish, I will do so if possib;le, whatever it takes, I don't do camping, suggest you are the same its a lifestyle choice.

 

when i go out for the day my rod bag has six rods set up in it, 3 for my pod if its a nice sunny day and i feel like sitting behind the buzzers nodding, one set up for floating if i fancy giving the little ones a bash because one of our lakes has loads of small carp and tench from as small as 4 inch, and believe me when i say its a great pleasure to see the small pristine beauties coming on, looking at a tiny mirror scale and just knowing that one day it may be as large as a 50p piece or bigger. one for stalking if i "have to catch" and my fly rod for when i need a little sport. then theres the pole that i always take too just to pee people off.

so as you see, variety is the spice of my life

[Ddgx]

They're definitely for me. Even during my 'ignorant' early fishing life that's what it was about. At least I have that as a foundation. You are all gents, many thanks for the wisdom.

[phil dalts]

I move all the time,no matter how much gear I've got spread out,I pack it all up,trundle over to another swim,9/10 times it works and saves a blank

[newmarket]

don't let anyone, especially youtube tell you how to fish.

finding what works best for you is part of the great adventure that is carp fishing, it is ok to take on board the advice doled out at the carp.com pulpit but i bet none of the die hards on here take the info gleaned and use it undiluted.

i'm not saying "don't ask for advice" because that would be stupid, even Dal, nick Tim or i have asked questions in the past, its how we learn.

most of us are 'time served' but we can still learn from others, i have 50+ years from canal for gudgeon to carp but you should have seen my face when i first saw the bungee rig a couple of months ago

bailiffs are only good for one thing and i will take that with a pinch of salt and that is bait info.

i will use rigs from 3" to as long as 2ft depending on the lake or method that i am using at the time.

enjoy your learning curve and tight lines

Great contribution Jon i really mean it , never a truer word or words said than what you have posted .

Jeez i've been fishing for 41 years but im also a complete beginner at THIS game .

 

Every day on the bank teaches and , to a lesser extent , every answer and opinion on here .

 

Im a proper noddy and not ashamed of it , i know next to nothing about Carp fishing but still feel able to help .

Its what Carping and Carp.com is all about .

Well done , top post .

[cyborx]

Great contribution Jon i really mean it , never a truer word or words said than what you have posted .

Jeez i've been fishing for 41 years but im also a complete beginner at THIS game .

 

Every day on the bank teaches and , to a lesser extent , every answer and opinion on here .

 

Im a proper noddy and not ashamed of it , i know next to nothing about Carp fishing but still feel able to help .

Its what Carping and Carp.com is all about .

Well done , top post .

hey Tim, never any need to feel wrong about being a beginner and that goes for anyone else.

as carp fishing is still in its relative infancy, there are a lot of the so called experts and big guns out there that will know a lot less than the next generation of noobs coming up thru the ranks.

some of those noobs that will actually come up thru these haloed portals we call carp.com, so be free with any info you have to share as you may be setting the next terry hearn or julian cundiff or even the next chilly on the righteous path.

[salokcinnodrog]

There are catchers and campers in this sport, it is up to you where you reside, I have 4 -5 hours in an average session to catch fish, I will do so if possib;le, whatever it takes, I don't do camping, suggest you are the same its a lifestyle choice.

Absolutely. I've heard it said a million times since I came back to fishing. I was sat there on the day thinking, over there, over there is fish. That's where I ought to be. Then my other silly self denial side of my brain convinced me that, well, what if we're about to move off the path of the fish of the year? Of course, fishing I am learning has so much more self discipline, situational assessment, logical thinking than I think bad fisherman and non-fisherman realise.

There are times when it can be better to stay in place than to move, more so when you can see the fish moving towards you, especially on pressured waters, where continual casting may spook the fish away again.

 

A ready baited trap in place, with the fish coming in to your area can catch.

 

Yet if the fish are 'stuck' in one spot, you may need to move onto them.

 

The problem with that though is that you are never knowing if to move or not is the right thing to do.

 

If you know the water you are fishing makes that right or wrong decision a lot easier, which is why I often prefer a campaign style pursuit, only fishing one water throughout the year or season.

 

Taverham Mills was a case in point, if you weren't on fish, then it was better to find and then move onto them, and then when you cast out using minimal bait, just a bag or stringer; but over time as more anglers started fishing it, the water changed. If you cast out, the fish got to the stage that in many swims, you needed your bait in the water for 2days before you got a take. Whether that was the weekend syndrome, or the fish took that long to find your bait I am never sure, but even so it takes a heck of a lot to move up and away from your baited area to get into a new swim to find the fish.

[Ddgx]

Morning. That day when I regretted not moving, that was really my dilemma. Because it is a fairly well stocked lake I think I naively told myself that even though I was seeing fish elsewhere it was a matter of time before something came for a sniff. What added to it was, and I couldn't /can't work it out still now is that 'my' side of the lake had alot of sun that day. The fish were across the way in the shadow of the trees and often showing really tight to the margins. All I can think is that despite the sun that day, perhaps the tall trees had been providing some shelter from any breeze in the days preceding my arrival and the water was warmer there for that reason.

[Ddgx]

This was the 29th November! It was a tough day no doubt, 6 anglers on the lake, somewhere between 12 and 18 lines in the water. 1 fish came out all day. Then again that's not to say any of the other 5 people knew what they were doing any better than I did, they didn't move either!

[Ddgx]

or forget it and go home.

 

cm, how can you go home when the day is as beautiful as this though? 

 

Edited December 9, 2014 by Ddgx

[B.O.F.]

Your bailiff would be having fits if he saw some of my rigs, no doubt about it.

I fish some VERY silty waters, Cheshire Meres and old Mill dams in the main, and short hooklinks will often get dragged into the silt. Ok the fish are used to rooting about if they are hungry, but I doubt they will do it as much if they aren't.

So I would be quite happy fishing a soft uncoated braided link of anything up to 2ft (if I am using a lead clip system). If I am using a helicopter rig or Chod rig with a leadcore leader I will use a hooklink as short as 4", as its the distance between the lead and the swivel that matters then, not the distance between the swivel and the hook.

 

B.O.F.  .

[newmarket]

I did a 7 hour day session on Saturday, and during the day the bailiff happened to catch site of my end tackle and seemed to sneer at the overall length of my hair. His criticism being that it was absurdly short. I had decided to trying no more than 6" overall length for winter after reading and seeing in a few places that it might result in more hookups if the slower moving fish have less room to play with before they hit the weight of the lead. This is the first time I've ever fished this short, everyone has their opinion of course, but it knocked my confidence somewhat. So I'm just interested to learn how long you're fishing, why, and do you adapt the length depending on season. Ps I blanked. It was very quiet all over the lake, but I am kicking myself because I feel like I could have turned the session around if I had have been prepared to move (fish showing and fizzing elsewhere almost all day long).

Lots and lots of Carp Anglers often fish their baits on a "D" rig ie NO hair at all .

And not just pop ups either .

 

Wonder what facial expression that Bailiff would've pulled then ?

Just a thought