Helicopter rigs/Hooklengh

[Ginger9991]

Hi Guys,

So this weekend on the lake i will be fishing i can use 3 rods, And i feel like adding the helipcopter rig to my armoury. So i will be fishing to an island which is about 2 ft deep, I have fished pop ups to it before and have been out fished by bottom/balanced baits SO, im going to use a Helipcopter set up with a bottom bait.....What hook lenghs would people suggest for this (little to no weed or silt). Im kinda thinking i dont want my rig drapping over the lead on the cast as i might get tangles, I also dont want my rig to be fair away from the lead as distance from the island is key. THANKS ALL!

[greekskii]

use an anti tangle sleeve? your much less likely to get tangles the closer your beads are to the lead, it just sits like a lead clip arrangement. In the situation you've explained, i'd just go with a running rig, inline lead, lead clip setup as the need for the helicopter arrangement isn't there.

[salokcinnodrog]

Unless it's a long cast, I would honestly forget about using helicopter set-ups. Firstly you are fishing to an island, so you want quick indication; unless the helicopter rig is fished bowstring tight you may well lose indication, especially on a drop-back. I have see a carp take from the corner of an island, move the lead in a perfect arc, with absolutely no movement on the indicator, and (pre Delkim) no sound from the buzzer. It was only seeing the line, in daytime, move that gave notice of a run.

 

 Unless you had vibration sensing you may well miss the take, especially at night.

Even a normal semi-fixed lead can result in less indication of a take.

 

Personally, if there is no undertow, I would be going to running leads, and slack lines.

[Ginger9991]

It’s 19 odd wraps again. I just to be able to try the set up out really, there will be a mid water spot so maybe I should be looking to use the helicopter set up there instead. I always fish tight lines. Just can’t get semi slack sitting right and also I get paranoid that I’m missing out

[nigewoodcock]

Use what you want and make your own decisions from what you find out mate. 

You can read up and have as much advice offered as you want but nothing will compare to working things out for yourself. 

[salokcinnodrog]

1 hour ago, Ginger9991 said:

It’s 19 odd wraps again. I just to be able to try the set up out really, there will be a mid water spot so maybe I should be looking to use the helicopter set up there instead. I always fish tight lines. Just can’t get semi slack sitting right and also I get paranoid that I’m missing out

About 76yards, so not a real big chuck, dependant on your technique.

 

I gave up on semi-slack, its tight or slack, no in between. Indicators as tight as I can get them, or at maximum drop, with no upwards creep, and line running along the bottom of the rings, and straight down from rod tip.

 

I found I was missing out at times by using a helicopter set-up. I lost fish because of it! A couple of bleeps, and the fish had run 30 yards into a snag. I had had a run the night before, landed a 28, but the next take dumped me in a snag. A mega dropback, that basically, even with tight line didn't dropback on the indicator, and my Delkims, despite being set sensitive didn't give more than two or three bleeps. Hence my dislike of helicopter set-ups unless I absolutely have to.

 

Hooklength material, coated braids, fluorocarbon, or mono are all more tangle resistant than normal braid, or go combi-rig.

 

 

[greekskii]

23 minutes ago, salokcinnodrog said:

 

I found I was missing out at times by using a helicopter set-up. I lost fish because of it! A couple of bleeps, and the fish had run 30 yards into a snag. I had had a run the night before, landed a 28, but the next take dumped me in a snag. A mega dropback, that basically, even with tight line didn't dropback on the indicator, and my Delkims, despite being set sensitive didn't give more than two or three bleeps. Hence my dislike of helicopter set-ups unless I absolutely have to.

 

I have played with it last year and had similar. A 30lber gave me 3 bleeps on my delks (at 4+ setting) and that was all. Next I knew I had hooked a fish was when my other two rods ripped off as it ploughed through my lines. Long, stressful fight later I managed to land it in the pitch black and freezing conditions. 

Few other odd occurrences. Can't beat the running rig IMO unless you need to use the heli for deep silt or weed. 

[B.C.]

12 hours ago, greekskii said:

unless you need to use the heli for deep silt or weed. 

Beat me to....... I've used it a lot at differing ranges in silt. Never been confident with bite indication, hooked a coot that came right into the bank fishing semi slack. Thought a pike was having a go at it, mainline got hung up in weed, didn't hear a bleep. This was with a lead drop off system......

I like the safety aspect of the heli, but would advocate a heavy fixed lead, something that can plug into the bottom and help with a "bolt effect".

21 hours ago, Ginger9991 said:

What hook lenghs would people suggest for this (little to no weed or silt).

If it's a clean bottom, I'd use a shortish hook length with an anti tangle sleeve, about 6 inch hooklength, helps with casting imo Don't worry about it laying over the lead. If you set it right with the sleeve and add some weight near the sleeve end so it falls right,and a couple of tapered beads, it can only fall left or right to the lead, and there will still be an inch or two of debris on the bottom, even though it feels clean, unless the spot is literally glowing yellow.

I would definitely give it a go at some point. You may come up against a situation where it is needed . Nothing wrong with a bit of practice... TBH, it's like any rig imo, the basics are there for everyone to see, but the more you use it, the more you will tweak it to suit you or your water.

Edited March 15, 2018 by B.C.