hooklink shelf life

[jules007]

how long would you guys keep hooklink material/line, i have a couple of reels of fluorocarbon that are about 15 years old but they have been kept in the dark so to speak, in a rig wallet so not exposed to sunlight, do i use it or bin it and buy new? 

[elmoputney]

Only way to know is test it and have a good look. Personally I don't like to take chances with hooklink so I would need to be confident it won't fail on me before I used it 

[salokcinnodrog]

I've got a spool of fluorocarbon that has been in my tackle box since Nazeing days, so at least 6 years old. I check it before I tie up any hooklinks, check knots etc, and change the hooklink after every couple of fish. 

On 20/03/2025 at 05:02, jules007 said:

how long would you guys keep hooklink material/line, i have a couple of reels of fluorocarbon that are about 15 years old but they have been kept in the dark so to speak, in a rig wallet so not exposed to sunlight, do i use it or bin it and buy new? 

 

On 20/03/2025 at 09:58, elmoputney said:

Only way to know is test it and have a good look. Personally I don't like to take chances with hooklink so I would need to be confident it won't fail on me before I used it 

 

[jules007]

Im just gonna buy new, not having any luck catching as it is so no point risking losing a fish should i actually hook one, and would not be good for the fish to swim about with half a rig in its gob

[B B]

I would buy new, have you used ESP soft ghost fluorocarbon ? I’m in the market for some for a maggot hook length. 

[jules007]

4 hours ago, B B said:

I would buy new, have you used ESP soft ghost fluorocarbon ? I’m in the market for some for a maggot hook length. 

Funny enough its ESP Ghost i have from way back and yes its a nice flouro i think i have the stiff rather than soft

[jules007]

As an update so i ordered Gardner stiff link and just not getting on with it, so now ordered Korda mouth trap, hope i get on better with that

[framey]

On 22/03/2025 at 02:34, jules007 said:

Funny enough its ESP Ghost i have from way back and yes its a nice flouro i think i have the stiff rather than soft

I still have a roll of Casper from fox 

that goes back to the Matt Haynes videos lol

[framey]

39 minutes ago, jules007 said:

As an update so i ordered Gardner stiff link and just not getting on with it, so now ordered Korda mouth trap, hope i get on better with that

Could do worse than have a look at the atomic or rig maroleofferings 

they make some great hook links that I happily use

Edited Monday at 16:02 by framey

[yonny]

1 hour ago, jules007 said:

As an update so i ordered Gardner stiff link and just not getting on with it, so now ordered Korda mouth trap, hope i get on better with that

I think they're quite similar. Both take a bit of playing with to get them formed perfectly.

[commonly]

1 hour ago, framey said:

rig marole

Amazing stuff, pull to straighten.

It's the only hooking I use.

I found Mouthtrap to be a bit springy/wirey and sometimes came back not straight, so needed to be steamed. I only used a few times before I found the one above.

[elmoputney]

2 hours ago, jules007 said:

As an update so i ordered Gardner stiff link and just not getting on with it, so now ordered Korda mouth trap, hope i get on better with that

What type of rig are you trying to make?

stiff link is good for booms, but not so easy to knot(it can be krimped) , mouth trap is good for chods and hinge rigs etc but I've found it tricky to use 25lb for d rigs as it doesn't always like going through the eye 3 times, I use 15lb mouth trap sometimes, and actually I mainly use 15lb boom for my spinner booms. 

If I am making a proper d rig I would use a fluorocarbon 

[salokcinnodrog]

1 hour ago, elmoputney said:

What type of rig are you trying to make?

stiff link is good for booms, but not so easy to knot(it can be krimped) , mouth trap is good for chods and hinge rigs etc but I've found it tricky to use 25lb for d rigs as it doesn't always like going through the eye 3 times, I use 15lb mouth trap sometimes, and actually I mainly use 15lb boom for my spinner booms. 

If I am making a proper d rig I would use a fluorocarbon 

Have you tried the Domhoff or Snell knot ?

It only needs to go through the eye twice.

[elmoputney]

52 minutes ago, salokcinnodrog said:

Have you tried the Domhoff or Snell knot ?

It only needs to go through the eye twice.

I really don't use D rigs often these days. The spinner is my main go to pop up rig. But for the odd time I do thinner ones work OK, I prefer them anyway as they are a bit more supple. 

[jules007]

9 hours ago, elmoputney said:

What type of rig are you trying to make?

stiff link is good for booms, but not so easy to knot(it can be krimped) , mouth trap is good for chods and hinge rigs etc but I've found it tricky to use 25lb for d rigs as it doesn't always like going through the eye 3 times, I use 15lb mouth trap sometimes, and actually I mainly use 15lb boom for my spinner booms. 

If I am making a proper d rig I would use a fluorocarbon 

gone back on chod rigs i went for 15lb mouth trap

[elmoputney]

2 hours ago, jules007 said:

gone back on chod rigs i went for 15lb mouth trap

That will be perfect for that, just out of interest what breaking strain was the stiff link? 

[kevtaylor]

I'm using Berkley Big Game Flourocarbon 30lb for my leader, seems banging tbh and cheaper than the tiny carp spools, easily as good as the Fox Illusion if not better.  I bet it would work in lower BS for hooklinks, worth a try anyway. 👍

 

[jules007]

11 hours ago, elmoputney said:

That will be perfect for that, just out of interest what breaking strain was the stiff link? 

20lb on stiff link

[elmoputney]

1 hour ago, jules007 said:

20lb on stiff link

I got the 25lb and I didn't get on with it either. It felt wirey, I also found 25lb mouth trap to be similar, 15lb is much nicer to use tbh