Hook-lengths

Since 1985, when the Wild carp on Pike pit presented themselves, I have used braid hook lengths - this is a direct response to the Richard Walker's comments on braid, which made good sense to me at the time and have since. Basically for a given breaking strain braid is very much limper/softer than mono and for fish taking a bait the feel of line is the important thing.

The stiffness of mono increases in relation to the square of its diameter. Twice as thick means 4 times as stiff. Fish can feel this. The look of the thing is secondary, as long as it blends fairly well. Fish are used to 'strandy' things on lake beds, plant life being 'strandy' by nature. This will feel soft and limp. Mono has a hard feel, like a hair in your mouth and will be ejected well before similar b/s stranded braid. The little stub of line 'half blood' or 'clinch' knots leave by a hook can't help either.

Prove it to yourself with 3 pieces of 3lb line and one strand of 10lb, same make and manufacturer. If you really like, plait the thinner line, you'll see it's limper by far than the single 10lb (I know this as I used 3x7lb plaited for pike traces in my distant youth).

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Initially (1982-1990 or so) I used an 11lb Black Spider braid (Milbro?), which by today's standards is heavy duty, being as thick as the 8lb Perlon I used for the main line. The issues with this were how to attach it to mono and how to tie on the hook?

I went with Mr. Walker for the former, coating by dipping, 4-5 inches of the braid hook-length in polyurethane varnish and when quite dry, attaching to the mono with a 4 turn water knot. Absolutely solid, but the lines need to be the same diameter more or less for this to work. It did and tested out.

At that time (with no internet) tying hooks on with braid was harder to pin down. There were recommendations around, based on 'half blood' knots, with various tucks. None of them seemed to work as well as the standard 'half blood', as an hour one evening with a set of scales proved. As I had read that a compressed knot could fail, I simply retied the hook after every fish (this was the point I whipped 1 ft markers on the rod, simplifying the business of re-setting the depth correctly).

So far, so hoopy. I used this approach even a few years ago (with the same braid) and it worked well, with many tench, bream and roach to show. Tackle has moved on though, so I bought a bunch of braid hook lengths and some 'feeder braid'. Hook-length braid is good, but the price is daylight robbery by the way, which is why I'm not naming any. The feeder braid I stumbled across by accident and the 6lb & 8lb makes good hook-lengths for general fishing, being thin and limp and a dull green/grey.

Modern braids flatten easily and also tended to be thinner than mono of the same (or approximately the same) breaking strain. Problem.

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First things first, how to tie on the hook? Three knots presented themselves; the 'Palomar', the 'Uni' and the 'knotless' knot. The 'Palomar' is easy to tie (and small), but with braids that have a mixture of different fibre type there was a tendancy for threads near the hook to break after strain. The 'Uni' is very solid and I put 2 turns of the braid through the hook eye, but the knot is on the large side and a bit more of a fiddle to tie. The 'knotless' is good for size, but for strength I have taken it on trust for now. The 'knotless' is easier to tie on smaller hooks (14/16), as the first pass of the braid through the eye it tight, making the second pass easy. The 2 loops of the 'Uni' can be tricky on smaller hooks.

I experimented with nylon to braid knots and after a few goes, decided that I was onto a bit of a hiding to nothing at this point. So I use a rig ring and 'half blood' on the mono and 'Uni' the braid. Hook knots are 'Uni' or the 'knotless'. A good knot for joining the 2 types of line would be welcome though.

Mostly I use a short hook-length, 2-4 inches, with the bottom end shot (when float fishing) being just under the rig ring, the idea being the braid is on the bottom and the less visible mono is in the water. While the mono is more easily felt by the fish, I imagine the rig ring in mid-water looks a bit odd. If the water is very coloured though, I wouldn't mind a foot to 18" or so off the bottom, as fish brushing it are less likely to spook in my opinion. It's a judgement call, depending on water depth and colour and type of fish you are expecting.

For general stuff, I'll often use a 6lb Feeder braid hook-length with 14/16 hooks 'knotlessed' on. If I'm expecting larger fish (and I mean mostly tench, but carp very likely), I'll go for 8lb mono, with 8lb braid. This may seem like hawser tackle, but I find it works fine and the catch rate is very good. It may be with good fine tackle I'll get more bites (or not), but I'm happy with that. I seldom use under 6lb these days. I don't see the need.

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It works for me.