what line
- Thread starter 11alan111
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Cliff Hatton
Well-known member
Alan: why not use the same line as your main line?
fruitowl
Well-known member
I tend to prefer a breaking strain less than main line as when i first started i fished straight through a barbel broke me and took about 6 to 7 feet line i do not like the idea of a fish with that much line and a risk of getting tethered on a snag
now my links are made so if a fish snaps me their is as little line attached as possible.
Thats just my preference
now my links are made so if a fish snaps me their is as little line attached as possible.
Thats just my preference
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If I use a ten pound mainline use an 8lb bottom, if using a 12lb mainline I use a 10 or 8lb hooklength. I like daiwa sensor in clear or brown for my mainline and hooklengths but there's lots of lines to choose from.
At the moment I have fox camo on some reels, fox soft steel and nash bullet on others but still use sensor for my hooklengths. I have used braid but due to the abrasive rocks in the rivers I fish I prefer mono.
At the moment I have fox camo on some reels, fox soft steel and nash bullet on others but still use sensor for my hooklengths. I have used braid but due to the abrasive rocks in the rivers I fish I prefer mono.
B
binka
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I'm pretty much as per Tigger above when it comes to slightly lighter hooklinks and the b/s's, I don't have a problem using a shorter length of my mainline connected by a swivel if I'm up against it near snags as the shorter hooklink will still give before the mainline but under these circumstance I would usually turn to GLT Pro-Tough.
Ultima Power Steel is one which I have also used a lot in the past and was also mentioned in another thread not too long ago.
Don't know if anyone's seen the Drennan Method Mono, I recently bought a spool to try in 12lb b/s purely on the basis that the mid-brown colour matches perfectly with the gravel/silt type riverbeds which I fish, it does have a slight sheen coating to help casting when used as a mainline but it hasn't had any negative effects so far as a hooklink and seems to be robust...
Ultima Power Steel is one which I have also used a lot in the past and was also mentioned in another thread not too long ago.
Don't know if anyone's seen the Drennan Method Mono, I recently bought a spool to try in 12lb b/s purely on the basis that the mid-brown colour matches perfectly with the gravel/silt type riverbeds which I fish, it does have a slight sheen coating to help casting when used as a mainline but it hasn't had any negative effects so far as a hooklink and seems to be robust...
I would like to mention that if the same bs as the mainline is used then the weak link is the knot so the mainline should not break first.
Jim Crosskey 2
Well-known member
Hi Alan
For fishing the wye (roughly similar i believe to the severn, barbel and chub + boulders/ snags) i use 12lb daiwa sensor as mainline. Its strong and abrasion resistant - its also relatively cheap so I can replace the top 100 yards on a reel every season.
For hooklengths i always use 10lb breaking strain, but a couple of different ones dependent on the conditions. If the water is high and coloured, I use maxima chameleon, which is pretty tough. In "normal" conditions i use a short length of drennan sink braid (say 6 inches or so) to a longer section of the mainline (where the feeder is stopped by a line stop). And if i'm at all concerned that the clarity of the water might be making the fish a bit spooky, then i might try a hooklength of drennan double strength (for it's low diameter) To be honest, that last option is my least preferred, on the basis that it's probably the least robust.
For fishing the wye (roughly similar i believe to the severn, barbel and chub + boulders/ snags) i use 12lb daiwa sensor as mainline. Its strong and abrasion resistant - its also relatively cheap so I can replace the top 100 yards on a reel every season.
For hooklengths i always use 10lb breaking strain, but a couple of different ones dependent on the conditions. If the water is high and coloured, I use maxima chameleon, which is pretty tough. In "normal" conditions i use a short length of drennan sink braid (say 6 inches or so) to a longer section of the mainline (where the feeder is stopped by a line stop). And if i'm at all concerned that the clarity of the water might be making the fish a bit spooky, then i might try a hooklength of drennan double strength (for it's low diameter) To be honest, that last option is my least preferred, on the basis that it's probably the least robust.
Use braid. Real soft stuff like Merlin which also blends into all kinds of bottoms real well.
Fish seem to spook off mono much easier than soft braid. Plus I much prefer the presntation of baits on a hair when using braid.
Although I guess if the fish arent riggy, then you can get away with mono.
Fish seem to spook off mono much easier than soft braid. Plus I much prefer the presntation of baits on a hair when using braid.
Although I guess if the fish arent riggy, then you can get away with mono.
cattyfatty
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i use kryston silkworm braid hooklink for most of my hook-links they go from 4lb,6lb,8lb.10lb.12lb,15lb.25lb. in the range....
wanderer
Well-known member
you need to balance the line strength to your rods Test curve, the maximum mainline should be 5 times the test curve, that is 2 pound TC Barbell rod, ten pound BS max, hooklink around two pound less, otherwise there is a possibility you could snap the rod, believe me , I have snapped many rods over the years and when it happens your gutted.
on my thread about pva mesh i just told you i use 15lb mainline,looks like i better change that now lol
Keith M
Well-known member
My current favourite line when I'm fishing a bait on the bottom for Barbel is Terry Eustace Pro-Gold in 10lb, 8lb and 6lb breaking strains.
I rarely get smashed up when fishing this way and when I do it is almost always at the knot which is why most of the time (but not always) I fish straight through to the hook.
I have an inherent dislike of too many knots because every one is a weak spot and the less of these I have the better it is LOL.
NB. Pro-Gold has very under rated breaking strains and is also very abrasion resistant and is also fairly supple compared to other lines plus it always does well in the EFFT Line tests which are done each year.
However If I am trotting an Avon or stick float for Barbel or Chub then I usually use 'Drennan Float Fish' in 4.4lb, 5lb or 6lb breaking strains and I always use a separate hooklength which is usually a slightly lower breaking strain.
Keith
I rarely get smashed up when fishing this way and when I do it is almost always at the knot which is why most of the time (but not always) I fish straight through to the hook.
I have an inherent dislike of too many knots because every one is a weak spot and the less of these I have the better it is LOL.
NB. Pro-Gold has very under rated breaking strains and is also very abrasion resistant and is also fairly supple compared to other lines plus it always does well in the EFFT Line tests which are done each year.
However If I am trotting an Avon or stick float for Barbel or Chub then I usually use 'Drennan Float Fish' in 4.4lb, 5lb or 6lb breaking strains and I always use a separate hooklength which is usually a slightly lower breaking strain.
Keith
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