Ian if I catch that bar steward who’s leaving ever more coffins on the river for me to dodge, he’ll be wearing the next one.
It’s interesting you say about using the match tactic, less line strength hook link, and why I fish it the opposite way. The reason being in many cases it’s the pellet/boillie or the hook that gets stuck in the rocks and not the feeder. With the combo I use 95 % of the time I’ll get the lot back minus the bait. The two Kyrston brands are coated braids and the best abrasive resistant hook links I’ve ever found and I’ve tried a few over the years. Main line is always TE’s Pro Gold won’t use anything else for my fishing, still or running, these days.
Likewise my feeders are always fished as running, never fixed and the hook links never longer than 18 inches. So if a break does happen the feeder drops off and the fish is left trailing only 18 inches of hook link and small swivel about with it.
It’s also important on the Ribble to check the first metre and a half of the main line above the swivel every few casts for rock chaffing, which will weaken the line strength at that point and cause unforeseen breakages if not dealt with.
Keith you just can’t afford to roll any weight about on the Ribble, the gravel in it is the size of car tyres or bigger in many places. In fact in one swim I sometimes fish the gravel is the size of a family car. That swim is a one rod swim only, but you need two rods set up for the inevitable bum cast you make missing the clear spot in the feeder grave yard.
Sorry keith that's not a river that's a ditch
