Optimum line strength advice

[liversage]

I'm joining a local angling club so I can casually fish a secluded small lake / pond near where I live. It was restocked a few years ago by the EA, so contains silvers, perch, crucian carp, tench and bream.

No-one seems to know whether there's anything substantive in there, so I'm assuming that the biggest likely specimen, theoretically, is probably around 5-6lb now, with the average tench / bream probably about 2-3lb.

So the question is about mainline / hook length - what would you use? 4lb main, 2 or 3lb hook length? Does it make sense to use mainline marched to the biggest likely fish, or average it out?

 

[dangermouse]

Welcome to FM.

A 4lb mainline with 3lb hooklength sounds ok to me. Unless the pond is very weedy or snaggy then it might be worth going a little heavier.

 

[peter crabtree]

I would see how coloured the water is first. If it is gin clear I'd go much lighter than in murky water. I wouldn't worry too much about the size of the fish, go light as you can and get bites first. Use the drag on your reel if you hook a lump.

 

[sam vimes]

I'd be looking at the water colour and what the weed/snag situation was before making a decision. If it's gin glear and snag/weedless, I'd be happy to go as low as 1lb bottoms. More colour or increasing chances of snags and weed, I'd increase accordingly.

 

[liversage]

Walked round the lake today briefly although didn't have time to fish it. Water is pretty clear, although there's big lillies on the surface and growing up from underwater in places. It's superbly sheltered and insanely still - I lobbed a tiny piece of bread in and the ripples reverbertated off the backside.

There's definitely fish of about 2lb in there as I saw a couple and one was leaping out of the water - presumably out of sheer joy, rather than to escape a 30lb pike, I hope....

 

[iannate]

I take it you are using a rod and line?

The lillys may cause a few problems on light line, but as said above breaking strain doesn't have to be heavy; the actual pressure placed on the line is not the weight of the fish as it is suspended in the water, and there are a few other factors to take into account.

If you have ever caught the far bank you will realise that it is nigh on impossible to break you line whatever the breaking strain

 

[Andrew Macfarlane]

If there are lillies in the water, you might want to go a little heavier in order to stop tench charging off into the weeds, in which case you could go as heavy as 4-5lb. I'd suggest a good mainline like Ultima Steel. As long as your rod is soft enough, the two should stop even the biggest tench getting up a head of steam, as you can't really rely on your drag to do it's job. Once they get going, it's hard to slow them down again. I find it's better to stop them in their tracks and let the action of the rod do most of the work. Backwind if you absolutely have to.

If you are float fishing, you could have a micro-swivel on your end to change hooklengths, if you are switching between silvers and tench. In which case 3lb for the tench should suffice and it's up to you how light you want to go for the silvers.

If you are legering for the tench and the bream, I'd maybe consider going for the 5lb mainline, with a 4lb hooklength, more to save you from abrasion damage than anything else. Tench will find a weak-spot in your line if it's there.