C
Clive Evans
Guest
Hi to all.
I've just got back from Hols (non-fishing)and spent an amazed hour reading the thread. Such controversy!
I've decided on a separate post as I do not wish to reply to messrs Bundock and Davies, whose attitudes have been well attended to in the forum. Enough said.
I do fully appreciate their concerns for safe fishing and would like to state categorically that I am of a like mind.
If at any time over the 10 years I have used this rig, I had cause to doubt it, I would not have sent it to the Rigs Page or recommended its use.
Like Bob Watson,I was shown this at Makin's Wolvey and have used it with and without a hookbait ever since, both safely and prolifically.
I think a little common sense and thought is required here. The Point on the Hook is the bit that counts and in most presentations the point is left clear of the bait. Hair-rigs, mixers on bait-bands, lures, flies, pike-trebles, and others, all have the hook fully exposed. When was the last time you buried a hook in a maggot?
Fish Bite, they dont rub up to or make love to the bait, which is why foul-hooking is a relatively rare occurrence.
With the bread-roll only the order is changed. Instead of the hook being last into the mouth, it is (usually) the first and is NEVER found deep in the throat. And, because the fish doesn't contact the hook until it bites that end of the bread, it doesn't foul-hook either!I have occasionally hooked fish in the outside of the top or bottom lip, but never anywhere else. It is impossible to tether a fish because the bread softens and the line just pulls through it.As for a loose hook on ''three inches of line'', obviously Mr Bundock did not bother to read where I stated 1/2 in. to 1 in. of line which, when the bread swells, leaves the hook hanging within the perimeter of that end, a danger only to the fish that sucks or bites there. When I first used this method I did sometimes try more line but found the only consequence was No Bites, not foul-hooking! Presumably, the fish could see line and hook and shied away.
For all these reasons, and the use of barbless hooks only, I consider that this method is as fish-friendly and safe as any other method I have used, and time and many fish caught have proved this to be so.
Just a little more on presentation. Two reasons for wrapping the bread well. One, making it sturdy enough to cast a distance, and Two, sturdy enough to withstand the attention of small fish. If I want to catch roach, rudd, orfe, chub, sometimes even tench and bream,That's when I put a small bait on the hook as well! And I still catch Mr Carp if he comes along too.
For the sake of the ducks I now use a very visible floating line,which lifts easily off the water.This is usally sufficient to scare them off the bread, and ,as a bonus,skims the bread over the water without spinning up the line, should I wish to move it or bring it back to cast again.
Well, for better or worse, thats my side of the argument.If anyone has any other concerns or queries about this 'rig', ask politely and I'll be happy to answer.
This isn't the ''Method from Hell'', and I'm just an angler looking to enjoy my hobby.
Don't take my word for it, try it yourself as many others have done, and if you don't like it then don't use it. I will, until I start to cause harm, and then I wont.
Tight lines.
Clive.
I've just got back from Hols (non-fishing)and spent an amazed hour reading the thread. Such controversy!
I've decided on a separate post as I do not wish to reply to messrs Bundock and Davies, whose attitudes have been well attended to in the forum. Enough said.
I do fully appreciate their concerns for safe fishing and would like to state categorically that I am of a like mind.
If at any time over the 10 years I have used this rig, I had cause to doubt it, I would not have sent it to the Rigs Page or recommended its use.
Like Bob Watson,I was shown this at Makin's Wolvey and have used it with and without a hookbait ever since, both safely and prolifically.
I think a little common sense and thought is required here. The Point on the Hook is the bit that counts and in most presentations the point is left clear of the bait. Hair-rigs, mixers on bait-bands, lures, flies, pike-trebles, and others, all have the hook fully exposed. When was the last time you buried a hook in a maggot?
Fish Bite, they dont rub up to or make love to the bait, which is why foul-hooking is a relatively rare occurrence.
With the bread-roll only the order is changed. Instead of the hook being last into the mouth, it is (usually) the first and is NEVER found deep in the throat. And, because the fish doesn't contact the hook until it bites that end of the bread, it doesn't foul-hook either!I have occasionally hooked fish in the outside of the top or bottom lip, but never anywhere else. It is impossible to tether a fish because the bread softens and the line just pulls through it.As for a loose hook on ''three inches of line'', obviously Mr Bundock did not bother to read where I stated 1/2 in. to 1 in. of line which, when the bread swells, leaves the hook hanging within the perimeter of that end, a danger only to the fish that sucks or bites there. When I first used this method I did sometimes try more line but found the only consequence was No Bites, not foul-hooking! Presumably, the fish could see line and hook and shied away.
For all these reasons, and the use of barbless hooks only, I consider that this method is as fish-friendly and safe as any other method I have used, and time and many fish caught have proved this to be so.
Just a little more on presentation. Two reasons for wrapping the bread well. One, making it sturdy enough to cast a distance, and Two, sturdy enough to withstand the attention of small fish. If I want to catch roach, rudd, orfe, chub, sometimes even tench and bream,That's when I put a small bait on the hook as well! And I still catch Mr Carp if he comes along too.
For the sake of the ducks I now use a very visible floating line,which lifts easily off the water.This is usally sufficient to scare them off the bread, and ,as a bonus,skims the bread over the water without spinning up the line, should I wish to move it or bring it back to cast again.
Well, for better or worse, thats my side of the argument.If anyone has any other concerns or queries about this 'rig', ask politely and I'll be happy to answer.
This isn't the ''Method from Hell'', and I'm just an angler looking to enjoy my hobby.
Don't take my word for it, try it yourself as many others have done, and if you don't like it then don't use it. I will, until I start to cause harm, and then I wont.
Tight lines.
Clive.
