Mark Wintle
Well-known member
I like to use very fine wire hooks for a lot of my roach fishing. I accept that I have to control the strike carefully and use fine mainlines to gain some stretch. I've tried the thick wire hooks for this type of fishing and my results are dire if I do so.
With grayling I fished for them a lot about ten years ago and quickly found a medium wire size 18 barbless the best by far; strike hard, play them hard and lose very few. Thick wire barbed don't penetrate that well, and the other benefit of barbless is that it's so much easier to unhook squirming grayling (and roach, dace etc.)
I'm starting to use barbless for most of my river fishing (I converted to barbless for stillwaters years ago) aprt from chub fishing in weedy water.
With grayling I fished for them a lot about ten years ago and quickly found a medium wire size 18 barbless the best by far; strike hard, play them hard and lose very few. Thick wire barbed don't penetrate that well, and the other benefit of barbless is that it's so much easier to unhook squirming grayling (and roach, dace etc.)
I'm starting to use barbless for most of my river fishing (I converted to barbless for stillwaters years ago) aprt from chub fishing in weedy water.