No SM,its a way you have found to make something work,i would never have dreamt of using a hooklink over 2ft in length,now i might.When i used to fish matches on the Lea,i used to use 18in plus hooklinks 2.6lb silstar matchteam and size 22 hooks on the stick in less than 2.5ft of water the reason being,anything heavier in hook or line caused the hook to catch bottom,where as with the lighter gear it was possible to get a decent run through on most pegs,the thing was by getting this presentation i found that i could get the odd barbel or four(mostly between 2-4lbs) out of most pegs and to be fair i rarely lost any,best of it was i was always a lucky sod for getting them,but when i pleasure fished i found anything heavier just didnt work.