Hair Rigging Large Pellets(Barbel)

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john ledger

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Lost quite a few barbel over last few weeks when hair rigging 21m/m Halibut pellets. No such problems with elips pellets which i superglue two together.
I always get the impression that with the large pellets its harder to hook the fish due to the size and hardness of the pellet. Tried all combinations from short hair to long hair and all sizes of hook. Anybody had same problems or how to get over the problem. I have more confidence when hooking bait on hook such as meat or casters that i will not lose the fish
 
F

Fred Bonney

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No problem for me John,I drill mine and hair rig them on the back of a size 6 or 4.
 
F

Fishing Gimp

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I sometimes find that with hard pellets on the hair they can prevent a good hook hold and with Chub in particular can cause more problems than it solves. I prefer not to use hair rigs for river fish generally and like you feel more confident with the bait on the hook.

By the way thanks for your email expressing your admiration of Eastern Bloc tecnology and the amazing use of pressed cardboard as a major car making component. Another thing I read the other day really made me laugh.... you might have come across the 'space pen' as made by NASA it can write anywhere even in weightless conditions and cost the American Taxpayer Billions to produce. The Russian answer to all this ingenious invention to over come weightless conditions in space was the........Pencil and cost the Russian taxpayer the cost of a trip to W.H Smithskis(that well known Russian stationary emporium)
 
J

john ledger

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Thanks Graham will buy some tommorow as i am going Wednesday
Fred
I have done the same on a short hair. Graham might have a point regarding hooks as i have been using Drennan super specialist.Its only on the large pellets no problem with elips
 
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Baz

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I thread the line through the eye of the hook and then through a rubber band. Position the band where you want it to be and whip down the shank as for a knotless knot, and then slip a piece of tubing up the shank to hold it in place. Drill the pellet, and pull the rubber band through and stop as normal with a boilie stop.
This leaves the pellet tight to the back of the hook, and I find it ok for chub and barbel.
 
M

matt thomas

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use a slip knot instead of hair and lasoo the big pellet ,make sure it comes off the bend of the hook instead of the back,i use a bit of tubing,can't get on with drilling or bands
 
S

Steve King

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I mainly use Owner hooks for barbel nowadays.

Generally I use a shortish hair (i.e. with the bait just touching the hook), because I find that too long a hair causes missed bites and fish hooked outside the mouth.
 
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Graham Elliott 1

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So do I Steve, Isemas are my favourite.

Johns problem was with bigger baits and was beacuse they tend to shield the hook a bit causing poor hooking and more pulls.

A longshank hook can pivot more from the eye and to a degree penetrate further into the mouth because the barbels lips hinge the hook along the longer shank when they pick up the bait.

Graham
 
T

tom riordan

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Tie a D rig John, and use a small bait band with the pellet. The hook sits tight to the back of the pellet and it has revolutionised my Barbel fishing this summer resulting in almost 100% hookups and I have used hooks from size 12 for small pellets up to size 4 for the 21mms.
 
Graham Whatmore

Graham Whatmore

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I attach my pellets the same way as Frothey suggests except I don't use the hair stops, I find it unnecessary on a river as they are either taken or changed before they get a chance to break down, I can't recall ever having one fall off either.

I have found that if you set the pellet to 5mm below the bend you very rarely get missed bites.
 
L

Laurie Harper

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You need to match the hook size to that of the pellet, too. 21 mm. is pretty large and will mask anything smaller than a 6, or even 4 hook, I reckon, especially if the hair is relatively short.
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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That's right. Make sure the hook is of a decent size and rigged as close as possible to the pellet as shown in Rik's picture.

Best hooks I have found up to now are Drennan Super Specialist Barbel with the Teflon coating.
 
J

john ledger

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Thanks for the advice fellows.Going on Upper Trent tomorrow and have bought some longer shank hooks as suggested.The biggest barbel i have had on upper Trent was10lb 4oz on casters. Had a few between 8 and 9lb on elips pellets but as i have said lost odd ones and its always been when hair rigging 21m/m pellets.
I always start off with caster before changing to pellets.
To think that in the early sixties i used to catch Yorkshire barbel on sausage meat,half a link on size 4hook.Times they are a changing(bit of Dylan for you)
Will report my success or failure
 
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Graham Elliott 1

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The comments about using a large enough hook are very true, my normal is a size 6, however a long shanked hook overcomes the problem of size because of the reasons explained.

On hard pressured waters in fact the smaller hook will give you and edge.

Graham
 
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