Another Nice Article.

Good writing Sean, informative and logical.

Made me think a bit more about fluorocarbons etc etc and I too tend to us Maxima as a yardstick for other products.

The first photo of the Barbel is spectacular! One of the best I've seen for ages. The definition and colour of it's fins is amazing.

Great series, really enjoyed every single one!!

Great read again Sean,just a couple of quick questions.
Drennan ledger stops,I've found they created a weakness in the line.
You obviously haven't,am I pushing them in too far? (I've stopped using them)
How many knots have you got between your reel, and the hook?

Just two quickies.... the way round you have put the Drennan ledger stop - with insert facing down the line towards the hook end, if you understand my meaning.

Is there a reason for this or is it just arbitrary / luck of the way it comes out of the box - as I have racked my brains with these stops trying to work out which way round they go to stop them being self tightening under stress and damaging the line - come to the conclusion it probably doesn't matter, but I would be interested in anyone else's ideas on the subject

and

in the pic "My end tackle" why are there seemingly two pieces of line coming from the oval link to the lead slider ??? One thin and mono clear, one darker.... or is it some trick of the light / photo / shadow ? Or some captured loop method in the rig ??? didn't think so, specially with your Kiss Kiss philosphy.

Good articles, not had my first barbel yet but one day soon !

Cheers all

A really good set of well written articles Sean. Easy and interesting to follow.

Another good read Sean and some solid info in there.
I use an almost identical set up to you apart from your use of braid. Like Fred, I didn't like the way the Drennan stops compress the line, so I use John Roberts leger stops instead. They dont seem so hard and unyielding as the Drennan ones and I don't think they have as sharp an edge to them with the result that they don't squeeze the line tightly at a single point.

Evan,

I put the peg in the leger stop from the hook side, facing back up the main line. The force of casting will then tend to pull it out of the its hole.

I've never found leger stops to cause actual line breakage, although they can cause visible distortion - i.e crushing or flattening of the line. Provided the cross sectional area of the line at that point is the same as the unflattened line elsewhere the breaking strain should be the same. Then again, I only use Maxima or Sundridge Green Force nylon; problems may well arise with pre-stretched nylon, fluorocarbon or braid.

Incidentally, I still use pieces of biro tube plugged with cocktail stick as stops when carp fising, which are even better than plastic stops as the wood softens and swells when wet, giving a firm grip on the line without damaging it. Two quarter inch pieces of tube with a half-inch piece of wood is about right; for added security I take a couple of turns around the plug with the line.

A swivel and bead should of course be used where leads in excess of one ounce are required and long casting is necesary, as no ordinary stop can withstand the forces applied in a powerful cast.

For barbel my set-up is even simpler than Sean's; two float rubbers go on the line first, followed by a link swivel with an eye large enough to pass over the eye of a size 4 Drennan Super Specialist. Then I tie the hook and pinch a swan shot on to act as a stop. That's it. I can use the swivel to attach any size lead or feeder I require, I can adjust the length of tail easily and I can remove the shot and swivel if I want to use a knob of plasticene for a rolling bait. The float rubbers are there should a spot of trotting be called for.

The only time I have to remove the hook is to change to a larger or smaller one.

Earlier I posted this...
"Evan,

I put the peg in the leger stop from the hook side, facing back up the main line. The force of casting will then tend to pull it out of the its hole"

Sorry. What I actually intended to say is that the force of casting will tend to pull the peg in, rather than push it out. Just thought I'd clear that up!

Hi All

Thanks for that.

The direction that the peg in the ledger stop is pointing is deliberate. As Laurie so eloquently said if your feeder snags or you overdo the force of your cast then the peg will tend to push out and allow things to slide (which is how I managed to land the River Don Barbel).

As Fred Blake says, if pushed in tightly the stop will tend to flatten the line a bit. I haven't found this to be a problem on the rare occasions I have to stop a heavy lead or feeder sliding. I put this down to the line I use. Some lines are less tolerant of this sort of treatment. Normally I'm fishing at fairly close range with lightish leads so I don't push the peg in too hard.

Fred J B, I have 3 knots between my reel and the hook: Reel line to oval ring, hool length to oval ring, hook length to hook. I find this the most reliable set up.

Evan, the darker 'line' is just a shadow. Thought of removing it in photoshop but couldn't be bothered!

The top Barbel photo was taken with a 3.2 Mpixel Ricoh digital camera, which has a superb lens. The secret of taking good pictures with a digital is getting even lighting. Trying to make things interesting with lots of contrast only causes problems unless you know your camera really well.

Excelent article Sean full of common sense and reasoning that a good engineer requires.

Gotcha, thanks all..... I usually used to put the Drennan stops the other way round on the mistaken assumption that extra force / to strong a cast would then push the middle bit in a bit more increasing the hold / reducing slippage. But as you point out this is the wrong way round.... better for the lead to be pushing on the outer sleeve during casting. Still, hard to get the head round the dynamics of it !

I've got rid of the shadow line, so the pic is clearer now.

Thanks Graham!