Foul Hook

[INearlyCaughtOne]

I was very disappointed the other day to find a lovely Carp I had just caught that was foul hooked. I have read that this can be a problem with carp and I wonder if anyone has any tips on how to avoid such things in the future. My guess is that the fish went into the line and moved the tip when I struck and the hook set outside of the mouth... It really pees me off when that happens but Carp seem very prone to it.

 

[Ray Roberts]

If it’s a one off then don’t worry about it as it’s a hazard that you have to accept.

One of the members in my club foul hooked and landed a 96lb catfish after foul hooking it in the head.

I think hair rigs make foul hooking more likely as the hook is totally exposed. If it worries you then mount the bait directly on the hook and see how that compares.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Notts Michael.]

I foul hooked 3 carp in a row at a stocked venue I sometimes fish, it made me pack up for the day a bit demoralised as I figured something was obviously wrong with my bait presentation, the bait was short pieces of strong smoky smelling cured sausage, thin diameter, (about 1/4'') pellet banded to a size 14 barbless. fished on the bottom with a small leger lead and about 10'' hooklink and small (1/4 oz) lead.
I did throw in a good few free offerings, and going by the swirls, the carp liked them, and I have read in one of the fishing comics that too many freebies can, on some occasions, get a few fish swirling about in a kind of feeding frenzy which increases the chance of hookbait disturbance and therefore more chances of a foul hooked fish.

 

[peterjg]

I've written about this before but I'll bore you again! About 1993 in an hour I (accidentally!) foul hooked two carp which weighed 38lbs and 42lbs - totally gutted - I lost sleep over those fish! I carried on fishing the pit (12 acres) and eventually properly caught both fish at 36lbs 6ozs and 40lbs 12ozs.

 

[theartist]

I think colour of the bait and the water colour also plays a part, I was on a club pond two days ago and was back on maggot and the difference between that and pellet was noticable, as soon as the bubbles came I hooked a carp within seconds, there was little rooting around before they saw and took my single red maggot, you feel with certain baits a foul hook is inevitable yet the other day I kind of knew it would be clean every time. Same with bread in summer they rarely fail to take it cleanly. That's not to say you won't get foul hooks on these baits but I think colour is an issue, even more so in coloured water or when the water is clouded up through feeding/groundbait.

 

[markcw]

If you are foul hooking a few in the same fishing spot ie the margins,
Change your feeding pattern and depth until you cleanly hook one.
Just because a margin is say 2'6" you don't have to fish at that depth. Sometimes the carp come up for the feed, in that case fish shallow from say 8" to 12" and use a short a line as possible between float and pole /rod tip. 9" or 6" is good, this also lessens the chance of getting the tig stuck in vegetation .and can tap pole on the surface to imitate feed going in.

Or if feeder fishing in the margins try a different length of hook length.

 

[rayner]

Fish become foul hooked because anglers sometimes strike at liners. When feeder or bomb fishing carp generally hook themselves, no strike is needed. If you think about it liners are slower pull around bites, when a proper bite is quicker and just keep going.
Liners need a little more to distinguish on the float. Fish can hook themselves by mistake but striking at liners foul more fish.

 

[INearlyCaughtOne]

@rayner Absolutely. I went back out yesterday, the same lake same set up and no foul hooks. Instead of getting trigger happy I waited for a real bite and when it happens the fish bolts and you know you are on. Interestingly I am using a feeder but I have one of those bands mounted onto the hook rather than on a hair. Now, that may or may not be anything to do with it (and I suspect not) because yesterday no foul-ups. I have finally got to a stage where I can bring a bigger fish in (not talking huge here, not at that stage) and that has been the result of a long and hard rethink around the tackle. A bigger hook has made a great difference as has a realistic hook length. A while back I was moaning on here about fish snapping me off and that does not really happen now. I am using a proper carp line and that stops the snap on the pulls. And thanks to the advice I was given from Mike on here, my rod is now easier when bringing them in. I must admit, the bigger fish for a moment nearly made me question the hobby but that was never going to happen

 

[INearlyCaughtOne]

Anyone else tries the Revo line? Any thoughts??

 

[INearlyCaughtOne]

You get a huge drum of it for what seems like a very reasonable price..