Knotable wire

[Tree123]

Looking for new knotable wire I can some "knotable" and what every type of knot I use It kinks and kicks the wire off at a weird angle.
It's you use when livebaiting/shad fishing for perch as there are a lot Jack's in some of my waters so doesnt need to be crazy stong b/s
Option I'm looking at:
Drennan soft steel 10lb b/s

Seem the cheapest and easiest to get hold of a about £10 a spool with delivery bit stronger then I really need as my braid is 10lb main reel line 6lb

Wondertress
£15 plus postage when I looked last seemed a bit harder to get off

Knot2kinky 6lb
£12 plus postage. Seems in stock in more places

Any advice.

 

[Wakou]

I use buy from this guy, and recommend him. He is a keen fisherman and started importing the trace-wire directly himself after having the same frustrations as you.

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Hello and Welcome to Cahira Nitinol Ltd. Free 1st Class UK Postage and Great International Shipping Rates Welcome to my online store!I'm

www.cahiranitinol.co.uk

 

[David Rogers 3]

Wondertress
£15 plus postage when I looked last seemed a bit harder to get off

Wondertress no longer has wire content and isn't being advised for pike for that reason. Luckily I have enough of the old stuff to last me as I don't do that much pike fishing. Supratress is being suggested as a substitute, but it's nowhere near as soft and flexible. Another good product that's changed for the worse! https://www.futurefishing.co.uk/pike-predator/traces/wondertress-8kg-5m

 

[Tree123]

I use buy from this guy, and recommend him. He is a keen fisherman and started importing the trace-wire directly himself after having the same frustrations as you.

Home

Hello and Welcome to Cahira Nitinol Ltd. Free 1st Class UK Postage and Great International Shipping Rates Welcome to my online store!I'm

www.cahiranitinol.co.uk

This what I have been using and finding it really hard to work with

 

[Ray Roberts]

I bought some not 2 kinky and had a job making neat knots with it, they seemed strong enough but rather unsightly. I bought some crimps just large enough to allow the material to pass though the crimp and let the tag end pass back through. I used proper crimping pliers and they looked and worked a treat, particularly the ones I finished off with shrink tube.


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[Mark_Leathwood]

There are quite a few more options than has been mentioned so far. Before I get to them I'd also endorse 'Knot-2-Kinky'. I use it for a number of different applications, especially fly fishing for pike. It's far and away the best wire I've used for this. It's easy enough to knot in lighter breaking strains (I've used 6 lb. for perch) but becomes increasingly awkward to work with as you go stronger. I would agree about crimps being a good option when you get past about 20 lb. b/s.

Regarding other wires, I used 15 lb. Drennan Soft Strand for pike fly fishing for many years without any issues. Its main advantage is just how supple it is and also the ability to use a twist-melt connection - thereby reducing the need for clips etc. The downside to this wire is the green coloured coating. Unless you're presenting a bait on the bottom I've always thought it looked unnecessarily conspicuous.

I would suggest having a look also at the American Fishing Wire (AFW) range. They do a couple of wires (49 strand and 19 strand - coated and uncoated) which I think would be ideal for perch. I noticed on ebay the other day that Dave Mutton is doing a great deal on AFW Surflon Micro Supreme (19 strand) in 6 lb. b/s.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AFW-Surf...re-Trace-leader/324288798085?var=513361640880

Depending on what you're doing with it, there is another inexpensive option that not many people seem to know about: Tiger Tails Jewellery wire. You can get 100m spools of this for a couple of quid off Ebay. It's a coated wire that comes in lots of different colours (some more suitable for our purposes than others) and in 0.38 and 0.45mm diameters. I used it for fly fishing for pike for a couple of years and, providing you either knot it or secure connections with a twist-melt, it was fine. A word of warning though; don't crimp it. My mate tried this (also fly fishing for pike) and found it had a tendency to fail at the crimp whilst casting. He partially solved the problem by adding a sleeve to prevent flexing but I would suggest knotting or a twist-melt are both easy and reliable and I really wouldn't bother with the crimps.

Last thing, on knots; I've used a bowline knot with various different wires for well over 25 years and I find it absolutely reliable. Hope that helps ?

 

[john step]

Depending on what you're doing with it, there is another inexpensive option that not many people seem to know about: Tiger Tails Jewellery wire. You can get 100m spools of this for a couple of quid off Ebay. It's a coated wire that comes in lots of different colours (some more suitable for our purposes than others) and in 0.38 and 0.45mm diameters. I used it for fly fishing for pike for a couple of years and, providing you either knot it or secure connections with a twist-melt, it was fine. A word of warning though; don't crimp it.

Interesting. I would advise to be extremely cautious with that stuff. It was recommended on here (I think) some time ago and I bought some.
I threw it out after testing its strength as I found it broke ridiculously easily.
Maybe different makes are better but personally I would not bother trying again.

 

[Mark_Leathwood]

Interesting. I would advise to be extremely cautious with that stuff. It was recommended on here (I think) some time ago and I bought some.
I threw it out after testing its strength as I found it broke ridiculously easily.
Maybe different makes are better but personally I would not bother trying again.

What did you do to test it John ? Did it break where you had made a connection ? I think that's where you have to be careful with it.

 

[john step]

What did you do to test it John ? Did it break where you had made a connection ? I think that's where you have to be careful with it.

I cant quite remember but I think I put one end on the coat hook on the back of my shed door and the other on a set of scales. Its not very scientific but neither am I. I remember thinking how easily it broke.
I remember thinking that I wouldn't take a chance seeing how good Tress is which is made for the job.

 

[Phil Heaton]

6lb Cahira is a little thicker than 6lb Knot2Kinky and not quite as tidy on the knot either. I do prefer the K2K although its more expensive for that reason alone, but nothing at all wrong with Cahira. I have found it to be extremely reliable and landed pike to 18lb on it, my mates had a 24 on the same wire. For perch lures with trebles I would uprate to the 12lb bs wire though.

I must emphasise though that the 6 and 12lb is only suitable for rods up to around 25g casting weight. Above that and you are getting into pike rod territory which are generally stiffer and would make the set up out of balance and overstressing the wire.

As for the knot, yes it isn't very tidy but the fish don't care and probably a crimp being thicker would be more visible anyway
Best knot (hopelessly hard to explain but I'll give it a go)
1. Put the end of the wire trace through the lure clip, with around 50 to 65mm of tag depending on how fat your fingers are.
2. Fold the tag back and twist it 3 times around the trace main body.
3. Bend the tag back towards the loop just above the lure clip and thread it through.
4. Pull the tag to tension the knot...…… do not overtighten as it will kink the trace.
5. Trim the tag back to 3mm and away you go.
The knot will tension as you catch fish, if the tag gets a little too long trim it back.

 

[John Aston]

I do a lot of light lure fishing and have agonised over wire . Some anglers who should know better have promulgated the myth that bite offs are rare when drop shotting or jigging with flouro but they are an inevitable risk . I now use flouro only if there aren't any pike . I tired various wires and got increasingly hung up that they were hampering my presentation, especially with smaller lures . The Drennan so called knottable wire is thin but a bugger to knot unless you take huge care in the knot .

Problem solved - I discovered Surflon . Pricey , but I don't lose many traces on snags (the trick with plucking taut braid when snagged and releasing is amazingly effective ) and , best of all, it doesn't kink , remains supple and is so easy to knot . A simple untucked blood knot will hold it until it breaks - I use the 11 lb and it is brilliant stuff.

 

[ian g]

Hi Grayson , do you use the 49 strand or the 19 strand? I would assume the 49 strand is easier to knot.

Ian

 

[Tree123]

I got some drennan soft strand 10lb seems good balance between the 2

 

[John Aston]

Ian - my perch light lure wire is Surflon micro ultra 11lb ; 19 strand. I buy it in 5metre spools, and use short traces. Not too short though! Never upset the pike mafia ...

 

[ian g]

Thanks