Well said Tee-Cee/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif
there is no doubt that a larger hook (when set) is more reliable but i have experienced fish refusing baits due to larger hooks on many occasions probably due to the presentation. its down to personal preferences really/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif
your point about crust is totally right. if your using a large bait like a chunk of crust then you need a substantial amountof thegape and point available tofind a holdon a take. the added weight is also a very useful factor enabling you to freeline further (and more accurately), which is something that is always an advantage to me. it would be interesting to know whether you can purchase larger dog biscuits (or floating trout pellet etc...)than mixers so that you can increase therange you can acheive on a cast while freelining them, as opposed to using crust which i dislike compared to mixers.
Tee-Cee, when you fish your crust, i suppose the hook is presented on top of the crust resulting in the top lip hook holds............ right/forum/smilies/eye_rolling_smiley.gif
I have used some quite large hooks formixer fishing in a scenario where i couldfish directly off the rod tip with no line touching the water. i was using a 2.75lb carp rod so required something a bit chunkier of course/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif. as i had very good control over the presentation because it was directly beneath the rod tip, i could keep the hook above the mixer and just place it on the water. this resulted in top lip holds, whereas if the same hook and mixerpresentation was used at range the hook would be suspended beneath the bait and almost always produce a bottom lip or scissor hold. also a large hook and mixer combomay sit almost sub-suface and result in alot of refused or false takes....../forum/smilies/crying_smiley.gif
one more thing, how do y'all attach your mixers, i saw 'em a little then super glue them................................peace