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Hooks

As already mentioned Gardner talons tips. Not so sure about the necessity of them
being covert though. save the pennies they still catch fish.
For maggoting the new range of heavy gauge drennan ones (ntt sure of the name: green packaging?)
are gently edging out T-6,s in smaller sizes.
 
Been using gardner wide gape talon tips for meat and other big bait , drennan barbel specialist barbel for pellets and for maggot the drennan super specialist , the rapiers look good and might by a few for close inspection
 
After reading this thread, and being low on size 8's I ordered some of the Rapier hooks yesterday morning. The guy does great service, e-mail back yesterday afternoon to say they'd dispatched and they arrived today. First impressions very good, difficult to see the difference between these and ESP Raptors which I've always found reliable.

Now all I need is a chance to try them out, hopefully the Severn will be fishing well Monday/Tuesday which will be my last chance before going in for a hernia repair op on Thursday.
 
Jon

Good call on the 'ooks. Can't say they are much better than my standard D7's but first 30 barbel say they are at least as good...and less than half price.:D

Graham
 
Since I stopped using braid and went back to stretchy old mono I find Drennan SS are more than adequate for all my fishing.
They don't open up and they're not so long in the point they fold over when they touch a bit of gravel, the barbs are just right on them but they will squeeze down to a bump if the rules call for it and best of all they are still only around a quid for ten.
And I've landed barbel on them down to a size 22.
 
Steve Roffey said:
After reading this thread, and being low on size 8's I ordered some of the Rapier hooks yesterday morning. The guy does great service, e-mail back yesterday afternoon to say they'd dispatched and they arrived today. First impressions very good, difficult to see the difference between these and ESP Raptors which I've always found reliable.

Now all I need is a chance to try them out, hopefully the Severn will be fishing well Monday/Tuesday which will be my last chance before going in for a hernia repair op on Thursday.
Click to expand...

I brought some of the non teflon coated ones and i'm very impressed. did you buy them through ebay or from hairrigs.com ?
 
Adrian Williams said:
Since I stopped using braid and went back to stretchy old mono I find Drennan SS are more than adequate for all my fishing.
They don't open up and they're not so long in the point they fold over when they touch a bit of gravel, the barbs are just right on them but they will squeeze down to a bump if the rules call for it and best of all they are still only around a quid for ten.
And I've landed barbel on them down to a size 22.
Click to expand...

Adrian-I would be intersted to know why you stopped using braid?
 
Forgive me for going off topic then.

I stopped using braid because I was not happy with the way I was having to fish while using it.

The reasons I initially switched to braid were for its zero stretch and low diameter, both which are great attributes when you are casting a long way as in carp fishing where the low diameter puts yards on your cast and the lack of stretch means you get good indication as to what is happening 100+ mtrs away, or if you are spinning, where you need to be in contact with the lure at all times.

It was not long after using it that I noticed I was loosing allot of fish on a short line due to the lack of stretch and the relatively stiff Avon type rod I was using, so I then changed my rod for one with a more forgiving tip and a less crisp action.
Then one day I noticed a large fish on the Teme spooking from the swim
every time there was line in the water, though it would confidently feed on freebies when the line was not in the swim. To check it was the braid that was causing the problem I added a 20 ft leader of fluro coated mono and re cast, 10 minutes later a Teme double was on the mat and I was scratching my head.

I carried on fishing like that for a couple of seasons but never really felt comfortable using the heavier rod with the floppy tip and always fished with the nagging doubt that the leader knot may have become damaged on its way through the eyes of the rod, so a few years ago I went back to using 10 lb mono to 8lb hook links and my 1.5 lb Avon rod.

Since changing back I loose less fish through hook pulls, and feel more confident playing a fish knowing I have that cushion of stretch a decent mono gives you and there is no leader knot to fail leaving a fish trailing 20' of line.

It's all personal choice though, I know of plenty who swear by braid. I'm also thinking of taking advantage of its low diameter, non stretch and floating properties and giving it a go on my trotting gear this summer.......If I ever get out again that is.
 
Owner c5x
Conti's
pallatrax

not sure why using braid would leave 20' of line trailing?
 
I find myself in agreement with Adrian on his choice of mono and Drennan Super Specialists. As I tend to mainly fish with cane rods the use of high breaking strain braids would not exactly be beneficial and several of my braidy friends have returned to mono. On occasion I like to use Jack Hilton carp hooks, very good for large lumps of meat and splendid for lobworms, squash down the barb of course; that's barb not barbel!

Regards

Hugo


 
Hi Adrian.

Very Interesting. Having used braid (powerpro) for many years after Bob G's recommendation, I have always found it to be superb and it certainly turns many more twitches into proper bites because of the reasons you highlight.

I have turned back to mono (GT80) of late because of the number of times I now fish the Wye, Severn and ocasionally the Trent. All can be very rocky and PP is not so good as a main line. I do still use PP as a hooklink because of the low diameter and perfect presentation I believe it gives. It also makes the barbel fight a lot more dynamic.

However despite using PP on all rivers when I can spot the fish and see the reaction, the only river I have seen fish spook, or at least be wary of the line is the Teme........

A couple of years ago I wrote about this on BFW and came to the conclusion (guess!) was that the Teme has pretty much no real weed and anything showing in the water is treated with suspicion.

I have had barbel even appear to rub themselves against PP on the Loddon and the Kennet with no fear.......yet, spook when touching line in experimental fluro sessions.

Strange but true..

Graham
 
There you go again...two hugely experienced anglers having very different experiences and reaching totally different conclusions about the same item of angling equipment. It happens all the time, and absolutely fascinates me as to why this should be. It also raises the question of exactly how much use the 'what line/hook/seat' type threads really are :D:D

Cheers, Dave.
 
HI Dave.

I don't think the observations are that different.

We have both seen fish spook on the Teme with Braid.

We both recognise the advantages /disadvantages of braid pretty much the same way.

Actually a change from braid to x Line on the occasion I mentioned meant a caught fish shortly afterwards.

But a group of fish on the Loddon with fluro going through them (not pinned down) caused panic when touched a number of times. On the same water Visible braid is ignored as possible weed filaments or at least because it can be seen and touching it causes no surprise..

Of course, Ade may want to disagree....:eek::eek:
 
Nope, I remember one of the first exchanges we ever had Graham was on the same subject. I think both of us have mellowed a bit since then.:)
 
Returning to the original point/question of this thread, I've been using Arma point SSBP (B) for 4yrs now on the Teme, and am still VERY happy with them. They stay SO sharp.
If I 'bump-off' one or maybe two fish a year, that's about it. Maybe that's because I dont hit twitches/knocks..or maybe its because I always use barbless. I truly cant see why anyone would want to use barbed hooks for barbel (unless they just lacked confidence or experience).
Re. mainline. I use fluoro coated mono for most of the time on the Teme. But I've found that both this line and pure fluoro will spook Teme barbel equally if its not clean. Any line that's 'dirty' will show up almost as much as braid. I think your comment Graham re. "no weed in the Teme" is spot on, and highly pertinent.
 
I have caught lots of Barbel using black amnesia in 15lb, for me if they can see it its ok, fluoro is supposedly non visible, that may be the problem.
Glad the majority liked the hooks I mentioned.

Jon
 
Thats a good point John, if fish brush into something they cant see then they spook..
 
I have said the same thing over and again on here John, but I get ignored...must be the way I tell 'em (Last bit spoken with an Irish accent) :p:D:p

Cheers, Dave.
 
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