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Braid hooklinks

Chris Thomson

Chris Thomson

Senior Member
Hi, any on here have a preference to braid hooklinks over mono/flouro or coated braids, if so whats your thoughts on why ?
 
I Love coated braid hook links. I religiously use the korda N trap. It’s really supple. It matches the river bed colour superbly, it’s extremely strong, sinks like a brick and it’s got excellent abrasion resistance. I strip back the first 5 inch of coating before making the rig which leaves about 2 inches once tied. The bait then gets a little waft and movement at the end.
it’s caught me a lot of big fish in all conditions so my confidence in the product is very high.
 
That Korda N Trap feels nice, just a pity they don't do it in a b/s below 15lbs. I tend to use (uncoated) Drennan Micro braid in clear water conditions and for smaller species, and ESP Striptease (12lb) for coated.
 
Hi Chris
I use Kryston Merlin on combi rigs, using a short length of 15lb bs attached to fluoro
I nearly always use a pva sock when using it as it’s very supple and can tangle without it
I wouldnt tend to use it on all braid hooklinks for that reason preferring the Gardner ultra skin with some coating stripped away
 
Drennan Sinkbraid was my preferred braid, they don't produce it anymore so I'm using my last supplies sparingly - but I've found the Drennan Gravel braid in 12 & 15lb to be decent enough. Nice and supple and knots well.

I also use Kryston Merlin (green) when there is a bit of weed about, it's a tried and tested product that's never let me down. I've been using Merlin for about 25 years now on and off I think.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
You mean uncoated?
Some people use it successfully. It’s no good for me mind. There’s rocks, roots, snags and all sorts in the rivers I fish. For me It’s gotta be coated for the abrasion resistance
Click to expand...
I agree gotta be coated for me especially if a Rocky river bed...personally I rate Nash amourbraid in 20Ib, it is quite thick in diameter but in high coloured water makes not a jot of difference IMO
 
I use standard (not low diameter copolymer) nylon in 10lb breaking strain for the following reasons:
• It is tough and abrasion resistant.
• It doesn't tangle easily.
• The fish don't seem to mind its lack of flexibility.
• And best of all, for tight people like me, it is cheap!
I pay a little more for a quality line and use Berkley Trilene XL.
 
I have used Gardner Speciskin 10lbs for years now and have the utmost confidence in it. They used to do four colours and I use the gravel colour but I have almost run out. The only colour remaining is weed green which I will be using once the other is all gone. The coating strips easily using the nails of thumb and forefinger and I leave 1-2ins stripped above the hook.
 
I purposely fish to always get the rig back. My set up is 18lb fox Exocet mono main line with 15lb korda N trap to a nash claw size 12-8. This set up will quickly land any barbel that swims yet should i be unlucky enough to hook a snag, 9 times out of 10 I’ll straighten that hook before the line or rig breaks with a good pull.
I hate leaving baited rigs out. It’s all very well having these super strong hooks or hook lengths that are far stronger than the main line but In my opinion if you pull for a break and always loose the lot your tackle isn’t balanced as well as it could be.
there are exceptions of course when the main line itself becomes rapped round the snag but in most cases With hair rigs it’s the hook that gets caught and your tackle should be strong enough to bend it.
 
Yes IMO its the weight/ feeder that will get jammed by far the most times. That's why I always use the enterprise snag free system.

More problems occur hook link snag wise when long lengths are used, pretty obvious really when you retrieve.

I use 12lb GT80 mainline. Tough as old boots and the
20lb pp as the 15lb is a little too flexible and can cause a few more tangles when casting.

Results wise, I probably lose one feeder every 15 or so trips on the Wye, cannot recall one hooklength loss or cut off this season, albeit a quieter than usual one.

The fact that I have basically used the same set up for the last 10 years on the Wye and Lower Severn indicates it all works well for me.
 
Wye in particular is known for its large rocks so feeder and lead jams don’t surprise me.
not so much the case on the rivers I’ve fished over the years. Lead jams are no where near as common as hook ups in my case especially in summer fishing over gravel with weed and reed beds.
I’ll wreck at least 1 hook every single session guaranteed but I get em back.
My hook lengths don’t exceed 2 feet unless there is a reason I can’t fish with my tips down.
 
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