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Close Season Boredom: "sinking" braid

H

Howard Cooke

Senior Member
What with the rain and no river fishing etc I embarked on an experiment that was a bit foolish as I have zero technical ability to interpret the results. Basically, I took a large(ish) plastic container (about 8 inches deep) and decided to test the sinking ability of a variety of materials. No rigs or anything, just a 6 inch section dropped into the container of water and left for a few hours. I tested: Slolar Unleaded (25lb); Rigmarole freefall tubing; Korda heavy tubing; Tiger Line fluro (12lb); Korda sub mono (12lb); Korda Ntrap; Powerpro braid (9kg); Drennan fast sink braid (12lb) hook length. Results were unsurprising at frist. The Solar stuff sank very quickly as did the tubing (Rigmarole very close to the Korda stuff but was a lot thinner and more supple-and just as easy to thread). The fluro also sank very quickly and disappeared. The Korda Sub mono sank pretty well too. The Drennan braid had to be prodded a bit but did then sink. The Ntrap also sank really well. The PP just wafted about just below the surface. No revalations then. But after 3 odd hours, when I looked again at the container, all the braid based material was floating on the surface and half of the Solar stuff was sticking up in the water almost as though it was desperate to reach the surface for air. Even the Ntrap was on the surface. The tubing and the fluro remained pinned down. What could have caused this? When I prodded the material it did sink again but after a few hours came back up to the surface. Obnvioulsy its not very scientifc and there would be quite a difference in the river with weight attached blah blah, but I was struck by this and what it means, if anything, for choice of hooklink/leader material etc. Nothing earth shattering here for most of you but assume there is some technical reason why braid material that "sinks" etc doesn't end up sinking at all but will, ultiamltley, reach for the surface? Thoughts or am I just weird?
 
Pure guess here, but I would say that tiny air bubbles may have developed on the materials which weren't heavy enough to resist the added buoyancy.
 
Darren, now I think about it I think you are right. Do you think this will play out in much the same way on the river bed-but with different timeframes depending on material/flow etc? Just thinking about any "lift" of the hooklink especially where this is failry long-up to 3ft say. Would prefer to avoid using too much putty on the line.
 
I can't see it causing an issue unless your hookbait is also very critically balanced and the flow is very sedate.

But if you need some extra confidence, pull a section of braid through some putty and repeat the test. I reckon that would stop the problem.
 
I would think that the bubble theory is correct, but it could be that the result is due to the test being done with tap water.

If you leave a glass of tap water on the side after a while you will see bubbles presumably this is because the cold water in the tap holds more oxygen than it can hang on to when the water warms up. It could even be some of the chlorine coming out of solution.

Easy way to check (assuming that you are bored enough) leave the water overnight and repeat your test.

Roll on the 16th
 
Many thanks for the replies so far. I have had an immensly productive afternoon, watching some grass grow and with all this rain plus a bit of sunshine, this has been far more exciting than usual. However, I think there will still be time to extend the hooklink/leader material test along the lines suggested above. Interestingly, for the new season I was thinking of moving towards more critically balanced hookbaits-not pop-ups, just something that negates the weight of the hook so that the bait acts more naturally when changes in flow or fish activity creates a disturbance on the river bed.
 
How do you know the fluro sank if it disappeared?! :p

Sorry - almost as bored as you Howard! :) How about critically balancing the hook rather than the bait? Tie up your hooklength, smear the hook with rig glue, then dip it in some cork particles. End result being a weightless hook that looks like a cadis grub - very effective for pressured fish. Should keep you busy for a few weeks. ;)
 
Ah, yes that is a good point. I did observe the fluro sink and then that was it-gone. I could almost become a fan of the stuff. Thanks for the suggestion Andrew, you may have just saved me from spending my evenings trimming tail rubbers.
 
Collect the rainwater as it falls and repeat the experiment to see if the lift effect happens again. I await the results with bated breath!;)
 
Andrew Boyne said:
How do you know the fluro sank if it disappeared?! :p

Sorry - almost as bored as you Howard! :) How about critically balancing the hook rather than the bait? Tie up your hooklength, smear the hook with rig glue, then dip it in some cork particles. End result being a weightless hook that looks like a cadis grub - very effective for pressured fish. Should keep you busy for a few weeks. ;)
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Andy, now thats just cruel. ;)
 
your up against forces of nature , tap water is less dense due to less suspended contaminants due too the cleaning/filtering process too make it drinkable .next problem is surface tension .

you need too test in the medium the stuff will be used in to simulate the same conditions . but if you cant get a bucket full home ,try adding a little washing up liquid too your tap water and stir in slowly
 
I was particuallry bad at science at school, although if I had actually attended a lesson things could have been different. Its costing me now. The techncial replies all make perfect sense and rather than shouting at the telly when BGT is on, I might actually perform the test again using rain water. Derek-thanks for pointing out Andy's cruelty in exposing the fragility of my common sense. By the way, I think you have been cheating with that photo of your prized catch. I have looked at it many times now and I am convinced its the same fish.
 
Howard Cooke said:
I was particuallry bad at science at school, although if I had actually attended a lesson things could have been different. Its costing me now. The techncial replies all make perfect sense and rather than shouting at the telly when BGT is on, I might actually perform the test again using rain water. Derek-thanks for pointing out Andy's cruelty in exposing the fragility of my common sense. By the way, I think you have been cheating with that photo of your prized catch. I have looked at it many times now and I am convinced its the same fish.
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At last I just knew this would get interesting.

Andy?
 
Originally Posted by Andrew Boyne
How do you know the fluro sank if it disappeared?!

Sorry - almost as bored as you Howard! How about critically balancing the hook rather than the bait? Tie up your hooklength, smear the hook with rig glue, then dip it in some cork particles. End result being a weightless hook that looks like a cadis grub - very effective for pressured fish. Should keep you busy for a few weeks.



Derek Funcks said:
Andy, now thats just cruel. ;)
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Well if it's not a joke it would be :(

Apart from possibly impeding hook penetration, and possibly a larger wound than necessary, it would likley leave particles of cork in the wound which would likley cause an infection.
Like i say if it's not a joke, it's not a good idea IMO ;)

Ian.
 
Ian Grant said:
Apart from possibly impeding hook penetration, and possibly a larger wound than necessary, it would likley leave particles of cork in the wound which would likley cause an infection.
QUOTE]

Only if someone was daft enough to glue cork on to the point Ian! :rolleyes: Glueing cork to a hook shank to counterbalance it's wieght is nothing new - mentioned in Quest for Barbel in the 'summer fishing techniques' chapter first published in the early nineties. ;)
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Andrew Boyne said:
Ian Grant said:
Apart from possibly impeding hook penetration, and possibly a larger wound than necessary, it would likley leave particles of cork in the wound which would likley cause an infection.
QUOTE]

Only if someone was daft enough to glue cork on to the point Ian! :rolleyes: Glueing cork to a hook shank to counterbalance it's wieght is nothing new - mentioned in Quest for Barbel in the 'summer fishing techniques' chapter first published in the early nineties. ;)
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I was thinking about the hook being thicker and rougher, not that i really think that would stop the hook going in with the force of a Barbel take Andrew, but my real point ( pardon the pun ) was that of bits of cork dust entering the wound, and i don't see because it was done years ago makes it any better, lots of things were seen acceptable years ago, that nowadays aren't.

Ian.
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Anthony, this is for you. I did as you suggested and as predicted by the wise amongst you, I did not return to the container this morning to find all braided material floating on the surface. The Solar, the Drennan and the NTrap (not strictly braid I know) remained pinned down. However, the only slight note of interest was when I created some disturbance in the water above the material, the Ntrap almost instantly lifted and was on the surface. The Drennan was next but just wafted about mid water before settling again. The Solar moved a little but principally remained on the bottom. I have no idea if that is of any interest whatsoever. What I can conclude, however, is that you need to be very concerned about your presentation if fishing in a tap water based environment where your chances of catching could be very low.
 
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