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Hooklinks

R

Richard Firth

Senior Member
Id be interested to hear what you guy's are using and what to avoid ?

My mainline is gardner lightblend in 12lb. And ive just picked up some drennan 10lb double strength after opening a few it felt really supple but after a few searches it gets very mixed reviews. Its a minefield but i like to have confidence in what im using.
 
Diawa Hyper Sensor, 15lb mainline and 12lb hooklength. Or, 12lb and 10lb hooklength, depending on the river/conditions etc. Personally, i'd avoid using 2 different makes of line, you might think the hooklength line might be weaker, BUT, it might actually have a greater breaking strain than the different mainline your using. Just my thoughts. :).

Have a look at this. Its a few years old, but will give you an idea of what i mean.

http://www.tacklebox.co.uk/pdfs/line_tests_issue3c.pdf
 
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Derek Funcks said:
Diawa Hyper Sensor, 15lb mainline and 12lb hooklength. Or, 12lb and 10lb hooklength, depending on the river/conditions etc. Personally, i'd avoid using 2 different makes of line, you might think the hooklength line might be weaker, BUT, it might actually have a greater breaking strain than the different mainline your using. Just my thoughts. :).

Have a look at this. Its a few years old, but will give you an idea of what i mean.

http://www.tacklebox.co.uk/pdfs/line_tests_issue3c.pdf
Click to expand...

Thanks Derek. I'd seen that before to be honest , and i refer to that before i made a choice on mainline.

Does the Hyper offer any benifits over the regular sensor ? I have that in clear on another reel and find it very good. In fact ive thought about swapping the Gardner i just spooled with to the Daiwa.
 
Derek Funcks said:
Diawa Hyper Sensor, 15lb mainline and 12lb hooklength. Or, 12lb and 10lb hooklength, depending on the river/conditions etc. Personally, i'd avoid using 2 different makes of line, you might think the hooklength line might be weaker, BUT, it might actually have a greater breaking strain than the different mainline your using. Just my thoughts. :).

Have a look at this. Its a few years old, but will give you an idea of what i mean.

http://www.tacklebox.co.uk/pdfs/line_tests_issue3c.pdf
Click to expand...
I personally will not use any line that I haven't checked the breaking strain of/on. It's easy enough to do, especially with an old pair of dial scales for instance (e.g. Avons). I'm not a great fan of (highly) pre-stretched lines as I've had 'snap-off' problems in the past, but this is usually only a problem when fishing at short range (<15m) in my experience. It all depends of river conditions, style of fishing, length of cast, abrasion resistance required etc ... but on balance I prefer braid/microbraid to pre-stretched mono/fluoro hooklinks (esp re. knot strength). Is viability a problem with hooklinks? Dunno.
 
I would be very wary of the ultra thin, pre -stretched, poor abrasion, Drennan double strength unless you are fishing areas with no snags (probably no Barbel )and very soft rods. I used it when it first came out in the early 80's, broke on the first strike, went back to maxima and caught a Royalty double next cast. Great for pole fishing but no place in Barbel fishing in most situations. Drennan used to advise double strength users to choose the same diameter as your normal mono rather than choosing the breaking strain.The reason was so many anglers were getting broken so use 20lb DS instead of your normal 10 lb mono, which to me defeated the object.
 
Mark Swaby said:
I would be very wary of the ultra thin, pre -stretched, poor abrasion, Drennan double strength unless you are fishing areas with no snags (probably no Barbel )and very soft rods. I used it when it first came out in the early 80's, broke on the first strike, went back to maxima and caught a Royalty double next cast. Great for pole fishing but no place in Barbel fishing in most situations. Drennan used to advise double strength users to choose the same diameter as your normal mono rather than choosing the breaking strain.The reason was so many anglers were getting broken so use 20lb DS instead of your normal 10 lb mono, which to me defeated the object.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the imput. Ill take that on board.
 
I'd agree with all that, I would say though that I agree that Drennan double strength should be avoided because it's toilet but Preston Reflo Powerline is similar in diameter but retains a fantastic amount of stretch without the fragility.
First choice for me if I need a fineish hooklink for trotting maggots etc.
Shame it's only available up to 12lb BS.
 
This is giving me a headache 😂

For my sanity i think im going to swap my main line to diawa Sensor in 15lb probably clear. Then use the sensor in 10lb as hooklink. Ive got the 8lb on a reel i use for surface fishing for carp and has held up superbly with fish to 15lb through snags and darting for / through the lilly pads. If for no other reason than i trust this line so i can be confident in it. I know alot is down to personal prefrance . Also i feel upping my mainline to 15lb will open up a few more doors if i decide to try braid etc.

Please keep your suggestions coming , ive got a few weeks to swap again yet !

All you're help & info appreciated !
 
Paul Collins said:
I'd agree with all that, I would say though that I agree that Drennan double strength should be avoided because it's toilet but Preston Reflo Powerline is similar in diameter but retains a fantastic amount of stretch without the fragility.
First choice for me if I need a fineish hooklink for trotting maggots etc.
Shame it's only available up to 12lb BS.
Click to expand...

Spot-on about Reflo, I think it’s great stuff. Not tried it for longer hooklengths but I’ve found the 0.19 and 0.21 superb for short 3-5” hooklength’s for tench for 4-5 seasons now, it’s incredibly strong and stretchy for the diameter. I’ve had 23lb carp on the 0.19.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
Spot-on about Reflo, I think it’s great stuff. Not tried it for longer hooklengths but I’ve found the 0.19 and 0.21 superb for short 3-5” hooklength’s for tench for 4-5 seasons now, it’s incredibly strong and stretchy for the diameter. I’ve had 23lb carp on the 0.19.
Click to expand...
..... and in my experience, Preston Reflo Power is very similar to Silstar Match Team Line.
 
I have used the Matchteam lime for a few years now and found it bomb proof. I use it in 10.1 for tench and barbel . Take a look at your reel line diameter and tie that in with the hooklink diameter I find this helps. I use the Matchteam line also for Barbel float fishing. I wouldn't use double strength for Barbel, then again matching the diameter would help.
 
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