Chris Thomson
Senior Member
Hi, tied a few rigs up with this and well impressed, luverly combi rigs! Just thought i'd share that little gem with you
-
You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...
rigmarole hydrolink
- Thread starter Chris Thomson
- Start date
Simon Lush
Senior Member
Chris, i've been using it since it was first released, same as you i think its brilliant, in my opinion one of the best and most versatile hooklink materials on the market, makes tying combi/hinge style rigs a doddle.
Chris Thomson
Senior Member
Do you find keeping it straight a problem Simon, it has quite a memory, tying combis were a doddle
Simon Lush
Senior Member
I just tie em up and clip them onto a rig board, run your pinched finger/thumb up and down them a few times to create a bit of heat and they are fine, DO NOT be tempted to steam it, a couple of people i spoke to who had failures with hydrolink had both steamed them straight, it dosn't seem to like it and its not necessary.
Chris Thomson
Senior Member
Cheers Simon
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Funny you mention the problem with steaming Simon, I was thinking about that sort of thing the other night when I was fiddling about with a few rigs. I used to use 25 lb Kryston Silkworm many years ago, and to make the supple braid turn, I used a line aligner or angled shrink tube extention on the hook shank, which of course you had to steam to shrink. It was fine for years...then all of a sudden the braid started going all to hell when the steam got to it. Obviously they had changed one of the materials the braid was composed of, and it didn't like it. Over the years since, I have found several other that reacted badly to steam (can't remember which ones now though
) so the Rigmarole braid is no exception...damned annoying though Cheers, Dave.
Simon Lush
Senior Member
Dave, i seem to remember someone once saying that boiling water was preferable to steam for fixing shrink tube, steam although supposedly the same temperature as boiling water produces more energy/heat or something ?
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
True enough Simon, but I did try that method out as well...still the same problem. It seemed that the component in the braid that they changed was badly effected by temperatures even below that of boiling water. What happened was that the new material sort of 'jellyfied' and shrank lengthwise, leaving you with a very strange mess caused by some strands of the braid being considerably shorter than the rest
....not ideal You could stretch it back to some extent while it was still hot, but the braid was never the same after that. It came in three breaking strains, 10, 15 and 25lbs B/S I think it was, but the 25 was a much nicer braid than the rest. Perhaps the material they used in the 25 became unavailable and they then reverted to the components of the other types. Whatever, it was never the same after that, so I stopped using it.
Cheers, Dave.
Simon Lush
Senior Member
True enough Simon, but I did try that method out as well...still the same problem. It seemed that the component in the braid that they changed was badly effected by temperatures even below that of boiling water. What happened was that the new material sort of 'jellyfied' and shrank lengthwise, leaving you with a very strange mess caused by some strands of the braid being considerably shorter than the rest
You could stretch it back to some extent while it was still hot, but the braid was never the same after that. It came in three breaking strains, 10, 15 and 25lbs B/S I think it was, but the 25 was a much nicer braid than the rest. Perhaps the material they used in the 25 became unavailable and they then reverted to the components of the other types. Whatever, it was never the same after that, so I stopped using it.
Cheers, Dave.
Thats bad news re Silkworm, i use that a lot for little balanced/pop up rigs for Tench fishing due to its neutral bouyancy, i bought several spools many years ago (i always do that with good products in case they get discontinued) but i am running short now and need more !
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Buy a spool and try it Simon. I am talking a fair few years back, and who knows what it's like now. In fact, if you are really lucky, I may have had some from a dodgy batch. I certainly wouldn't give up on a favourite because of my bad experience in the past.
Cheers, Dave.
Chris Thomson
Senior Member
Just got a spool of Rigmaroles flouro cam h20, the reviews are good and i've gone in my garage, tied up arig and abused it by dragging it over my vice and treading on it and it still straightens out and holds its strength, might be worth you flouro users having a look