Yes, saw them advertised a couple of years ago. High novelty value I imagine, if nothing else. I remember a couple of angling 'superstars' being invited to test them....

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Cheers,

Rich

I found myself agreeing with you (for once) lol, I to only fish light lines with balanced tackle and have had a severe mauling from another site for saying so, the critical word here is balanced tackle, especially in the hook department, I rarely fish bigger than a 12 and would go as low as 5lb, my hook would straighten before the line broke and I would have to really compress the rod to do this. I would always start at a higher breaking strain and work my way down to 5lb if I was having no luck. Usually this would result in a fish of some sort of fish and its happened to many times to be coincidence, I also don't use the low diameter hi tech lines as they tend to be a bit brittle and are a bit suspect when you have a savage take, good old maxima as its tuff stuff.

I've been fishing now for 50 years and in my early days used to regularly catch barbel up to around 7lbs on 3lb line when float fishing for roach. When I moved so my local river became the Severn I thought I was fishing heavy if I went above 6lb line! Used to land fish quite happily, even in weedy swims.

Nowadays I fish with 8lb line as a minimum, more usually though it's 12lb with a 10lb hooklength. I think the big difference is in the tackle we use now, rods are more powerful than the split-cane and fibreglass ones that I grew up with, also most people play fish off the clutch rather than back-winding. I prefer a soft action rod that soaks up the fish's efforts, I still back-wind, the clutch is a safety just in case of a sudden lunge. In winter I will go down to much lighter tackle, and in the the right swim feel confident to land barbel on hooklengths down to 3lbs, however i don't think it neccessary to go light just to get bites, this season using the heavy gear I've had 101 barbel in 13 trips despite the low,clear conditions.

very true in what you are saying !!! has gone a little crazy in most thing these day

Doesn't really matter what strength line you're using, it's only as strong as its weakest line. Most of the time that being a knot. Any knot weakens the line somewhat. Some more than others if you believe all you read about knot strengths.

I wonder if people using the latest rigs are that aware that every link is a weak(er) spot?

5lb line could well be a stronger option in some cases.

Manufacturers claims about their products may give a false impression too. Some modern lines the Carp Boys use claim to have one breaking strain when (if all I've read is true) they break at a higher rate.

Other factors that need to be taken into account is how much they stretch. The lines that do (maxima being one) offer the angler a certain amount of cushion. Certainly useful under the rod tip for the last minute lunges, but at a further distance near snags less so.

Personally I think that there are too many variables to dismiss using lower breaking strain lines. They have their place, but so do higher strains.

Balance, as stated before is the key factor.

One thing I dont understand about bs and I was having this discussion with a carper friend , when he stated a certain line broke well above its bs , then I said to him then surly thats its breaking strain then ???? not what the manufacture says !! like Ive said before I could'nt break 5lb maxima with my feeder rod directly, I would have to do a straight pull, I dont think hardly anybody uses the full compression in there rods when playing fish including myself and I must confess I dont think Id be brave enough, Id have to be sat on a fair few fish to test it out and thats not happened for a couple of seasons.

I am sure I read somewhere that line manufacturers always understate their BS, on the basis that they worry about prosecution by trading standards people if their 10 pound line broke at 9. Bit of a baker's dozen complex.

I am sure that very few anglers use anywhere near the full power of their rod or line whilst playing a fish. Pulling for a break, and having to point the rod down the line to do so, contains a strong message, that seems hidden to some.

I suspect also, that many fish that "break" you, are in situations where the line was in some way damaged, with a consequential weak spot, or the break occurred at a poor knot. People quote knot strengths willy nilly, but the truth is that the same knot tied a few times can vay enormously in how effective it is. I would have to admit to being less than 100% happy with the knot choice available to me. It is always a case of choosing the best available, yet not having one I totally trust to do the job.

The knotless knot is indeed a fine thing. I can see, without having to test it, that it must have good and consistent knot strength. It is not however for universal application, it cannot easily be tied direct to the reel line, so has to be used in conjunction with a hook length. And therein lies the problem, for a least one other knot is needed. So despite having one truly excellent knot, there is always a weaker link above it.
I should like to have something essentially similar in principle that I can use to attach, say, a swivel.

page 14 angling times, theres a new hook out which is going to be interesting to see how it gets on as there is no knot involved in tying it, I cant find any links to it so Ill try and explain it. it has like a solder dot on the back of the shank and instead of a fully formed loop at the top of the hook it has half a one, the idea is to loop your line around the dot and whip up ala knotless knot, pull through the aperture and pull both ends tight and trim, nice and easy even I could do that. bob nud has a knot that keeps 95% of its strength which involved twisting the line , but don't know what its called and I couldn't tie it as it was really fiddly and my eyes not what they were.

your right jayzs about knotless knots.you end up using a swivel?? and that means a join..i lost a barbel when it snapped at the swivel.. so what i do now is tie the hook on using a clinch knot. and then tie a short lenth of line on for the hair rig. NO JOINS.. billy

I think, Billy, that your clinch knot is what I have always called a half blood knot. Very easy to tie, even in darkness without a torch.
BUT:
It is a knot I have always distrusted intensely. Don't like it at all.

How many turns do you use?