After watching some mucky videos about barbel fishing I think I'll be looking for a soft cheapish 12-15lb braid for hook lengths and just have to change it when it gets frayed on the rocks.

It was very compelling to see how barbel got more spooked by something unnatural that they couldn't see to a thick dark line that they could see.

What type and lb of line you using for hook lengths.

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got a few suggestions for braid but none are what you call cheap especially if you use long hooklenghts. if its just the colour you could try using black coloured amnesia mono. very tough on rocks too.
Amnesia Black Low Memory Leader Line | Braid and Mono Line | Tackle Companies | Summerlands Tackle Online Fishing Tackle | Summerlands Tackle

I usually start with flouro carbon hooklinks but I dont like the stiffness of them and im not convinced that the fish cant see em as when I put some flouro in my fish tank they come up and mouth the ends!

I once bought some Ron Thompson Dyna Wire it was a braid main line .17 mm dia and had a test of 10.2 kg it is black with a soft cotton finish when it is wet.

I bought it to fish the severn right across over lots of streamer weed with thinner line so I wouldnt have to fish heavy weights to hold bottom. Before I had chance to use it I found out that braided lines were banned on the stretches I fish, so the spare spool sat in my box unused.

One day I decided to try it as a hook length as I was using very long hooklengths and it seemed to work very well and caught on it - having said that I also sometimes just use the same 10lb mainline (erm Diawa Sensor) on my hook length if it up and coloured. I have tons of different hook lengths in my bag, I will use a green braid like super nova or good old merlin if fishing around streamer weed. My flouro is either IQ extra soft cos I was dragged along by the video I saw or the fly fishing stuff as you get twice as much for your money. Sometimes I use daft line like the very white spider line as its different as no one else will be using it. Last summer in a very open swim I tried the Carp kinetics silt coloured line 6lb as it was very bright and the river clear and caught several very good fish but soon changed to heavier stuff and got no further bites.

Oh yes I once bought some very expensive stuff you strip the outer off near the hook before tying does anyone know of any links I can see someone using the stuff - I cant get my head round it.
Mind you I couldnt get my head round my essex cousins bird food boilies on a hair rig fourty years ago but thats another tale.

On another note on hooklinks.

I used to also attach my hooklingths to a snap link for a quick change I had the hook at one end and a loop to attach to the snap at the other.

I mentioned this in my local tackle shop they tied a granny knot (a strangulation knot) in the middle of a length of line and invited me to snap it, it broke easily.
They then tied the same line up onto a swivel using a polamar knot (not a strangulation knot) and I found it difficult to break the line. It was suggested to me that the small loop I was tying at the start of the hooklength was strangling the line and sometimes causing it to snap - I then thought to the times I had been broken off, how often there was just a small loop attached to the snap swivel.
Now I tie all my hooklinks up to swivels and tie them up to the mainline making sure I have buffer beads to protect the knot.

god where did all that come from??? must go - Mrs Browns Boys on the telly in a minute.

Martin.

Originally Posted by admin

After watching some mucky videos about barbel fishing I think I'll be looking for a soft cheapish 12-15lb braid for hook lengths and just have to change it when it gets frayed on the rocks. It was very compelling to see how barbel got more spooked by something unnatural that they couldn't see to a thick dark line that they could see. What type and lb of line you using for hook lengths.

Which videos are those? I'd like to see them.

I've tried various hook length materials over the past few seasons and have settled on Gardner mirage, it's designed as a mainline but I've found it to be more supple than most flourocarbons. This may change now though.

Originally Posted by Martin E

Oh yes I once bought some very expensive stuff you strip the outer off near the hook before tying does anyone know of any links I can see someone using the stuff - I cant get my head round it. Mind you I couldnt get my head round my essex cousins bird food boilies on a hair rig fourty years ago but thats another tale.

I've used it myself, if only they did it in less than 15lb bs and it wasn't so bloody expensive. I've always assumed the stiff coating helps with anti tangling with the stripped off section aiding presentation.

i think your looking at carpy type hooklink material chaps,its coated leader or leadcore,it is expensive gear though as you say,i find this place excellent for line especially braid, Fishing Tackle - Discount Fishing Tackle, Fishing Equipment and Fishing Accessories
i use ghost fluro now and again in 10lb bs. i've seen that dvd too interesting though how the big yellow toy they used didnt spoke em either (if its the same dvd) that is,lol anyway have a peep at that website i've had loads of gear off them.

cheers

kev.

Barbel like carp have huge blind spot in their field of vision, this being just past their noses (if they had them) and obviously their mouths. This leads them to be reliant on their sense of touch while feeding.

Supple braid, stiff fluoro or inbetween mono.... Which do the fish associate with danger, bearing in mind that the link is probably being pulled taut and the softer it is, the more taut it gets pulled out.

I use a good mono hooklink, Ultima Power Steel or if a slightly more supple link is desired Ultima Power Plus and if that still isn't doing the jod I'd try Ultima Power Carp.
Personally, if I encounter shy/spooky barbel, I would think more about bite regristration than anything else, if the bait enters the fishes mouth and not hooked then its a missed fish.
And even the best anti eject/bolt rig doesn't always work.

Regards line strength, anything from 6-12lb.



Ben

I saw those videos as well, really thought inducing.
Ben it wasn't so much the blind spot, it showed you the barbel spook when their fins touched the fluoro line (as invisible this spooked the barbel) as it felt something but couldn't see it, they then showed the video of the fish touching a braided line(which they could see) they were happy to stay and feed in that area as it didn't spook them.
Yes it was interesting to see there was no adverse reaction to the bright yellow toy.

The trouble with videos like that is that people watch them and suddenly think it applies to all fish on all rivers at all times. IMO, that's not case. How the hell do we catch on mono or fluoro hooklengths?

The makers of these DVDs have a lot to answer for; as pretty much any theory can be proved in the editing suite, particularly when it's theories such as these that sell the DVD in the first place

I use Riverge Grand Max flouro (very supple) or coated braid, and catch a fish from time to time. Draw your own conclusions......

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Cheers,

Rich

i agree with the makers bull

to be fair i have used colmic fendreel power line for 10yr plus
its a italian company and the line is made in japan

size 8.9lb 0.18mm diamiter

direct to hook and have caught my fair share of butes over the yrs !!!

They are not saying that you won't catch on fluoro, what the video shows is the difference in reaction to when the barbel touches the braid and fluoro.

The fish the touched the fluoro, spooked and moved the shoal, they then carried on feeding a foot or so away from the fluoro, there is nothing to say that they didn't come back over the area where the fluoro was and one of them got caught, the fish that touched the the braid just carried on as if nothing was wrong.

As with everything, you need to draw your own conclusions, but if by changing the one thing so the fish don't sppok, you are upping your chances of catching and that is what it's about unless i have this fishing lark all wrong.