Ian.B

On good advice from people on this site I've been fishing lighter rigs than I'm used to lately.
I did notice last Sunday while using 0.07 & a 22 hook that while I did seem to get more bites I also lost more than usual. And from the initial pull on the elastic (no3) it was better fish I was losing (I'd guess in the 4oz to 8oz bracket)
I would say that by the end of the match, due to the increased number of bites, I came away with more fish despite the losses - so for me overall it was a positive outcome & seemed to have been the right choice.
But ... is that generally the compromise you make when you use small hooks or should I have tried something different ?

Brian G

Did you think about going up a hook size, thats assuming you were fishing a 22 as opposed to a 16 or 18 hook, alternatively you could have stepped up your elastic size to say a 6, a number 3 elastic is suitable for smaller fish but may not have been strong enough to set the hook properly on the larger fish. A few put ins with a different set up would have given you a comparison. However sometimes the scaling down is a compromise between bites and no bites.

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jay411

Hi Ian
Can i ask what patern hook you are using as i dont consider a 22 to be a particularly small hook for fish 4oz to 8 oz when fishing bloodworm and joker we often catch a lot of fish in that bracket with very few loses but we do use very fine hooks which helps penetration with a soft 3 laccy

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I want an end peg

Ian.B

Can't remember off the top of my head but I will check when I get home. I know it's a Kamasan & think it was a 22 'long point' (barbless). I know it was sharp as it's only about 18 months old I had the wifes nail file on it just before Christmas, comes up a treat every time.

Interesting point about the elastic being too soft... never thought about that.... there's always something new to consider !


Ian
P.s. was only joking about the file !

jay411

Hi Ian
Not sure if you are also joking about your hook being 18months old or not but anyway, another factor could be the way you are hooking the fish ie bottom lip top lip roof of the mouth , there are alot of factors that can affect this with shoting paterns , fishing on and off the deck and feeding is very important . very good anglers can actually dictate by altering these factors where they hook the fish and when roach fishing some top anglers actually prefer to hook the fish in the roof of the mouth as its easier to unhook with out damaging the fine hooks we use , I dont think for one minute that your laccy is to soft as i know rob middleton of shaky uses 3 latex fishing hemp on rivers with floats upto a gram, i am by no means an expert but do spend a lot of time fishing with experts and pick there brains even if i dont always put it into practice

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I want an end peg

Ian.B

Actually it's funny you mention where the fish were hooked. I hooked enough in the bottom lip for it to stick in my mind at the time.
I also remember at the time thinking to myself that a better angler would know why I'm hooking a large percentage of fish in the bottom lip, I didn't have a clue.
It was a slim 0.4g float with most of the shot just under the float & a dropper about a foot from the hook. I was in around 5ft of water & it seemed to be when the bait must've just about settled that i got a bite so I altered the shot to get it down a bit quicker, see I do listen, but after altering the shot I hardly got a bite so I put the shot back where it was (obviously not listening properly !).

marko mbc

ian, you should try putting the bulk of your shot approx 2/3rds down your rig and then your dropper shot between this and the hook. i think you may either be having bites on the drop or you are fishing a little overdepth. try shallowing off by an inch or so at a time and see if you can hook the fish in the top lip then, if you are, you have got the depth just right. hope this helps!

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Marko MBC

Ian.B

Ummm, that sounds simple enough, thanks Marko.
No match this weekend but might try & grab a couple of hours tomorrow or Sunday & practice that.

Ian.B

P.s. if you intend fishing on the drop would you start by plumbing up as normal so that the bait will sit on the bottom if it doesn't get intercepted but then gradually shallow the rig by the inch or so, or start shallow & gradually deepen the rig ? (just generally speaking as usual)