Gaz Fareham
These days I expect most anglers think of combi-links in terms of the strippable coated braids that are available. Don’t get me wrong, they are superb in the majority of situations and I use them for a fair percentage of my fishing; ranging from the softer versions like Sufix’s green Camo Skin which is perfect for fishing over weed right through to Korda’s brown Hybrid which is by far the stiffest and is brilliant over gravel. Although these links are a superb convenience and are really quick and simple I still feel there is a time and a place for tying up an ‘old school’ true combi-link.
Faced with gin clear water and a clean bottom I don’t think you can beat flourocarbon or a mono like Maxima as a hooklink, drop a normal coated link, even one of the darker coloured ones, in over some of the really dark silt we have up north and it often looks awful, really blatant and obvious. Even over gravel they can be a dead giveaway sometimes when the water is especially clear. Flourocarbon is definitely the answer and for bottom baits a simple knotless presentation is ideal but when I want to fish with a little pop-up as a single, which I often do, I always felt I wanted to use the properties of a braid to get the presentation to sit right, hence why I started tying these dinky little combi-links up. You get the subtlety of flourocarbon but with the hooking qualities of braid. One of the best things about this presentation is how adaptable it is to different situations and sizes of hookbaits. It works equally as well with 10lb flourocarbon/10lb braid, a little size 10 hook and a 10mm pop-up as it does with 25lb flourocarbon/15lb braid, a size 6 and an 18mm pop-up. You can tie it by using a mini rig ring or even by using a swivel as I’ve seen other people doing but to be honest, both those methods are a bit crude for my liking and this is by far the best way to get a neat, discreet presentation combining both materials.
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