ASK THE EXPERTS
Dear Panel
I have been fishing for carp at my local water for two years now and so far have only managed two bites and they both snapped me up. I am using 15Ib main line with a 10Ib hooklink. Somebody told me that my line is too thick, hence leading to my lack of bites, but I’m now in a dilemma, because of bushes, weed, etc. in the lake I'm already getting snapped up – help!
Many thanks,
J. Poxon
Chorley
Lancs
Mr. Poxon
Firstly, I would like to say that there is no point in getting lots of bites if you aren’t going to land any of them. It’s far better to get fewer bites and land all of them, because at the end of the day the welfare of the fish is of critical importance.
From your letter it seems to me that the venue you are fishing could be quite snaggy, so firstly I would recommend increasing the strength of your hooklink. A 10lb hooklink would be fine on a snag-free open water venue, however on venues where you are likely to encounter weed, it’s most certainly too light. Personally, I would go for 15lb coated hooklinks, because these coated braids will offer you that extra bit of protection against snags. If you think that such a hooklink is too blatant for the fish you are after, then try matching the hooklink colour to the bottom, or even using marker pens to get the colour right. Similarly, use Tungsten Putty or lead wire to keep the hooklength pinned to the deck.
Shockleaders are a great way of combating problems with snags and weed
Moving on to your main line, primarily you should make sure that you are buying the best quality line you can. Most of the top brands offer great lines costing very little these days. I would recommend that the line shouldn’t be too low diameter; for a 15lb breaking strain the line should be around 0.35mm diameter. Other reasons you may be getting snapped up is line damage. Depending on how often you fish, you should be changing your lines every few months if the venue is snaggy. Constantly winding in over snags damages lines easily. You should at least check your line for damage before every session by carefully running your fingers over it, looking for nicks and kinks. If you are still getting snapped up then the use of shockleaders should help in combating the problem, but remember to use safe rigs when using such a setup. For UK fishing a shockleader of around 35lb breaking strain should do the job.
A nice fish caught from an area of sharp bars and weedbeds
As well as the equipment side of things, I would also recommend looking at the areas to which you are fishing. If they are very snaggy, look at the clearest areas to fish to, you may get fewer bites but at least the ones you do get will end up in your net!
Good luck!
Roman
