How light do you go?

[TF_Gamagreen]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum, well match fishing really so forgive me if my questions have been asked a hundred times before!

I was speaking to a match angler recently and could not believe how light he was fishing.

0.10 hook length to a 20 gamakatsu black hook for F1’s (up to 1 1/2lb) and 0.12 hook length to a 18 808 for carp between 1 and 4lb.

Is this the norm for match anglers?

Thanks in advance.

[TF_baitchefParticipant]

I wouldn’t say it was unusual, especially with the variety of elastics available and the introduction of puller bungs etc. Fact is though, that you can only balance your tackle to the situation you are in.

[Anonymous]

For pole fishing. 0.16 is the norm for me on carp venues in summer but will go heavier if big bags are expected or if targeting very big carp. 0.14 on F1 dominated venues in summer but i will drop down to 0.12 even in summer if i feel the fish are feeding funny. In the winter its completely different. 0.12 is quite heavy for me when targeting carp. 0.10 is the norm for me on my carp venues unless there is a real expectation of hooking a bonus 6lb+ lump or 3. Im happy that i can land almost all carp on balanced tackle with a little care on 0.10 diameter line. For F1s. 0.10 is the norm. However, i go as low as 0.08 when it gets very hard and im expecting only a few bites and a very low winning weight. For bomb work. I use 0.16 to 0.20 depending on the size of carp in summer. 0.16 for F1 dominated venues on the bomb/feeder in summer. I use 0.12 hook lengths for almost all my F1 and carp fishing in winter and im happy to just take my time in playing any big fish.

As Baitchef says. Balance with your elastics and not rushing things is the key to getting things right once the colder conditions set in.

[TF_Man of Kent]

Absolutely spot on from BC and FB re: balance. I had a silver only match on a carp lake a couple of weeks ago so fished with 0.08 and 0.06 hooklengths matched up with elastics in the 4-8 range and got carped out. I lost ~20 but mostly due to hook pulls but managed to get 5 in, the biggest probably just into double figures. If I had needed them, I would have gone heavier. However if I hit a carp, I was hoping to break the hooklengths (barbless hook only), but found even on these light hook lengths, it was virtually impossible to break off. Definitely food for thought for the future matches regardless of target species.

[TF_fishcatcher4]

I have been fishing a bit lighter this year and it is down to the introduction of puller bungs.It might take a bit longer to land the big fish but it is possible and i dont seem to have lost many fish this year either ( none were line breakages ).Talking about the coming winter i hope its not like last year because every where near me was iced over for a long time.

[Author]

Posts