carp hooks

[Dave Burr]

Of course, had it been in the lip for some time the fish may well have been oblivious to it and it was therefore hard to remove due to the flesh healing around the wound and hook.

[Hovis]

This is the hook in question about a size 6 or an 8.

Hmmmmmm looks quite like a Nash Fang X to me.

Now they do stick in!

[Gary Bills]

This is the hook in question about a size 6 or an 8.

Korda Kurve Shank B - they do hang in...
I use them for fishing prawns, as the bend allows quite a lot of the prawn to be concealed. I've had to use the forceps quite often with this barbless pattern. I have no real problem with that, because I want the hook to go in once and not move.I find, that with this type of hook, you are more likely to hit bites when using particles and sight-bob/float tactics. Why that's so, I can't say - but I've found it to be so.
Another barbless hook which really goes in, in some circumstances, is the Nash Fang Twister barbless. If the hold is near the edge of the lips, you can get pulls; but when this hook is inside the mouth, it is usually a forceps job. Again, I welcome a hook doing what it's supposed to do - going in once, and staying in, without the in and out "knitting-needle" effect which barbless hooks are notorious for. The Fang Twister is the bread hook par excellence. I've used it quite a bit at "The Other Pool", especially with big hunks of flake, freelined on the bottom, - size 6, - and I find - in comparison with other hooks, that it can often make a difference between connecting solidly and not connecting. I think we live in a golden age of carp hooks, and they can assist traditional techniques very well.
On the subject of hooks, what could be worse than the experience of my brother? Last year, when fishing a rural canal where the carp are few and far between but potentially quite large, he looked a carp while using a Super Specialist and lost it after a few seconds, due to a hook pull. It was the only carp he hooked on that canal last year! This year, about three weeks ago, he played a large chap for about ten minutes - only to have a Super Specialist pull out again...now's he's vowed to use Korda Kurve Shanks - and can anyone blame him?

[Aitch]

If the hook was barbless and was difficult to remove I can only surmise it had penetrated a bonier bit of jaw or tough cartilage...

looking at the angle of the eye on the hook I can guess why the knot failed too.... the angle of the line exiting the eye would be under considerable pressure at that point and again if the hooklink were a fluorocarbon then that weakness would be compounded as it's knot strength isn't great...

I don't use hooks with acute eye angles any more due to hooklinks failing in this way... if you want to create an angle at the eye to aid hooking, then I'd advise a short length of rig shrink tubing, or a line aligner.... plenty of different makes about, Fox, Taska, Korda etc....

[Pumping Nylon]

The knot did not fail as there was a couple of inches of line still attached to the hook when i removed it.

[Gary Bills]

The knot did not fail as there was a couple of inches of line still attached to the hook when i removed it.

With fluoro, I'd never use a knotless with this kind of hook, but a double-looped, four-turned, tucked half-blood is the business...

[Aitch]

Hmmmmm it still puts a strain on the hooklink but that said, maybe the line was rotten or damaged, but I suppose any number of factors could contribute to a hooklink failure.... I have had a couple of hooklink failures due in part to inturned eyes so I've gone over to straight eyed hooks....

it's worrying that the fish couldn't get rid of the hook tho' despite it being barbless...

@FB the Palomar knot works well and if you leave a long enough tag end you can make a hair rig from it.... also using a reverse knotless knot works (ie the line exiting the back of the eye instead of the front)

[Gary Bills]

Hmmmmm it still puts a strain on the hooklink but that said, maybe the line was rotten or damaged, but I suppose any number of factors could contribute to a hooklink failure.... I have had a couple of hooklink failures due in part to inturned eyes so I've gone over to straight eyed hooks....

it's worrying that the fish couldn't get rid of the hook tho' despite it being barbless...

@FB the Palomar knot works well and if you leave a long enough tag end you can make a hair rig from it.... also using a reverse knotless knot works (ie the line exiting the back of the eye instead of the front)

I've gone off the Palomar, especially for fluoro, and settled mainly on the double-looped etc after carrying out tests in the kitchen with a digital balance, various hooklink materials and a bowl of water...
I'm popular with the wife...

[Aitch]

I'm totally off fluoro.... It's just too unpredictable... just plain mono for me.... if I want it pinned down I'll use putty or the tiny thread on sinkers

[Gary Bills]

I'm totally off fluoro.... It's just too unpredictable... just plain mono for me.... if I want it pinned down I'll use putty or the tiny thread on sinkers

I like fluoro - I think it can make a difference. But I'm only happy using it in 10lb and 12lb BS (Spiderwire, usually), because I find that lighter fluoro can "feather" on a turning roller - or even by an angler making a float adjustment - sliding it up and down on the rubbers! Yes, I do use it straight through, quite frequently, and often with a float...!