I saw this one on another forum and thought that I would bring it here.

What size hooks do you use and in relation to what size bottom bait/boilie ?

A few years ago I done very well using size tens. This came about when a carp fishing friend of mine told me a story about a water in Kent that he was invited to fish. They were catching lots of carp on size tens including thirties. When asked why they used such small hooks he was told that until they went that small they just was not getting pickups. There was one person on the water who refused to fish that small and he just was not catching. At the time I was not doing so well on a water that I was fishing and on my friends advice I changed to size ten hooks. It worked I starting catching. Now since this I have read and heard and know of carp anglers who use far bigger hooks on bottom baits without balancing and seem to have no problems. Is this down to the fact that the bigger hooks these days are made from much lighter materials ? I do not know.

What are your opinions on this, big hook, little hook, balanced or otherwise. Remember this is for bottom baits.

My opinion is that when using a smaller hook you have a greater chance of a pickup, why you may ask, drop your rig into a bath with a big hook attached waft your hand above it and see if it lifts from the bottom the same as a free offering. The greater the chance of a pickup the greater the chance of a fish making a mistake, the greater the chance of you catching one. Bait size at the time was about 16mm to the size ten.

So what I would do to get the hook size right in relation to the bait is tie your rig drop it in the bath waft your hand over it, if it does not lift the same as a free offering of the same size take the hook size down until it does. Remember what Mr Gibbonson says, he likes to get his hookbaits to act like free offerings.

That should give you all something discuss, I know one person who will answer this

Chris S

[This message has been edited by Chris S (edited 21-06-2000).]

Chris S

Be careful when you're doing all this "wafting" in the bath - you may end up fishing with a maggot on a size 10!!

Butt Banger

quote:

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Originally posted by Butt Banger:
Chris S

Be careful when you're doing all this "wafting" in the bath - you may end up fishing with a maggot on a size 10!!

Butt Banger

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Err well not quite right, I have found that double maggot on a size ten is good for tench and bream and small carp. Also you must be careful were you bang your butt it has been banned on my water

Chris S

[This message has been edited by Chris S (edited 21-06-2000).]

I generally use size 8's for most of my bottom bait fishing, and size 6's for popups, unless I'm fishing 20-25mm baits, then I use a 6.
A couple of years ago I was using 6's for everything and started struggling, so I stuck an 8 on one rod and my run ratio improved, so I think it makes a difference. I have also found that smaller hooks give better hookholds

Hi Chris, I use a size 8 for 14-16mm, a size 6 for 18-20 and a size 4 for 20-24.
This does depend slightly on the pattern though.
To be honest I was thinking of trying smaller hooks, maybe I will!
All the best,
Gafer