Sea Fishing by Nick Fisher

Author:Nick Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408896365
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2017-03-13T04:00:00+00:00

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Hook link

The line which is attached to your hook is known as the ‘hook link’ or ‘snood’ or even, just to complicate things further, the ‘leader’ – not to be confused with the shock leader (see opposite). It makes sense for this hook link to be no thicker than absolutely necessary, because some fish are particularly aware and wary of thick line near the bait and will refuse to bite if the mouthful looks strange or acts suspiciously.

Most anglers carry a spare spool of line, which they’ll use only for hook links – in other words, the final section of line in your rig that leads to the hook. Some serious anglers will buy a very good-quality line for this short but important section, often a fluorocarbon line, which is specifically designed to appear less visible in water. It’s thin and transparent, but strong.

Personally I don’t think fancy and expensive fluorocarbon line is necessary, unless you’re targeting a really finicky species, like grey mullet. A spare spool of ordinary monofilament is always useful to have, though, as it means you can tie a new hook length without having to cannibalise your reel line.

Shock leader

A shock leader, for general beachcasting, is a length of 40–60lb mono line, which should be about twice the length of your rod. It is designed to absorb the initial shock of heavy lead weights (2oz or more) when you’re casting hard from the shore.

The strength of main reel line you’ll want to use while casting with a spinning rod or a carp rod (or even a beachcasting rod) is no more than 15lb. Heavy line increases aerodynamic resistance. Anything upward of 15lb is too heavy to be practicable casting over any distance. But just using 15lb line with a 3 or 4oz weight will end in potentially painful disaster, because the force of the cast with that weight is greater than the strength of your reel line. It will snap like straw, unless you use a shock leader to cushion the force of the cast.

A shock leader is a beefed-up extension of your reel line which takes all the initial strain of casting. It is tied to the business end of your reel line and runs to the top of your terminal tackle rig. The important thing is that the shock leader is long enough to wind a few times around your reel spool, up the rod and down to the start of your rig when you’re in the casting position. A shock leader should be between 20 and 30 feet long. This will absorb all the shock of the cast, thus protecting the more fragile reel line. Shock leaders also combat abrasion when fishing over rough seabeds.

There’s a formula for judging the necessary breaking strain of shock leaders, which equates to 10lb of shock leader for every single ounce of weight cast. Given that you will have a minimum of 10lb line on your reel to begin with, no shock leader is needed for a 1oz weight.

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