Clear Problem

Total Carp Staff  |  Feb 22, 2012  |  First Published: Feb 21, 2012

Question: I have started fishing a lake with very clear water so I”m going to use fluorocarbon. I’ve been told that you should only use certain hook patterns with this material. Can you tell me if this is true? Alex Selwood, via www.totalcarpmagazine.com



Marc Coulson says: You are quite right, care should be taken when tying hooks to fluorocarbon and, in my opinion, you should be careful to choose the right hook. Use one with either a straight or out-turned eye, but steer clear of those with inturned eyes. This is because, when playing a carp, the angle of the inturned eye can create a pressure point on the hook-link material. Obviously, you should avoid this. There will always be an angler who comes up with an argument against this, but the vast majority of people that I work and fish with agree.

In addition, I find that inturned eyes with fluorocarbon or stiffer mono lines create a horrible angle of the line coming out of the eye and, I feel, this impedes the hooking potential of the rig.

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