When you are carp fishing, the number one change you can make to increase your chances of landing your target carp is to sharpen your hooks.
Why does it matter?
Just because you take a brand new hook out of the packet does not mean that it is sharp. If you don't believe me try this with the next hook you take out of the packet:
• Take a jeweller's eye glass or loupe and with a steady hand, move the eye glass to within about 20mm of the hook point.
• Move it in and out to gain focus and then move your eye position relative to the glass to within 30mm to get a really close view.
• The hook point should appear in perfect focus. You'll see that the point is actually rounded!
What this means is that, although the radius of the point is small, it will be easier for the carp to eject the rig and it will increase the risk of a hook pull. Due to the constant level of angling pressure, big carp in France have become exceptionally adept at getting rid of rigs, therefore paying attention to your hooks is critical. A sharp hook will penetrate the mouth of the carp better and has a better chance of sticking to the mouth when the carp tries to get rid of the rig.
The solution: sharpen your hooks
Some companies offer a complete hook sharpening kit but you can achieve the same results by putting together your own kit which needs to include:
Jeweller's eye glass or loupe
A hook clamp
A fine file
A hone
Vaseline
How to sharpen your hooks
Step 1 - Use a hook clamp to hold the hook securely in place. You can use other clamping devices too such as a tool maker's clamp (your fingers or a pair of pliers won't be up to the job!)
Step 2 - Working in single strokes from right to left, use a very fine file to follow the contours of the point. This should be done in a few gentle strokes. On inspection, the 4mm or so top side of the point should appear completely shiny and from the side the hook point should appear razor sharp with some magnetised filing debris (don't proceed to the next step until it is!)
Step 3 - Repeat the process (working in the same direction as before) for each side of the hook until it is razor sharp when viewed from directly above with the eyeglass. Use your fingers or a cloth to wipe off excess filing debris.
Step 4 - Now take the hone which will work better if you dip it in water prior and during use. Follow the same contours of the hook as you did with the file in the three planes (top, left and right side). Inspect with the eye glass after you have honed each face with a few strokes. You should achieve a point that at 20x magnification is so sharp that the point disappears to nothing!
Step 5 - To test the sharpness of the carp hook, gently place the hook point against the end of your finger and let go. The hook should be sharp enough to hang there all by itself with or without the weight of 2 x 20mm carp baits. Obviously it will do this with a blunt hook if you stab it in your finger but it takes the very finest of points to do this trick properly simply by resting the point against it. If the hook does not pass this test then it's not sharp enough and you need to start again.
Step 6 - As this process removes any coating that was on the hook, we need to protect it against corrosion while in the water. A sharp hook will be a blunt hook in a matter of hours without any anti corrosion protection. Simply smear a tiny amount of Vaseline on all sides of the point to protect it during fishing.
Matt Collins, lifelong carp angler, photographer and owner of Beausoleil, an exclusive fishing holiday venue in North West France. If you are interested in fishing for big carp and monster catfish in your own private 4 acre fishing lake, go to http://www.frenchcarpandcats.com where you will also find additional resources to help you prepare your carp fishing trip to France and to improve your carp fishing tactics.
If you want to see the Beausoleil lake and some of its big carp and catfish, go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/frenchcarpandcats
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