The bit you should read.

I’ve always been an angler and after around the country moving I wanted to discover and document the best places to fish (where ever I might be) in the way of rivers, lakes, canals and ponds. When previously fishing in South Wales I often fished in club and winter league matches, however living up north presented me with new challenges, venues and angling clubs that I acquainted myself with. Now down in the South West I plan to do the same.

This fishing blog details my angling adventures around the UK (although depending where I am in the country I also sea fish from both Boat and Shore, Carp, Pike and Fly fish). I will be giving a summary of 3 values considered by most anglers as well as the additional Disabled Access rating. Since being diagnosed with CIDP and regaining my motor function Disabled angling and Disabled access is now something I always consider when visiting venues. They will all be rated on a scale of 1* to 5*;

1. Fishability *****

2. Accessability *****

3. Value for Money *****

4. Disabled Access *****

I think these 4 points are the key issues which are readily identifiable with all anglers. Feel free to take a look and add your own comments along the way!

Tuesday 12 November 2013

How to connect a Dacron Connector to Elastic.

After recently reading both online and in the angling press about the types of connectors people prefer to use when fishing the pole, I decided to conduct an experiment to see for myself which one was better. The 2 most recognisable connectors are the standard Elastic Connector (sometimes called the Stonflo Connector) and the Dacron connector.

The finished article!

There are advantages and disadvantages to using both, but having only used standard connectors myself I wanted to see how reliable the alternative was. The ongoing argument about “what type of connector is better” rumbles on in the angling community, so in order to get to the bottom of this I decided to start field testing both methods myself. I would be using a solid number 16 latex elastic with a standard plastic elastic connector, and on another top kit, I would be using a homemade Dacron connector with a solid number 14 latex elastic. However, before my experiment had even begun I came to realise that every angler and their dog had a different way of joining their elastic to the Dacron connector (Crow’s Foot, Figure 8, overhand loop etc), so some trial and error was required. After a few different knot attempts I decided to go with the tried and tested figure 8 knot.

To tie a Dacron connector to your elastic you will need;

1 x Dacron Loop
1 x Elastic
1 x 6 inch piece of nylon (in this case it is 8lb reel line)
1 x Elongated rubber bead (but 1 inch of soft Silicone tubing/sleeve would be perfect)

Method




1. Thread the elastic through the Dacron loop.






2. Bring the tag end back against the longer piece of elastic and form into a loop. For more information on how to tie a figure 8 loop please click here.



      3. Pass the Dacron loop around the 2 pieces of elastic and then back through the loop. This will create a figure 8 shape (so you’ll know if you've done it correctly), which can be tightened up to the Dacron Loop once lubricated.


4. Cut the tag end of the elastic close to the knot. I tend to leave 1 or 2 mm of spare elastic just in case the knot slips slightly.

5. Take the nylon, thread it down through the bead (or silicone), through the Dacron loop then thread the nylon back up through the bead.

6. Now the nylon has been passed back through the bead, hold it firmly and gently push the bead down over the Dacron and onto the elastic. The thin end of the bead should stop when it reaches the knot in the elastic. If you are using Silicone tubing then position the knot in the middle of your threaded piece of silicone.

7. Remove the nylon from the Dacron loop. You now have a successfully fitted and very strong knot attached to your Dacron connector.







If you have any questions about the above, or anything fishing related, please feel free to contact me here.

Results about which connector is better will follow once I have tested both top kits in windier conditions, and once I have caught a few more fish!

1 comments:

Unknown said...

how do I find depth when using Dacron connectors with using the two knots on float line

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