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Carp Tackle Review: Gardner Sly Skin Coated Hooklink Material
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Written by Julian Grattidge
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Thursday, 23 September 2010 12:20
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My carp fishing has gone a bit stale just lately, mainly due to the fact that every spare minute I’ve had has been taken up with getting the new syndicate water up and running, so on the odd occasion I have managed to get out, it’s been more a case dropping in for a social to catch up with friends fishing on one of my other syndicate lakes.
As usual, it’s been quick overnighters after I’ve put the kids to bed, and off again first thing in the morning. To be honest I’ve just found myself going through the motions. Needless to say results haven’t been spectacular. For a couple of years I’d had stock rigs and hooklinks that had always done the damage for me on this particular water, but the level and type of pressure it’s received this year has really changed and it’s been large beds of bait left out for a day or more which have been doing the business; not great when I’m only there for a few hours… time to ring the changes!
My planned change of approach on the water was to revert to a single hookbait presentation on both rods, fishing to areas I know others have been fishing with big beds of bait, the thinking being that hopefully the carp passing through will simply think they’ve missed one from a few days before and have it away during the few hours I have my rods in for.
The hooklink then would be key. It needed to be something I would have total confidence in as each rod would only get one cast for the session (baring a fish!) and with the nights now drawing in, they’d be going out in the dark. At around the same time as the new plan started taking shape, Lewis Read sent me a bundle of interesting new products from the Gardner Tackle stable, including some of their new hooklink materials - one of which immediately jumped out as being perfect for my newly hatched plan!
Gardner Sly Skin in 15lb Green
I’m quite fussy when it comes to coated hooklink materials and usually find them either too stiff, or not stiff enough, and so in most cases struggle to find a happy medium and end up reverting to my trusty fluorocarbon, though on the water in question, these were no longer getting the bites. I was therefore like a kid at Christmas when I opened up the new Sly Skin coated hooklink material from Gardner. It hits a perfect balance between stiff and supple, and as such, is right up my street!
Apparently it’s been in development for three years - and it shows. I just love the way it sits when used with the coating. It’s hard to explain but it’s as if there’s a micro layer of leadcore within the coating that allows it to hold shape and move perfectly, but strip away the coating and you’re left with an extremely supple and super strong 100% Dyneema neutral density braid – a quality combination of materials.
It’s also worth noting that the ease with which you can strip off the coating makes rig tying a synch. If, as in this instance, I’m using a coated hooklink ‘stiff’, I like to tie the hooklink up, mark the point at which it passes through and leaves the eye when tied, then disassemble it again before stripping the coating from that point right the way back up the hair. Once retied I then attach some shrink tubing or silicone tight to the shank right around to the top of the hook to really put the weight on the point. Doing this with some coated hooklinks can be time consuming as many prove a right ball-ache to strip, but the Sly Skin was a breath of fresh air.
I knew there would be slight differences on the lake bed in some of the areas I would be casting to; most would be slightly silty but generally clear of weed and flat bottomed, whilst others would be shelving off and littered with tiny bits of detritus – either way, the characteristics of the Sly Skin would be perfect for both. The more I played about with the Sly Skin the more my confidence grew, to the point that come my first session using it, I had it rigged up on both single hook baited rods! It had gone midnight by the time I put them out (catching up with friends on the other side of the lake again!) but just after first light the Delkim burst into life indicating the first angry carp to slip up on the Sly Skin – Result!
15lb Gardner Sly Skin matched to a size 8 Gardner Covert Incizor carp hook
It’s worth noting that this was my first fish off the bottom on this lake for perhaps seven or eight sessions, and as I only get to fish it about once a fortnight, that’s quite some time! Whilst I can’t say it was solely down to the Sly Skin, I think it played a massive part, and I have no doubt it’s going to be forming much of approach on the water for the foreseeable. It’s also got me musing over some of the other new hooklink materials on offer from Gardner Tackle, so if the ‘Disruption’ and ‘Hydro-flex’ hooklinks are anything like as good, expect to see favourable reviews shortly as I think they could be just the ticket on some of my other waters.
Gardner Sly Skin coated hooklink material comes on 20m spools and is available in; 15lb (6.8kg) Camo Green, 25lb (11.3kg) Camo Green, 15lb (6.8kg) Camo Brown, 25lb (11.3kg) Camo Brown, 15lb (6.8kg) Silt Black 25lb (11.3kg) Silt Black.
RRP £9.99 per Spool
For more information on stockists and to sign up to the Gardner Tackle newsletter visit: http://www.gardnertackle.co.uk
Julian Grattidge
September 2010