Do I need finesse hooks?

DO I really need to use a fine-wire hook for roach in summer?

Albert Troughton, Devizes

THE weight and thickness of the hook is not so important in summer when the fish are feeding well, but you still need to have one eye on finesse.

Of course, you will still get the odd fish using a very heavy wire hook but if you change to a classic fine silverfish hook, the difference is remarkable.

You don’t need to be using the really delicate hooks that you might use in the depths of winter but a good all-round silverfish hook from the Drennan, Kamasan or Preston Innovations stables, for example, really will make a difference. A starting point would be a Drennan Carbon Match for rod and line work or a Kamasan B511 for the pole. A lighter hook means that the hookbait falls through the water and behaves more naturally on the bottom.