How many turns?

“The amount of turns you make up the hook shank is relative to where you want to position the loop/the ‘D’, or more accurately the ring and the pop-up attached to it. This is dependant on two or three things, from the diameter of the Bristle Filament (or whatever other stiff mono material you’re using), to the size of the hook and even the size of the pop-up being used.

“With my usual combination of 15lb Bristle Filament, size 5 Stiff Rigger, Drennan mini ring and a 15-16mm pop-up, I generally use seven to eight turns. With a size 6 Stiff Rigger I’d normally drop a turn or two, i.e. six to seven turns is what I find to be about right. If I wanted to use a smaller pop-up, let’s say one of around 14mm, but still on either a size 5 or 6 Stiff Rigger (so long as they are suitably buoyant), then I might use more turns in order to position the pop-up slightly higher up the hook. Alternatively, if I want to extend the ‘D’ even higher up the hook I might trap part of the ‘D’ against the shank with a short section of 0.5mm silicone tubing, which I wrote about and pictured in my first book.

“I should probably point out that I prefer a Whipping or Snell Knot over a No-Knot, and as such it’s difficult to tighten more than eight turns without causing damage to the Bristle Filament, hence the use of a short section of silicone to extend the ‘D’. With a No-Knot I’d imagine it’ll be easier to just use more turns up the shank to achieve the same thing.

“So what’s the positioning of the loop all about then and why does that make a difference? It’s all about where you want to position the hook in relation to the bait. The smaller the loop, the higher up the bait the hook will sit, including the most important part of all, the point. On the other hand, the smaller the loop the more on show the hook tends to be, and as such seven or eight turns is simply my happy medium.”