Understanding Coated Hooklengths

Your vital bit of string

If you are confused about coated hook-lengths it’s hardly surprising and your certainly not alone. Due to the outstanding success of Snakebite and Super Mantis there are now dozens of imitations and look-alikes flooding the market. Your choice of hook-link is crucial to your success, it being your sole means of fooling and safely landing the fish.

Because of its significance it is important you recognize the differences in brands and the good from the poor.

Many believe the coating is there solely to reduce tangles, they are wrong! Yes the outer sheath does give the braid anti-tangle properties but that’s not the full picture. When we invented the anti-tangle hook-link the number one priority was to produce a coating that would protect the all-important internal braid. Ideally it had to be tough enough to withstand damage from underwater hazards and stand up to the rigors of modern day angling.

During coating trials we quickly learned that if the polymer was applied as one single layer the finished product resulted with significant shortfalls. The outcome was a coating that was soft, far too easy to remove and one that fell woefully short in terms of protection. Worse still, when closing down the knot to the swivel the coating stretched and broke immediately below the knot exposing a short hinge.

The last thing you need is a hinge directly below a swivel. What was once an anti-tangle hook-length is now the exact opposite, a hook-length that easily tangles. The unwanted hinge allows the hook-link to fold back on itself during flight, which in turn leads to the inevitable tangle. For trouble free presentation it is essential that the stiff coating remains intact especially below the swivel. Many of the copies on sale today consist of single layer coatings.

The coating on Kryston hook-lengths are all multi layered. After the first coat has been laid down a substantial period of curing time has to elapse before the next can be applied. In some cases they consist of no less than 28 individual layers that have been slowly and patiently built up acting as a tough varnish. The end result gives an extremely durable robust shield for maximum protection, one that will not break when tying knots and importantly, one that will not tangle.

We are often asked why don’t we make the coating easy to remove? The answer is that if your fingernails can easily remove it then so too can the snags. Easy to remove coatings offer little if any protection to the internal braid your one and only lifeline to the fish, and remember it could be the fish of your lifetime.

In life there is no such thing as a free lunch. In order to reduce cost for so-called bargains compromise has to be made, coatings are just one. For the price of a few pence per hook-link why risk all on one of the most important items in your tackle box?