Egglotti

The 87lb'er in my avatar was caught on a dodge tide!! Not the best time to fish but you can still be successfull.

Hook sizes are a personal choice.I like size 8 Mustad "Aberdeen" for whiting;they are a long shanked,fine gauge,high carbon (better rust resistance) and chemically sharpened hook......I was always taught by my Grandad and Uncle that "a small hook can catch big fish,and a big hook won't catch small fish".Worked for me for 40 years

A tip I found on this site a while ago was to use a long shank hook, and thread the worm up the shank, and leave a 'tail' of a couple of cm off the hook, so the barb is exposed halfway up the worm. The theory being that sometimes the fish like to grab onto the tail and suck it in. When they reach the barb, all you have to do is set the hook.Sounds good in theory but I haven't had the time to test it properly with the YFW only just starting to come on in patches.

Baitholders are fine for worms but for metro fish size 6 or 8 will be better. Longshanks work as well and I used these a lot in previous years. Now I prefer a fine worm baitholder hook.Use as much worm as you can afford. I like to cover the hook as much as possible but often one worm will be only long enough for 2 or 3 baits and it soon gets expensive if you are not catching your own bait. When I was a poor uni student I used to use size 10 hooks and 2cm lengths of tubeworm to make them last longer. Could get my bag of 20 YFW from one packet of tubeworms if I was lucky.

Hi EgglottiCheck out this recent thread started by Des (the YFW whisperer):http://www.strikehook.com/forum/5-general-fishing/256275-finessingYou should find it helpful.Cheersaf