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Just like all
Korda's other products Hooklinks and Leaders were only added to their range
because what was available on the market did not do exactly the job they
asked of it. We have always maintained that they are developers not
innovators so you will not see any radically new products, but there are
many improvements on a theme. Korda's mono leader to quote Derek Ritchie is
'as limp as my old .......!' Yet it has superb abrasion resistance and knots
really well.
The braided leader Arma Kord proved to be up to 5 times more abrasion
resistant than the leading competitor when dragged across a brick under
2lb's of load! It is very thin for its diameter and is a nice wishy washy
brown colour which we know is difficult to pick out underwater. The IQ is
probably the most popular Fluorocarbon on sale in the carp market and
rightly so, it stood up to 18 months of rigorous field testing before going
into the market. Danny and Chris both had 40's on it during the field
testing!
The most recent addition is the Hybrid hooklink, which is a fluorocarbon
coated braid. Hybrid uses a brand new braid for the inner material that
accepts the fluorocarbon coating process. It is noticeably stiffer than
other coated braids and allows you to create a 'proper' combi rig where
there is a noticeable difference between the soft and stiff section. The
stiff coating does make it harder to use but its well worth it. The final
material is version 9 from the field testing and has taken well over two
years to perfect. A top tip is to steam the knots in the coated section as
you tighten them. This will make them shrink down really small and leave no
chance of them tightening during the fight which can cause the hooklink to
cut itself.
 The
Intelligent Hooklink
Have you ever used a hooklink that knew not to tangle? One which the
fish could hardly see and one that made it more difficult than any other to
eject? Open this packet and maybe for the very first time you will be. IQ is
fluorocarbon which refracts light in almost the same way as water making it
almost invisible when immersed. It is stiffer than normal nylon so improving
anti-tangle and anti-eject properties. Team Korda have extensively field
tested all breaking strains and were so impressed they were compelled to add
it to the already impressive range. 10lb is ideal for finely tuned open
water situations. 15lb is a superb all rounder and 25lb forms an impressive
Stiff link.
| Ordering
Information |
| Code |
Description |
Our Price |
Purchase |
| KIQ10 |
IQ The Intelligent Hooklink
10lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQ15 |
IQ The Intelligent Hooklink
15lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQ20 |
IQ The Intelligent Hooklink
20lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQ25 |
IQ The Intelligent Hooklink
25lb |
£7.99 |
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| KIQS10 |
IQ Extra Soft 10lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQS12 |
IQ Extra Soft 12lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQS15 |
IQ Extra Soft 15lb |
£6.99 |
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| KIQS20 |
IQ Extra Soft 20lb |
£6.99 |
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Xtra Tough Shock Leader Line
 There
have not been any dedicated leader materials for carp fishing which we felt
left a gaping hole in a carp angler's armoury. Amnesia had been popular but
it was think for its breaking strain which lead to large leader knots that
rattled through the rings, it was soft though and knotted well but it had
very little abrasion resistance. Its performance came from its Diameter
rather than the qualities of the material itself. I like most people had
used Amnesia but felt a low cost dedicated leader with the great casting
qualities, good knotting and high abrasion resistance would be a big benefit
to my own fishing. This was the motivation behind the XT leader material.
The only people to work with when it comes to such a material are the
American giants Berkeley. I had used their lines and braids for many years
and always found them to have all the qualities mentioned above, but still
there was not one single line sold on the right sized spools to make it
affordable or easy to store. We persuaded them to spool a highly supple yet
abrasive resistant line perfect for leaders, we requested a low vis green
and that's what we got!
| Ordering
Information |
| Code |
Description |
Our Price |
Purchase |
| KXT20 |
Xtra Tough Shock Leader Line
20lb |
£5.99 |
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| KXT30 |
Xtra Tough Shock Leader Line
30lb |
£5.99 |
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 Arma-Kord
Arma-Kord is an incredibly abrasion resistant braided line, which is also
supple and thin for its strength. It has been designed as a high performance
snag /shock leader for extreme snag or long range situations. In tests this
braid proved at least 50 percent more abrasion resistant than the nearest
competitor, its thinner diameter and low vis brown colour also makes it far
less detectable underwater.
| Ordering
Information |
| Code |
Description |
Our Price |
Purchase |
| KARM30 |
Arma Kord 30lb |
£12.50 |
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| KARM50 |
Arma Kord 50lb |
£12.50 |
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 Hybrid
Hooklink
Kryston must take the credit for the first useable coated hooklinks. We have
all used Kryston hooklinks at some time or another, I preferred the 25lb
Snakebite where Chris and Steve preferred the newer Mantis, which was softer
even in the coated section.
Korda's criticism to Kryston was that there was never enough of a difference
between the coated and the stripped sections of the hooklink, it wasn't that
the soft inner braid wasn't soft enough it was the outer coating wasn't
stiff enough. Also, I felt the colours that had been chosen (the bright
green and copper brown) were nothing like any lakebed I had ever fished
before. They all caught fish and loads of them no doubt about that but is
still felt they could be improved on dramatically. Korda wanted a coated
braid with a stiffer outer coating which was transparent so all you could
see underwater was the inner braid and if that was the right colour you
would find it hard to see that. Make no mistake nothing will be invisible,
even pure Fluorocarbon is not invisible it is just harder to see. That is
what I was looking for, something much less visible than what was currently
available and obviously being encountered by the carp on a daily basis.
Years ago Korda met one of Frank Warwick's good mates Oz at Manor lake on
the Linear complex in Oxford, we talked about the failings of the Kryston
hooklinks and that they were the best of what was available at the time. Oz
said 'What you really want is braid inside mono!' that struck a cord with me
and I held onto that idea for many years to come until we had the contacts
to create something as close to that as possible. Using our contacts in
Japan we managed to manufacture a braid coated in Fluorocarbon, the result
was a super stiff outer coating with a thin braided core, in the water the
coating almost disappeared making it look and act totally differently from
any other coated hooklink. The trouble was it was very hard to use, if you
tied any knot but a figure of 8 loop the braid always cut through the
coating as the knot was tightened, we could use it but it has not user
friendly enough for the mass market. 2 years and 9 samples later we had
found the answer, or more importantly our suppliers had, a totally new braid
capable of withstanding the manufacturing process which would not cut
through the coating as the knot was tightened. I have talked about making
the inner and outer radically different stiffness's. But why is that so
important? I have watched carp feeding in a lake from a fish's eye view
probably more than any other person (save Jon Bannister who is in charge of
logging all the underwater activity when we shoot our films). From all of
this observation I have seen that it is only the last couple of inches of
the hooklink that needs to be able to lift into the mouth of the fish in
order to hook it, the rest of the hooklink does very little other than
compensating for the restricted movement of the bait if the lead system has
penetrated the bottom debris at all. What I am trying to say is by having a
stiff section of hooklink it will lie straight on the lakebed, the soft
exposed end next to hook gives enough movement for the hook to go in the
mouth, because the rest of the hooklink is already straight the fish will
have to move the minimum of distances until the lead is felt the hook starts
to tale hold and hopefully the carp bolts.
| Ordering
Information |
| Code |
Description |
Our Price |
Purchase |
| HYG20KO |
Hybrid 20lb Weedy Green |
£13.50 |
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| HBY20 |
Hybrid Gravel Brown |
£13.50 |
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