weight to thrust ratio

In article . com,
peakstroller URL:mailto
Does anyone have any idea of the weight to thrust ratio of your average
Carp? For example, how much breaking strain can a 10 llb fish exert
onto your fishing line in open snag free water?

Carp are one of the few fish for which this might be a meaningful way to
calculate the required bs - but even carp have a few extra-stress inducing
tricks - ok they don't jump or change direction and speed suddenly and
they've no high speed tricks but they do sometimes grind to a halt (or get
stuck in a corner) and bang the line with their tail which must double the
ordinary stress.

I doubt a fish often pulls much over a fifth of it's weight in a straight
heave. The ratio is more likely to be a function of its length than its
weight. Long lean 'wild' type fish (*I saw your other post - no they're not
native, just the first introduction.) seem to pull above their weight (and
do give a rudimentary fight if taken on tackle that gives them a chance)
while spherical mirrors merely chug along appearing to depend as much on
momentum as tail power.

Short of including a high-tech stress measuring device in the rig there's no
easy way to measure the force. You might try using a light line and
listening to the pitch of the line as it sings in the wind then hook the
same length of line to a spring balance and pull until you get the same
pitch while a friend reads the scale.

Cheerio.

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