ESP Tungsten Loaded Hooklinks
It’s called Tungsten Loaded; it’s from ESP; and according to Terry Hearn: yes
Over the years, there’s been many coated hooklinks which have been championed as the ultimate: Kryston’s Snake-Skin, Sufix’s Heavy Skin and, of course, ESP’s Strip-Teaze. Now, though, the iconic big fish brand has created something which it and carp legend, Terry Hearn believes is the best coated hooklink ever created. Think tough, matt camo tungsten coating, which sinks and strips like no other ‘link we’ve ever seen or tested.
The big questions
Yawn. I’ve heard the ‘this is the ultimate hooklink’ statement a million times…
You will have, and whilst one coated hooklink may look and behave very much like the next, Tungsten Loaded genuinely is a step beyond anything we’ve ever played or fished with. The tough tungsten coating means it’s the heaviest of all coated hooklinks; the matt camo coatings are totally unique; it’s resilient to fracturing on knots; and it really does fall off the spool straight.
What’s the braided inner like?
The braid itself is already well proven. It’s the perfect mix of Dyneema to provide strength without sacrifice to diameter, nor ability to sink. No stringy, fluffy or wire like feeling to this stuff, just perfect supple braid, with the emphasis on supple, something that’s particularly important when creating small hinges at the hook end of the rig.
What the range like then?
It’s available in two versions: Soft and Semi Stiff, in one breaking strain of 20lb, and with a choice of three colours to suit most lakebeds: Weedy Green, Camo Brown and Choddy Silt.
So how do the two differ?
Although in appearance both varieties look very similar, they do offer two completely different presentations. Terry describes the Semi Stiff version as, “It’s stiff but not stiff and wiry, just stiff enough to push an unbalanced boilie, straight from the bag, away from the lead when settling, thus helping to prevent any looped up hooklinks. Therefore, the slightly stiffer tungsten version is definitely my first choice for heavy baits like boilies and large tiger nuts, but when it comes to balanced presentations with lighter baits such as plastic corn and maize, the more supple variety is the obvious choice.”
And the spools look different too…
They do, and thanks to being square shaped it means they fit perfectly inside the popular tackle boxes we now all own. And on each spool you’ll find 10m of this tried, tested and perfected in conjunction with carp fishing’s greatest angler, Terry Hearns hooklink.
“GIMME”: £8.95; esp-carpgear.com