A few questions I just gotta ask

[Il. MudDuk]

If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize in advance.
If this is "newbie" type questions, please bear with me and feel free to laugh behind my back as to not embarass me

1) dip tubes. The kind with holes in them.
I've done a search and came up with lots of info but I am unsure as to the needed "gap" between the dip tube and the barb of the hook.
I took the treble hooks off the tubes I recently bought and replaced them with circle and / or O'Shaugnessy or other J hooks. The circles were size 4/0 and 5/0 and the O'Shaughnessy's were 1/0.
The pond I fished the other day have "eater" size channels in it but whenever I got a hit, I could never set the hook, regardless of size or style.
Is there a size hook for "eater" size cats I should be using with the tubes in order to get a good hook set? Am I just over thinking this?

2) Does anyone else use floats / bobbers with dip tubes? I prefer using a float for channels (with cut shad usually) and I'd like to do the same with the dip tubes.
Any problems with the float and tube combo set up that you know of?

3) When reading magazines or internet, there's sometimes pics of set ups ( 3 way rigs, float rigs, whatever) and sometimes, not all the time, the diagram or pic shows a double slant bar ( // ) on what represents the mono or braided line. I always assume this was to show where a leader meets the main line. Is that what the "// " means or ?????

Thanks.

[bucknbill]

i,m not familiar with fishin dip bait, but there,s others here that surely know how..i,ll betcha help will be on the way, you,ll get some answers..good luck

[steffenmatt]

I don't use many dip baits. But I do fish a lot with circle hooks and floats. When the float goes down, let it be. Wait for the fish to tighten the line and it'll hook itself. I know that this doesn't answer all of your questions, but it should help. Oh and the little "//" things you see on illustrations, that just means that there is more line there than what they want to put in the illustration. Whenever I see those marks, it's usually about halfway between the hook and a swivel or something similar. It's just a way to keep things compact and simple. Anyway, hope this helps a little. Tight lines.

[K.C.]

If your using sircles you don't "set" the hook, let them set it themselves by tightlining them. Try smaller hooks with that tube and see what happens. I had to downsize the other night and hooked a ton of eaters after that.

[brinley45cal]

i think your fine try going down to a 3/0 circle with the dip tube,it works great for me. yes you can use a dip tube with a float but i wouldnt use a circle hook with that set up,id use a j hook.

[Mickey]

Yes you can use dip bait/circle hooks with floats. In this warmer weather I would suggest a fiber bait or dough bait so the release is slower.

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