I still remember being genuinely confused as a beginner when someone told me to go up in hook size and handed me a smaller hook. The UK hook sizing system is one of the most consistently confusing things for new anglers, and I think it deserves a straightforward explanation rather than assuming everyone just picks it up eventually.
Standard sizes run backwards from what feels intuitive: a size 20 hook is tiny, suited to a single maggot, while a size 6 is comparatively large. Then, once hooks get big enough, the system flips entirely into an “aught” numbering (1/0, 2/0, 3/0 and up) where bigger numbers now mean bigger hooks. It genuinely trips people up, and I don’t think it’s spoken about clearly enough in most beginner guides.
What actually matters practically: match the hook to your bait size first, species second. A size 16-20 suits a single maggot or small pinch of bread regardless of whether you’re after roach or a bonus fish of another species. A size 8-12 suits bigger bread flake or pellet hookbaits. Carp typically sit in the 6-10 range for method feeder and boilie work. Pike need size 4 to 2/0, almost always as trebles on wire trace.
My honest advice to any beginner: don’t memorise a species chart. Understand that hook size follows bait size, get a modest range covering small (16-20), medium (8-12), and larger (4-6) options, and you’ll cover the overwhelming majority of UK coarse fishing without needing to think about it session to session.
Gear that fits this
Some options that match this approach, grouped by type.
Floats and terminal gear worth adding: Hybrid Inline Method Feeder-Medium-42g, Korum Combi Feeders Large 60g and Preston Innovations Hexmesh Plastic Open End Feeder MICRO 20G.
On the baits side, Mainline Power Plus Particles The Pulse with Added Multi Stim, Sensas 3000 Roach and Silverfish and Van Den Eynde JVS Special Feeder Groundbait.
Reels: 18 Ninja LT Reel-2000, Avid Revolve 8000FS Reel and 25 N'Zon LT Reels-5000S-C.
For rods, Drennan Acolyte Feeder Rods Plus 10', Tournament SLR Feeder Rods-10ft-75G and Red Range Float Fish Rods-12ft are all worth a look.
Dan Whitfield grew up in Liverpool and started fishing aged seven on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at the end of his road. He never really stopped. He spent his twenties and thirties on the match circuit – club level rather than national – before deciding he’d rather catch one decent fish than a net of small ones.
These days he mostly fishes the River Dee for barbel and chub (barbel personal best 14lb 2oz, from the Trent on a trip south), the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for roach and skimmers in winter, and the occasional gravel pit when tench are spawning and the surface fishing is too good to miss. He’s a former club secretary and coaches children on Saturday mornings at a junior section of a Liverpool angling club, where most sessions start with a float, a tin of maggots and a lot of patience.
At The River Bend, Dan writes the coarse species guides, river fishing technique articles, and the match and pole content.
Covers: Barbel, bream, roach, tench, carp (coarse context), river fishing, canal fishing, feeder, float, match/pole