Carp Tackle Review - Kryston Silkworm

I first started using kryston silkworm in 1994!. At the time, I’d moved onto a small north wales club water that had a pretty severe weed problem. Prior to fishing this club water I was quite happy with my merlin/multistrand combi link, I was catching a lot of fish on the combi link but when I came up against the weed I started to struggle a little.
The weed I was fishing in was silkweed and a hooklength material like multi-strand was a complete nightmare when fishing in it. As the strands separated the last few inches of my rig would get clogged with silkweed and clearing the weed off my rig became a real problem. Once the fibres of multi-strand were damaged the last few inches of my rig would be weakened and I just couldn't risk a loss of breaking strain, after all, those last few inches of your rig down to the hook are vitally important!.

Krytson Silkworm, use it with confidence!




I was desperate for an answer to the multi-strand and silkweed problem so I began to look at alternative hooklength materials. At the time one particular braided hooklink material seemed to be very popular and it seemed to be standing head and shoulders above everything else, that hooklength was the famous kryston silkworm.
I had nothing to loose so I went out and bought silkworm in a couple of different breaking strains. The one I eventually settled on was the 25lb version and the day I bought my first spool started a long association with Kryston Silkworm that is still going strong today!.
I could make a few quotes about kryston silkworm based on the information on the kryston website but this is a blog and I’m reviewing silkworm based on my own findings. Nearly 16 years after I first used kryston silkworm I’m still on the very same hooklength material. Yes I’ve tried other materials for short periods but carp fishing is about confidence and I keep coming back to the products I find the most reliable and I promise you, kryston silkworm is one of the very best, it’s just a superb hooklength material.

Lovely Capesthorne hall carp that fell to kryston silkworm


I like 25lb silkworm because its so supple, coated braids seem to be all the fashion in carp fishing at the moment and yes, they work very well but they lack the suppleness that allows for a more natural movement of your hookbait and for me, this natural movement is a big plus because I want my hookbait to behave as naturally as possible when a carp sucks and blows at the bait. I believe carp reject your hookbait because they've worked out that its attached to something and without suppleness this is far easier for them to do hence me preferring silkworm over a more popular coated braid.
Not only is silkworm supple, its actually quite thick in diameter compared to most hooklength materials and I think this thickness is actually a benefit if your using it as part of a basic knotless knot setup. Used in conjunction with a nice down turned eye hook like the kamasan b175, kryston silkworm helps create an extremely effective carp rig that turns and hooks carp easily.

Use with a pva stringer or mesh bag to avoid the odd tangle


The only problem I've had with silkworm is the odd tangle, tangles can be reduced by using a coated braid but you also loose the suppleness of your hooklength thats so important. The answer to tangles with silkworm is to use a pva stringer or PVA Mesh Bag, pva is quite cheap these days and i buy mine from ebay to save money!.

20lb 8oz mirror from 1994/5, silkworm proved to be superb for fishing in weed!


Silkworm certainly helped me unlock that small north wales club water all those years ago, being braid it was easier to get the silkweed off my rigs without damaging them and being so strong I had no problem landing all of my fish from some very weedy areas. Any doubts I had about silkworm rapidly disappeared and my confidence in this hook length material is now so great that I just don’t bother fishing with anything else. I took most of the residents of capesthorne hall on 25lb silkworm and capes is one of the most pressured carp waters I’ve ever fished!. I also use silkworm when I visit heavily pressured day ticket waters like linear fisheries and yateley sandhurst lake. Silkworm has worked brilliantly on all of these waters and a whole host of others too. If you’re just starting out in carp fishing and are confused by all the different materials available to make carp rigs, try kryston silkworm!, I promise you it really is one of the best hooklength materials out there.
Tight lines
Mark.