Why clip up when you can just mark your line with a marker ?

On some shoes Matt Hayes clips up and marks his line

Why do it ?

Thanks

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I'm not certain LU, but I'd imagine it's to prevent overcasting. I clip up with a spod rod, and sometimes with a feeder rod, and feather the line to prevent too much of an abrupt jerk when the clipped up line is reached. By doing this you can be certain that you won't cast a spod or feeder past your baited area. In the case of the feeder you obviously need to remember both to unclip once you've cast, and to re-clip once you decide to reel in for another cast.

ps If, like me, you tend to forget to re-clip sometimes, when reeling back for another cast, marking the line makes sense. And of course for those occasions when a fish is caught and played i.e to enable you to find your mark again.

I've read about clipping the line up several times in the past 10 years or so. It does strike me as a very dodgy practice because if a big fish is hooked and decides to power off, there is absolutely no way of backwinding or using the reels clutch - you are in effect forced to tough it out and hope that the line doesn't break or the hook tear through the fishes mouth.
It would also appear to greatly increase the risk of bust offs when casting and therefore the risk of leaving a fully baited rig with 70 or 80m of line attatched out in the water.

The idea Ken, unless you're spodding, is to unclip after casting, that's why the line is marked. If a bite isn't forthcoming you simply clip back up before reeling in for a recast, if it is then you have a mark on the line to remind you of the correct distance.

I have seen one or two articles where the writer appears to be advocating that you stay clipped up, presumably when not expecting big fish. Like you say though, that would be courting disaster.

ps Unless you are fishing extremely lightly and casting extremely forcefully there's next to no chance of 'busting off' at the distances you speak of, especially if using mono. In fact I doubt you could bust the line even if you were trying. The worst that will happen if you don't feather the line down is that the rig will jerk back a little and fall a bit short of your baited area.

A while back Shimano, in a trade mag, actually advised against clipping up. I would guess it is a strain both on the line and on the clips. John Roberts have produced a nifty flag type device for accurate placing of rigs.

'A while back Shimano, in a trade mag,...'

On the other hand Peter, they do advise that on "certain" reels fitted with metal rivet type clips it is safe.
Believe it or not, I have watched good match anglers casting, catching and playing carp up to double figures while never removing the line from the clip all day long.

Another one of those things related to match carp fishing that I "can't get my head round"


Den

I was advised, a few years ago, the safe way to clip up. The best way to do it is to take a small length of elastic and put one end on to your clip. after you have cast to the right distance, put your line between the elasic and clip and clip up the other end of your elastic.
If you do pick up a large fish that runs off, the elastic will either pull out or snap letting you play the fish without hindrance.