I asked this in my first ever post but it wasnt the central question so got slightly ignored...but

Why is everyone fishing with a pole! I went to Bradshaw lodges today to traget some carp..my first time carping. I sets up my hair rig setup and was off. Looking around me i noticed 2 others on my lodge both with poles...after watching for a while one was obviously targeting the smaller fish like bream and roach which i expected yet the other guy was fishing corn for carp with a pole! I didnt even know you could do that...he was specifically targeting the carp with a pole, strange contraption, when he hit a fish an elastic bit came out to give him some play....anyways.... i packed up for 20mins for some food and had a walk around the lodges...altogether there were about 15 anglers....and i only saw one guy fishing two rods on the alarm presumably for carp, the others all had a pole! WHY ? whats so great about the pole ? Whats up with a rod and reel ? What are the advantages and disadvantages ?

Almost pole mad!

Chris

Hook-a-duck kev! now i see what u mean ;-)

Perhaps practising match anglers?

Poles are known for their accuracy and delicacy. You can pick a spot, poke the pole out to the exact place and tease the bait delicately into the water.

I don't pole fish though as I prefer the satisfaction of a good accurate cast.

In my eyes, and I am sure this is a bit contraversial, pole fishing is like driving an automatic car rather than a mamnual.

Right, there's the cat amongst the pigeons, off you go folks....

I think in winter the delicate and presice presentation that the pole could give you may mean the difference between a blank or a red letter day. Personally id have done the same as you fella, sod the pole

Totally agree sluk. But pole fished bait presentation is second to none in flowing water.

I used to fish the pole on certain pegs on the Severn during the cold winter months, trying to winkle out a few big roach, but eventually threw the pole up the bank as Barbel would eventually sniff out the hook bait - & you know what happened next!

In hard conditions the pole comes into its own imo

[ 10. March 2005, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: Bish ]

Craynerd - fishing with a pole allows you to fish VERY close to lily pads, overhanging trees etc. It also allows you the freedom to target either silver fish or Carp. The elastic you saw coming out of the pole comes in various sizes, rather like breaking strains with mainlines.

I would suggest that you should find one of your mates who pole fish and let him show what you can do with a pole, as they can cost anything from about £100.00 to several Thousands!

What brand would you reccomend? I've seen Maver poles in magazines (the Super Lithium poles) and Garbolino (Milo?), Trabucco, and Tubertini. Just wondering.

Randy

Surely with practice you can cast accurately with a rod and reel ?!?!?

I have no mates that FISH never mind use a pole.....thats why i ask such trivial questions on here as you are the only guys i can turn to for advice!

Chris

I'm on about year number 50 of fishing with rod & reel and while I can cast accurately, I absolutely cannot put a bait or lure in the water with anything like the precision the pole guys can manage - or as quietly either.

I'll likely stick with rod & reel until I can no longer fish but only because it suits me better.

If the fish are 6" off an island or far bank of a canal a pole comes totally into it's own. If you cast a bomb over you'll spook the fish, if you cast a waggler over it will come back as you sink the line or probably move if you don't sink the line.

Craynerd

just like a quivertip, swingtip, float, rod, reel, line, hook etc etc
The pole is a tool.

It is such a good tool that you can acheive bait presentation better than any other method with one.
All methods have their day but the pole has more days than the rest put together.
Depending on type of pole you can land tiny fish of under an ounce to double figure carp.

You can place a bait anywhere your pole can reach as quietly or as noisely as you want and drop feed via a pole cup right next to your bait.

You can set up a rig so you can see the most delicate of bites that you would not see with any other method.

You have total control over your rig and can trot a bait on a river at whatever pace you choose.
On a stillwater you can twitch your bait of if up in the water fishing have your hookbait constanly dropping through the water.

The only disadvantage the pole has is its length.
My pole is 12.5 meters at full length and is fishable at this length.
For anything beyond this distance I use a waggler.

During my clubs winter league I won a match with 9lbs of waggler caught silver fish from a lily pad at approx 40 meters.
I also won a section and had another two good results (in points terms) using a waggler at about 20 meters.
I finished third in the league.
The bloke that won the league won a match with one low double figure carp (his only fish of the day) on the pole with a two pound hooklength.
He also had two section wins with bream catches on the pole.

Some anglers are so short sighted they only use a pole and no other method while others who dont own one or have never had a battle with a decent fish on the pole sit there and for some reason only known to themselves slag poles off.

I match fish, pleasure fish, sea fish, carp fish and even attempt to do a bit of fly chucking.
I use a pole but only if it is suited to the peg I am fishing / have drawn.

In the early eighties (maybe even the late 70's)English anglers using running float tactics could not compete against the continentals and their poles and whips.
So they started using them. And winning with them.
And developing them. Then invented internal elastic, bushes, bungs, hi tech lines.
Now comes the new generation of hollow and liquid filled elastics.
The continentals have had no choice but to embrace these inventions and innovations as the England team became one of the best teams in the world winning world and european champs, endless team silver and bronze medals and countless individual medals.

Like it or not, the pole is here to stay as it will win more matches and be the most favoured method of the majority of UK anglers due to its simplenes and effectivenes.