mat_the_fisherman

3lb MAX

I think there is a few big ones in the other pond but there is only 1 peg unless you want to sit in the water cos it is so boggy haha

Concreate posts eh? You're in the right place!!!! I remember I caught my first fish (in that pond) on them pegs. BUT!!!!!!! If you stand on the concrete posts and you look at the JJB, that is the side you want to fish. 2 best pegs are by the tree and on the corner........ Do you fancy meeting up?

Hi Tony, Sorry to hear about your Dad. I look forward to hearing from you Best Regards Mat

Hi There, Go on eBay and then type in pole, limit the search to sports and set the price to max £60 and condition new. Look out for eShops on there that have lots of itmes for sale. If you want you can try and judge how much a certain pole will go for by checking completed listings and then target the pole. Give it a week or 2 to watch different poles and in the meantime visit local tackle shops for advice on elastic ratings etc. Whilst in the tackle shops discuss with the owners your needs and see if they can sort you out. There really are a lot of poles out there and it is silly to rush in when you can wait and find the right one.............It really is worth it in the end.

Hi Snotty, unfortunately at the moment I have no transport which makes it very hard to find decent waters. I try and blag my Dad into taking me once a month but its hard to persuade him as he is a non angler. I am always on the look out for locals on here that may want to help me out but there doesnt seem to be that many . Are you local?

Hi Tony, The water is about 6foot at deepest (it may be more at the moment). Unfortunately they are probably only a handfull of what you might class as pegs (pallets turned upside down in the mud) but the fish are good. I have had many good mornings on there and the best thing is the river is behind you and the canal in front so if you have had enough you can move on quite easily.(oh and the figure 8 is up the road......as for it being netted I think that is a tale told by many when a pond starts to do well. I know that there are big carp in there however I have never had a good day on there......... If you fancy meeting up some time just let me know...

Hi Wheeltapper. It is opposite soccerdome......I think it may be known locally as clay pit? Are you local?

Appreciate your thoughts Glenn.......... I was nice to them at the beginning but dont see why we should have to put up with this. I am only 24 myslef but when I think of the kind of language and attitude that these kids possesed it really makes me feel old. I've heard the old stories of "when I was a lad I would have got a smack for that" etc but now it seems That i am in the same thinking. The youth of today are getting worse and worse (or do you just feel this way as you grow up?) Anyway enough of my grumbling, however I do feel that using her as live bait would have been fun

Hi Tony - long time no speak!!! That is a Quality fish - my mate has spoke about these before but I have never seen one - They look so weird. Is it me or do they have the look of a seahorse to their faces? Anyway nice one mate, by the way how much is a day ticket there? Speak soon

Visited a local pond yesterday. The pond is situated behind the JJB stadium aat Wigan and holds Tench to 5lb. The pond itself is very small (40m X 20M) and is heavily overgrown. Apart from the odd dog walker and fellow anglers you can happily fish there uninterupted...........so I thought I had a good day and caught several tench to 3lb on luncheon meat (first time I had ever used this bait) . These were all caught on my pole. Around lunchtime it was getting a little quiet so I decided to set my spinnng rod up and have a go for the "monster" pike that are rumoured to lurk in there. I set up and moved 1o feet away from my gear and started having a spin. I had left my pole resting between my roller and my box. A few kids had appeared (all aged between 6 and 9) at the other end of the pond and were catching tadpoles. They were also throwing in tins, bottles, paper and stones. They eventually spotted me and came over with the usual "you caught anything mate". I humored them by replying and asked them to stop throwing rubbish into the pond. The kids then went away and returned to watch again. I continued spinning and then out of the corner of my eye saw one of the kids attempting to step over my pole . I yelled at him not do do this and he stopped and went underneath instead. On seeing this a little girl followed him and started laughing. She then attempted the step over, I told her to stop and she just laughed. Imagine the horror as I actually saw the pole bend as though she was sitting on it. I prepared myself for the "snap" that fortunately never came. I told her not to do it again and she just laughed and told me to "f*** off" (this is coming from an unsupervised 7 year old) I shouted over that if she came near me again I would throw her into the pond or use her as livebait........ At what point do you think we can do this??? Can you imagine if the pole had been snapped and I had to escort her to her parents who judging by her behaviour would have also laughed in my face............... Apart from that I quite enjoyed the day..

This reminds me of when I first started fishing when I was about 8 or 9. I hadny got a rod so my dad put a hole in the opposite end of one of those plastic nets you could buy. He then attached a piece of string and a hook (probably the biggest hook I have seen). I then trotted down to the river which was about three inches deep and clear as a bell and proceeded to "cast in". Guess what?? I didnt catch a thing!!!!

I reckon this debate will be quite interesting?? Anyway I have caught crucian carp and decent tench using Maccaroni cheese. I think this is common theses days but when I tried it it didnt seem to be. The guys sitting either side of me did not believe me until they saw me pull another quality tench in on the stuff Its quite hard to use on a float rod but grab a pole and its plain sailing. I remeber back to the days of living in Wales and fishing for trout. My mate had run out of bait and decided to hook a slug? It worked!!!! Prob not the nicest thing to hook tho'!!! Come on peeps, share your tips.................

I know a place that is perfect but it is in Wigan so it might be a bit far? The pond is absoleutly rammed with rudd,perch and roach all under 2lbs (most are under a pound) It is free to fish and it is remote so you wont have any worries about upsetting the occasional grumpy angler by casting in his swim if this is any use give me a shout and I can mail you some directions......

Look forward to seeing your pics!! should be interesting.....How much did you have to pay?

Quality post. I spent the entire morning going through these - there are some quality fish to see unfortunately it seems that somewhere along the lines they have got desperate and let all the munters on so it seems to be a 60 40 split between fit ladies and trogs - oh well it helped the morning pass!!!

Just reading through some old posts and came across this wacky fishing video. It looks a little harsh but I presume they eat the fish afterwards. What a way to fish!! Click on me

Phil, you mention you are a keen angler yourself, however if you need an angler to star in your films - I'll do it!!

Hi Phil This sounds to me to be an excellent idea. I think if I could see the venue I was planning to fish beforehand it would give me a litlle insight into what to expect. When I try to find fisheries at the moment I look on the internet and as you probably already know there's not a lot out there!!!! Good luck with it all mate!!!

Hi There I recently returned to fishing after a few years off.............I used to target game fish when I used to live in Wales but relocated to Wigan where my tackle was of no use (during the move I lost half of it anyway.....) I decided that I was going to try pole fishing this year and have bought all my kit. The majority of this I bought on eBay including my pole and my box. A lot of people are put off buying from the internet as they are unable to feel the goods. What I did was looked for things I liked and then visited tackle shops to see the items in real life. After this if I was happy I would make the purchase. I found that for all the kit I prob spent just under £200. This may seem a lot but I spread it over a few week (in between finding the stuff and checking them out) I know have a full setup and am able to enjoy my fishing again Hope this helps

All The weekend is fats approaching and as we all know it will be 4 days off (for the 9-5 mon-fri workers) I am planning to get out at least twice and prob plan to get on a commercial one of the days and a local(wigan) water the other day. I dont think the weathers looking too good but nothing will stop me Please post your plans and aims for the weekend

Thanks for all the answers guys.......... Another thing though.......with a whip do I elasticate it or do I just attach a rig?

That sounds great, I was just wondering how you found this out as it may be wrth asking my local council if they have any plans....... Thanks

All I have recently started fishing on a pole. In an attempt to persuade my 4 year old daughter to accompany me fishing I bought her a shakespeare "barbie" rod that I had to order from the US. The rod is fine but it is a tele and is only 2 foot long. This makes striking impossible as you dont have enough to set the hook. I was thinking of buyng her a whip pole and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what size and how much to spend.

Just a follow on, I have just checked that footplate and it went for 7.50 + 10 delivery so £17.50 it total.....not bad