Will my gear be o.k. for it?

[ThePiker]

Hi all,

A group of 5 of us are off to England next year for a spot of Tenching on a gravel pit,5 acres or so and not too many bad snags .It holds Tench to 10lb+ although have only seen photo's of 8lb+(i have had reliable info there are 10lbers in it).Now the said water does have carp,a right few carp ,20's and 30's and some lower doubles.Now as I will be Tenching,I will have a set up of 3x 1.5lb T.C rods( through actioned they are)10lb line and will be fishing hooks from 10's through to 6's on braided,or multistrand mono/flouro hooklinks with 1.5 to 2oz leads.( this is general as I will ring the changes as I see fit on the day)This gear I am sure will do for a spot of floater fishing.Now I have had heated disscussions wiv me mate,that if I was to hook a mid 20 or 30 Carp( please,please) that I could safely play,and land such a fish on my gear.He says no way and I'd be better bringing my 3lb t.c. rods,big b'runners and stepping u to 12lb b.s.line,this is my pike tackle for big Irish loughs. I say I'll be fine with the tench gear,he says no.What do you think?

[monster crabs]

the gear is more than good enough. you'll only need to step it up if you need to cast a distance,

wish you luck

[RobStubbs]

I agree with crabs, your gear should be fine. I would however be inclined to have a slighter beefier rod (2 1/4) and say a spool loaded with some stronger line (12-15lb) if possible, just in case. I started carping with a 1 1/4 avon rod and never had any problems (& with 8lb line), although the carp only went up to mid doubles.

 

Rob.

[barblesss]

Wow so much BS talked about in this area. One thing people forget is...ROD'S DON'T SNAP!!!!!

 

OK..

1)Any match rod can land 'any' carp that swims in an English water. The problem can be in a snaggy type situation where they take more time (split seconds)to stop bending, thus stopping the fish.

2) the softer the rod the more floppy their action, so setting the hook is a lottery, especially if you are using heavy leads and hard baits, and at distance.

3) the softer your rod the more limited you will be to how far and accurate you can cast.

4) playing fish close in is much easier using soft rods...they are good cushions/elastic, and if you are using crap reels they can save your line.

 

You need to concentrate on your line, reel and hook. Drennan Super Specialist for example won't do in snaggy waters..they bend . ESP Raptor T6's don't bend. Choose line by type of water...usually 8IB for no snags.

But most important is you have a decent drag that is set properly on your reel. Front drag reels are much smoother. Us English are the only country in the World that continue to use these horrible rear drag varients.

 

[ 23 June 2002, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: barblesss ]

[Excalibur]

How big were the Tench you were fishing for with that gear? For me that is standard to heavy carp tackle, and some of my mates consider anything above that shark-fishing gear!

It should be fine for any Carp you contact, as long as your hooks are a good pattern, I like Drennan Super Specialist, though each to his own.

 

GOOD LUCK.

[chesters1]

my carp rods are 2lb through action ,i agree the range and accuracy are not as good as a tippy rod ,all you have to remember is adjust the drag to the hook length strenght (if its less than the mainline) i use 10lb mainline (which is about right)as you have a leeser poundage rod maybe a lighter line would "work" better ,remember keep it slow and if using barbless hooks keep the pressure on ,through action rods are great for those last fight before the net situations .i have landed a 40lb cat (caught on a boily)on this tackle (took 15min to land ,not so much of a fight rather a tug of war) so tench should be no problem on yours

[ThePiker]

Hi all,

the Tench I target are in the 5-8 bracket mostly.The reason I use 1.5lb t.c. and usually 8 lb line is that the venues I fish are like jungles.Hook a Tench and it's hit and hold tactics.At the moment I'm using Raptor hooks, and wont be changing as they're tops.Am stepping up to 10 lbs though just in case I hook "Cut Tail".Now there's a clue as to where I'm going.

Thanks for the reply's...

[Steve Burke]

barblesss:

Wow so much BS talked about in this area. One thing people forget is...ROD'S DON'T SNAP!!!!!

 

OK..

1)Any match rod can land 'any' carp that swims in an English water. The problem can be in a snaggy type situation where they take more time (split seconds)to stop bending, thus stopping the fish.

2) the softer the rod the more floppy their action, so setting the hook is a lottery, especially if you are using heavy leads and hard baits, and at distance.

3) the softer your rod the more limited you will be to how far and accurate you can cast.

4) playing fish close in is much easier using soft rods...they are good cushions/elastic, and if you are using crap reels(Shinano rear drag), they can save your line.

 

You need to concentrate on your line, reel and hook. Drennan Super Specialist for example won't do in snaggy waters..they bend    . ESP Raptor T6's don't bend. Choose line by type of water...usually 8IB for no snags.

But most important is you have a decent drag that is set properly on your reel. Front drag reels are much smoother. Us English are the only country in the World that continue to use these horrible rear drag varients.

I agree about BS. I may have misread this post, in which case I apologise, but on the face of it the above is a good example!

 

Until my recent retirement I designed rods for a living. It's a very complex subject that's much misunderstood, even by many in the tackle trade. As a result many anglers repeat these mistakes, believing that such information is accurate. So it's not surprising that a lot of BS is bandied around!

 

One of the most important points is to use balanced tackle. Match rods aren't designed for playing big fish, especially in snaggy or restricted swims. Sure, a skilful angler will land such fish some of the time, but a match rod is simply not the best tool for the job, and also not fair on our quarry.

 

I agree that in open, snag free waters, you can eventually tire even a big fish out on a light rod. Unfortunately, big fish are rarely found in such locations, which are far from normal anyway. Additionally, the longer a fish is played, the more likely that the hook hold will give way.

 

Using heavy line is a waste on a match rod as you can't put enough pressure on to use the full breaking strain of the line. You might as well use a lighter line in the first place and get more bites and be able to cast further.

 

Moreover, taken to the extreme, using line that's too heavy for the rod CAN lead to the rod breaking. This is because the drag (or your fingers if you backwind) may not react quickly enough to a sudden increase in pressure. Something's got to go, and if the rest of the tackle doesn't it'll be the rod.

 

As to front and rear drag there are pros and cons of each, as there are to playing a fish off the clutch and backwinding. However, Shimano rear drag reels certainly aren't "crap". Moderators, I hope Shimano aren't reading this thread!

[barblesss]

Ok, sorry..post edited. I have had a couple of these reels, and I find they are probably teh smoothest/best built reels on the market, but have always suffered with an inferior drag. I have needed to set the drag lighter than it should be, then tighten once the fish has moved, otherwise a snap would occur, say hooking a carp under my feet with 3 + 12(rod) feet of line out. Maybe I have been unlucky and just had bad batches.

Of course a match rod is ridiculous, and no doubt could snap, but some of the modern carp boys think you need a 3IB TC poker stick to land any fish over 15 IB... I guess they read 'sources' , and this makes the money spin I guess.

We are getting to the stage now where people think you need a 'Barbel rod' to catch a Barbel and a 'Carp' rod to catch a Carp. In two years time no doubt there will be Roach rods and Bream Rods ..LOL.

It's important we get the message across to all new anglers you don't need to spend money on all this tartish gear..my post was tongue in cheek and very innaccurate, but trying to get this point across.

The Drennan Super Specialists..I guess I had 2 bad packets. Lost 2 fish on them last year....both times the same thing..hit and hold situation close in, carp knocks it's head severely left and right like they do...boom... hook bent and straight out.

It's amazing how you learn so much about strength of tackle close in..that moment you hook it under your feet and the mass charge that follows.... Playing carp at range is a different ball game...by the time they under your feet it's all over.

[Steve Burke]

Piker, as you probably know, the ideal test curve of the rod will depend on your casting weight and the breaking strain of line that you'll be using.

 

For what you have in mind your rods should cope, although 10lb line is about the heaviest most such models would be designed for. Ideally, if I had to use 10lb line because of the conditions, I'd prefer a 2lb test curve rod. At Wingham, where I use 8lb line, I use a rod of similar power to your's, and find it ideal for tench. However, in all the weed there I'm undergunned for big carp.

 

Whether you can expect to land big carp on such an outfit will depend on for instance the amount and thickness of any weed - so either of you could be right. 3lb test curve rods are useful is such circumstances, but OTOH carp anglers on many waters use rods that are too powerful these days. In relatively open water 3lb test curve rods aren't needed except for long casting. Having said that a few 3lb T/C models will also safely play fish at close range. It all depends on the action, which is quite different to the power of a rod as measured by its test curve.

 

For floater fishing your rods will be more suitable than your mate's. This is because you'll be casting lighter weights. However, you may find the through action not to be ideal, but you can't have everything. If I were to choose a rod specifically for floater fishing it would have a very fine, fast taper tip so that it could cope with a wide variety of weights, coupled with a progressive action down into the butt section.

 

[ 23 June 2002, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]