all new to me

[thuramario]

yesterday i bought my first pole (5m margin) and bieng the ever enthusiast i woke up this morning and was in the pond by 5.30 am (the earliest i have ever got up). must admit it was different to what i thought and i only had a 1 lb roach in 3 hrs (which luckily enough hooked itself as i was dozing a little). has anyone got some classic tips for early pole fishermen (the one's were you say to yourself "i wish i had known about that when i first started").

cheers folks

[IanBass]

A simple answer is buy a copy of A Brginners Guide To Pole Fishing by Bob Nudd, its about £7. Its in simple and straitforward language, even I could follow it , I had a copy for years and still refered back to it. Sorry I ever got rid of it now

[Anderoo]

yesterday i bought my first pole (5m margin) and bieng the ever enthusiast i woke up this morning and was in the pond by 5.30 am (the earliest i have ever got up). must admit it was different to what i thought and i only had a 1 lb roach in 3 hrs (which luckily enough hooked itself as i was dozing a little). has anyone got some classic tips for early pole fishermen (the one's were you say to yourself "i wish i had known about that when i first started").

cheers folks

 

I remember getting my 1st (and only) pole - it was 9m, and I remember thinking that I'd be able to almost reach over the lake with it! I got it home and set it up in the garden and even at full length (which was too heavy for me anyway) it looked feeble

 

I still have it and still use it, but never over 7m, and usually only 4m to hand when fishing light for roach, skimmers, etc. Any further out and I prefer a rod and line.

 

My tip is to remember that, whether you buy your rigs or make your own (and I definitely recommend you make your own once you've settled into it), pole rigs don't last forever. Hooks blunt and line weakens. Check them regularly and don't fish with an old, dodgy rig.

 

Also, don't think you have to fish a pole at full length, however long that is. Fish as close in as possible.

[maxaldo]

Also, a good tip is to plumb the depth at a number of your favourite pegs in your favourite waters (you can obviously just do this when fishing one), and then when you've finished, wind the rig on a rig winder and write on exactly what peg number and water you used it to fish on, then, when you next go to that particular swim, taking into account that there hasn't been a rise in water levels since you last went, you can simply look through your rigs, and pick out the best one, you'll be up and fishing in no time at all. May sound obvious if your into your fishing pretty heavily but if your new to the sport its a pretty helpful and labour and time saving excercise

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'll do that if I ever buy a pole.

[thuramario]

is there a good middle of the range set up for pole fishing which would allow me to pull out anything from 1oz to 5lb which tend to be the sizes of the fish on the canal that i fish? (elastic, line strength, hook length, hook size, bait and groundbait).

[maxaldo]

is there a good middle of the range set up for pole fishing which would allow me to pull out anything from 1oz to 5lb which tend to be the sizes of the fish on the canal that i fish? (elastic, line strength, hook length, hook size, bait and groundbait).

 

Not sure about the elastic strength as i'm not a seasoned pole fisherman myself, however i would use a 4lb main line (the breaking strain of a line is always more then it states in terms of if playing a fish) you dont want to be able to bully the fish in and have it feel like a wet rag. Always match the tackle strength to the fishs' strength and weight by under gaging it, that way you'll get a better fight and more enjoyment in your pleasure angling, however, i wouldn't be doing this in a match for obvious reasons. As for hooklength a 2lb mono-filiment will be just right. The bait all depends on what species your after obtaining, on a canal i wudn't mind betting you'll be catching plenty of silver fish, i.e, roach, skimmers and rudd with the odd possible and inevitable perch. For this reason i would use a silver fish groundbait (just ask a tackle dealer which they think their best in stock is) and maybe mix it with brown crumb. on the hook i would simply use maggot on a size 16, you can't go wrong. Start fishing dead depth and if you can't seem to get the bites, shallow up at equal measurements untill you finally begin to catch. With groundbait and loose fed maggot used as appetisers on the deck, with a couple of maggots on the hook you can't fail to catch.

Anyway, tight lines buddy

[thuramario]

Not sure about the elastic strength as i'm not a seasoned pole fisherman myself, however i would use a 4lb main line (the breaking strain of a line is always more then it states in terms of if playing a fish) you dont want to be able to bully the fish in and have it feel like a wet rag. Always match the tackle strength to the fishs' strength and weight by under gaging it, that way you'll get a better fight and more enjoyment in your pleasure angling, however, i wouldn't be doing this in a match for obvious reasons. As for hooklength a 2lb mono-filiment will be just right. The bait all depends on what species your after obtaining, on a canal i wudn't mind betting you'll be catching plenty of silver fish, i.e, roach, skimmers and rudd with the odd possible and inevitable perch. For this reason i would use a silver fish groundbait (just ask a tackle dealer which they think their best in stock is) and maybe mix it with brown crumb. on the hook i would simply use maggot on a size 16, you can't go wrong. Start fishing dead depth and if you can't seem to get the bites, shallow up at equal measurements untill you finally begin to catch. With groundbait and loose fed maggot used as appetisers on the deck, with a couple of maggots on the hook you can't fail to catch.

Anyway, tight lines buddy

your dead right about the silver fish, cant get anything but. when you say shallow up i presume you mean a shorter rig so the bait is not at the bottom anymore. would you do this say 2" every half n hour till they bit.

got to be honest with ya, i hate to fish anywhere but dead bottom or just over, dont know why but have no confidence when off the bottom. if however i do this would i have to change my bait, rig, or feeding techniques? e.g. would i still feed the swim as surely all the bait would sink to the bottom and my bait would be on its own 2" above all the bait?

[gozzer]

If you set your float at the depth of your swim. Then shot it with just a couple of small shot spaced down the line, your fishing 'on the drop'. That is, fish can take your bait as it sinks. If it reaches bottom without a bite, leave it for a while. If no bites, then just gently lift your pole and let it sink again. If you combine this with regular loose feed, then you are covering the swim from top to bottom.

 

John.

[thuramario]

Also, a good tip is to plumb the depth at a number of your favourite pegs in your favourite waters (you can obviously just do this when fishing one), and then when you've finished, wind the rig on a rig winder and write on exactly what peg number and water you used it to fish on, then, when you next go to that particular swim, taking into account that there hasn't been a rise in water levels since you last went, you can simply look through your rigs, and pick out the best one, you'll be up and fishing in no time at all. May sound obvious if your into your fishing pretty heavily but if your new to the sport its a pretty helpful and labour and time saving excercise

i like this idea of having rigs ready, and was going to, however not keen on the depth (will always plumet incase of weed growth, water rise etc). i was thinking about having lighter and heavier rigs (say 5 the first bieng 1lb hooklength, 2lb line, on an 18 spade hook, and the fifth bieng 4lb hooklength, 5lb line, on a 14 eyed hook) with a duplicate of each one should the desired rig break. what do ya rekon. i would have to take 10 rigs with me but it would be worth it to be addaptable.