Lure Fishing

[Errrm]

As I don't have a lot of time now ( and pay day is coming up :-) ) I'm thinking about taking up lure fishing. I have caught pike before and I'm fine handling them so please no learn how to handle pike first posts please :-). The place I'll probably be doing most of my fishing is on the River Dove and River Trent, I'm planning on targeting pike, chub, perch and trout so woulod anyone be able to give me some advice on the size of lures to use and what sort of casting weight rod to buy. I've had a quick look at some rods and I would have thought I would only need something about 9ft long with a casting weight of around 15-50grams is this about right? Any other tips for lure fishing on small to medium size rivers would be great as well i.e. on rivers should I be fishing downstream, upstream or across the flow?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Errrm

[Brian Carragher]

15 to 50 is a bit of an odd ball sort of weight to be looking for in a casting rod, you would be better off going with 15 to 30 gramme as the blank you choose should be able to comfortably cast such variances in lure weight without over exerting the rod or being so stiff as to compromise any casting action by the lure being too light to impart any action into the blank

 

Any rod you choose with a casting weight range will inevitbly work with the mid range weight best of all

 

Just to give you some idea a Shakespeare Big S weighs in at 18 grammes and your bigger Toby type lures come in at around 25/28 grammes

 

Once you get to about the 50 gramme weight you tend to use a different rod for lures or spoons or whatever takes your fancy, well at least I do anyhow

[Newt]

The lure weight advice is spot on.

 

For the lighter lure weights, you might enjoy a 7 ft or 8 ft rod. 9ft is good for the heavier ones.

 

In any event, try to go with a reasonably fast rod.

Slow = soft and equal bend from tip to handle

Medium = less soft but most of the bend from center to tip

Fast = stiffer and almost all the bend in the last 1/4 of the blank

Extra fast = almost all the bend in the past 1/8 of the blank

 

Slow is not really good for any sort of lure.

Medium is good for large-lip diving lures and really heavy lures (100+ gm).

Fast is good for most other lures.

Extra fast is pretty much a specialty rod. Not one you want to use when you are starting out with lures and probably nothing you ever want when bank fishing.

[Leon Roskilly]

Written with the beginner in mind...

 

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Coarse-Fishing...ishing_one.html

[Neil G]

15-50 isn't a bad rod rating for a general purpose lure rod but I suppose it depends on what kind of water your going to fish.

 

I've got a Drennan Spinflex rated 15-50gr and it'll throw some pretty light stuff (Ondex, small spinnerbaits) but I've also used shadraps with it at the top end of the casting range. The extra length at 9ft does come in handy when fishing rivers where there's lots of weed/snags.

 

Wychwood do some good lure rods which are cheap.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Neil G

[ooarr_not_a_maggot]

Wychwood do some good lure rods which are cheap.

 

Seconded. I recently bought a 7ft Rogue Plugger (10-30g) and a 7ft Lite Plugger (30-60g) . They were intended as cheap, knockabout rods for the missus but now I'm using them. Paid £50 for the pair and for the price, I can't fault them! Great build quality and fantastic feeling blanks.

 

If it was me starting out and buying my first lure rod, I'd go for something like the rogue plugger. It's cheap and leaves you some extra pennies for lures and a decent reel. It's also a good allrounder (10-30g) - a bit on the heavy side for trout/perch but it will deal with everything else in your list.

 

Choosing rod length is a bit harder though. It's trade-off between personal taste and water situation and only after a bit of trial and error will you find what you need/like. I try to use shorter rods wherever I can. They're lighter, more manoeuvrable and just feel better to me. Unless I'm casting 50+ yrds, fishing fast flowing or snaggy marginal waters, where extra reach and power are essential, I stick to sub 7ft rods.

Edited August 18, 2008 by ooarr_not_a_maggot

[Neil G]

I've got a Rogue Jerkbait rod and I rate it

 

May retire my spinflex soon and replace it with a power plugger