pole elastics range

[mjbarnes12]

O.K, I have just had a new pole for crimbo and have had 3 elastics bought with it (middy hi viz) good stuff as i used it in my last pole!! I only had one top kit for my last pole and so fitted it with 8-10 elastic which was a good all round elastic. I have fitted this again to one of my top sections. However the other two elastics I am unsure of!?!?!? I am a general pleasure coarse angler and the pole work I will used will mostly be on mixed commercials!!

What do you think about these selections:

The other elastics I got was 14-16 which should be good for work closer in and fishing bigger baits for bigger carp????

The last one is a 3-4 grade, and it states it is MATCH GRADE and can handle bonus fish 2-3lbs!!???

 

Tom

hanks for your help

Matt

[Will Wilkinson]

I use Diawa Hydrolastic in 2 of my carp top kits White (6-10) and Black (12-16).

Then I have a carp top 2 with no6 and a match top 2 with no4.

 

The black hydro is my first choice for larger carp and tench, the white hydro for small carp and tench and large bream. The no6 is used for general "silvers", particularly where there's a chance of larger fish and the 4 is mostly used on the canal for small roach and perch.

 

HTH

 

Will

 

PS Meant to add that for 3 tops on commercials I'd go for 1 with White hydro, 1 with Black hydro and one with either a no4, 5 or 6.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Will Wilkinson

[rooney888]

Middy Hi-Vis i believe is the best pole elastic goin. I thought of getting the hydro stuff but alot of people say thats its to dear and stretches to far which makes it awkward to land fish. Most people i know use hi-viz nowadays as its cheap and very good.

I got 4 top kits with my pole and heres how ive done mine-

 

Carp Top- Rating 18-22 (Blue)

Carp Top- Rating 18-22 (Blue) -Spare

Match Top- 12 - 16 (Pink/Red)

Match Top- 6 - 10 (yellow)

 

So for your 3 top kits id just drop the spare one i use. They do do smaller elastic rtings but i dont bother using them on the off chance i hook a larger fish wen going after silver fish. I only use the yellow top kit wen fishing after roach, bream and small carp and dont have any trouble bumping fish and have had carp to 9Lb on it. The 2 carp tops i use when fishing waters were there are chances of hitting carp over 10Lb and the pink/red top i use when fishing waters with carp to 10Lb or fishing waters with larger tench and bream.

Edited January 5, 2008 by rooney888

[rourke7719]

My pole came with 4 top kits and used hydro in mine. 2kits with black and 2 with white. If you fish commercials where fish are all in a similar size range then it makes sense having more than one top kit with a certain grade elastic, that way you can use a similar set up in different swims. For me it made things simpler.

 

One thing I would suggest though if you tend to fish commercials is not use the 3-4 grade and get another 8-10 in your spare kit. I would do that so you have 2 kits at 8 -10 and one kit at 14 - 16 for bonus fish and margin work. A size 3-4 is one I would consider on canals I think where your target is small roach and perch with the chance of a bonus bream or tench.

 

Basically elastic choice is your own, middy hi vis is good elastic, hydro is good elastic and there are many others out there that are good elastics.

[coarsefish-torbay]

If you get on with hollow elastics, the Drennan is pretty good and much cheaper than others on the market. I use the green, which is rated at 6-8 for most of my winter commercial fishing. The yellow is the next step up for if you were only fishing for carp.

I use a mix of solid and hollow, with the solids being used most of the time. Middy Hi-Viz is pretty much the same elastic as Vespe, I use pink 10-12 for most of my carping for fish to 5lb. If the fish are regularly bigger than that, I would use hollow in the 14-16 size.

For silvers, I use No4, usually Preston Slip unless I'm fishing for very small fish, in which case I'd use a No3.

 

If you use winder bungs, you can wrap several inches of extra around the bung. This allows you to take the elastic out and swap it for a different one if you are going to a venue where you need a specific elastic.

For example:

If you are visiting an out and out carp bagging lake, you might want htree kits all set up with 12 elastic. Then take those bungs out and put in the bungs with No4 on for fishing your local canal, still giving you the option of setting up three rigs.

[StuGlynn]

I have only just bought a pole last year, always used rods before. I have used solid elastics in mine mainly because im a bit tight, are the hollows that much better or is it just down to personal preference?

[mjbarnes12]

I have used hollows and not experienced the same degree of control over fish, not sure why!!

[Will Wilkinson]

I have used hollows and not experienced the same degree of control over fish, not sure why!!

 

They behave slightly differently to solids and need a slightly different technique - I've found you need to lift the pole earlier to stop excessive stretch when you're landing a fish. If you lift the pole with the elastic well stretched you usually end up needing an extra section to get the fish to the net. I find that lifting the pole on 4 or 5 sections (3m elastic through top 2) then dropping it back parallel with the water, shipping back and removing a section, then immediately lifting again gets round this problem. I find the hydro so much better than either unfilled hollow or solid elastics in the heavier sizes (10+) that I'm quite happy to accept this. The advantage on light elastics is minimal though hence I only go down to the white hydro and this is only rarely used, most often on a couple of lakes where the main quarry is decent roach (12oz-1lb) but there's a good chance of a bonus tench of 6lb.

 

Will

[mjbarnes12]

They behave slightly differently to solids and need a slightly different technique - I've found you need to lift the pole earlier to stop excessive stretch when you're landing a fish. If you lift the pole with the elastic well stretched you usually end up needing an extra section to get the fish to the net. I find that lifting the pole on 4 or 5 sections (3m elastic through top 2) then dropping it back parallel with the water, shipping back and removing a section, then immediately lifting again gets round this problem. I find the hydro so much better than either unfilled hollow or solid elastics in the heavier sizes (10+) that I'm quite happy to accept this. The advantage on light elastics is minimal though hence I only go down to the white hydro and this is only rarely used, most often on a couple of lakes where the main quarry is decent roach (12oz-1lb) but there's a good chance of a bonus tench of 6lb.

 

Will

 

3m through top sections? thats a lot i have between 1.70 - 2.00 through top sections? i find this more than enough!!

 

p.s. does anyone here fish opens at woodland view im thinking of starting fishing the opens their when i get back from un i in april

[coarsefish-torbay]

Remember that the whole point of hollow elastics is that they are softer. You will need to use hollow a grade heavier than you would a solid. It should have cushion for smaller fish and have hidden power before bottoming out for bigger fish.

When a big fish is close to needing netting, by pumping the tip, as described by Will, you can get hollow elastic to lock when it flattens on the bush. Lifting the tip quickly with some elastic withdrawn, makes a sharp angle over the bush and it is much harder to pull it out again. You can now net the fish on a shorter length of elastic.

Takes a bit of practise to get it right and to have the bottle to do it with a carp on the end. Also, make sure you are ready to scoop as soon as the carp surfaces, as it may just go ballistic if you miss!

 

As for Woodlands View, send me a PM closer to the date and I'll get some info for you. Fished it a few times myself, so have a good idea of what to expect, but I can get much more detail from some of the top anglers on there as well.

Edited January 14, 2008 by coarsefish-torbay