Calling all pole anglers

[MatNewman]

All,

 

I fish with a pole and make my own rigs quite confidently however have noticed over the winter months that sometimes I dont do as well as others on the pond/lake etc.

 

I make my rigs with whatever line I have around and not always match it to my elastic. The other thing I am guilty of doing is converting the weight of the float to attach no 8 shots.

 

A few questions

 

1. Should I be using the no 8 shots or should I consider using smaller shots or even styls.

 

2. Can anyone recommend a good line to use for main and hook length (manufacturer)

 

3. Any rig advice, illustrations, hints, tips gladly accepted

[Anthony78]

All,

 

I fish with a pole and make my own rigs quite confidently however have noticed over the winter months that sometimes I dont do as well as others on the pond/lake etc.

 

I make my rigs with whatever line I have around and not always match it to my elastic. The other thing I am guilty of doing is converting the weight of the float to attach no 8 shots.

 

A few questions

 

1. Should I be using the no 8 shots or should I consider using smaller shots or even styls.

 

2. Can anyone recommend a good line to use for main and hook length (manufacturer)

 

3. Any rig advice, illustrations, hints, tips gladly accepted

 

 

Effort=Reward

 

Go buy some high tech line for rigs and hooklengths. Also grab some 10,11, and 12 shots. You WILL catch more fish if you put more effort into rigs, especially this time of year. Sorry to be so blunt but you can't expect to do as well as those around you when you make rigs from any old line you can find.

 

Ant

[snotty]

I also use No.8 and No.10 shot on my pole rigs, however I was recently advised to use styls as they give less resistance to fish, are easier on the strike, produce less tangles and do less damage to the line especially fine hooklengths, but are still easily moved up and down to alter shotting pattern.

 

I tend towards fluorocarbon for my rigs, which is probably also a no-no.

[mjbarnes12]

heya mate,

 

I use no8s as the smallest shot, i feel anything under that isnt necessary as it will not register on the float plus it is so fidly!!! Matchtek match or the hit and hold (for margin work) I use, never done anything wrong, I use these in conjunction with kamasan hooks to nylon!! get on ebay there is loads of it on there!!

[Dick Dastardly]

Effort=Reward

 

Also grab some 10,11, and 12 shots.

Ant

 

Despite prefering small hooks (22 is my normal) I must admit to only normally using dust shot (size8) as my smallest.Do you think using the smaller sizes makes a lot of difference Ant and if so why?

[Anthony78]

Despite prefering small hooks (22 is my normal) I must admit to only normally using dust shot (size8) as my smallest.Do you think using the smaller sizes makes a lot of difference Ant and if so why?

 

Budgie,

This time of year when I'm fishing very light lines and small floats less than 0.5g, conditions permitting of course, I will use a bulk of number 11's so that it gives me more options to move them around to create different fall rates and then a couple of 11's or even 12's depending on bristle material (wire or nylon) below that. I like to have my tip dotted right down even to the point that it would sink without the aid of a dab of vasaline. It means that I see bites that most people wouldn't. I would stress that I tend to fish for silvers this time of year but even in the summer I wouldn't go any larger than a no 10 as a tell-tale-shot.

 

Ant

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for that Ant that makes a lot of sense.I will have to give it a try.

[MatNewman]

I like to have my tip dotted right down even to the point that it would sink without the aid of a dab of vasaline.

 

Thanks to all so far for advice - Now Ant this is an interesting line. I like to have my float so that I can see the whole of my tip and a little black from the float to see little bites. I have tried to shot right down to the tip but find that it is really hard to see and therefore get frustrated. What does the vaseline do?

[rarepleasures]

heya mate,

 

I use no8s as the smallest shot, i feel anything under that isnt necessary as it will not register on the float plus it is so fidly!!!

 

I can use up/down ? to No10 but anything smaller I just can't manage. Is there a secret ?

[Anthony78]

Thanks to all so far for advice - Now Ant this is an interesting line. I like to have my float so that I can see the whole of my tip and a little black from the float to see little bites. I have tried to shot right down to the tip but find that it is really hard to see and therefore get frustrated. What does the vaseline do?

 

 

I first started using vasaline a few years ago when I used to tie my floats up at home. I used to shot up in a large tub of water on a short length of line and just move the float up when I had got it sitting just right. The problem was that when I got to the lake the float would sink. I put this down to the weight of the extra length of line and the lack of water surface tension compared to a tub of water. I used to keep some vasaline in my box for keeping my line on the surface when float fishing with rod and reel. So just dipped the very tip of my float in this. It worked perfectly. If the water is a bit choppy then another good tip is to dot your float down as usual but add a very small length of pole float bristle tubing(This is used by alot of pole anglers to change the colour of their float tips as it comes in a selection of colours and thicknesses) Dip this in to some vasaline and it creates a bulbous top to your bristle and seems to catch the suface tension that little bit better, it will then ride the ripple rather than dissappearing in the waves.

There are some products on the market that you can use instead of vasaline see here

 

and here is the bristle silicone tubing I use.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Ant