I got muscled out of the swim i wanted to fish for roach on the Wye today...........there was a big match that i had overlooked.

 I had a pub lunch booked so instead of going elsewhere i decided to watch part of the match and see if i could pick up any little tips.

 I used to enjoy watching good match anglers on the Severn and it had ben ages since i had done it.

 The use of the pole was of particular interest, it is something i had been thinking about for a while so i stood and watched(from a decent distance) a guy using his pole.

 I liked the big Avon style pole float he was using in deepish water, coupled with a largish olivete to get his bait down........and very impressed at the way he could lower the whole rig into postion to ensure it all fell nicely into place and the bait preceded the float.

 BUT!   i didn't like the short length of swim the angler could fish efficently, lots of my own big river roach ( 1lb+) have come at a far greater distance of trotting......i really felt the pole was a "short swim" tool and that sometimes it is used perhaps as a fahion statement rather than with thought?

 I spent equal time watching a guy on the running line rig......he caught far more whilst i was there.

 My own thoughts after were that i will stick to running lines...............i am intersted in what others may have to say on river roach, longish glides and the pole?

On a longish glide I would also go with a rod but I think the Pole could be good in some situations. I remember watching an angler on the Itchen fishing a far bank slack with a long pole for Roach a few years ago and doing very well. It struck me it was absolutely ideal to fish in that kind of situation across the flow to a far bank feature. The presentation was spot on and most rod anglers would have tried to fish a quiver tip and lead across.

Another point, not rivers but worth mentioning, I also fished a Clay pit that held some good ones and there was a guy there who did quite well on a pole that swore that elastic was the best way to land a big roach on light tackle.

I think the sort of applications Philip describes would be a great use Paul, maybe with a lollipop float.Certainly there are a  few far back slacks on the Avon I'd love to fish with a Pole when the river was up a little.Not for the purist but it could be deadly.

Never fished a pole much so certainly no expert on the virtues of using one over a running line ina conventional swim. 

I've caught quite a few big roach on the pole including a few 2s

In certain situations it's unbeatable, but has its drawbacks. On coloured rivers fishing close in where the flow is steady it offers unbeatable presentation. I've caught large roach on the pole out of swims where you didn't get a bite fishing an identical rig on rod and line.

One method I loved to use on small clear rivers where the roach were very spooky was to fish 11 metres of pole to hand, using a tiny dibber float carrying no more than a couple of number 8 shot. A downstream wind was perfect for the technique of lifting 11 metres of pole high in the air and letting the wind blow your delicate rig near to the roach without them seeing me, or any disturbance. The largest and wisest roach would race each other to get to the bait. The dibber float is so tiny they don't notice it.

After seeing some truly monsterous roach in the Hapshire Avon, I thought I would try this method. It worked well for roach around a pound until I hooked a very big roach. It swam upstream inbetween beds of streamer weed where it plodded about. I tried to ease it towards me, but the hook popped out as I tried to get it over the last bed of weed that seperated us. The number 8 elastic just didn't have the power to steer it through the gaps.

The same day I put the same rig on a rod and line. I resembled a fly fisherman getting the dibber out into the middle, but managed to get a 2. I could hold the fish when I had to and it made a few dashes for the weed. I could have put heavier elastic in the pole, but that gives a good chance of bumping them off on the strike.

I'll always use a rod where I can, because I feel powerless when the elastic streams out and you have to hold on and hope. There are times though where the pole is unbeatable, but I'll try the running line first.

When I go to France I am always keen to watch the locals on the rivers, as they don't even dream of using rod and line.  On the Loire last year I saw a couple of locals setting up to fish what were fairly fast swims of around 6 ft deep.  The Loire is comparable to the middle severn, in flow and variety of swims, but much wider, with clear swift flowing water.

I would have set up a fairly heavy trotting rig and used a bait dropper to keep the bait in the swim.  The French approach was to fill the swim in with a dozen large jaffas of mainly soil, laced with chopped worm and some joker.

Business end was a large lollipop on a 11 metre pole, with around 4 metres of line to the float, which was set up overdepth with a large olivette just off the deck.  Surprisingly fish came on the first cast, and almost every cast for the 45 minuted I watched before I was dragged away.  What surprised me again was the size of fish, not all tiddlers, but mainly good sized specimins, he was practising for a match, which only last 2/12 hrs, and they do not expect to feed again for the duration, with the match expected to be won with 10-15 kgs.

If the river was big, wide and deep then the only way I would use a pole for big roach was if I was inching a bait through with an overshotted float. The feeding would have to be done by 'balling in' and no loosefeed

I'm sure Martin Bowler used this tactic with success on the Bristol Avon in an AT feature a year or two ago.

It can be worth a try though because it's uncanny how many big roach fall to the pole instead of trotting. I used to get more than my fair share of 1lb plusers on the Trent using 11 metres to hand.

Or just use a bolt rig

You must distinguish between match and pleasure situations, remember you have only a limited length of swim in a match.  In a match the object is to keep the fish in your swim and the smaller the length of that swim the more a pole is the ideal tool because you have complete control of the speed of presentation and the area you place your feed.  Fishing a pole at 11 metres to hand (but you can still fish at 16 metres remember) gives you a greater length of swim but it is a difficult art to master and if the fish are small roach meaning very fast bites it is much more difficult to hit those bites.  If you watch these match guys they usually opt for 3 to 5 metres to hand making those fast bites easier to hit, in other words they have better control.

To be honest when pleasure fishing  there aren't many situations where a pole is an advantage the exceptions being when a precise placement is required (fishing to a snag, in between weed runs etc.) and it is a wee bit tiring wielding a long pole for 5 or 6 hours.  The one big advantage is, not only can you place your hookbait exactly where it is required but you can also introduce your feed in exactly the right place too.  Having said that one of my best catching days on the Warks Avon was at Hillborough using a pole at 11 metres, I absolutely emptied the place of chub (to 4lb 'ish), roach and perch and I got the run around and eventually lost a barbel too but the biggest elastic we had in those days was a No.8 and it was standard practice to use a No.6  on a river in those days.

Fishing a pole on a river is an art that needs a lot of practice but it can be very rewarding on its day and is always another string to your bow.  Is it an advantage for catching 2lb roach?  No not really unless they happen to be in the hard to fish areas but they are more likely to be in the long steady glides than a snag. A lot of river specimen guys use a pole to place not only their feed but the business end of a feeder set up when fishing under or up to a snag and other than a rolling a bait there is no other way to achieve this and the pole method is much more precise.

I have used my pole on odd occasions on the River Idle when performing a kind of stret pegging with a lollypop float. It works quite well but I have fished this style equally effectively with my 17 foot rod and a centre pin reel.

These days I use the rod. Carrying the pole together with a box needed to use it, any distance, is not  for me.

Angling is done for pleasure.

i've had fish on the thames on pole when those around me fishing rod and lind couldn't buy a bite. fishng 6 meters to hand.

fish it right and it can be deadly. but like every other tool at our disposal it's not right all the time.

and on a roving day it can be an absolute liability.

Some really good posts here. All very interesting. Gary raises a good point and I too have watched the French anglers many times (and Italians as well) who don’t think twice about using a Pole on a big fast river. The Loire as Gary mentions is not so different to the Wye.  I would be more comfortable with a rod but watching some of these guys with the pole using these huge lollipop floats with a load of lead down the line and literally inching it down the swim…its great to see. I don’t know what the average pole kit is but I suspect some of the tackle they use would have many UK pole anglers running a mile but the control is incredible, they can even hold it rock steady mid flow for 30 seconds or so then let it trip a few more inches down, you can almost sense the bait tripping over every grain of gravel on the river bed. Although the fished area will be shorter I can’t imagine anyone could get a better presentation over that section using a rod and trotting. Having said that as Michel points out if it’s weedy then playing the fish on elastic is going to be heart in mouth stuff.  

I am still a rod fan but I guess it depends on the situation in front of you on the day.  

Mark Wintle (ACA) wrote (see)

I have seen both Kevin Ashurst and Bob Nudd fishing a long pole 10 metres out at Evesham but adding sections incredibly smoothly as the float progressed under perfect control until they were fishing at 16 metres but then we are talking the very best of the best. I couldn't do it for sure.

I don't think i could ever get to that standard either Mark..........but i may have a go with a shorter pole.

Some great comments, i would reall like to watch those French lads with their big lolls and loads of lead.............in deep water with a bit of colour i am never scared to use loads of bulk well down coupled with big sticks.