The use of really light (actioned) rods.

[sam vimes]

As part of my acceptance of the limitations of many of the waters local, and available, to me, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm often fishing for relatively small fish. With this in mind, I've been resorting to increasingly light line tactics and rods. The pinnacle of this has seen me buy a modern incarnation of an old fashioned spliced tip canal rod. It certainly makes catching a bag of bits far, far, more enjoyable. The only downside is that you need to be a little careful of the venues you fish in such a manner. If the venue is home to decent numbers of carp or tench much over 3lb, you are asking for trouble.

Having to net fish much over 4oz can be a little wearing when they are biting like starving piranhas, but it's a joy none the less. The added bonus is that the bumping of the odd big roach or rudd that comes along is pretty much eliminated.

Anyone else taken to bucking the trend to fish heavier and heavier in favour of actually enjoying the bend even a very modest fish can put in a really light rod?​

 

[daniel121]

Hi Sam,

Hope you are well?

In short yes, I have always been a fan of soft action rods/light elastic. I use light action rods for most of my fishing, I find with carp you need a powerful bream rod, if that makes any sense to you? Tough action stiff specimen rods, solid elastic just makes puddle pigs go nuts and pulls the hook in my hands.

I use a really old daiwa rod for most of my light fishing, I find good quality light traditional match type rods hard to come by now.

I'm not saying I'm right, but to me the last thing you need is heavy duty hit and hold kit, but do I use a spectron m2 extra power for venues where I need some back bone but that's still pretty soft..

 

[sam vimes]

I really had float fishing for bits in mind rather than carping with lower TC than is common (and similar), but why not expend out to any type of fishing with gear that's lighter than the current "normal".

When it comes to the float rod I've been using, it's lighter actioned than any rod I've laid my hands on in the last thirty five years or so. That includes the light versions of Daiwa and Shimano match rods of the nineties and the likes of the Normark Microlite. However, I didn't get my hands on canal float rods in their heyday. The closest equivalent I have is the Drennan Crystalight. Even that makes a Drennan Matchpro Ultralight (arguable the lightest actioned modern rod commonly available) seem like a broom handle.

 

[peterjg]

Sam, after decades of fishing for big carp it is a delight to use light tackle for roach. I have an old DAM New Dimension 14ft float rod which is lovely and soft and is used for still waters; a 14ft Acolyte Ultra for on the rivers because it is very light; for buzzer and bobbin legering I use a pair of Korum 11ft float rods (very soft) and for quivertipping a pair of 9-11ft Shimano Beastmasters (stupid name) which are also very soft.

So many 'standard' rods these days are unnecessarily powerful!

 

[nottskev]

I'm with you on that. The lightest of gear and the least intrusive approach were de rigueur where I grew up, and even though I've enjoyed fishing over the years for decent tench, bream, chub and barbel with the gear that entails, fishing light for roach, dace, perch and skimmers has always been the very definition of fishing for me. It's hard to believe in our current fishing world, but it was quite normal to be fishing with a 1.5 or 2lb reel line, a 1lb or 12oz hooklength and a 22 hook. Winkling fish out on this delicately balanced gear was a pleasure all of its own.

For that type of thing, I've still got an Amorphous Whisker Light 13' and a Diaflash 12' with a home-spliced tip. Wand-type rods for the leger equivalent include Shimano Diaflash and Twinpower wands, as well as some dinky home-made creations.
For the pole fishing version of this type of fishing, unlike the blokes who throw the No.1 section away and stick a bush on the 2, I put No 2 or 3 elastic through the No 1 and fish with that.

What did you get, as your modern take on the canal rod? I've been tempted to treat myself to a Harrison Canal special.

 

[mikench]

I am still experimenting with tackle and techniques and enjoying the experiences! I doubt I have a really light and soft rod and, having enjoyed margin fishing last time out , I have ordered a short and very very light feeder rod from Browning! It has various tips starting at .5 oz! It will enable me to travel light on a number of venues and hopefully catch some nice small fish which will feel much larger. I have no doubt that errant carp will put in an appearance!!!

This will complete my armoury of rods until the next one!!!

 

[wrighty64]

evening
my first rod in my 20s was a shakespeare 10ft 3 piece match to this day i still use it ive had tench to 4lb carp to 8lb and today a foul hooked 5lb ghost carp by today's standards i think this is a very light rod but it seems to handle anything and the action is a joy to catch fish on and invariably the one i turn to whenever i'm not sure which of my other more up to date rods would be suitable

 

[thecrow]

puddle pigs

Its starting again.

Most of my fishing for many years looking for larger fish but as the years have worn on I now fish for whatever comes along, this has necessitated me using lighter gear than I ever have before, even my roach fishing was with avons as I needed to be able to fish a feeder for them.

The most powerful (according to test curve which I know is a poor way to compare) rods I now own are 1.75 Barbel rods, there was a time when they would have been the least powerful so yes I am now using much lighter tackle than I used to.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I have a limited number of water that I fish regularly for roach but all of which contain carp as well as other species of a reasonable size. Around this I don't have much option as it is nigh on impossible to find 'roach only' still waters.
To fish for roach in these waters means you have to make a decision around tackle in that roach fishing demands light tackle in most instances, and this is never going to be suitable for other resident species apart from, say, crucians and average size tench, so I decided I would go for fairly light gear, the basis of which is the Dennan Matchpro Ultralight family of rods. From what I read above this is classed as 'heavy' compared to really specialist rods (of which I have no knowledge).

I know only too well the risks I take in using such gear (coupled with 2,5lb reel line and down to 22 hooks) but as I say I have little choice. I do hook the occasional carp etc. some of which I land and most of which I lose, but I accept that and try to avoid doing so by using baits unlikely to catch them.

In use the rods are a delight, and playing roach to just over the 1lb mark (not big by any standard) is a real pleasure. This past week I have been using the 14' model for hemp fishing with fish to a lb or so, and I enjoyed every minute. Personally, I just love the care and finesse required to handle fine tackle and get the best from it...

To be honest I would like to try still lighter rods but on my waters it would be suicidal!!

ps Others have said I fish too light but I know who catches the most fish under most circumstance!

 

[john step]

Interesting thread. I have a two Normarks that fit that bill. One is an old fashion match rod that I can use with 1.7 hooklengths and the other is a second hand 12 foot canal rod that is even lighter. I get great pleasure from the lighter rod in winter when to get bites I often revert down to 22s.
when the going gets hard and there is less chance of a carp etc.

The ledgering equivalent is my old Shakespeare wand which also gets a winter airing.

 

[S-Kippy]

. It's hard to believe in our current fishing world, but it was quite normal to be fishing with a 1.5 or 2lb reel line, a 1lb or 12oz hooklength and a 22 hook. Winkling fish out on this delicately balanced gear was a pleasure all of its own. l.

Crikey....I used nothing else for very many years. Thought I was a yobbo if I was on a 1.5lb hooklength. My fishing has changed so much since then though I still err on the light side I'm perfectly content with my Matchpro Ultralight which IMO is possibly the best silvers rod Ive ever used. All my old match rods are still in the shed...I might dig them out and see how they compare to the Ultralight.

Time was I'd back meself to land just about anything on me old Normark and 2lb line. Not so sure nowadays.

 

[sam vimes]

What did you get, as your modern take on the canal rod? I've been tempted to treat myself to a Harrison Canal special.

The Browning Sphere Hot Rod Silver Edition.

I have a limited number of water that I fish regularly for roach but all of which contain carp as well as other species of a reasonable size. Around this I don't have much option as it is nigh on impossible to find 'roach only' still waters.

I don't have any roach only waters either. I fish for roach on one water that is stuffed to the gunnels with fairly big carp. However, I only fish this water from November through to March. I sometimes do get the odd one, but I managed to avoid hooking even one this winter. The other couple of waters I do this have few, or no, carp of any real size. Latch into one of the bigger tench or carp and you have yourself a fun experience. I pick my swims carefully though, making sure I've got adequate space and no real obstructions.

 

[markcw]

I really had float fishing for bits in mind rather than carping with lower TC than is common (and similar), but why not expend out to any type of fishing with gear that's lighter than the current "normal".

When it comes to the float rod I've been using, it's lighter actioned than any rod I've laid my hands on in the last thirty five years or so. That includes the light versions of Daiwa and Shimano match rods of the nineties and the likes of the Normark Microlite. However, I didn't get my hands on canal float rods in their heyday. The closest equivalent I have is the Drennan Crystalight. Even that makes a Drennan Matchpro Ultralight (arguable the lightest actioned modern rod commonly available) seem like a broom handle.

I am using the Crystalight for canals, I did have an original Harrison gti spliced tip rod, but that went to a friend who got more use out of it on the rivers,

 

[markcw]

Kev I wish I had known you were toying with the idea of a Harrison, I could have picked 3 up a couple of weeks ago, a 13' an 11'6" and an 11' for £60 I resisted for once on buying for buyings sake, even though they were worth having, unfortunately they have now gone.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Yes, absolutely right: If you have a fairly open and snag free swim it is something of an experience to hook a large carp but interesting and always a test of one's fish playing skills....

Never ceases to amaze me just how fast a big carp moves through the water, once it realises it is attached to tackle! This past week I didn't have them attached for too long as the hook came back totally straightened, but then it is asking a lot of a size 20!

To be honest, fishing wise I cannot wait for Autumn onwards....

 

[nottskev]

Kev I wish I had known you were toying with the idea of a Harrison, I could have picked 3 up a couple of weeks ago, a 13' an 11'6" and an 11' for £60 I resisted for once on buying for buyings sake, even though they were worth having, unfortunately they have now gone.

Cheers, Mark. The one I had in mind is the 11'6" spliced tip model, called, I think, the Match Special.

I sometimes wonder what Dr Harrison might come up with these days, were he not so absorbed with carp rods. But if I don't catch much, I can't really put it down to lack of a decent rod.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I like fishing very light but it's not always the answer. back in about 1992, though, I once fished a hard match on the Bristol Avon and thought I was fishing light - 1.5lb Maxima main line, 22 on 0.08 hook link and got battered by Gary Etheridge who fished 1lb maxima main line and a 26 to 8oz hook link and won the match with 6-13 to my 2-13. I most ly use a Microlite II with 1.5 maxima but also have a couple of other rods for fishing light. Had carp to 14lbs on the light gear.

 

[markcw]

Cheers, Mark. The one I had in mind is the 11'6" spliced tip model, called, I think, the Match Special.

I sometimes wonder what Dr Harrison might come up with these days, were he not so absorbed with carp rods. But if I don't catch much, I can't really put it down to lack of a decent rod.

These were the original rods Kev, the were bringing one out similar to the Drennan, having a removable butt, there was a question of copyright at the time, I don't know the outcome, I was in the shop at Liverpool and they had a few prototypes in there, I was asked if I wanted to buy one, but I had to refuse because I had previously bought the 13' splice tip and the 12' splice tip, ironically cheaper from my local tackle shop than harrisons own tackle shop. they still cost me around £70 each 30 years ago.

 

[steve2]

I used Ian Heaps canal rods on commercial carp ponds when the carp were first stocked. They were ideal for the small carp of the time don't think I ever lost a fish to hook pulls.

 

[Philip]

I suppose its down to perspective but I find myself more and more often nowdays using gear with pleasure rather than just results in mind and that can mean stepping down a rod or tackle. For example I like using lighter through action rods if I can get away with it as they are a pleasure to play fish on.

I recently got myself one of those Tackle box 8 foot roaving rods that was designed for use on tiny chalk streams but I use it on much larger rivers in the margins for things like Roach and Chub. Lovely little rod.

Its starting again.

Indeed. Its endless.