That's true Kev,I have caught loads of carp from the middle of reed beds by hooking and holding,rod high keeping the fish thrashing on the surface,letting them force their way into open water,this is on lines as low as 6lbs b.s. and fish as big as mid-doubles,fortune often favours the brave...
Rod vertical or horizontal
- Thread starter mikench
- Start date
theartist
Well-known member
Lines as low as 6lbs? That should be enough to get mid doubles out any day Whitty,
theartist
Well-known member
Exactly, I would go as far a saying the art of caressing a fish out has almost been lost in a sea of criticism of light line anglers 'exhausting' fish when in truth with a little extra time fish can be played with surprisingly light line, when the angler had a good balance with their tackle. The harder you pull the harder they pull back
In the middle of reed beds,I'm not talking at the edges of,right in the middle of one Rob,had quite a few mid-doubles on 3lb line,not from the centre of reed beds though...
Last edited:
Only true in open water I'm afraid,you don't land many double figure carp on the grand union on 2lbs line,you could however on a commercial with no snags,it's all relative.
theartist
Well-known member
I'm not talking 2lb line although the guc is probably not the best example as match anglers do land big carp there on light line as they just run up and down, it's just that on a commercial you see so many anglers yanking carp in on heavy gear designed for 30s and 40s and not mid doubles. Doing so from rushes and snags leads to the mouth damage which is far too common on these waters.
Definitely,hooking carp on over 15lb line and pulling hard on fish that are 5/6lbs or so ends up the same way,that is what happens when anglers read the internet without experiences of their own,if fishing the lead(on buzzers)I would think 1.25/1.5lb test curve rods would be more than ample and give good sport on a commercial and could certainly land far bigger fish than the 5/6lbers mentioned,without too much bother,or damage.
mikench
Well-known member
Last time out I used the rod in both planes and feel, without doubt, that the fish fought less when the rod was held low and the bend was in the horizontal plane! When the rod was held vertically the fish struggled more.
Jim Crosskey 2
Well-known member
There might be another angle (sorry for the double entendre!) here... which is - "what are you hoping for once the fish is hooked"? So the matchman, having hooked his fish (lets say, an 8lb carp) - he wants that fish in with the minimum fuss and struggle. So from what I've seen, that means playing the fish with the rod tip close to the water (horizontal as I think Mike puts it) where maximum side strain is brought to the fore and often the fish can actually be reeled in... and if it swims to the other side, then the rod is quickly brought over to exert pressure the other way, a bit like tacking on a sail boat. All of this is performed with the one clear objective of putting the fish in the net at the earliest opportunity with as little drama as possible.
However, for the pleasure angler - the fight once the fish has been hooked is the only reason he got out of bed at 6am this morning. Drama is everything, so likely he will hold the rod up higher (generally with carp I tend to find that makes them pull harder, I think it's because the fight becomes more three dimensional because he can swim left, right or down). If the fish wants a bit of line of the clutch, so be it. "look at him pull!" says the angler with glee.
I tend to use a bit of both to be honest. I do tend to find that getting the rod low and applying only sidestrain tends to put you in control of the fight quicker. But I have gone to have fun and I want the fight to have little drama.
However, for the pleasure angler - the fight once the fish has been hooked is the only reason he got out of bed at 6am this morning. Drama is everything, so likely he will hold the rod up higher (generally with carp I tend to find that makes them pull harder, I think it's because the fight becomes more three dimensional because he can swim left, right or down). If the fish wants a bit of line of the clutch, so be it. "look at him pull!" says the angler with glee.
I tend to use a bit of both to be honest. I do tend to find that getting the rod low and applying only sidestrain tends to put you in control of the fight quicker. But I have gone to have fun and I want the fight to have little drama.
mikench
Well-known member
I couldn't agree more! I was experimenting with the side strain because a matchman I'm not! I'm not in any rush save to see if it's a tench
I'd agree with Whitty. I like a bit of drama as much as anyone, but I grew up where the fishing was hard (cue Yorkshiremen sketch etc) and the best canal anglers all seemed able to net their fish with barely a splash. Sideways strikes and a low rod kept everything under the water better.
I understand that modern commercial fisheries - big stocks, fish competing for food etc, heavier lines - have made some of that redundant, but I still wince a bit when I see how some anglers crash out the so-called "silver fish" and scoop out still-thrashing carp.
I understand that modern commercial fisheries - big stocks, fish competing for food etc, heavier lines - have made some of that redundant, but I still wince a bit when I see how some anglers crash out the so-called "silver fish" and scoop out still-thrashing carp.