One for the rod detectives

[no-one in particular]

Nothing wrong with a swing tip in the right conditions but I never quite got used to fishing with a rod that looked like the tip was broken; my brain would never quite accept that. I think quiver tips are better which I think is why swing tips disappeared.

 

[steve2]

I always find that when I need to use one, swing tips give a better bite indication than quiver tips and can be used when fishing straight out in front where a quiver tip can't.

 

[no-one in particular]

I always find that when I need to use one, swing tips give a better bite indication than quiver tips and can be used when fishing straight out in front where a quiver tip can't.

I am bit of a dedicated float angler so I haven't used either much but found both had their uses when I did. But I still preferred the quiver when it could be used. I often found the wind and current a problem with swing tips but more sensitive than quivers. On the rare occasions I leger now I use a bit of bread folded over the line, which shows just how archaic I am. but, if I did it more I would invest in a good swing tip rod and a quiver tip.

 

[Keith M]

I think quiver tips are better which I think is why swing tips disappeared.

Quivers increase in resistance the more they bend whereas swing tips don't which is why they give such good bite indication, and back In the day quivers were used more on running water.
The main reason that the swingtip disappeared in favour of the quiver tip was that the swingtip was limited in use to closer in work and with less surface drift and casting was a little more awkward compared to the quiver, but when conditions were good the swing tip was better at indicating bites and the tip would lift up straight without causing much indication to the fish.
Plus you could fish it in very tight swims with the rod pointing straight out with the swingtip just touching the surface of the water.

I still have a swing tip rod and some swing tips (and springtips for when the surface drift starts to cause me problems with my standard swing tips) however I haven't used the method for quite a few years, but I may give it a try again this coming summer on my estate lake after a few delicate biting crucians.

Keith

 

[markcw]

If swingtipping takes off on here, I can see questions being asked of the best type of lead/solder wire to use on the tips in breezy weather.

 

[sam vimes]

Such is my preference for float fishing, I don't recall the last time I used a quivertip. However, I know that it's more recent than the last time I used a swingtip.

Swingtips have their uses, they can be a much better choice than a quivertip in some circumstances. There are loads of reasons as to why swingtips have become a rare sight. Fashion plays a huge part. The fact that chucking to the horizon has become so commonplace in coarse angling is significant. One thing that swingtips are of little use for is distance fishing. I've also been deeply underwhelmed with them on deeper waters.

 

[rayner]

If swing tip fishing was any good it would be widely used it's not. OK the odd stick in the mud will have a throw with one but never will it come back for nearly every angler who bomb or feeder fishes.
I've had my time fishing the swing tip, at the time they were the bees knees. Like all methods they had a place, the place as been taken over with a better method. I certainly don't want to return to old days, swing tips are old hat.
If you fancy a trip down memory lane that's OK with me, I want to spend what time I have left looking forward.

 

[markcw]

We could always try the spring tip again. If I recall correctly, it was a method that was made popular at the time by Tricast. I think they also did another method of indication called "The Sidewinder"

 

[nottskev]

We could always try the spring tip again. If I recall correctly, it was a method that was made popular at the time by Tricast. I think they also did another method of indication called "The Sidewinder"

The Tri-cast rod, called the Springer, iirc, came out in the mid 90's and it was a nice rod. It came with 3 springtips and a quiver tip or two, and the springtips were the best of any commercially produced. There had been some screw-in tips available previously - a Middy one, I think? - but the Tricast tips had push-over sleeves avoiding the clunky screw-in fittings, nicely graded springs and better proportions. If you wanted a decent one prior to Tricast, you had to make your own. I kept one of the Tricast tips when I sold the rod, and it's in the pics, modified a bit, below alongside a home-made one.





Anglers from the Bolton area like Vinny Smith and Mark Addy - you might recognise the names for their connections to the England team - were experts with springtips, and that fed into the Tricast product.

Springtips weren't the right tool for every job, but for certain things, they let you hit twice as many bites. We used to fish a paper mill lodge about 15/16' deep at 11 or 12m, and with awkward steep banks and trees all over, a little wand and a light bomb was the way to catch the fussy roach. You would miss countless bites on a quiver, but when we made some little springtips, where the spring folds rather than tightens on a bite, you could come back with a fish nearly every time once you got the hang of it. The fish hung onto the bait much longer. I've still got a soft spot for fishing like this, but apart from an occasional go with the springtip on a windy or towing deep marina, I don't fish anywhere that plays to its strengths.

Sidewinders? Were they those butt-indicator type things with a soft quiver tip angled away from the rod between two rings? I think they were put out by a bloke from Sheffield who devised them, with those Polaris floats, for fishing big windy waters like Irish lakes. There's one here, somewhere, along with a few other unused contraptions, and could have been very good, for all I know.

 

[103841]

Get Steve to promote the Ringer Springer and it would be all the rage again

 

[Keith M]

We could always try the spring tip again. If I recall correctly, it was a method that was made popular at the time by Tricast. I think they also did another method of indication called "The Sidewinder"

I used my ‘bent’ spring-tips (or ‘bent’ rubber tubing) when the tow started to increase too much for my swingtips, although the bent spring-tip or tubing wasn’t quite as sensitive as the swingtip it still did not increase pressure too much as it bent, and the resistance felt by a fish as it took the bait was still fairly negligible compared to the tapered quivertip, which allowed delicate biting fish like the Crucian to give you an enhanced exaggerated bite indication on a swingtip or bent springtip..

The sidewinder was similar to a quivertip but it was attatched to the rod nearer the reel but even this was not quite as sensitive as the swingtip because the line had to worm through all of the rodrings before it managed to move the sidewinder bite indicator, thereby slightly reducing the ability to register the bite.

Dont forget that for fish giving confident bites the bite indication method didn’t really matter that much and they were all good bite indicators, however I’m talking about the days when bites are extremely delicate and you are not seeing bites that clearly on a Quiver and therefore you’re missing them, and if you don’t fish commercials you would surely have had these days occasionally, especially when bites were quite hesitant like crucians can give you on occasion.



Keith

 

[peterjg]

Some pros and cons of swingtips:

Pros
Very, very sensitive method of legering and because there is more movement they allow a bite to develop.
More time to react to a bite.
Can show on the drop bites easily.
Can (when used to it) tell line bites better.
Can show drop-back bites.
Can cast directly forward and be used in small swims.

Cons
Casting is different, more of a lob than a cast.
Useless fishing close-in in deep water.
No good in rivers - unless upstream legering.
Not good for long distance casts.
Can be difficult in strong gusty wind.
and
The most annoying thing about them is that whenever I use a swingtip some plonker always says "oiy mate, the end of your rod is broken!"

 

[rayner]

Both the sidewinder and polaris floats were an invention of Terry Smith a Sheffield rod builder. I could never get on with the polaris float but still have a sidewinder.