Whip Rod
- Thread starter Raymond
- Start date
valetudoguy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2012
- Messages
- 107
- Reaction score
- 12
Excuse my ignorance but what is the question? If you buy it then what?
If you buy it how do you attach line to it? Catch fish with it? Are you asking should you buy it at all?
What are you trying to achieve? I’m assuming you want to catch fish.... but are you happy with any fish? Or do you want to target certain fish? Do you have a budget?
I hope this does not come across as arsy... I’m just missing something.
If you buy it how do you attach line to it? Catch fish with it? Are you asking should you buy it at all?
What are you trying to achieve? I’m assuming you want to catch fish.... but are you happy with any fish? Or do you want to target certain fish? Do you have a budget?
I hope this does not come across as arsy... I’m just missing something.
I used to live by the canal there. You wouldn't call it particularly narrow - usual canal scale, between 11 and 13m wide. Yes, you can fish the canal with a 4m whip. It's one of the simplest, cheapest ways to get started, and you can catch fish with it, but you'll find it quite limiting.
You can rig up with a little float and fish your side of the canal. But this canal, below the huge set of locks at Northgate, will rarely be still once boats start moving, and the canal will flow quite hard as the locks open. You'll find it hard to keep your float still or under control any more than 4m out, and you'll have about 3m of line above your float making that a bit harder. If you walk along and find some anglers, you'll see they mostly use poles with a short line to the float and break them down to land fish, re-bait etc.
If you accept the 4m whip is rather restrictive, you can still get some success with it by concentrating on a spot where you can hold your float and bait still. Sit facing a bit downstream ie away from Chester. find the depth 4m out with a plummet and set your float a couple of inches deeper. Find the spot down from you where your float will stop drifting and settle around 4m out. Fish there and feed a few maggots every few minutes a couple of feet above your float so they end up on the bottom where your bait is. You can catch plenty of fish just down from the end of your rod/whip, provided you don't scare them, feed them a bit and present them with a still bait that's not being moved around randomly by the wind or the flow dragging your float along.
Have you tried the new basin below the old horsebridge at the Whipcord Lane basin? There's no effect from the locks there, and it easier to get your float working properly to begin with.
You can rig up with a little float and fish your side of the canal. But this canal, below the huge set of locks at Northgate, will rarely be still once boats start moving, and the canal will flow quite hard as the locks open. You'll find it hard to keep your float still or under control any more than 4m out, and you'll have about 3m of line above your float making that a bit harder. If you walk along and find some anglers, you'll see they mostly use poles with a short line to the float and break them down to land fish, re-bait etc.
If you accept the 4m whip is rather restrictive, you can still get some success with it by concentrating on a spot where you can hold your float and bait still. Sit facing a bit downstream ie away from Chester. find the depth 4m out with a plummet and set your float a couple of inches deeper. Find the spot down from you where your float will stop drifting and settle around 4m out. Fish there and feed a few maggots every few minutes a couple of feet above your float so they end up on the bottom where your bait is. You can catch plenty of fish just down from the end of your rod/whip, provided you don't scare them, feed them a bit and present them with a still bait that's not being moved around randomly by the wind or the flow dragging your float along.
Have you tried the new basin below the old horsebridge at the Whipcord Lane basin? There's no effect from the locks there, and it easier to get your float working properly to begin with.
Keith M
Well-known member
NB: I also posted this reply on another recent thread about poles and whips.
Whips
If you are going to get a whip to fish a canal I would get a nice 4/5 metre one as most good 5 metre and longer telescopic whips come with non telescopic base sections anyway so you can use it at either 4 or 5 metres and if you are using it at 4mtrs and hook something larger you can add the other section to make playing a larger fish and landing it a little easier.
Also a lot of anglers use Pole floats with their whips without any problems at all and you can fish with these quite happily, there's no hard and fast rule; but whips were not really designed for use with Pole floats and I think you could be limiting yourself slightly by using these all of the time; they were primarily designed to use small wagglers like the ones in the picture below which can be cast overhead or sideways or underarm (unlike a Pole) and reach a bit further even with a little wind.
Canals usually have a profile similar to the one below and the near shelf where it’s shallow can occasionally stretch quite a few yards out so it’s nice to be able to have a whip that can be cast a little further out when it’s needed.
Most modern whips come with both a flick tip sections and elasticated sections because now and then you might be using it on a predominantly Carp or other large fish lake and need the added security of elastic, but if you are going to be using your whip on an average type of canal then I would much prefer to use a whip with a nice flick tip than an elasticated one; which can handle the occasional fish up to around 3lb*-ish-plus every now and then when accidentally hooked.
Really cheap whips have thick tips with not much bend in them (see picture below showing the difference) so unless you are going to use elastic with it it’s worth paying a few quid extra for a decent whip with a decent flexible flicktip; they are not that expensive to buy anyway.
Tight lines
Keith
Whips
If you are going to get a whip to fish a canal I would get a nice 4/5 metre one as most good 5 metre and longer telescopic whips come with non telescopic base sections anyway so you can use it at either 4 or 5 metres and if you are using it at 4mtrs and hook something larger you can add the other section to make playing a larger fish and landing it a little easier.
Also a lot of anglers use Pole floats with their whips without any problems at all and you can fish with these quite happily, there's no hard and fast rule; but whips were not really designed for use with Pole floats and I think you could be limiting yourself slightly by using these all of the time; they were primarily designed to use small wagglers like the ones in the picture below which can be cast overhead or sideways or underarm (unlike a Pole) and reach a bit further even with a little wind.
Canals usually have a profile similar to the one below and the near shelf where it’s shallow can occasionally stretch quite a few yards out so it’s nice to be able to have a whip that can be cast a little further out when it’s needed.
Most modern whips come with both a flick tip sections and elasticated sections because now and then you might be using it on a predominantly Carp or other large fish lake and need the added security of elastic, but if you are going to be using your whip on an average type of canal then I would much prefer to use a whip with a nice flick tip than an elasticated one; which can handle the occasional fish up to around 3lb*-ish-plus every now and then when accidentally hooked.
Really cheap whips have thick tips with not much bend in them (see picture below showing the difference) so unless you are going to use elastic with it it’s worth paying a few quid extra for a decent whip with a decent flexible flicktip; they are not that expensive to buy anyway.
Tight lines
Keith
Last edited:
rayner
Well-known member
Two excellent posts one regard to the venue one with regard to tackle.
No need for another from me.
No need for another from me.
Bobnewboy
Well-known member
I use a 4m telescopic kids whip to give it a try. It was made by Fladen and marketed as a Matt Hayes Adventure pole fishing set. Argos sell it with some rigs ( which have totally the wrong size hooks etc), but at £15.99 it’s very worth a go on small streams and canals I have caught and landed a 3lb common carp on it and it’s perfectly serviceable. Worth a try?
Note it has a wire loop to connect your rig to, no need for funny/special connectors etc. I like to keep things simple - like my life
Cheers, Bob
Note it has a wire loop to connect your rig to, no need for funny/special connectors etc. I like to keep things simple - like my life
Cheers, Bob
Last edited:
rayner
Well-known member
With the recent posts regarding whip fishing I'm getting my whips out for a session next week.
So next week a bag of wheat and whip for a few roach will do me fine.
So next week a bag of wheat and whip for a few roach will do me fine.
