Pylons

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Ric Elwin

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I've just found a delicious looking swim on a local river. It's got an incoming stream at it's upstream point; perfect for floods; and a nice steadily flowing run down the middle. To cap it all there's on overhanging tree at it's downstream end with a fair depth of water under it, and good flow. The swim isn't fished.

Sounds perfect?

Unfortunately there are electricity pylons nearby. These are the huge things that suspend the wires, I guess, 100 or so feet in the air. The swim is only 10 yards maximum from being directly underneath these. Saying that, there are trees between the swim and the pylons.

If I fished it I'd be using a 12 foot Avon.

Would I be risking my life?
 
B

Bully

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Well if you did kill yourself you could at least have made claim to being the worlds worse at casting a rod !

The only other way of getting in trouble is if you find a situation where the rig flies back out of the river (free up from snag, hook pull, worlds strongest strike) but you would need 100ft to spring out and up !!

Even then I am not sure if the electricity conducts down line.....anyone??

I'd say you would be fine, but also completely sensible in being cautious, and if you were at all worried, don't fish. You would only get one chance to get it wrong.
 
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Baz

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The point that some people don't realize about fishing under or near pylons is that electricity jumps, especially in damp, humid , or wet conditions. Your line doesn't have to actually touch the wires.
I think 80yds away is the recomended distance??
 
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Baz

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In some clubs roveing on a river is not allowed because of the number of pylons about.
Unless you are useing a glass rod.
 
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Alan Tyler

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Nylon's an insulator; the film of impure water round the line isn't.
These things would have been designed so tall people walking underneath them, carrying things known to folks in the fifties and sixties (which does not include carbon fibre rods and poles ) would not be electrocuted. Very clever electrical engineers would have calculated the margin to a millimeter or so, then doubled it for safety's sake.
For complete peace of mind, use a glass or cane rod. And cast underhand.
 
C

Cakey

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dont be a tit ! the power lines are 200 foot up which is better than a 100 foot up
 
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Ric Elwin

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That's a pretty poor effort by me, misjudging by 50%! Anyway. I know people have been killed by electricity while using poles and possibly rods. I'm just wondering how it ever happened....if the wires are 200 feet away how does it jump that far? Or perhaps, were they killed under a different type maybe, that were lower?

When you read about these things because the advise is always erring on the side of caution, quite understandably. I guess I couldn't expect any authority to provide the plain facts, so I can make my own decision.
 
E

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

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If you are night fishing there --just put a couple of light bulbs in your ears- think of what you'll save on torch batteries .....
 
W

Wolfman Woody

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From memory I don't think it matters how high they are, perhaps the higher they are the higher the voltage. We had to place swims 35 metres away from the line of them on one of our lakes.
 
W

Wolfman Woody

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Perhaps when you said "The swim isn't fished." you were being premature.

Have a look around the undergrowth for any old bones or scorched bits of clothing.
 
E

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

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I know the swim you mean ---It's called "The Barbecue Swim"
 
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Baz

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I used to have a crappy old carp rod. I dont know what the carbon or what else content were in this rod, but I went near a pylon one day with it, when it was raining. The rod deffinately reacted to the electricity, so I dumped it after that.
 
T

The Monk

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Electricity at those sorts of voltages does jump a considerable distance, we did however fish a number of swims in the old days which were located beneath pylons, but of course we were using glass rods. I can even remember casting a spinner over a wire and pulling for a break and of course as kids we would often climb pylons in our hunt for birds eggs. I cringe now when I think about it, I remember a farmer catching me coming down a pylon with two Kestrel eggs in my mouth, he made me climb back up there and put them back, and like a complete idiot, I returned that night and took them again! I did have one hell of an egg collection though and as I grew older, I donated them to a local museum. This was long before the Countryside and Wildlife Act came into force of course.
 
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Les Clark

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Why would glass or cane rods make a difference ? surley both would be conductor ?
 
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