Rod position when river fishing feeder/lead

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

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Someanglers point their rods to the sky to keep line out of the water.

Some anglers keep their rods low and touching the water to sink the line.

How do you position your rods when ledgering on a river and why?
 
Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)

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What ho Corkers...I expect that article is almost complete now.

I've been fishing on rivers in the beachcaster style but recent articles on this forum have made me fish low on the Dane, I also fished relatively low margin fishing when we did "The Great Trek"

Need to catch fish to evaluate /forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif
 
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

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Writer's cramp. Only six more pages to go.

I've been fishing on rivers in the beachcaster style but recent articles on this forum have made me fish low on the Dane, I also fished relatively low margin fishing when we did "The Great Trek"

But on what basis did you choose the rod position?
 
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Lord Paul

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It depends on whos fishing near - mostly low down to the water - but if Mark Wintle is night fishing nearby - the rods are pointing up at his heart - the only why to kill a vampire
 
Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)

Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)

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Depends on water flow.

Used to fish with rod low but got drag if a lot water pushing through. Not always a good idea to add extra wieght. Chance of still holding bottom if rods are high because less line in the water means less drag on the line.

Also, it could mean better bite detection if rods are high so looking at rod tips against the sky (night fishing not included).This is a matter of choice.
 
Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)

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Yep - beachcasters akimbo was advised as means of avoiding drag on line - however some of the discussion on a couple of the barbel forums (in between those blokes all telling each other how much they love each other) made me think about issues of the fish being put of by touching the line...so I'm trying low rod and long hook lengths - all i've got to do now is find some fish!

Must be down to the last page now Matt - do i suspect you've been diddybibbified?
 
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Sean Meeghan

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I don't agree that fishing with the rods high means less drag. If you keep the rod tip lowthe line enters the water in the margins and hits bottom sooner. The current speed in the margins and on the bottom is slower than mid water and so causes less force on the line.

In addition to thisyou'll find that fishing with the rod high at any sort of range actually keeps very little more line out of the water than fishing with the rod tip low (try it and see). If you do need more weight to hold bottom with a low rod tip it's usually very little more and the advantage of keeping the line near the hook close to the bottom usually makes more difference than a fish feeling the added weight.

The ony time I fish beachcaster style is if I'm fishing a river with a snaggy bottom (some stretches of the Trent and Ribble).
 
The bad one

The bad one

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I'm with Sean on this one, It all about flow dynamics. If you really want to fish the far bank with as little line in the water as possible. Try using a polly ball stopped just over depthof the water in the swim.

Effectively you're float ledgering with a polly ball. This method myself and a mate Johnny Williams usedto devastating effect when we were river piking on the far bank of the upper Severn 20 odd years ago.

The only line you actually have in the water is the line between ball and lead/feeder. You do need to fish beachcaster style for this method to work. Whilst I've never used this method for Barbel, I see no reason why it shouldn't work with this species given the bites and selfhooking you get.

It also helps at this time of year to keep the leaves down that collect on the line. Due to having far less line in the water than conventional methods.
 
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redalert06

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depends on the spot you are fishing (width, flow, depth, etc) and the wind.

it you are on a big wide deep river it isn't going to make much difference. but the other day I was fishing a local river only 20 metres wide on a bend, all the flow was on the inside 3rd, I was fishing to the far bank (about 6ft of water), lifting the rod up beachcaster style kept the line out of the flow which mean't I could use a soft top.

if it was windy i would have needed to put the rod down low and use a stiffer tip due to the line going through the main current. line strength makes a difference as well, 3lb line will drag a lotless than 12lb.
 
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Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)

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Would always try and have the rod pointing in the direction of the bow in the line when fishing across ie downstream at about 45 degrees so you strike with the bow not against it.Will try and keep the rod low where possible.It might mean more line in the water but simply add weight.As long as lead or feeder is balanced so as to displace when a fish takes it doesn't really matter as the fish wont feel the lead until after the inital drop back when it shoud be too late for it to spit the hook anyway.
 
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brendan the dictionary man999

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Another way to try is go with one rod and hold it not all bites are big pulls on the rod ? and if you are hold off the rod you will feel every small pull how many times have we been looking at are rod tips to see it have a little tip and then nothing but if you where hold off the rod you would of been able to strike at it straight away ? it must be worth a try .I know its not as confortuble way to fish as sitting back in are chairs looking up but are we there to be comfy or to catch fish ?
 
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