MRWELL
Well-known member
I can not remember if i put this on here a few years ago now or not and having looked i can not find anything so i take that has a (no) if i have already,i apologize for repeating it,i don't know if there is a limit on how long a post can be so i will have to continue at some point but i hope it will not put you off reading this.
When i first started pole fishing a long time ago now,i was reliant on my friends to tell me the basics as the information was very thin on the ground back then,the lack of fishing sites on the early net was also a big draw back but those that was on only put on information that was very technical and for a beginner that was of no use at all,now a few years on down the line there is loads of information to be found but again,the tech talk is there to be seen.
To a seasoned pole angler,this kind of talk is standard and easy to understand but to a beginner is it so easy i wonder,well the answer is no,like everything in life we have to learn from scratch,so with that in mind i set about putting together a article that is aimed at the beginner in pole fishing and with little of the tech talk involved so it makes it easy not just to follow but to understand,this is what i came up with,it is not spot on the mark stuff but more a guide,i am not even going to think about the many different makes of things that are out there these days but instead,i am keeping it simple,easy to follow and for the out and out beginner it should point them in the right direction but in no way am i saying it is a ''must do'' thing,just a guide,so with all that said let's begin shall we.
Where better to start than with the pole it's self,there are hundreds of different makes out there and everyone is better than the rest,well thats what they say,to a beginner a Pole can be a very expensive item to invest in and remember you will never get your money back if you decide to sell,so to get round that problem go cheap,plenty of second hand poles out there these days but lets take it a step further and that means the length,anyone who has used a pole will tell you that at 16 plus meters a pole is not easy to use and takes it toll on you,thats why you see many only using the pole at full length for short times,mainly the length of pole is around 13 meters that is used the most,i would even suggest coming down to 11 meters for the beginner.
Poles come in two basic forms from match to margin,now match poles are the expensive ones and can be a few thousand pounds in cost but margin poles are much less in value,this is because they are shorter,many only 8/9 meters in length,i have one that is 11 meters,the obvious disadvantage you have is that length but as a beginner you should not even think about that at the early stages,the most important part is getting to know how a pole works best,when to use it at what lengths,keeping it steady and so on and all this takes time to learn right,another disadvantage is the weight of the pole,match poles are lighter than margin poles,i will put a guide on that shows that later,the reason being that match poles are the top end of the range,lighter carbon and so on,margin poles are meant for close in fishing and that means snags,you need strength for that and margin poles give you just that but with it comes extra weight and even a few ounces takes it toll over a long session.
Continued........
---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 15:06 ----------
So we have a idea of what pole to look for,now we need to top kits,what?to a beginner they will say that but really the top kits are the sections of pole that the elastic runs through,that could be two or three sections,these are called power top two or match top three kits.
Match top three are for the lighter elastics but power top two is for the heavy stuff,thicker elastic means more cut back on the top kit,that in turn means you are only using two sections of pole to cater for this as the first section is for very thin,light elastics,it is a little more technical than that but like i have said,i don't want to talk tech talk.
So i hope you can follow up to this point,now just a little tip here,make sure your pole can handle the elastics you might be using,with the light stuff there is no problems but as you get to size 18 plus then you must be sure your pole can take that,the pole will take any elastic but it comes rated,this means the size of elastic at it's maximum for safety reasons,there is only so much pressure you can put on a pole joint/sections before it breaks,the elastic gives the pressure so many makers of poles these days put on a rating,if not find out about it,if it states 18 then nothing more than a 18 elastic should be used,this is to stop damage to the pole.
Well we now can go on to elastics,seeing i have been going on about them,lets look at this like a car,the pole is the body work but the elastic is the engine,it give the power you need to handle what you catch and elastics have come a long way over the years,mainly they come in Solid,hydro,latex,duel core,hollow, yes it is a bit off putting and most is all personal preferences as to what you use,i would always say solid for beginners,simply for cost and the less stretch you get,solid elastic will stretch around five times it's own length,the others up to ten times,this in turn means more contact and control on the fish but it also has it's draw backs with the chance of bumping fish off the hook,this happens when fish go on the run and the elastic takes hold or bottoms out (hit's the stretch limit) this in turn pulls on the hook,with solid this happens much quicker so the chances are much higher of this happening,just one of many good and bad points i am afraid when it comes to elastics.
So we are getting near to having you pole sorted out,just a few bits you need to add before you can use it,the elastics are attached to holders,these are called bungs,there are different ones on the market and again it is all personal preference as to what you use but again being a beginner i would go with the winder bung,easy to use and fit,at this point it would be best to get someone who has elasticated poles before to do it for you,just watch and learn,it is easy believe me,once he elastic is on the bung it need to be at the right tension,before you can do that you need to attach a stonfo connector,this is what your rigs will attach on,a simple bit of plastic with a sleeve on,under that there is a hook attachment and a hole,the elastic fits in the hole and tied down,the sleeve goes over that,it will also go over the hook attachment and hold your rig in place,just pull back to remove afterwards but remember they do come in different sizes for the elastics you are using so get advice beforehand,just one more thing now,that is a bush,this is fitted on the tip of you kit before you put the stonfo on or set the elastic,this comes in two types,internal and external,many like internal because it prevents your rig from getting stuck round it as can happen with external ones,internal will take more room up in the tip i might add but external will give you maximum room,your choice.
Many would say what about a ''crows foot'' or ''Dacron'' connectors,well would a beginner know how to use these,these things can be used later on when they become more competent in pole fishing.
This is just the start of learning the basics in pole fishing and i have only covered the basics so far,i will leave you to digest what little i have written on this before i carry on and there is a lot more to put down yet,i have no idea how this will be taken on here and i await to see if it is worth continuing,if anyone feels i should carry on then i will but it is time consuming so i would like to know before i carry on.
Many thanks for reading and remember it is for the beginner in pole fishing.
Tight lines.
When i first started pole fishing a long time ago now,i was reliant on my friends to tell me the basics as the information was very thin on the ground back then,the lack of fishing sites on the early net was also a big draw back but those that was on only put on information that was very technical and for a beginner that was of no use at all,now a few years on down the line there is loads of information to be found but again,the tech talk is there to be seen.
To a seasoned pole angler,this kind of talk is standard and easy to understand but to a beginner is it so easy i wonder,well the answer is no,like everything in life we have to learn from scratch,so with that in mind i set about putting together a article that is aimed at the beginner in pole fishing and with little of the tech talk involved so it makes it easy not just to follow but to understand,this is what i came up with,it is not spot on the mark stuff but more a guide,i am not even going to think about the many different makes of things that are out there these days but instead,i am keeping it simple,easy to follow and for the out and out beginner it should point them in the right direction but in no way am i saying it is a ''must do'' thing,just a guide,so with all that said let's begin shall we.
Where better to start than with the pole it's self,there are hundreds of different makes out there and everyone is better than the rest,well thats what they say,to a beginner a Pole can be a very expensive item to invest in and remember you will never get your money back if you decide to sell,so to get round that problem go cheap,plenty of second hand poles out there these days but lets take it a step further and that means the length,anyone who has used a pole will tell you that at 16 plus meters a pole is not easy to use and takes it toll on you,thats why you see many only using the pole at full length for short times,mainly the length of pole is around 13 meters that is used the most,i would even suggest coming down to 11 meters for the beginner.
Poles come in two basic forms from match to margin,now match poles are the expensive ones and can be a few thousand pounds in cost but margin poles are much less in value,this is because they are shorter,many only 8/9 meters in length,i have one that is 11 meters,the obvious disadvantage you have is that length but as a beginner you should not even think about that at the early stages,the most important part is getting to know how a pole works best,when to use it at what lengths,keeping it steady and so on and all this takes time to learn right,another disadvantage is the weight of the pole,match poles are lighter than margin poles,i will put a guide on that shows that later,the reason being that match poles are the top end of the range,lighter carbon and so on,margin poles are meant for close in fishing and that means snags,you need strength for that and margin poles give you just that but with it comes extra weight and even a few ounces takes it toll over a long session.
Continued........
---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 15:06 ----------
So we have a idea of what pole to look for,now we need to top kits,what?to a beginner they will say that but really the top kits are the sections of pole that the elastic runs through,that could be two or three sections,these are called power top two or match top three kits.
Match top three are for the lighter elastics but power top two is for the heavy stuff,thicker elastic means more cut back on the top kit,that in turn means you are only using two sections of pole to cater for this as the first section is for very thin,light elastics,it is a little more technical than that but like i have said,i don't want to talk tech talk.
So i hope you can follow up to this point,now just a little tip here,make sure your pole can handle the elastics you might be using,with the light stuff there is no problems but as you get to size 18 plus then you must be sure your pole can take that,the pole will take any elastic but it comes rated,this means the size of elastic at it's maximum for safety reasons,there is only so much pressure you can put on a pole joint/sections before it breaks,the elastic gives the pressure so many makers of poles these days put on a rating,if not find out about it,if it states 18 then nothing more than a 18 elastic should be used,this is to stop damage to the pole.
Well we now can go on to elastics,seeing i have been going on about them,lets look at this like a car,the pole is the body work but the elastic is the engine,it give the power you need to handle what you catch and elastics have come a long way over the years,mainly they come in Solid,hydro,latex,duel core,hollow, yes it is a bit off putting and most is all personal preferences as to what you use,i would always say solid for beginners,simply for cost and the less stretch you get,solid elastic will stretch around five times it's own length,the others up to ten times,this in turn means more contact and control on the fish but it also has it's draw backs with the chance of bumping fish off the hook,this happens when fish go on the run and the elastic takes hold or bottoms out (hit's the stretch limit) this in turn pulls on the hook,with solid this happens much quicker so the chances are much higher of this happening,just one of many good and bad points i am afraid when it comes to elastics.
So we are getting near to having you pole sorted out,just a few bits you need to add before you can use it,the elastics are attached to holders,these are called bungs,there are different ones on the market and again it is all personal preference as to what you use but again being a beginner i would go with the winder bung,easy to use and fit,at this point it would be best to get someone who has elasticated poles before to do it for you,just watch and learn,it is easy believe me,once he elastic is on the bung it need to be at the right tension,before you can do that you need to attach a stonfo connector,this is what your rigs will attach on,a simple bit of plastic with a sleeve on,under that there is a hook attachment and a hole,the elastic fits in the hole and tied down,the sleeve goes over that,it will also go over the hook attachment and hold your rig in place,just pull back to remove afterwards but remember they do come in different sizes for the elastics you are using so get advice beforehand,just one more thing now,that is a bush,this is fitted on the tip of you kit before you put the stonfo on or set the elastic,this comes in two types,internal and external,many like internal because it prevents your rig from getting stuck round it as can happen with external ones,internal will take more room up in the tip i might add but external will give you maximum room,your choice.
Many would say what about a ''crows foot'' or ''Dacron'' connectors,well would a beginner know how to use these,these things can be used later on when they become more competent in pole fishing.
This is just the start of learning the basics in pole fishing and i have only covered the basics so far,i will leave you to digest what little i have written on this before i carry on and there is a lot more to put down yet,i have no idea how this will be taken on here and i await to see if it is worth continuing,if anyone feels i should carry on then i will but it is time consuming so i would like to know before i carry on.
Many thanks for reading and remember it is for the beginner in pole fishing.
Tight lines.
