Starting fishing...
Discussion
Went fishing with a mate and my lad - he loved it so we have been a few times since on our own using the 4m whip my mate gave us. Doing ok and caught a nice perch this morning way over a 1lb (big for us!)
Anyway, at some stage in the summer my mate will take us again and we'll move up to rod and reel.....in the mean time, the whip he gave us is a bit old and ropey so was thinking of getting a new one as its such a nice easy way to fish. We back onto a small river so whats the best whip/pole/set up for that? I was thinking a 6m whip as the 4m leaves us a bit limited as it is quite shallow till a good 3m out.
As is obvious...we know NUTHIN about fishing so no complicated terms please!
T
PS. Today we caught about 20 small fish and the perch....what do we do to catch less smalls and more bigs? Is it hook/bait size? (using maggots)
Anyway, at some stage in the summer my mate will take us again and we'll move up to rod and reel.....in the mean time, the whip he gave us is a bit old and ropey so was thinking of getting a new one as its such a nice easy way to fish. We back onto a small river so whats the best whip/pole/set up for that? I was thinking a 6m whip as the 4m leaves us a bit limited as it is quite shallow till a good 3m out.
As is obvious...we know NUTHIN about fishing so no complicated terms please!
T
PS. Today we caught about 20 small fish and the perch....what do we do to catch less smalls and more bigs? Is it hook/bait size? (using maggots)
If you can, get a take apart pole, instead of telescopic, this will then allow you to fish at any distance you like without having to have part of the pole stuck out behind you.
Have you got a landing net already as this is extremely important, and also a few disgorgers as these tend to get lost very easily, buy plastic one's as they float if you drop them in.
The new Korum starter kits come very well recomened think they retail at around £60 and they do a Pole, Float fishing and feeder fishing starter sets.
Alternativly if you would like to tell me what you have already i could make a list of a few things you need and recomend some for you?
Have you got a landing net already as this is extremely important, and also a few disgorgers as these tend to get lost very easily, buy plastic one's as they float if you drop them in.
The new Korum starter kits come very well recomened think they retail at around £60 and they do a Pole, Float fishing and feeder fishing starter sets.
Alternativly if you would like to tell me what you have already i could make a list of a few things you need and recomend some for you?
It seems you have most of what you need then really.
Have you been plumming your depth to make sure you are fishing on the bottom?
To be honest I am more of a match fisher therefore fishing mainly Commerical fisheries and not really done much river stuff, but should imagine 6/7m would be ample for you starting out.
Do you have a tackle shop near you, if so go in and try some different stuff out, there you will be able to see what you are paying for and what you get for different price range's.
A good and helpful forum is Maggotdrowners (easily found on google)
Also if you can try and support your local tackle shop, Although in some cases they may be slightly more money than buying from the internet, the wealth of information you can gain is priceless, and fresh bait and upto date venue info (what bait's and tactics are working well) is also very useful.
Have you been plumming your depth to make sure you are fishing on the bottom?
To be honest I am more of a match fisher therefore fishing mainly Commerical fisheries and not really done much river stuff, but should imagine 6/7m would be ample for you starting out.
Do you have a tackle shop near you, if so go in and try some different stuff out, there you will be able to see what you are paying for and what you get for different price range's.
A good and helpful forum is Maggotdrowners (easily found on google)
Also if you can try and support your local tackle shop, Although in some cases they may be slightly more money than buying from the internet, the wealth of information you can gain is priceless, and fresh bait and upto date venue info (what bait's and tactics are working well) is also very useful.
Excellent!! what did you buy?
You will find you do that more and more in the coming week's/months.
It is impossible to walk past a tackle shop without going in and buying something.
Last week i went in for a bag of micro pellets and came out with a reel, hooks, floats, line, but no micro pellets.
You will find you do that more and more in the coming week's/months.
It is impossible to walk past a tackle shop without going in and buying something.
Last week i went in for a bag of micro pellets and came out with a reel, hooks, floats, line, but no micro pellets.
Similar circumstance to my boy and I.... started with him as needed to get him outside, started with my old match rod and a spin rod now fish mainly on commercials with pole, float and method feeder kit has been acquired incrementally - cheap is a mistake but there's a fine line between cheap and budget gear, we've also picked up masses of stuff second hand....
Pole wise - we use a Leeda Carp 9.2m and a ron thompson carp gangster 11m - budget stuff - not the lightest but easy spares availability (thank god we've bust the odd section trhough clumsiness)
Our method rods are a Drennan method combo (brilliant) and an Abu Garcia enticer (budget) - both have taken 20+lb carp with no problems.
If you want to catch some big lumps start with visiting a commercial - some are very much better than others...99% of anglers are perfectly happy to discuss gear, tactics, baits and generally help you out.
Only observation I can give you is if you're aiming to fish at 7m on a pole get at least a 9m pole - the balance is really important to aviod a very tiring time!!
Enjoy
Pole wise - we use a Leeda Carp 9.2m and a ron thompson carp gangster 11m - budget stuff - not the lightest but easy spares availability (thank god we've bust the odd section trhough clumsiness)
Our method rods are a Drennan method combo (brilliant) and an Abu Garcia enticer (budget) - both have taken 20+lb carp with no problems.
If you want to catch some big lumps start with visiting a commercial - some are very much better than others...99% of anglers are perfectly happy to discuss gear, tactics, baits and generally help you out.
Only observation I can give you is if you're aiming to fish at 7m on a pole get at least a 9m pole - the balance is really important to aviod a very tiring time!!
Enjoy
Probably the bait is the main change to look at for now - as others said, sweetcorn and luncheon meat are good. Worms on a river will work a treat if there are any chub around (which will give you a really good fight) and will also perhaps entice some bigger perch out. Perhaps try some cheese, snack peperami and bread as well.
If you get some nice really warm days and the fish start to rise (i.e.surface), try the bread with with the weight for the floats close to the bottom of the float so the bread floats - should be good fun.
I'd think about getting yourself a rod and reel set-up sooner rather than later as I think once you learn a few more techniques it will be more versatile.
I started coarse fishing again last year having dropped it years back for fly-fishing and am really enjoying it - caught my first crucian carp (maybe 5 or so around the 1lb mark) and not one, but two barbel!!
If you get some nice really warm days and the fish start to rise (i.e.surface), try the bread with with the weight for the floats close to the bottom of the float so the bread floats - should be good fun.
I'd think about getting yourself a rod and reel set-up sooner rather than later as I think once you learn a few more techniques it will be more versatile.
I started coarse fishing again last year having dropped it years back for fly-fishing and am really enjoying it - caught my first crucian carp (maybe 5 or so around the 1lb mark) and not one, but two barbel!!
Perfectly possible to fish rivers with a pole, and offers some real advantages in some situations, but my go-to tactics for most rivers would be the float rod or the quivertip rod. Trotting a float on the river is a real art and something of a dying one these days, and if you want to connect with bigger fish, quivertipping a big lump of breadflake into the tree roots for chub is a great way of getting your string pulled.
The great thing about the rivers is that everybody wants to fish commercials for carp these days, so they are really lightly fished.
Trotting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98gmHgPI828
Nice article on quivertipping for chub written by a mate of mine:
http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/coarse-fishing-article...
These were from the last day of the season, 2010, quivertipping a big worm under the bushes:
(centrepin reel not really necessary or ideal for that style of fishing, but I quite like using it at very close range)
These were from January this year, fishing bread with a quivertip:
Another last session of the season, 2007, had a great few hours trotting for small stuff here:
Mind you, I had already caught this on the quivertip rod
The great thing about the rivers is that everybody wants to fish commercials for carp these days, so they are really lightly fished.
Trotting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98gmHgPI828
Nice article on quivertipping for chub written by a mate of mine:
http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/coarse-fishing-article...
These were from the last day of the season, 2010, quivertipping a big worm under the bushes:
(centrepin reel not really necessary or ideal for that style of fishing, but I quite like using it at very close range)
These were from January this year, fishing bread with a quivertip:
Another last session of the season, 2007, had a great few hours trotting for small stuff here:
Mind you, I had already caught this on the quivertip rod
Ohhh....ok, bigger than what we are catching!
The poles are going well. This sat we are back out with my mate to move onto rod and reel!
Here's a question though, if we keep getting snagged on reeds....do we just fish somewhere else? We only avoid the reeds if we fish shallower, above them...but I guess thats no good?
Also, on the irver we fish it's flowing pretty quick right now so our only "technique" with the poles is to drop the bait in upstream, track it down stream, pull it out and repeat. This is working but only for small stuff - dace/small perch/etc
The poles are going well. This sat we are back out with my mate to move onto rod and reel!
Here's a question though, if we keep getting snagged on reeds....do we just fish somewhere else? We only avoid the reeds if we fish shallower, above them...but I guess thats no good?
Also, on the irver we fish it's flowing pretty quick right now so our only "technique" with the poles is to drop the bait in upstream, track it down stream, pull it out and repeat. This is working but only for small stuff - dace/small perch/etc
Tiggsy said:
Also, on the irver we fish it's flowing pretty quick right now so our only "technique" with the poles is to drop the bait in upstream, track it down stream, pull it out and repeat. This is working but only for small stuff - dace/small perch/etc
Which is why I think you'll do better with a rod and reel - you can either trot floats as just mentioned so you have more control, or look at legering, so your bait is weighted and held at your selected point on the riverbed, you can then feed that area etc.Tiggsy said:
Here's a question though, if we keep getting snagged on reeds....do we just fish somewhere else? We only avoid the reeds if we fish shallower, above them...but I guess thats no good?
In that case fish shallower, but ideally as close as you can manage, as often the fish will be close to the reeds as it offers natural protection. But test out all of your section of river - if there's overhanging trees especially try under them. If you can see holes in the river bed, explore them. Perhaps spend a bit of time one day just plumbing everywhere so as to get a feel for the topography which might give you more ideas.What you are doing with the pole is effectively a very short trot - yes, that will work fine, but you are limited in how far down you can fish. One of the advantages of the pole is that you can get tight up to cover without getting snagged - harder to cast tight to cover, but that is where the fish will be. Another advantage of the pole is that you can exercise really tight control of how the float goes down - sometimes, slowing it right down or stopping it will bring a bite.
I used to fish matches, years ago, and IMO the thing that really separates the winners from the pools fodder is feeding, especially on running water. The back-of-a-fag-packet answer is to flick a few maggots in every run through with the float, but reacting to how the fish are responding, judging when to feed more or less or to stop or to pile it in - takes experience, I'm not sure some of the people who do it best could even tell you how they do it. Try to think about how fast the maggots sink, how fast the current is taking them downstream and where you want them to hit the deck. You might actually need to throw them in some way upstream of where you are sat, depending on the depth and current.
I used to fish matches, years ago, and IMO the thing that really separates the winners from the pools fodder is feeding, especially on running water. The back-of-a-fag-packet answer is to flick a few maggots in every run through with the float, but reacting to how the fish are responding, judging when to feed more or less or to stop or to pile it in - takes experience, I'm not sure some of the people who do it best could even tell you how they do it. Try to think about how fast the maggots sink, how fast the current is taking them downstream and where you want them to hit the deck. You might actually need to throw them in some way upstream of where you are sat, depending on the depth and current.
Ok...now hooked!
Went flaot fishing with the mate and caught a few very nice fish - couple of big roach and a bream. Next day me and the lad got set up with two float rods and went trotting on the river loddon. Watch you tube first to master the art! Under arm cast, regular feeding the swim, etc.......half way through we switch from maggot to worm and on the reel back in the lad gets a big bite "dad, this is a big one" he said, but I just started my coffee so ignored him (thought might be another perch)...until I noticed a big old bend in his rod!
New rod now officially broken in and child hooked for life!
Next weekend the mate is taking us ledgering - this could be an expensive hobby!
Went flaot fishing with the mate and caught a few very nice fish - couple of big roach and a bream. Next day me and the lad got set up with two float rods and went trotting on the river loddon. Watch you tube first to master the art! Under arm cast, regular feeding the swim, etc.......half way through we switch from maggot to worm and on the reel back in the lad gets a big bite "dad, this is a big one" he said, but I just started my coffee so ignored him (thought might be another perch)...until I noticed a big old bend in his rod!
New rod now officially broken in and child hooked for life!
Next weekend the mate is taking us ledgering - this could be an expensive hobby!
We're hooked!
Spent much of the summer buy stuff (now need a trolly to get to our swim!) and fishing a local lake that see's very few anglers and is council operated so only £20 for a years membership. Been using the method feeder and always get a few nice carp in an afternoon - biggest prob 15/16lb (scales on the list for Xmas!)
Kid has gone from being happy with this:
To expecting this:
Now its getting colder we are moving to a bit of river fishing (we have the river loddon run a few hundred yards from our back gate - supposed to be good for barble, chub, etc) So that this weekend....then next month my fishing mate is going to get us set up for pike fishing!
Xmas list is sorted with kid wanting a seat box and me wanting a chair.....so we are a) comfy and b) dont have our gear getting all messed up!
Spent much of the summer buy stuff (now need a trolly to get to our swim!) and fishing a local lake that see's very few anglers and is council operated so only £20 for a years membership. Been using the method feeder and always get a few nice carp in an afternoon - biggest prob 15/16lb (scales on the list for Xmas!)
Kid has gone from being happy with this:
To expecting this:
Now its getting colder we are moving to a bit of river fishing (we have the river loddon run a few hundred yards from our back gate - supposed to be good for barble, chub, etc) So that this weekend....then next month my fishing mate is going to get us set up for pike fishing!
Xmas list is sorted with kid wanting a seat box and me wanting a chair.....so we are a) comfy and b) dont have our gear getting all messed up!
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