New Pole

[boilie]

I have just bought a pole a Garbolino Antidote 16m.
with 3x power tips, 1x short no4, 1x cupping kit, skid bungs, and holdall. for £250
And would like some information about rigs, correct line to elastic etc. And any important do's or don't reguarding using the pole. Its new to me.

[anglerpaul]

Wow thats a great price for that pole. I never get bargains like that. I cant help you on methods, im very new to pole fishing my self.
I took my top tips to my local tackle dealer, and ask for is advice, he elasticated all 3 for me, only charging me for parts used.

[boilie]

good advice, Anglerpaul i took my pole to my local angling shop. And they sorted all the top tips for me, all ready for next year.
Still not to sure on what elastic and what line and rigs i should use, but im sure somebody will help.

[Stu]

boilie,
If you tell us the sort of venues you will be fishing and the size of fish you want to catch, then we can advise on elastics, lines etc. Once you get the hang of it you'll wonder what all the mystery was! Just remember, use balanced tackle and you wont go far wrong.

One tip though to get you going. Make sure that all the top kits of your pole and the cupping kit are the same length. That way when you cup in feed you will be putting it exactly the same distance out as you are fishing. You will find that the top kits are probably best part of 3m or so long when new and when cut back they are around 2.5m. Your cup kit needs to be the same length, but will probably be around 3m long when new. Incidentally, I would suggest you fit a fairly large ptfe bush - that way you can fish with lighter/thinner elastics. With a small bush you can't fish with large elastics.

There are a couple of ways of shortening the cup kit. Measure up the width (look at the cup kit top section side on) against the bore in the adapter for the cups. It should look like you will need to cut a fair bit back yet the top will still be longer than a top kit (the ones you fish with). Then carefully cut back the thin end (be cautious - you can always cut a bit more off but you cant stick it back on!) until it fits inside the adapter for the cups. You will probably need to araldite it on, but do that later.

However if the cup kit is still longer than the top kits you can reduce the length further by telescoping it. By that I mean cut the cupkit into two pieces half way along either section and place the smaller section through the larger as if it is a telescopic rod or pole. Doing this will reduce the length by approx 6 inches. If the cup kit is still too long you can do it again and again until it's the right length.

If that don't make sense PM me with your number and I will talk you through it.

Stu ;D

[anglerpaul]

Stu i fish mainly on pools and on canals.so i had my top tips set by the tackle shops advice.
I have a 12 elastic in the power top two.
And 8, 5, and 3 in the others. Most of the venues i fish don't have big fish in them, some do. so how do you strike a compromise, catching loads of small fish and a big one takes the bait.

[Stu]

anglerpaul,
There's not a lot you can do about hooking the rare bigger fish when targeting smaller ones.

The thing to consider is how likely you are to hook a bigger fish. If it's unlikely (say you're fishing squats on the canal for bits and there are not many bonus fish present) then ignore the possibility, and live with it if it happens - chances are the hooklength will break or hook pulls out once the elastic bottoms out. Normal rigs for this would be a No2 elastic, 0.08 to 0.10 mainline to 0.06 to 0.08 hooklength.

However, if the chance of hooking a better fish is slightly more likely (say fishing caster on the canal for roach, you may get a bream, tench, chub or even carp take it) then step up the tackle slightly. Normal rigs for this would be say a 4 elastic, 0.10 to 0.12 main to 0.08 to 0.10 hooklength. Depending on the likelihood of hooking a bonus (how many are there in the stretch? have you drawn a known peg) then I would tend to go up to the heavier rigs otherwise I would start with the lighter ones. If it is a flyer then start out on the heavier rigs stepping up to higher grade of elastic; 6-8 for slabs & chub, 8-10 for tench and smallish carp, 12+ for lump carp.

Problems come though when the water has a complete mix of fish. The "worst" places being the mixed/silver fish pools on comemrcials. At these venues I would suggest you have a few different rigs set up geared to the fish they are most likely to encounter. 0.14-0.12 for maggot rigs (silver fish in the main), 0.15 straight thro for corn/meat/pellet (carp and big silvers), 0.17 for paste/cat meat (bigger carp). As a starting point for the elastics I would suggest white hydro for the mixed rigs (it covers from a 6 thro to a 10) and a black hydro (12-16) for the proper carp rigs.

One further tip irrespective of the places you fish - when tying the elastic to the bung in your pole double it up (tie it in a large loop, say 6 to 12 inches) that way you have a little insurance in case you hook an oversized fish and it tries to bottom out the elastic. Don't simply tie the elastic to the bung pulling the knot up against it. At the stonfo end tie it direct.

I hope that helps.

Stu

[anglerpaul]

Thanks Stu i have printed off the post to read agian. Gone into great detail.

[Stu]

No worries Paul.

[Max]

Some fine infomation
Hope i'm not hijacking a post but, ive got about £400 to spend on a new pole and with so much choice out there i was wondering if anyone could guide me in the right direction.
I just fish for pleasure and would target the smaller fish,so im looking for something lightwight and durable...any advice would be helpfull..cheers

[Stu]

Max,
Do you fish canals at all? If so, look for a 16m pole as you may need the length at times. If not, go for a better quality 14.5M pole.

Also, remember that you may need to keep a little money back for spare top kits. Some poles come with a fair selection while others don't.

The other thing to consider is whether you want a new model or a model that is being superceded. Depending on the make, spares may become a problem with older models in some instances but good bargains can be had.

A couple of good poles in that brakcet are the 16M Maver Deliverance and the new 14.5M Daiwa Aqualite, both of which can be bought for around £299.

Stu

[Max]

I got my self a bargain of ebay a Maver Mudusa 16.0M 3x power tips, plus 2 match top 2 tips. For £250.00
Its all setup and ready to go. I cant wait to use it.

[Stu]

Max,
Have you used the Medusa yet? If so, where did you go, what did you catch and most importantly, are you happy with the pole?

Stu

[Max]

Well Stu i got the pole, but i wont be using it till next year. Tried it setup in the garden, the people next door think I'm mad. ;D It felt great at 13 metres, and OK at 14.5 but when i added the last section to 16 metres, it became very springy and hard to control.
But im new to pole fishing, you get what you pay for.
Still very happy with the Medusa, and can't wait to use it. I better weather.