16 metres plus Poles ???

[chefster]

Using 16m on my favourite club lake would see me fishing the far bank, that is the one on the other side of the island.

Luckily I find no need to fish at more than 11.5m most of the time. Were I regularly being beaten by others fishing over that distance then I would too. And I would consider buying a new, better pole to do it with. But if I have no need to fish that long I don't see the point other than being able to say "Because I can".

I read of others who say that to compete on their waters you have to fish at 13, 14.5 or 16m. I obviously fish much different venues. Most of the big weights I see and have caught myself have come from much closer in. My biggest match weight came through fishing topkit in the margins for the first three hours then +1 for the second half of the match.

Fish long if you have to, but do you have to? Have you actually tried plundering the line that everyone else is ignoring and bridging over? Might work, might not. But unless you try you will never know.

Well if you fished Tunnel in the winter and fished short all day you’d catch next to nothing until the last 30-45 minutes... most of the day is spent fishing long, and out of the peg as well , with bread and maggots .... Obviously in the summer , all my “double ton” weights are caught , shallow, throwing maggots short ... And as you say, on carp waters in the summer it’s mostly all short

 

[Arry]

A lot of folk start long and after a while the swim goes dead.... they've backed off, so where do you do from there...??? always taught to start short and move out as the fish back off

 

[Zerkalo]

This summer I will be mostly pleasure fishing waggler tactics as I save up for a pole I can fish comfortably over 11m. Before I loved fishing pole but I have rejuvenated my love of waggler fishing. When I do get a pole, looking at the Tricast Perception, I would have to pay an extra £200 to take it from 14.5m to 16m. So things I'd have to consider 1) whether or not I have venues where I actually need the full 16m and 2) whether the pole is actually going to be usable comfortably at 16m. Because I don't really have venues that need 16m I will be tempted to go for 14.5m.

 

[chefster]

A lot of folk start long and after a while the swim goes dead.... they've backed off, so where do you do from there...??? always taught to start short and move out as the fish back off

. That’s right in a lot of situations, but not on certain venues in winter

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Well if you fished Tunnel in the winter and fished short all day you’d catch next to nothing until the last 30-45 minutes... most of the day is spent fishing long, and out of the peg as well , with bread and maggots .... Obviously in the summer , all my “double ton” weights are caught , shallow, throwing maggots short ... And as you say, on carp waters in the summer it’s mostly all short

Therefore were I to fish Tunnel in the Winter I would find myself needing to buy and fish a good long pole. The point I was making.

And fishing "out of the peg"? Beyond your peg's boundary and thus cheating? I can do that without a long pole

 

[chefster]

Therefore were I to fish Tunnel in the Winter I would find myself needing to buy and fish a good long pole. The point I was making.

And fishing "out of the peg"? Beyond your peg's boundary and thus cheating? I can do that without a long pole

Your allowed to fish upto the boundaries of your peg which in most cases is 16-17.5 m... i like fishing long, but it’s not always a nice experience, if it’s windy etc, but sometimes has to be done ?‍

 

[mickthechippy]

This summer I will be mostly pleasure fishing waggler tactics as I save up for a pole I can fish comfortably over 11m. Before I loved fishing pole but I have rejuvenated my love of waggler fishing. When I do get a pole, looking at the Tricast Perception, I would have to pay an extra £200 to take it from 14.5m to 16m. So things I'd have to consider 1) whether or not I have venues where I actually need the full 16m and 2) whether the pole is actually going to be usable comfortably at 16m. Because I don't really have venues that need 16m I will be tempted to go for 14.5m.

my reasoning for buying just the 13mtr version of the Airity in its entirety too

being as I fish the military canal, and a couple of local commercials mainly, there are underwater features and shelves well within that length where the target fish congregate, easier feeding, easier shipping both in and out, and quite often faster than fishing long

there are very few times when I need to shove the last two sections on,

 

[chefster]

I’ve noticed anglers that can’t fish long, are quick to down cry it and say it’s a waste of time, and unnecessary! It’s like anything in fishing , it’s not the be-all and end-all, but another string to your bow

 

[robert d]

I’ve noticed anglers that can’t fish long, are quick to down cry it and say it’s a waste of time, and unnecessary! It’s like anything in fishing , it’s not the be-all and end-all, but another string to your bow

I think it's a bit of an art and practice practice and more practice is needed and when you get everything right it can put more fish in your net .some people make it look easy and my hats off to them .

 

[mickthechippy]

its nothing to do with not being able to fish long

if Ive got to put all the sections together to shove a float amongst the sticky ups and lilys on the far bank of the canal, I will, as I also will to fish to islands etc, but I dont enjoy it and those situations are rare indeed,

the canal at its widest here is a max of 17-18mtrs and there are lillies and reeds out from the far bank about a metre to two metres, the far bank shelf is about 13 to 14 mtrs away max

the more productive lines, the topkit plus 1 and the 5 and 9 section line are far easier too fish, feed and rarely dont produce fish to the feed introduced

 

[Dave]

Short rod and bomb

 

[Arry]

Never been truly comfortable fishing long.. 14.5 was the longest I've fished with my Dam Litanium but that was years ago... my Drennan is too heavy for my back and shoulder past 11.0m and nowadays with all my injuries I'm looking to fish no further than about 9-10mts max, I think I may look at a margin pole like the Preston Edge Monster

 

[Paul.P]

I have noticed this last year or two, that more & more of the people I fish with are turning against the long pole due to back problems, now whether there all caused by the long pole or not is up for debate, but said anglers fish fine with poles up to around 9-11m, worrying thing is some of these anglers are relatively young, in there 40's, makes you wonder if the 20-30yr olds are doing damage to there backs for later in life ?.

 

[Zerkalo]

The canal near me, Staffs/Worcs, only needs 11m max, often 10m to reach the far bank. I know of one peg on a fishery where the island is 16m, so it’s not worth it for the off chance I fish that. When I fished and won a match in Winter at TBF I drew the bridge peg on House Pool and only had to fish at 5/6m under the bridge. That was years ago though, can see why you need 16m most of the time there. When I used to pleasure fish it I used to fish the pool with lilies in the middle and you would probably need 16m to reach them.

 

[davepellet]

Only ever fished 16m (*) once during a match, and that was with my old Zircon with the short no3 section, so not actually 16m

felt a bit stupid as well, as I came 2nd that day but the winner round the other side of the island had caught all his fish from his margin line

swapped to an Acolyte Carp when they came out, because the above proves I've personally never needed anything longer than that, and I'd packed in match fishing altogether by then.

To be honest I've never even used the 14.5m section, and these last couple of years I've only been carrying 11m of the remaining pole (so 7 sections including top 2, with a set of rubber bungs to fit that section so it'll fit in the shorter Zircon carryall, and so is easier to lug around)

I do a lot of tench & crucian fishing, and as we all know, margins and the bottom of the near shelf are the best places to target them, so to be honest I could probably have got away with maximum of 8m...

I'll probably never buy anything over 13m again

 

[chefster]

The canal near me, Staffs/Worcs, only needs 11m max, often 10m to reach the far bank. I know of one peg on a fishery where the island is 16m, so it’s not worth it for the off chance I fish that. When I fished and won a match in Winter at TBF I drew the bridge peg on House Pool and only had to fish at 5/6m under the bridge. That was years ago though, can see why you need 16m most of the time there. When I used to pleasure fish it I used to fish the pool with lilies in the middle and you would probably need 16m to reach them.

It fished a lot different years ago mate , a lot more pressure on it now, with 4 different leagues, on it in the winter, plus matches every day, it can be very difficult

 

[Zerkalo]

It fished a lot different years ago mate , a lot more pressure on it now, with 4 different leagues, on it in the winter, plus matches every day, it can be very difficult

Which pools do you fish? I am talking 15 years ago now probably very different. Remember there being a lot of canal lakes there too though?

 

[chefster]

All of them, the opens and leagues are rotated

 

[robert d]

its nothing to do with not being able to fish long

if Ive got to put all the sections together to shove a float amongst the sticky ups and lilys on the far bank of the canal, I will, as I also will to fish to islands etc, but I dont enjoy it and those situations are rare indeed,

the canal at its widest here is a max of 17-18mtrs and there are lillies and reeds out from the far bank about a metre to two metres, the far bank shelf is about 13 to 14 mtrs away max

the more productive lines, the topkit plus 1 and the 5 and 9 section line are far easier too fish, feed and rarely dont produce fish to the feed introduced

I look at it like this fish as short or as far as you need to shorter the better . If I'm not comfy or conditions are not suitable I dont hesitate to get the feeder or bomb out . I've found 13m is more than enough on most occasions but occasionally on the venues I fish I need 14.5 to 16m but only if the fish wont touch the feeder . 16m is a great option to have on its day

 

[smiffy]

All boils down to how seriously you take your matchfishing. My pole goes to 18m with the dolly butt but I’ve fished it longer than 14.5 on relatively few occasions. However, the number of times 16 or 17.5mtrs has got me some cash back at the end of the day is quite a high proportion.
Off the top of my head I can recall 3 match wins thanks to being able to fish 16m and at least one section win. All natural venues and bonus fish lines I must add. There are massive advantages to being able to present a bait on the pole rather than waggler or bomb at these distances.
My priority was having a pole that I could fish all day at 14.5mtrs