What gear for what fish?

[Silverfisher]

A certain longwinded thread that turned into a bit of a what what should and shouldn't be used for whatever type fishing got me thinking what type of gear do you guys use for your different types of fishing? Don't need to go into brands and or any particular specifics if you don't want to and not intending this to turn into a right way wrong type of thread I just thought it would be interesting to see how people tackle different situations.

My most frequently used set ups are as follows:

For waggler or stick float fishing for fish that are generally under 3lb (well mostly under a pound) but might run up to say 6lb I use a 13ft drennan acolyte ultra, drennan 7 series float reel with 4lb maxima and size 18 or 16 hooks to 2 to 3 pound hook lengths.

For feeder fishing for the same sized fish as above with small feeders (30g tops) I use a 10ft Shakespeare Mach xt wand (I know the 10ft isn't very practical so going to upgrade to an 11ft acolyte ultra), drennan 7 series feeder reel with 6lb maxima and size 14-16 hooks to 3 to 4 pound hook lengths. For bigger feeders or when more distance is required I'll swap the rod out to an 11ft John Wilson Avon quiver obviously with a quiver tops.

For barbel and chub fishing (which I'm fairly new to) I'll use the Wilson with the quiver tops again and the series 7 feeder reel with 6lb maxima and 5lb hook lengths when I can get away with it and 8lb mainline (the brand escapes me) and 6lb hook lengths when heavier gear is needed both with hooks generally 12-14.

For non specimen carp fishing (which I do very rarely now I fish predominantly rivers and more silvers based stillwaters) I use either the Wilson with the Avon top or a 10ft tfgear compact all rounder with the float top again paired with the 7 series feeder reel and I'll use the same line and hook length combos as for the barbel and chub with the 8lb to 6lb for doubles (my PB is only 17lb) and the 6lb to 5lb for sub doubles again to 12-14 hooks.

All the pike I've ever caught have been fluked fishing for other species so don't have a set up for those yet but going to try this winter!

Now over to you guys what do you usually set up with?

 

[davepellet]

interesting question SF, I'll be brief...

trotting small river (grayling & chub) 13ft Acolyte Ultra, Abu 1044, , 2.6 Drennan Floatfish direct on occasion, other times 0.12 hooklength (Supplex) to 16 or 18 Silverfish Pellet, 1-2ssg loafer / 1.5AAA bobber / 3bb wire stemmed stick

trotting deeper stretches of river (roach & dace) 15ft Floatmaster prototype, Abu 501, 2.6lb Drennan Floatfish, 4bb wire stemmed stick, 0.10 hooklength, 18 or 20 Silverfish Maggot

whip on same stretch 8m Acolyte pro, 0.14 Drennan Floatfish with 1.0-2.0g Drennan G-Tip 3 float, 0.12 or 0.10 Supplex hooklength with 18 or 20 Silverfish Maggot

tench fishing:

Either: Drennan Acolyte Carp pole (never more than 8m), KND 2-core 11-14 hollow, 0.14 Supplex with 0.4g home made slim pellet float, 0.12 Supplex hooklength to 16 or 18 Silver fish Pellet, or 16/18 Matrix Slik, 0.14 direct to 14/16 Silverfish Pellet & 0.1-0.2g home made slim margin float

Or: 11ft Drennan Acolyte Carp waggler, Drennan FD3000 with 4.4lb Drennan Floatfish, 0.14 Supplex hooklength to a size 14 or 16 Silverfish Pellet, 3BB crystal insert (or occasionally s 3bb Stillwater Blue)

Short to medium range feeder:
11ft Acolyte Ultra, 1-2oz tip, Drennan FD4000, 6lb Guru Dragline, up to 30g feeder of varying styles (usually a Drennan wire cage or gripmesh) on a swivel bead, stopped with 2x no8 stotz above a 6" doubled/twizzled section, with 0.12 or 0.14 Supplex hooklength between 12-24", size 16 or 18 (yes, you guessed it) Silverfish Pellet

Longer range feeder:
12ft prototype super feeder rod, 1.5-2oz tip, Greys GFS50 reel, 0.12 Trabucco braid or 6lb Guru Dragline, up to 50g feeder - the plastic ones with slits along the sides (as opposed to cage style), set up the same as above, 0.14 or 0.12 hooklength with Drennan red maggot in 16 or 18 or Kamasan B560 microbarb in the same sizes (which are the same shape as Silverfish Pellet)

 

[MarkW]

I remain surprised that the OP uses such heavy main line for floatfishing. I've generally used 2lb line for many decades and the improvement in control and presentation in using 2lb Maxima over 4lb is astonishing. For situations where I want a floating line I use either obsolete Daiwa Harrier 2lb or 2.5 lb or Dave Harrell Pro Line in 3lb. For roach fishing I'm increasingly using 0.08 or 0.09 mm hooklinks.

 

[Dusty]

Waggler or stuck float fishing for silvers - 3lb maxima or 4lb maxima.

Feeder fishing on commercials (method usually) either 6lb or 8lb depending on average size of fish.

On the Trent I use 12lb mainline when barbel fishing.

On the pole all my carp rigs are tied to 0.17 and all my silvers rigs to 0.13 with varying hooklengths.

 

[Silverfisher]

Davepellet - wow good detail there thanks for the very informative reply can't fail to learn something from all that! I feel obliged now to at least add now that most my feeders (mostly black cap or window) and hooks to nylon (silverfish pellet, silverfish maggot, b911 for 16-18, less fussy with bigger size) are drennan or kamasan. Floats are usually drennan as well with my wagglers tending to be loaded insert or straight crystals or unloaded insert or straight peackcock with the former usually the ones that take 2bb and latter 4bb. Most the sticks are in the 4-8bb range. Obviously a few exceptions with all of these things. Feeder tip wise I tend to use 1.5oz mostly but obviously more when needed.

MarkW - I was just bought up on 4lb maxima being the line for float fishing tbh and it is often mentioned in the angling press but then so is 3lb I guess. I do use 3lb at times just mainly 4lb to cover more bases as I always hook a few bigger fish. I probably should use primarily 3lb though as its plenty strong enough, maybe something to consider next time I respool the main spool for the float reel. Shows the thread is working as it's got me thinking about what I do which was the plan!

 

[MarkW]

I was brought up using 1.7lb Bayer as main line once my junior days of using the likes of PDQ were over; that was for dace and roach. 2lb Maxima actually breaks at 2lb 23oz and I've had carp into double figures, chub over 6lbs on it. With a light action match rod like the Acolyte I suspect you'd have trouble breaking 1.1 Bayer with a steady pull! I still occasionally use 1.5lb main line. Try a spare spool with 2lb line and tie your own hooks to a decent 0.09 or 0.10 line and you may find an improvement in what you catch.

 

[BoldBear]

For Roach, Rudd, Dace and other smaller speciesI on the float I usually use either my 13ft Drennan Acolyte Ultra Float rod or my 13ft Diawa Amorphous Whisker Light Float rod (AMW13L) or if I’m fishing a much deeper swim or I am trotting a float further out then I’ll use my 15ft Hardy Marksman Float rod.

For trotting for Barbel and Chub or waggler fishing for decent sized Tench and Crucian etc. I use my 13ft MKIV Drennan Tench Float rod or my 15ft Hardy Marksman Float rod.

For surface fishing for Carp then I will use my 12ft 2lb Tc Diawa Powermesh Carp rod

For specimen sized Carp fishing on the bottom I use a pair of 2.5lb and 3lb Tc Greys Prodigy Carp rods.

For bottom fishing for Barbel then I use my 1.5lb or 1.7lb Tc Greys Prodigy Barbel rods.

For bottom fishing for Tench, Crucians and smaller Carp I use my Greys 1.5lb/2lb Tc Multi tip rod

I have lots of other rods that I use for various types and sizes of fish but the above is what i use the most.

Ive just had the ‘low battery’ warning so I can’t list the reels that I use with each rod yet

 

[Yuccaman]

Personally, when fishing a small commercial, I favour a bivvy, 3x3.5lb TC rods, 20lb line, 4oz leads, alarms and a case of Carling. Because apparently, that's what carp anglers do.

 

[Silverfisher]

MarkW - I'll start with using 3lb (think that's 0.15 in maxima with 4lb being 0.17) and work my way down, or maybe the 2.6lb float fish as that seems popular and as I'm sure you can tell I'm quite into my drennan stuff, got support your local businesses after all! Hook length wise most of those I use are in the 0.11-0.13 range if I recall.

Boldbear - an ultra and a marksman that's a nice pair if you'll pardon the expression! My grandad also has both but both in 13ft, I've been known to borrow the marksman occasionally when I'm in a situation where I feel I need slightly more power than my ultra.

Yuccaman - how dare you say something as disgusting as carling wash your mouth out with soap! Or wash it out with carling as its much the same thing

 

[davepellet]

SF - thanks very much for that pal, appreciate that

regarding line strengths for float fishing or otherwise, I've tried lots of brands & lots of strengths (diameters) but the simple premise I come back to is with a heavier line, yes it might be less efficient on the cast, but it can withstand moving the shot around a lot better and if I want to step up to a heavier hooklength it can take it

 

[Silverfisher]

No problem Dave I like to give credit where credit is due

 

[BoldBear]

regarding line strengths for float fishing or otherwise, I've tried lots of brands & lots of strengths (diameters) but the simple premise I come back to is with a heavier line, yes it might be less efficient on the cast, but it can withstand moving the shot around a lot better and if I want to step up to a heavier hooklength it can take it

Both Drennan Floatfish and Dave Harrel Pro float lines have a hardened coating on them to resist Shot damage, the only differences are that the Dave Harrel Pro Float comes in 300 mtr spools whereas a Drennan float fish comes on 100 mtr spools plus the Dave Harrel Pro Float line has a slightly reduced diameter compared to the Drennan Floatfish line, however they are both good Float lines.

Keith

 

[BoldBear]

The reels that I currently use with my coarse fishing rods are:

Shimano Arial 4000 RA front drag reel
Drennan FD4000 front drag reel
Shimano Stradic 4000 GTM rear drag reel
2 x Team Diawa 2550 rear drag reels
OKUMA Sheffield Centrepin
Match Ariel centrepin
BlackCat Centrepin (used for near bank Carp fishing)
Abu 506 closed face reel (original model)
5 x Shimano 5000 series rear drag reels (various different models)

Keith

 

[Silverfisher]

Interesting I’ll have to take a look at the profloat as well not sure I’ve seen it in the flesh.

 

[Gwillim]

Rod
Reel
Pole
some waggly bits that go on the end

 

[johng19]

One thing I'm certain on you need hooks for all

 

[Sam Vimes]

I'm the sort of lunatic that buys appropriate tackle (to the way I fish) for any type of fishing, specific species, or method, I am aiming for. Once I've got that tackle, I then try to find items that will do it that bit better. The prospect of having to make do with just a few different rods and reels makes me uncomfortable.

Fortunately, as most of my fishing revolves around floats, my horde of gear is not quite as ridiculously extensive as it might be. However, there's a reason why I don't want to fish for predators (other than perch) or take up fly/sea fishing. I also don't much like tip fishing, so the amount of rods I have for that is minimal. I don't particularly object to pole fishing, but rarely fish venues where it's an appropriate choice, hence my pole choices being minimal and rather long in the tooth.

Long rods and centrepins for use on rivers are my main thing, but long rods and fixed spool reels for use on deep stillwaters aren't far behind. Thankfully, there's at least some crossover.

 

[nejohn]

Difficult question as I have built up a collection of rods over the years to cover various types of fishing and often have several rods that will do the same job

For stick float fishing it is usually something with a spliced tip between 12 and 20ft teamed with either a ABU 506M, Diawa TDM3012 or a Youngs centre pin....The go to rod is probably a Daiwa 13ft Conny but I do vary things

For waggler fishing again various rods with hollow tips in the 11-14ft range teamed with again a TDM3012 in the shorter length current favourite is a Garbolino Gmax 11'6 light comercial waggler and in 13ft probably go to's are Daiwa Spectron M2 or Maver Nanolith

If Barbel or Carp are the target with a float it will either be A Normark Avenger 2000 or a Maver Nanolith again with a TDM or the Youngs Pin

Light bomb work will either be a MAP matchtek 10'6 bomb rod or a Drennan IM8 bomb rod again with another TDM

Heavier feeder on Commies either Tri-cast xrs short method rod or Tri-cast 4x4 feeder again with a TDM

for general feeder fishing on still waters it would probably be a Maver Micro Crystal 12ft, again the Tri-cast 4x4 or a drennan Med feeder

for general river work probably the same as above

For heavier river work and also Barbel it will be Shimano Technium heavy feeder rods teamed with a Daiwa theory

line wise for the stick float it will be 2.6 perlon or float fish (3.2 at a push) general waggler fishing will be 2 or 3lb Maxima, waggler on commies I might go 4lb Maxima if it is particularly snaggy and am fishing a more powerful rod, for the feeder 4-8lb Maxima or Guru drag line depending on the situation with hook lengths being Daiwa G-Line, Guru N gauge, or Silstar matchteam

 

[Silverfisher]

Oh yeah they do float fish in 3.2 don’t they I’ll have a look at that as well, was trying to think what the middle weight was between the 2.6 and the 4.4 and the 3.2 was the one was thinking of!

 

[NoCarpPlease]

FWIW - Bayer Perlon 2.6 and Drennan floatfish 3.2 are the same diameter (0.16).
Way back 2.6 Bayer was my go to line for chub fishing.
When it got harder to source, I switched to 2.6 drennan and got broke up on the mainline too many times .... measured it with a micrometer and discovered why.
Generally - if there is a good chance of fish over 3 pounds then I'll use 0.16 diameter mainline .... under that I use 0.14 diameter.
That's for floatfishing on rivers.
I've carried a spool of 4.4 line for really heavy duty floatfishing for 8 years - and still haven't used it ...

95% of my floatfishing is now done with one model of rod (Cadence 13ft #2).
the other 5% is split between a 12ft "Image" canal rod, a 16ft Shakespeare LXL superteam and a 13ft Shaky mach 3 lite

bomb/feeder rods I use a much wider variety
10ft wand for link (winter roach fishing)
11ft swingtip rod (simply for fun)
11/13 heavy combo quiver (river feeder rod) - this is the one that I use the most and is the most flexible - I can fish for 6oz skimmers and double figure Barbel with confidence
11/13/15 extra heavy feeder (flooded or really powerful rivers)
11/13 stillwater quiver general bream feeder rod)
14 ft distance feeder rods