Since I started working at Angling Direct I have come to realise that I am more than confident in advising customers on Carp, Pike and Barbel angling but when it comes to using a pole I really am a duck out of water.
The only way I get confident to pass on knowledge, advise and be 100% that I am happy with what I am saying is to get out there and do it.
Now match fishing, or fishing for F1’s is never going to excite me, so I needed a way to fish for double figure carp on the pole. After a few lengthy conversations with Paul my manager and Ross another colleague from work who are both experts when it comes to using a pole we came up with a method that would suit my needs.
I am now the proud owner of a Shimanno Beast Master margin pole, a Maver MV-R seatbox and a selection of pole floats, hooks and hook lengths. I decided that I would embrace the pole angling experience fully and make my own pole rigs. For the main body I used 0.19mm Preston Reflo Power line with a Diawa Carpa Deck 0.2-gram float. Hook lengths consisted of 0.15mm Preston Reflo Power and size 10 KKM-B eyed hook.
I found constructing the rigs quite easy but a little more fiddley than my normal Carp rigs due to the size of the materials used and my sausage like fingers! I may go through just how I make my pole rigs in a later post.
For my first session with a pole I decided that the farm pond would be best. I found a group of fish feeding no more than a few inches from the bank. As I started to set up my pole and seat box etc I kept feeding the carp with a steady trickle of maggots. Rather than plumbing the depth where the fish were feeding I plumbed up a few feet from them along the same bank. After a few minutes use of the plummet I discovered they were feeding in just over half a foot of water.
After setting my float to the correct depth I opted to lower my rig in about a foot away from where I could see the carp feeding. I did this as I did not want to foul hook them, from the moment I lowered my rig in I stopped feeding the maggots where I had been and now started feeding around my float. It did not take long for a carp to home in on the new spot and within 30 seconds I had my first take from a carp on the pole. With the water being so shallow the carp just exploded into action and tore off at a great rate of knots as soon as it realised that it was hooked. I plunged the tip of my pole under the water and put as much opposite side strain on it as I dared. Let me tell you that carp led me a merry dance for around five minutes before I had it under control and was playing it on my top 2 and getting used to using a puller bung, after another minute or so it was in the landing net. I quickly feed the original spot before unhooking, weighing, photographing and safely returning my first pole caught carp. Just in case you are wondering it weighed 11lb 2oz.
I could not have asked for a better first session and caught 9 double figure Carp and lost 4. I must admit that I did enjoy catching this size of Carp on the pole, but I did at times feel utterly out of control. I think that at the moment I prefer rod and reel, but I will be trying this method out more and more and may even have a go for different species on the pole in the future.
All the best
Ian