Big Pike & Long Poles

Hi
I hope you like the photo above, it's just to remind you that warmer weather is just around the corner (he wrote with optimism) and even I will be thinking about getting my rods out soon.

When I say rods that isn't sticktly true, these days I only use one. Even when I think back to the days when I used to be a keen match angler and fished twice a week when I could, I still only used one rod at a time. I've tried using two rods, one ledgering and one on the float, but I found it hard to concentrate and invariably missed a bite on one while I was faffing about with the other.

These days when I see a group of anglers fishing a match on the canal it's as if they have all been cloned. Every one of them is using a long pole to winkle out a few fish from the far side.

I guess I was lucky in as much as when I was a keen match angler in the early seventies, the really long, light poles that we see now hadn't been invented. Poles were though becoming fashionable, but they were very heavy and not long enough to fish the far bank of the canal.

During this time every angler had to make a decision regarding what sort of a set up to use. Basically he had three choices, he could use a short pole, a medium pole or the good old-fashioned rod and line.

Some anglers who where entrenched in their ways would use the rod exclusively because they had no time for roach poles, but that was their loss. If you are interested there is a tale in my fishing book about an angler who stuck to the rod and line well after poles dominated the canal. He fished the far side for carp with a lump of bread flake and a notion that one good fish would mean sucess.Click here for book details

Anyway, I would set up the longest pole I had which would allow me to venture just beyond the middle of the cut and I would also set up a rod with a waggler float to fish the far side. My main line of attack was always a short whip just over the near shelf and I would use that to whisk a quick stream of gudgeon into the net. By the time the bites slowed down I'd have a nice base weight for the match and could then explore my options with the rod and other pole.

That all seems to have gone now, every angler is fishing to the length of his longest pole, the decisiom making element as reduced considerably.

It was inevitable I suppose but I can still remember how it used to be as we all lined up for the draw. It seemed like every week that one of the lads would brag that he'd just bought a new pole. It was always a few inches longer than the previous best or a few ounces lighter. It was also a good few pounds dearer but that didn't seem to matter in those days. Eventually after a couple of years poles got long enough to reach the far side with ease and I guess this is when match fishing lost its attraction for me.

Sorry there was no space for Scotland or writing in this post but there will be in the next which will be out in a couple of days.

Before I go I'd just like to sing the praises of Craig Humphries. He managed to catch a whopping 42Lb 8oz pike from Hickling Broad just before the season came to an end. Well done Craig.