Poles

Which Pole to start with?

Pole fishing is a most enjoyable way to fish and not as difficult as it might look.
The first thing that might put you off is the huge choice of poles to choose from. A good length would be no longer than 11 metres to begin with. The longer pole can be purchased at later date if you so wish. Also, the weight of the pole is very important. You need to be comfortable when fishing!

A good pole to start with would be a margin pole. These are among the strongest of poles and make a good starting point for your introduction to pole fishing.

Typical lengths and weights of pole would be: -

7 metre length weight approx 600g
8 metre length weight approx 700g
9 metre length weight approx 850g
10 metre length weight appro 1000g

There are other types of pole also available, namely Carp poles, Match Poles and ‘All Rounders’

Try to stick to poles that are no heavier than the ones listed above. The more money you have to spend means that the pole will be lighter (and better). A good place to look for poles is on eBay.

If you purchase a used pole from eBay and you find that it is not for you then you can easily re-list it and sell it for about the same money that you paid for it.

Before you purchase, it would be great if you can try out the ‘feel’ of the pole first. Ideally sit on a fishing seat box and test the weight and feel of the pole out at full length. Maybe a friend is already pole fishing and you could try his or hers. With the longer poles fishermen use front and back rolling gear to move the pole backwards and forwards more easily.

Once you have purchased your pole, you will need to sort out the elastic and main line.

The elastics come in different ratings, colours and can be made differently.

The main ones that I have seen are hollow elastic, Hydro, Latex and Solid.

The most commonly found elastic will be Solid. Solid elastic will stretch to approx 5 times its length before reaching its limit (bottoming out). Solid elastic would be a good choice for your first purchase. The other types or elastic are perhaps more exotic and a bit more expensive.
You can always play with the other sorts later!

It is important to make sure that the breaking strain of your rig line is a lot less than the elastic. For obvious reasons, you do not want the elastic to break before the line (in the unhappy event that a huge Carp goes charging off into the far distance).

The elastic ratings go from 1 to 25. A good starting elastic would be a #10. This would cover most fish and small carp, say around the 6lb mark.

The elastic will be thread through the top sections of the pole. I tend to use the top three sections rather than the top two. This gives you more elastic to play the fish with. A good starting point to set your elastic is so that it just slides back into the pole tip (5cms or so). We don’t want the elastic hanging out of the end! Test the elastic by stretching it out to its limit and then seeing where it settles back. If it hangs out then it needs to be trimmed back a little.
You should also consider lubricating the pole tip so that the elastic slides in and out easily. I use hair conditioner but will find many products available.

At this point, I would visit my local tackle shop for personal advice on rigging, weights, floats etc. These shops offer a wealth of tips and information.

This is just a start. It would also be great if you can stroll round a venue and politely ask questions. Most anglers will be happy to offer advice and pointers.

Below, you will find the latest selection of competition and pleasure fishing poles listed here.

We 'trawl' through Ebay to gather together the most popular poles and display them here for your perusal.
Items for sale are updated regularly.
Prices of poles to suit all pockets.