Commercials Part 5 – Buying and Elasticating a Pole
by Mark Wintle
Visit a popular ‘commercial’ carp water, and several methods are likely to be in use. There are the pole anglers, anglers legering with method feeders or bolt rigs, and yet others are float fishing with good old fashioned rods and reels. So where do you start? All of these approaches will work, but which one is best suited to a novice, and why?
Poles, poles and more poles
Floatfishing is one of the most active and satisfying ways of fishing this type of water. It’s fun, demands concentration, and is a skill that can be developed and refined with experience. The great thing about this style of fishing is that it doesn’t need incredibly sophisticated gear to catch fish. So keeping it simple gives us two options: pole fishing, and floatfishing with a rod and reel.
Those that already have a suitable rod for floatfishing don’t have to buy a pole to catch fish on commercials. There are plenty of ways to catch fish using some simple floatfishing rigs, and adaptations of pole fishing rigs as well. But for those that would like to find out much more about poles and pole fishing then read on. I shall come back to rods and reels later in the series.
Poles
Fishing with a pole is simple. Extendable through detachable joints, it gives you the potential ability to fish up to about fifteen yards from the bank with tremendous precision.
You attach the line, float (with shotting), hook and bait (collectively known as a rig) to the end of the pole. Inside the end of the pole is an adjustable length of special elastic. This comes in different strengths known as ratings. The pole elastic acts as a shock absorber to help play the fish so that you can land it. At the end of the pole the elastic emerges through a Teflon collar (PTFE bush), terminating in a plastic link known as a Stonfo. Attach the rig to this using a small loop, and you’re ready to fish. The other end of the elastic is anchored inside the pole using a plastic cone called a bung. The overall length of the rig is the depth of the swim plus a short length between the end of the float and the end of the pole. By breaking down the pole at the appropriate point you can bring the rig in for re-baiting or landing fish.
The most daunting aspect of pole fishing is that those using poles always seem to be doing so at vast lengths. The secret is to learn to use a pole at much shorter lengths. Even though your first pole may be 11, 12, 13 metres, there is no reason why you shouldn’t learn to use it with just three or four sections (4 – 5 metres in pole terms). (I hope that you will get used to the strange mix of metric and imperial measurements that you will find in pole fishing). It’s best to gain confidence using the pole at a short length, and slowly increase the length that you are comfortable at in easy stages, so the next stage might be seven metres. This has many advantages; it is much easier to handle the pole at shorter lengths, it’s easier to learn to feed accurately, to present the bait well and play fish. Finally you will learn that with a little skill that you can catch fish much closer in than maximum pole range.
With poles you get what you pay for and a top class pole of 16 metres is going to cost a lot of money (£ 500+, and could be a lot more). But a tough, useable pole of 11 metres might well do everything that an experienced pleasure angler could wish for at a fraction of this.
So what qualities should you look for in a first pole?
Weight – an 11 metre pole can weigh as little as 500 grams; you certainly don’t want one that weighs more than about 800 grams so beware cheap poles that are 1000 grams and more at 11 metres.
Length – whilst I’m saying that 11 metres is more than useful, it is possible to get some extremely good poles at 13 metres that are exceptional value for money. It may be that at full length they become unwieldy but that has been the case with virtually all but the very best poles for many years. You will often hear it stated that a pole is at its best with one joint removed. What this means is that buying a good 13 metre pole will mean that you have a pole that is excellent at 11.5 metres, and possibly better than one that is only available at 11 metres. Similarly, an 11 metre pole that has an extension section available will not be as good as the purpose built 13 metre pole. At 13 metres the pole should not be significantly more than 900 grams.
Elastic rating – there are poles with size 20 elastic rating; for the vast majority of pole fishing there is no need to even use above a size 14 so any pole rated to size 16 really ought to be adequate.
Slimness – holding a very thick pole, can be hard work unless you’ve hands like shovels. One of the advantages of using a pole at less than full length is that it’ll be slimmer. My preference has always been for slim poles; they’re less tiring to use and catch the wind less.
Ensure that the pole has put-over joints; that is where the joint nearest the thin end of the pole fits over the next joint. Ferrules built this way have more taper and come apart more easily. You may find that the top two sections are telescopic.
Stiffness – a pole that behaves like a limp hosepipe is little use. But nowadays all but the very worst of cheap poles at this length should be controllable and stiff.
Spare top kits – this where you get sets of the top two or three sections that can be set up with different strengths of elastic. This is useful but on a cheap pole you may only get two top sets. Three is ideal, better still if at least two of them are power tops. It’s worth finding out how much a spare top set will cost. Realise that the more expensive the pole the more expensive the top kit so that the top 3 kit for an expensive pole can cost more than a cheap pole. For commercial fisheries, power tops for the heavier grades of elastic are more useful than match tops unless you intend doing lots of light line work.
The great thing about power top two kits is that you only need to put the elastic through the top two sections with an external bush, and you shouldn’t need to cut the pole tip back at all.
How much to pay – amazingly there are useable, tough poles that are from 9 metres and upwards costing as little as £ 60; certainly for £ 200 – £ 300 it is possible to get a light, slim, tough 11 metre pole that will do the job well enough to really get to grips with pole fishing. To those more experienced anglers reading this and thinking that 11 metres is inadequate all I can say is that in 30 years of fishing a pole I’ve only fished at 13 metres once, and even with my current pole that is a pleasure to use at 11 metres, I usually fish at seven or eight metres, less if possible. There is a massive brainwashing that says fish a pole at maximum length at all times – but I remain unconvinced.
Spares – from time to time you will be offered poles at rock bottom prices, sometimes ones that sold for many hundreds of pounds a couple of years ago, or a second hand bargain. There may be a snag; spare sections for pole are usually available for about five years maximum, so a pole that’s been out of production for four years could be an expensive mistake if you break the seventh section when it’s irreplaceable. With second hand poles the same applies, with an extra caution – the joint around the third to fourth joint down where the pole is continually broken down can get a tremendous amount of wear. Again, you may need to replace the sections.
Making a pole useable
Just when you think the spending has stopped you find that your lovely new pole needs more expenditure to make it useable. Earlier on I mentioned getting top kits for your pole. You need to modify each of these to fit the PTFE bush with the elastic and suitable bungs to attach it to. By far the best way to get this done is to persuade the tackle dealer to do it for you. The tackle dealers that I know do this free of charge provided you have bought the pole from them, and obviously you will spend more money to get kitted out.
Stonfo, bung and bush
There are two types of PTFE bush; internal fitting and external fitting. The internal ones have a small bore that is only suitable for elastic up about a size 8, and so for larger sizes you must use an external fitting bush.
For lighter elastics, size 6 and below, it is necessary to either cut back a match top section or use a power top that should not need cutting back. With the heavier elastics it will be necessary to either use a power top section or discard the first section and put the bush into the second section.
Bush fitted
If putting the bush on the second section you do not need to cut it back only find a bush that fits tightly. When cutting back the first section (using a very fine-toothed junior hacksaw) it is vital to judge this so that the bush fits tightly so it is better to cut less than you first think and then try it. Only cut off a centimetre at a time. Ensure that you carefully remove any rough carbon edges with a small piece of fine emery paper before fitting the bush, including inside the pole tip.
The characteristic of pole elastic that makes it such a good shock absorber is its stretchability, and pole elastic typically stretches to about six times its starting length. My recommendation is to have three 2 top sets with sizes 5, 8 and 12 elastic, and, as I’ve said, a good tackle dealer will know what to do regarding set-up. To start with, get regular elastic rather than pure latex or the special fluid filled hollow elastic types. With more experience you may want to switch to these other types but best to keep it simple at first.
To one end attach a little gadget called a Stonfo using an overhand knot, suitably lubricated and tightened. Slip the collar over the knot having tightened it first. It is vital that you don’t damage the elastic when attaching this as this is the weakest spot.
Tying a Stonfo – 1
Tying a Stonfo – 2
Tying a Stonfo – 3
Fitted Stonfo
At the other end fit the bung (a plastic cone with a small elastic winder) inside the joint (usually two joints down), and retrievable using a device that hooks into the bung. Carefully cut the bung using a sharp Stanley knife. You need to cut enough off the bung so that the bung is just inside the bottom of the joint enough to avoid fouling the joint that will be inserted into it. Join the elastic to the bung with another overhand knot, again moistened and tightened carefully.
Bush and Stonfo 1 and 2 section
Most bungs used today have a small winder that is used to adjust tension and carry a small amount of spare elastic, say up to a foot. This allows you to re-tie elastic to the Stonfo should the elastic start to wear at the knot (it will, believe me). Check the elastic every time you use the pole for tiny nicks and abrasions, especially at the Stonfo.
Bush and Stonfo fitted
To lubricate the elastic use a couple of drops of pole elastic lubricant like Slip. The tension in the elastic should be such that when the line pulls on the Stonfo the elastic retracts inside the pole without leaving a bit dangling from the tip of the pole. You will find that when you first use the elastic that it gets a bit ‘stretched’ initially, and that you’ll have to re-tension it slightly. This is normal.
Guidance on pole elastic
This is only a rough guide, and bear in mind that the size of hook that can be used must also be balanced with the elastic. There is no point using strong elastic with a small fine wire 22.
Elastic knot tightened and spare on bung winder
Indeed, for really fine fishing you will need to drop down to very light elastics; size 3 or 4 can be useful for light roach fishing.
Elastic grade 5-6 – ideal for big roach, average bream; hook links to 2lbs bsElastic grade 8-10 – ideal for small carp to 4-5lbs, average tench; hook links to 4lbsElastic grade 12-14 – ideal for carp to about 8-10lbs; hook links to 5lbs
Next week – more pole fishing kit options including floats.
