Rod and reel fishing club

[Sam_Ironmonger]

Hi all,
I have done a fair bit of match fishing before. Never really enjoyed it too much as it seems to be a lot of pole fisherman and not many with just rod and reel. I know of a fair few people that have said the same.
How much effort would it be to set up my own club just for rod and reel fishing??
It wouldn't be anything too serious.. Just a chance to give people without £1000s worth of gear to have a go at match fishing and join a club.
Cheers all.

 

[markcw]

Put notices in local tackle shops or if on FB put something on there .
You would have to book waters yourself .

 

[peter crabtree]

I started a weekly match/club thing for over 55’s about 5years ago. The rules were kept simple as possibly . Draw 9, fish 10-3 .
Rod, reel and float only. Pools £5 . All of these were fished on the Grand union canal around a wide area.
I also made matches “Open“ to entice new members.
It was surprisng to see the anglers who used to fish the canal years ago coming out of the woodwork and were refreshed by the experience on their second and consecutive matches…
I found Using the canals was much simpler than trying to book lakes ( near impossible) and not too many carp…

 

[markcw]

I started a weekly match/club thing for over 55’s about 5years ago. The rules were kept simple as possibly . Draw 9, fish 10-3 .
Rod, reel and float only. Pools £5 . All of these were fished on the Grand union canal around a wide area.
I also made matches “Open“ to entice new members.
It was surprisng to see the anglers who used to fish the canal years ago coming out of the woodwork and were refreshed by the experience on their second and consecutive matches…
I found Using the canals was much simpler than trying to book lakes ( near impossible) and not too many carp…

Do you still do them Simon .

 

[peter crabtree]

No, Mark. Handed it over to my number 2 last year.

What I did enjoy was seeing some of the rods and in particular the vintage wagglers some of the older anglers still had in their boxes.

The winner of every match got to choose the venue for the following Tuesday.

 

[markcw]

No, Mark. Handed it over to my number 2 last year.

What I did enjoy was seeing some of the rods and in particular the vintage wagglers some of the older anglers still had in their boxes.

The winner of every match got to choose the venue for the following Tuesday.

I still use my Drennan Crystalite rod , with either Daiwa 1657 reel or Shimano aero reel. Daiwa canal wand ,and Daiwa 10' light feeder rod , I have a set of the Image peg leg balsa wagglers as well , they must be over 20 years old . Rods and reels around 35 years old .
Got some Ivan marks and Benny Ashurst wagglers somewhere.
Also got a 7 metre Garbolino fibreglass pole that weighs more than my 16 metre G50.
When I ran the matches for a local club ,we always had a bread only match . And I did a rod n reel only match as well . Float and feeder .

 

[Badgerale]

I'm not really at a point in life where I can commit to match fishing but if I was something like that might entice me to take the plunge.

I have considered giving matches a go but nothing about pole fishing appeals to me, and I worry i'd feel like a twat if I turned up with just pleasure fishing gear.

 

[peter crabtree]

I find it strange that people associate match fishing and poles? You dont have to use one and it is possible to win with rod and line.

My 5 years on the canal circuit without a pole and solely using waggler has honed my old skills 10 fold.

I have also learned that on some venues ( after 20 years of my match history) there are often pegs put in which are too small and tight to use a pole efficiently…

 

[nottskev]

I never realised you were organising those canal matches as well as fishing them, Simon. I thought they were a great idea,
Light waggler is an art on its own, and getting rarer to judge by some of the clunky things flung into carp pools.
How viable it is on canals in peak boat hours can depend on how much your canal races back and to as locks are opened.
I never met anyone dismissing poles who had experience of using one.

 

[peter crabtree]

Pole on the canal can be challenging . The fence behind too close, the moored boat needs to be far enough to my left to swing the pole around onto the parallel rollers. And of course the boats cruising, lock movements inevitably following, in a word, difficult on many pegs.
Also if the water is clear, fish don’t like a visible pole over their heads

 

[markcw]

I find it strange that people associate match fishing and poles? You dont have to use one and it is possible to win with rod and line.

My 5 years on the canal circuit without a pole and solely using waggler has honed my old skills 10 fold.

I have also learned that on some venues ( after 20 years of my match history) there are often pegs put in which are too small and tight to use a pole efficiently…

There are some good pegs on the Oxford Canal opposite a marina , A pole would put you at the edge of the boats or in between them .The boats are either front end in or front end out depending if they have side thrusters . Trouble is not extracting the fish from the marina ,it's unshipping the pole without going going parallel to the towpath due to obstructions behind you. So its fishing the Waggler or a small canal wand .
Other part of the canal I use is brilliant for unshipping , but no features such as rushes or any foliage overhanging on the far bank . So its down the track fishing due to not much on the far side gets caught .
Are the matches you put on the GU at Milton Keynes open to anyone ,?

 

[markcw]

View attachment 21873

Pole on the canal can be challenging . The fence behind too close, the moored boat needs to be far enough to my left to swing the pole around onto the parallel rollers. And of course the boats cruising, lock movements inevitably following, in a word, difficult on many pegs.
Also if the water is clear, fish don’t like a visible pole over their heads

Simon ,looking at the pic ,it seems as if you have 14metres or so of pole on the rollers , is that for the far side or to put a bait in front of the moored boat to your left , ?
Going by your write up it sounds as if for far side, ,

 

[dalesman]

Never fished a pole in twenty years and don't own a feeder rod any more, for me its the float every time and I don't miss the former method and look for natural venues