A fishing rod question
Discussion
Mr Gearchange said:
Line capacity won't be marginal if you are on braid - anyway, you aren't really going to need massive line capacity for this expedition are you? Your not going to be fishing at huge depths or casting massive distances?
I just keep reading of big ones doing 300m+ runs which sounds extraordinary, but better safe than sorry.Next question: Does braid degrade over time? Even if you load it but don't use it?
i.e am I better off waiting until nearer the time to load the reels?
blindswelledrat said:
Mr Gearchange said:
Line capacity won't be marginal if you are on braid - anyway, you aren't really going to need massive line capacity for this expedition are you? Your not going to be fishing at huge depths or casting massive distances?
I just keep reading of big ones doing 300m+ runs which sounds extraordinary, but better safe than sorry.Next question: Does braid degrade over time? Even if you load it but don't use it?
i.e am I better off waiting until nearer the time to load the reels?
Braid hardly degrades - I've got some on my rods which is 10 years old - and it still parts above the stated breaking strain.
Not much, only this;
I had a recent trip to Rutland Water with a bunch of other people, vertical jigging for zander. It's quite good fun, actually, worth a day out, though I wouldn't make a habit of it. Anyway, my boat partner had a cheap smartcast clone which turned out to be completely useless - it was telling us we were in 28 feet of water when the truth was closer to 90 (and I don't think it was reading in yards or meters). So we had to do without. Some people had really expensive models, some people had cheap ones off eBay which actually worked, and we were definitely at a significant disadvantage without. They were hitting fish on their drifts when the fishfinder told them they were over fish. I think we'd have done a lot better if I'd spent a bit of money on a decent fishfinder (and a better drogue, but that's another story).
I had a recent trip to Rutland Water with a bunch of other people, vertical jigging for zander. It's quite good fun, actually, worth a day out, though I wouldn't make a habit of it. Anyway, my boat partner had a cheap smartcast clone which turned out to be completely useless - it was telling us we were in 28 feet of water when the truth was closer to 90 (and I don't think it was reading in yards or meters). So we had to do without. Some people had really expensive models, some people had cheap ones off eBay which actually worked, and we were definitely at a significant disadvantage without. They were hitting fish on their drifts when the fishfinder told them they were over fish. I think we'd have done a lot better if I'd spent a bit of money on a decent fishfinder (and a better drogue, but that's another story).
blindswelledrat said:
Any of you lot know much about fish finders?
Largely useless for finding fish unless you are using an echo-sounder to locate massive shoals of fish for your factory ship.If you are using them to try and find individual fish then they are a complete waste of time.
Good ones are useful for assessing the topography and depth of the water - but that's pretty much it.
The ones that I have used were graphical echo sounders attached to a baitboat with a screen at the handset end.
They were fairly expensive (£800+) bits of kit - but were useless at finding individual fish, but quite helpful at finding holes in the weed in which to present a bait.
A fish finder that you might take out in a rowing boat I suspect would be more powerful - but I have no experience of those.
Actually that's not true - a mate of mine who buys a right load of old s
t bought one once from a taxi driver while he was in his cab.
He told me he was bringing it to the lake and was very excited about how he was going to empty the lake with his 'fish finder'. I had assumed that he had bought either a bait boat type unit - or a smartcast.
He hadn't. He had bought a fk off huge great thing that had two 3ft cables attached to a big screen which was very obviously supposed to be hung from the side of a boat to monitor the murky depths directly below the craft.
He turned up at the lake - dropped the cables into the margins which were all of 8 inches deep then settled back to see what fish he could find.
I let him sit there for a couple of hours before I wondered over to see how he was getting on.
"I don't think there's any fish here" he says
"There are no fish there" says I.
"how do you know?" he asked.
I beckon him to the waterside and point to the two big black cables lying in the margin.
"can you see any fish there" I ask him.
"No" says he.
"Nor me. I don't need a fishfinder to tell me if there are any fish in 8 inches of gin clear water"
I then have to explain how these work. He was under the assumption that they magically told you where all the fish were having just slung them in the edge of the lake. He had paid £200 for this.
His previous purchases included a cammo 'bivvy' which was neither large enough for an adult to lie down in - or waterproof. We later found it to be a kids play tent which someone had fleeced him for, and a bedchair which had no ratchets nuts on it so it collapsed each and every time he laid on it. He tried to fix this by painstakingly winding 1000m of mono around the bed chair frame over several hours to hold the head section in place.
As soon as he laid down on it it failed - he then tried to cut 1000m of line off his bedchair - abandoned that after an hour - tried to burn it off and set fire to both the bedchair and his play tent.
He was 35 years old at the time.
They were fairly expensive (£800+) bits of kit - but were useless at finding individual fish, but quite helpful at finding holes in the weed in which to present a bait.
A fish finder that you might take out in a rowing boat I suspect would be more powerful - but I have no experience of those.
Actually that's not true - a mate of mine who buys a right load of old s
t bought one once from a taxi driver while he was in his cab.He told me he was bringing it to the lake and was very excited about how he was going to empty the lake with his 'fish finder'. I had assumed that he had bought either a bait boat type unit - or a smartcast.
He hadn't. He had bought a f
k off huge great thing that had two 3ft cables attached to a big screen which was very obviously supposed to be hung from the side of a boat to monitor the murky depths directly below the craft.He turned up at the lake - dropped the cables into the margins which were all of 8 inches deep then settled back to see what fish he could find.
I let him sit there for a couple of hours before I wondered over to see how he was getting on.
"I don't think there's any fish here" he says
"There are no fish there" says I.
"how do you know?" he asked.
I beckon him to the waterside and point to the two big black cables lying in the margin.
"can you see any fish there" I ask him.
"No" says he.
"Nor me. I don't need a fishfinder to tell me if there are any fish in 8 inches of gin clear water"
I then have to explain how these work. He was under the assumption that they magically told you where all the fish were having just slung them in the edge of the lake. He had paid £200 for this.
His previous purchases included a cammo 'bivvy' which was neither large enough for an adult to lie down in - or waterproof. We later found it to be a kids play tent which someone had fleeced him for, and a bedchair which had no ratchets nuts on it so it collapsed each and every time he laid on it. He tried to fix this by painstakingly winding 1000m of mono around the bed chair frame over several hours to hold the head section in place.
As soon as he laid down on it it failed - he then tried to cut 1000m of line off his bedchair - abandoned that after an hour - tried to burn it off and set fire to both the bedchair and his play tent.
He was 35 years old at the time.
What a muppet!
This is what we were using them for - massive area of very deep and featureless water. You can see from the video how long it takes the jig to hit bottom! The depth is pretty important for locating zander, so actually we could really have done with one even if they didn't pick up shoals of fish.
http://youtu.be/QjEpCqAFnlw
I love that story.I keep forgot about this thread..
If you are using them to try and find individual fish then they are a complete waste of time.
Good ones are useful for assessing the topography and depth of the water - but that's pretty much it.If your talking about a smart cast type of sounder then yes, but not the case with what you might call a proper echo sounder. The key is knowing how it works, and how to use it. It could show a handful of hemp in 12ft of water as a shoal of fish, or not show a shoal of 3lb bream at the same depth...
In simple terms, if you want to find bait fish turn the sensitivity up, if you want to only see the bigger fish, turn it down.
I've used both Eagle and Hummingbird, much of a muchness...
Mr Gearchange said:
blindswelledrat said:
Any of you lot know much about fish finders?
Largely useless for finding fish unless you are using an echo-sounder to locate massive shoals of fish for your factory ship.If you are using them to try and find individual fish then they are a complete waste of time.
Good ones are useful for assessing the topography and depth of the water - but that's pretty much it.
In simple terms, if you want to find bait fish turn the sensitivity up, if you want to only see the bigger fish, turn it down.
I've used both Eagle and Hummingbird, much of a muchness...
Bump!
I have a question about drags/baitrunner.
Assuming a fish is going to take a bait savagely, and assuming in either scenario below that fishing rods will be secure, which of the following is best for hook-ups:
1) To have the reel set on baitrunner, allow a fish to run for a while, and then strike.
2)Have the drag set tight and let the fish hook itself with the resistance of the rod (and probably strike for good measure)
CHeers
I have a question about drags/baitrunner.
Assuming a fish is going to take a bait savagely, and assuming in either scenario below that fishing rods will be secure, which of the following is best for hook-ups:
1) To have the reel set on baitrunner, allow a fish to run for a while, and then strike.
2)Have the drag set tight and let the fish hook itself with the resistance of the rod (and probably strike for good measure)
CHeers
I'm not sure there's a definitive answer to that question BSR.
For me it would depend on whether I'm using braid or not, how stiff the rod is and how timid the fish is likely to be. If I'm expecting them to hit it like a train and I'm using braid and a stiff rod then I might be tempted to leave the drag stiff/freespool off. Using the freespool mechanism will give you more time though and might encourage a fish to take more positively if they are being timid.
For me it would depend on whether I'm using braid or not, how stiff the rod is and how timid the fish is likely to be. If I'm expecting them to hit it like a train and I'm using braid and a stiff rod then I might be tempted to leave the drag stiff/freespool off. Using the freespool mechanism will give you more time though and might encourage a fish to take more positively if they are being timid.
I'd usually assume it had hooked itself unless I was using a 10/0 or 12/0 heavy gauge hook or something that might need a bit more 'setting' so to speak. I'd be gutted if I did a great big wrench on the rod and then tore the hook out!
I'm applying my knowledge of Tope/Blue Shark fishing here, I have no idea if it's actually relevant to what you're going for!
I'm applying my knowledge of Tope/Blue Shark fishing here, I have no idea if it's actually relevant to what you're going for!
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