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Rolling meat rod

Ashley Pickering

Active Member
Hi everyone I started rolling meat last season with minor success on a hard river. I struggle to feel what's going on at the hook end through my fingers. I'm using a 12ft free spirit barbel seeker 1.75lb with a rolling pin loaded with braid, could the rod be too powerful in the tip?
 
Rod 1.75lb is IMO yes too heavy but braid should be fine.
Ray Walton 11ft rod is the kit I use.
1. 3lb tc from memory and reasonably light but specifically designed for the job
There is a art to sinking the "weight" or meat and having the correct amount of line out to move the bait but feel the bouncing over the bottom.Been a while since I did any but great when you get a take.
A friend of mine has one of these that he may sell.
 
I caught 3 doing it last year but it was definitely more luck than judgment. I do have the newer ray Walton 1.6 t/c I think it is. but even that seems to stiff. Please keep me in the loop on your friends rod thanks
 
My ideal rod for trundling* will always be a fast-ish 'tippy' rod, but that tip will be there to enhance casting only, not to facilitate bite detection. It's a form of 'touch ledgering', with a moving bait and no ledger :)p) and a stiff rod is much better than a soft rod when touch ledgering. Soft rods 'absorb' pulls/plucks/bites, fast rods don't so much.
IMO
*Yes Rich, it's an 11ft Torrix 1.75 :eek:
 
Hi everyone I started rolling meat last season with minor success on a hard river. I struggle to feel what's going on at the hook end through my fingers. I'm using a 12ft free spirit barbel seeker 1.75lb with a rolling pin loaded with braid, could the rod be to powerful in the tip?
Rod sounds perfect for it
I love trundling a big piece of meat and the trick to feeling stuff is balancing a bait to the flow perfectly.
If your bait is going down the river on its own unaided even if it’s on the bottom it’s too light. You want it so that it’s getting held up every few seconds and you are having to dislodge it with a delicate twitch. This to me is the right balance and you will feel everything.
The bite is addictive and 9/10 it come immediately after you dislodge it. It’s just a great thump you feel straight through your fingers and you see the line entrance point on the river shoot straight towards you. I bloody love this way of fishing.
No need to change that rod it’s absolutely spot on imo.
 
Rod sounds perfect for it
I love trundling a big piece of meat and the trick to feeling stuff is balancing a bait to the flow perfectly.
If your bait is going down the river on its own unaided even if it’s on the bottom it’s too light. You want it so that it’s getting held up every few seconds and you are having to dislodge it with a delicate twitch. This to me is the right balance and you will feel everything.
The bite is addictive and 9/10 it come immediately after you dislodge it. It’s just a great thump you feel straight through your fingers and you see the line entrance point on the river shoot straight towards you. I bloody love this way of fishing.
No need to change that rod it’s absolutely spot on imo.
Maybe I need more practice to get the feeling then. Would help if there were some bloody barbel in my river they all seem to have gone
 
Maybe I need more practice to get the feeling then. Would help if there were some bloody barbel in my river they all seem to have gone
Terry made a solid point above. You don’t feel through the rod blank and you don’t bite detect through the rod blank.
You don’t even dislodge the bait using the rod. it’s all done with your fingers on an open bail and line delivery is under tension.
I always watch the line because that is the first thing you will see when it gets taken followed by the tug felt on your fingers.
You should be aiming to keep the line behind the bait. The bait should be heavy enough to sink to the bottom and get held up almost immediately then you gently twitch it lose with a little tug from your fingers and and let it feed (under slight tension) in the current until it’s held up again.
The worst thing to do is let the line go infront of the bait.
If you can’t make it go down at the pace you want it to then add more weight
 
As Terry and Rich said, the rod is perfect for the job. If you don’t feel the bite, check if your line is under the tension. I always add a bit of weight to achieve this, normally a shot just above the hook or, hair rig a shot and bury it in the meat. Feel the bite with your middle figures, for whatever the reason, I found it easier to feel the bite than my other figures.
 
As Terry and Rich said, the rod is perfect for the job. If you don’t feel the bite, check if your line is under the tension. I always add a bit of weight to achieve this, normally a shot just above the hook or, hair rig a shot and bury it in the meat. Feel the bite with your middle figures, for whatever the reason, I found it easier to feel the bite than my other figures.
Yeah… why is that? I thought it was just me but I always found that middle fingers seem to feel things better than the others
 
Yeah… why is that? I thought it was just me but I always found that middle fingers seem to feel things better than the others
Maybe the we use the index figure too much so it is so sensitive to things, and we don't use the ring and little figures so they lost the feeling as well. The middle finger is just at the right point, it get used but not too much to lose the sensitive? TBH, I don't know, just random thought.
 
it's definitely a practice makes perfect method. I tend to use an old Daiwa AKN116 rod, which is 11ft6in and 1.5tc. It's a lovely tool for the job. if i want a bit more power, i'll use a Free Spirit Hi S specialist, but have used a Barbel Seeker in the past, did a job, but quite heavy in the hand.
 
Maybe the we use the index figure too much so it is so sensitive to things, and we don't use the ring and little figures so they lost the feeling as well. The middle finger is just at the right point, it get used but not too much to lose the sensitive? TBH, I don't know, just random thought.
Makes sense
I’m more comfortable using an index finger with a thumb but definitely feel more with the middle. Weird. I put it down to 1 too many burns and injuries on my index finger and thumb from my welding days but never really knew for sure.
 
i've used Shimano technicum low stretch line in the past... Works well if you're trying to aid bite detection.
 
Rod sounds perfect for it
I love trundling a big piece of meat and the trick to feeling stuff is balancing a bait to the flow perfectly.
If your bait is going down the river on its own unaided even if it’s on the bottom it’s too light. You want it so that it’s getting held up every few seconds and you are having to dislodge it with a delicate twitch. This to me is the right balance and you will feel everything.
The bite is addictive and 9/10 it come immediately after you dislodge it. It’s just a great thump you feel straight through your fingers and you see the line entrance point on the river shoot straight towards you. I bloody love this way of fishing.
No need to change that rod it’s absolutely spot on imo.
I've got the chance to buy a hexagraph ray Walton no2 for £550 do you think it's worth it
 
I struggle to feel what's going on at the hook end through my fingers.
@Ashley Pickering ... if you're using a Rolling Pin, use braid and don't even think of using anything other than braid. But always use a leader (I mostly use Soft Plus fluro, about 4ft of it)...but avoid pre-stretched (what they stupidly call "strong") lines. If you're not feeling a 'bump ...................bump....bump........bump' then you've not got enough weight at your bait. If you're not using leaded hooks I'd suggest you do so, and if you're adding weight to your line (plasticine/whatever) then move that weight closer to your hook (use a float stop to keep it in place, maybe think of adding iron fillings to your plasticine...that works well). You can also regulate the passage of your bait through the swim by lifting/lowering your rod (which subtly changes how much line is in the water and therefore how much of the flow is pressing on your line). Enjoy ...it can be exciting 🤩
 
OP - If you haven’t already, try and get to read the Tref West book - Barbel - a lifetimes addiction
Loads of tips and advice on rolling meat
My pal took several tuition days from Tref years ago and dedicated a whole season to just rolling meat and struggled initially but as with most things practice makes perfect and he mastered it and bagged up.Worth the effort as it will outfish most methods.
Balance of the bait is critical and they use mono which acts as a ‘sail ‘in the flow meaning the bait can run parallel to the bank and doesn’t get dragged across the flow
Great for getting the bait places you just would get with normal methods
Good luck
 
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