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Swingtips

Alan Palmer

Alan Palmer

Senior Member & Supporter
Does anyone still use a swingtip? If yes what for? I used to for bream and tench as a lad but was wondering if it would be effective for perch fishing too? I’ve just got a lovely Stradic Specialist rod and thinking of utilising the Avon top which had a screw tip fitting and making some swingtips from old quivers
Any thoughts welcome
 
I made some out of wooden dowel years ago. Used pushbike valve rubber for the hinge. They worked surprisingly well as long as they were the correct weight. Two eyes were whipped on and a little red paint as a sight on the end. pretty "heath robinson" but they were OK.

I think Tricast still do a swing tip top on one of their rods, so may still supply the swing tips.
 
There’s loads of em on eBay including the stuff the make up your own things.
Not sure how popular they are now. I haven’t seen one in use for a good while
 
Quite popular in the vintage tackle world. I have a few, made from split cane, knitting needles, bamboo skewers etc.

I use them on a local pond with a swimfeeder for whatever comes along really, they are very sensitive, but a liner can look like a full blown bite as opposed to the twitch you would get on a quivertip.

David
 
They work better in shallower water, I used to use one on a lake near Nuneaton. Bite indication is good.

My powermesh avons have the threaded eye but I don't think I'll be using them.
 
Used them quite a bit in my younger days whilst match fishing, especially on bream venues like Somerset's River Huntspill. Also used one with an isotope to target big roach on a canal.

Were a pain at times to cast, but the bite detection was excellent and it has advantages over a quiver if you have a tight, reed lined swim where you have to point the rod towards the rig. I still have a swingtip rod but haven't used it for many years.
 
I still enjoy using a swingtip on a couple of local stillwaters during the close season for bream and roach. Coupled with a light 11' avon rod and 3000 size reel, just feels a lovely way to fish on a still warm morning. I purchased some new swingtips from eBay a couple of years ago.
I've also got a Polaris Sidewinder, which is a quiver tip which fits on the bottom section of the rod between the first and second ring. Fantastic for registering bites when it's very windy.
 
In years gone by, I found that the old swingtips worked beautifully for roach fishing, when there was just a gentle pull on the river. Especially when fishing bread. I snagged some old school quiver, swing and springtips a few years back. I really need to put the springtips into use again.
 
I have a nice selection, some from Ivan Marks in differing lengths (to combat the pull of water)
I also have some moulded rubbers formed at an angle for use on slow flowing water or on big lakes with subsurface big tows.
I also have a couple of spring tips, whose advantage over the quiver tip is that as the bite develops the tension doesn’t increase unlike the quivertip.
 
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