Hi Chaps
There have been some interesting points made recently about the use of:- “light†tackle, exhausting fish, fish handling and “balanced gearâ€!!
These points were well made and well intended and to a certain extent not un-expected.
I often use tackle that is lighter than the accepted norm, in fact I am constantly amazed at how “the norm†has, year on year accelerated away from “finesse†to “brut forceâ€!
As a bailiff and fishery officer for my club I see no end of anglers using rods up to and including 4lb T/C, lines to 30lb BS and “Big Pit Reels†in my local 3 acre lake, Ok there are Carp in there to 40lb but I seem to remember Richard Walker using a pound and a half T/C cane rod and 10lb line to catch “Clarissa†from a parrot cage of a swim on Redmere.
I know that such heavy tackle was not as available in Dick’s time as it is now, but I rather suspect that given the choice Dick would have continued to use the gear he was familiar with rather than something a lot heavier.
For me the power and action of the rod should fit the expected strain on the line, I like to “feel†the movement and motion of the fish so that I can anticipate and thus control the powerful lunges of a fish.
I think it was Gary Player who first said “The more I practice, the luckier I get†a golfing adaptation of Samuel Goldwyn’s famous quote, but it holds true for many applications, while I was match fishing many years ago I lost a couple of big fish that I had hooked on light line, these losses cost me a lot in potential winnings, I was advised to “practice†playing big fish on light gear, I did this on a small local pond that had quite a few Tench to 3lb, my self imposed rule was to use no more than 1lb hooklength.
After a while I got better at it, in the end I became very good indeed and on the way I learned a great deal about “balanced tackleâ€.
That advice won me many hundreds of pounds, landed me a lot of big fish and eventually was the reason I landed a very large Barbel recently!
For me “balanced tackle†is so important, it is also the adaptation of common sense over indoctrinated wisdom, we are constantly “advised†by the angling mags and their sponsored experts as to what we should use and buy and this power from advertising will often colour our thinking, no matter how hard one tries to ignore it.
We are also flooded with information from other sources, for example.
It is common knowledge that you should use a minimum of a 1lb 4oz test curve rod, the Barbel Society fish handling code quotes exactly this, yet what does it actually mean?
A couple of years ago I watched Mike Wilson demonstrate that he could lift a 3 pound lead weight form the ground using a 12 ft 3lb T/C carbon rod with a 4lb line, he then did exactly the same thing using only the top section of a No 5 fly rod, the fly rod top bent a lot more than the Carp rod but the weight still left the ground.
What did this prove?
That Mike has far too many fly rods??
Or.
That the words “Test Curve†on a carbon rod means nothing?
What it actually proved is that Mike knows exactly how much pressure he could place on a given strength of light line with ANY rod.
The rod is there to absorb shock, the more through action the rod, the easier it is to absorb and negate that shock, a deft touch helps, as does the use of a good reel with a well adjusted clutch, a centre pin is better because the control is not through a set of reducing gears but is more direct and here a deft touch is a distinct advantage too.
How much the rod bends is not really an issue as long as you have a concept of how much pressure you can place on a given line strength.
In water fish are similar to a submarine, they have neutral buoyancy, the weight is supported by the surrounding water, yet they still have mass and they still have thrust, it is the mass and trust that your strength of line has to deal with.
You can move a one ton mass with 6oz line, given time, but a constant 20lb thrust could not be stopped with a 10lb line no matter how long you tried.
Fish have a constant mass but variable and reducing thrust so given time and limitless space you could defeat any fish on the lightest of lines.
In actuality if you are practiced and aware of the extra strain or shock that a lunging fish places on your line you can apply a constant 2-3 lb pressure on a fish quite easily with a 4lb hooklength and that constant pressure will defeat most large fish relatively quickly.
Today I went fishing again, on the same river where I had my recent big fish, I had 3 Barbel, again on the float and pin, this time on “heavier†5lb line they went 6lb, 6lb 15 oz and just as the light failed I had this fish of 13lb 11oz.
She was on the bank well within ten mins and once netted I had a cup of tea, calmed down and just let her rest while still in the net, in the water as I do with all the fish I catch, time is immaterial when it comes to fish care, I would not like to have to hold my breath for any length of time having just run a 100yds and I don’t expect the fish I am lucky enough to catch to do that either, so we then set up:- scales, camera and got organised, while the fish rested in the water, we then quickly did the business and she went back swimming powerfully in a pre selected shallow run.
Balanced gear, correct fish handling and good preparation ensured she was no worse for meeting me!
Tight Lines
