by Denis Darkin

I just know that I am going to get a load of stick for writing this but so what, it won't be the first time, and probably not the last.

I have been fishing since 1949 and have tried most styles ranging from hurling 6oz leads out to sea to casting a delicate fly for brook trout; trottting for dace ,chub roach and barbel, I spent years spinning for Pike and seatrout ,stalking carp on the surface and of course the static modern approach with self hooking rigs.

I will if needed fish anywhere to catch fish, ranging from a garden pond (for the BBC) to the Atlantic surf (for Bass).

I have used, as they became available, Greenheart, Wholecane and Spanish Reed, converted ex Army Tank Arials, Split Cane, Glass and now of coarse Carbon fibre. My lines have ranged from twisted silk (sold in 25yd lengths on a card) to nylon in its various forms, wire on a boat rod, and now the modern ultra thin and strong braids.

Over the years I have had many memorable moments, many occasions when I have hardly been able to get the hook out of the fish because my hands were shaking so much. My first 35lb carp had me floating on air for weeks, my first 2lb roach left me so shocked that I almost packed up and went home, after all what was there left to do when you have your first Two Pounder after 48years of trying?.BUT I have to say this, NOTHING compares to catching a big fish on a Pole.

Nowadays there is nothing out of the ordinary about catching double figure carp on a pole, dozens of match anglers do it every week,but I have yet to see anyone else trying to catch barbel on a river, so here is how I do it.

TACKLE Pole 11 or 12.5 mtrs long rated to at least No 16 elastic.

Elastic No 12 or 14, there is no point using any stronger.

Hooklink, 6lb BS nylon straight through to the connector Internal bush is best but not essential

Hook should be barbless, just in case.

Landing net with a handle at least 10ft long

If you are new to pole fishing you should test it out in the garden, rig it up at 11mtrs and get a friend to pull on the elastic while you try to get the pole up in the air, this will serve to give you enough confidence in your tackle to start fishing for barbel,it may of course frighten you off completely,it is hard work.

Right, now before you rush down to the river to fish that impossible swim think about how you are going to hold the Pole, they can get damned heavy after ten minutes,if you are not comfortable then it can be a nightmare of aching shoulders and back.

If you are fishing at 7 or 8 mtrs make sure you have the spare sections set up ready to plug them in when the fish takes off.

If you are going to pole fish you will need some form of pole rests, I use a platform with adjustable legs and side rests. This is the height of luxury, I get the bait in place,set the rests so the pole tip is just clear of the water and wait for the barbel (or whatever fish is there) to drag the end of the pole into the water.Obviously you cant walk away from your tackle. If you use a float then make sure it is "double rubber" so it does not snag you in weed beds.

When the end of the pole disappears then my advice is to stay seated and lift straight up, the fish will shoot off one way, the elastic will come shooting out of the pole and the pole will probably start to bend a bit. Whatever you do, KEEP THE POLE UP, Your greatest asset is the ability to pull upwards, you may think you are going to get broken but you won't.

If the fish weeds you then slacken off and when it moves heave upwards as hard as you can. If it wont move then try to get downstream and drag it out of the weed,yes I did say that. After a couple of runs the fish will come to the top, and you then have to tire it out ready for netting. Do not break the pole down to soon or you will be in deep trouble, just play it out quietly, unship the pole and slide the fish into the net.

If (that if again) you hook a real lump that decides to go walkies, don't panic just keep the pole up and you will stop it, it may try to pull you in the river, and if your not prepared it may well do it, I have had carp almost pull me in.

Tactics are very simple,find the fish,place your bait using the absolute minimum of lead and disturbance and if you do it right the take will be almost immediate.

There are of course plenty of other ways to fish the pole, you can work a bait down through a weedy run, if you want you can walk quite a long way, lift out and walk back and start again, you can place a bait in or even under a snag in fact you can fish it any way you like within reach. There is no point using it close in as you can do that with a rod, the real advantage of the pole is its length.

My first barbel on the pole was on the River Lea. I had spotted 5 big fish in a small patch of clear water on the far side of the river under a bush. Impossible to get a bait to them with normal barbel tackle so I decided to use the pole. In two sessions I caught all 5 fish, plus a pike I did not know was there. There were 3 chub,4.12ozs,5.4ozs and 6.9ozs. The barbel were 6.4ozs, the first fish caught, and 9.12ozs.

Over the next six sessions I had six others from different parts of the river, all spotted and then fished for. Only one gave me any serious trouble and that's when it shot off upstream under a willow but it came back and was safely landed. So, so far I had hooked 8barbel and three chub and a pike and landed them all. To be honest they did not pull like the carp.

The following year I joined the R&DAA and fell in love with the Kennet, my first session, with the tip rod, and I had 6 barbel to 6.0lb , four chub to 4.4ozs and a 16.7oz carp. I thought I was in heaven, all this for thirty Quid a year! I reckon I had my thirty quids worth on the first day.

Next trip was to "barbel alley" on the upper Benyons and the river was in full flood after a thunderstorm the night before. I had driven nearly a hundred miles so I was not going to go home. I had 5 fish from a little slack at the end of some rushes but by early afternoon the river had dropped about 3foot so my swim literally dried up. There were some fish rolling in mid river and after some discussion with another angler I got the pole out. I had no idea how deep the river was ,never having seen the swim before, so I tied on a 6ft hook link and put a big lump of meat on and lowered it in the middle of the river .watching the end of the pole to tell me when the bait touched the bottom. It never did, a barbel grabbed it and charged off downriver in the flood water. All the elastic pulled out and the fish stopped and then ploughed steadily upriver coming up past me and continuing as if I did not exist. No way could I get its head up for about ten minutes. My arm muscles were getting cramped but eventually I won and netted a fish of about 7.8ozs.

I caught 11 more that day, five were over 8lbs,it is still my best days barbel fishing. A few weeks later I found another swim which I could not resist, overhanging trees on the far bank reaching to almost mid river, rushes and streamer on my side almost halfway across. Just a narrow strip of clear water which I could reach with the pole. The first take was really violent, the pole was dragged deep under the water and the fish fought hard and deep but eventually I managed to walk it down to where it could be netted. Almost a double 9lb 14ozs. Next put in I had to wait a couple of minutes and then down it went again. This was another fish over 9 lbs. Back I went again and promptly hooked another one but this time it weeded me and shed the hook. By now it was getting dark and with no night fishing allowed I packed up. Christ , I was practically flying all the way home, what a buzz.

Next session Upper Benyons again and I had 5 fish from midriver by spotting them and lowering baits to them, very easy indeed. This was repeated a week or so later and suddenly I had had enough. As I said earlier I will fish almost anywhere and with any (legal) method but this was just to easy, the fish just had no idea that anyone was fishing for them, no splash of the lead or feeder to warn them of danger, and why should they be scared of a pole over there heads, just another bit of weed or branch floating by.

I decided then and there not to do it again and so far I haven't. Mind you writing this has got me thinking again.

by Denis Darkin (Poledark)

Back