colcon163

Hi Guys, I am new to the forum so please forgive me if this topic has already been posted. I have just bought a Shimano Beastmaster Margin Pole and have it elasticated to size 20. I am fishing pellet in about 4 - 4 1/2ft of water and am catching plenty of decent fish. My problems start when I hook better (double figure) size fish. I lost two last night one into a snag and another later on that just swam around in circles for 25 minutes before spitting the hook. I dont want to be putting too much pressure on the fish so do I just persevere and let it swim round and round until it tires? The trouble is the one last night didn't seem like it was gonna tire!

Brian G

If you are not tiring them out on a 20 elastic they must be on steroids, however even with a 20 elastic you need to have the right length of it through your pole, I would look to have no more than the first two sections elasticated, use a winder bung so you can add a bit more tension to it if needed, and if fishing to a snag have it fairly tight to start of with.

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NathanWatson

It was probably foul hooked. I, personally would never play a fish for that long. Just ship in to your top 3, keeping the pole low and pull it to the side, still low, then when its within netting range lift the pole up sharply and scoop it out! Might not always be that easy but if it runs off agail put the pole down low again and wait for it to come back. As for loosing them in snags, if you are fishing near the snag you need to use tight elastic and pull it quickly and firmly from the snag as soon as you strike. However you will never land them all!

john r

being new to fishing the margin pole takes a bit of getting used to its just a case of being confident in the tackle and size of elastic that you are using its all trial and error and over time you will find that fishing this type of method will become more and more exciting and more productive you have a very strong pole and elastic so hooking them bigger lumps and getting them in should be no problem at all as i said be confident in your tackle and the rest will follow and just make sure your rigs are suited to the style of fishing that you are going to do all the best regards john rhodes

Jon W

I agree with Nathan, sound like the fish that swam is circles was foul hooked.

When fishing near snags for big fish I like a short length of heavy elastic set soft. Eg 2 feet of red hydro (I dont lighter than this as you need the elasticity of the heavier grade), connected to a bung using dacron. This way you get the softness on the first lift but the elastic soon powers up as you guide the fish away from the snag. This set up, IMO, doesn't spook the fish like a tight laccy can and is still powerfull enough to turn the fish asap.

I would suggest ony using this tactic with a dedicated margin type pole!

J

Jon W

You will be suprised how far 2 feet of red Hydro can stretch! 3-4m easily.

thetrickytree

good advice there from john r - second to that,if the fish is swimming round for twenty five minutes and in no way do i condone this you aint bullying it enough,in that i mean put pressure on when it's needed and if you say get down to your top 2 or top three as i prefer, if you can get the fish up in the water to get it's head out too take a breath that's when i go in with the landing net thats already submerged and scoop it under the fish. got a double figure common last night using the dead same tactics in about 10 minutes (daiwa yank n bank) with similar tackle to what you're using but only 16 elastic.

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Oneabung

Anything that takes more than a couple of minutes to get in has got to be foul hooked or over 20Lb!!

The main problem I see with people playing big fish is they follow the fish around with the tip of the pole - the best advice I can give is along the same lines as what Nathan said... keep the pole tip in the same area and ONLY follow the fish if you think you are at breaking point, other than that just ship back to the top 3 and keep it low to one side - try and scoop the fish once you see the float and it gives away its position and the direction it is swimming in.

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fishster

I agree with everything that people have said. But when i play a decent fish on the pole i always dip my pole under the water and for some unknown reason the fish always swims back towards you,and then lift the pole out and off it goes again but if you do this a few times it does tire out the fish pretty quick i always use this method and it works for me. Hope this helped.

vidas

mate if want them in quick keep it low and use puller bung wen in close pump your top kit it knocks them bandey wen they nam in close drop the pole top kit then pull it up fast and do it a few times the fish come up not knowin wot is goin on