andypalf

I'm looking to buy my new pole and figured you guys would know the market pretty well. I've been fishing with my old Shakespeare 4m whip for some time and decided it's time to get a pole. I'm thinking around the 8m length would be a good length to learn with. And I suppose I'd be fishing for silver fish and small carp up to around 10lb (not to sure). Budget is a factor so nothing to flash I suppose.

Cheers, Andy

scunnyiron

hi andy,would recommend you go for the longest pole you can afford,you may need the extra length at some point, certainly think you will soon get used to 8m and may want to try longer,and you can always leave the extra sections off till you do.the 13m Shimano Technium XTA is a superb pole for the money and a new one with extra tops is about 220 quid,if thats to much id recommend a secondhand pole.

big g

As Scunny said go for the longest pole you can afford. It is worth talking to the staff at your local tackle shop or phoning one of the bigger shops in angling mags. They will give you good advice and many do free credit so you dont have to fork out in one go. As for poles all the major dealers do real good " on a budget" poles with decent spares packages. Tight lines.

andypalf

Cheers Scunnyiron. I agree it's best to buy the best possible as hopefully it will serve me well for a long time. I guess most of the usual manufacturers can be trusted.....Shimano, Daiwa, Preston, Maver can all be trusted with most of their poles.

Are there any brands to stay clear of in the pole market. My tackle shop stocks an awful lot of poles from Leeda. The prices are so tempting but I'm assuming I'll regret it. Am I right?

I'm such a novice with poles. How many top kits to most poles come with? Is each suited to a different elastic?

scunnyiron

personally ive had quite a few poles and the only bad 1 has been a maver that i spent well over a grand on,maver themselves went helpfull either so i stay clear of them.dont think leeda are ones to stay away from just think they specialise at the budget end,anyhow set one up and compare it to others,most tackle dealers allow you tou set them up before you buy.just try to get one with a couple of power kits and match tops to cover all eventuallitys.

mark777

Andy where are you based. I have a maver moby dick 12.5 mtr with 2 top kits ou could have for £80. It was the first pole I bought and was a good starting point.

andypalf

Hi Mark. I'm in West London and do most of my fishing in Surrey and Hampshire. Sounds tempting

mark777

im in nottingham but if you interested may have a way of getting it to you. pm me if you are interested

bad.boy bagger

how much are you looking to spend andypalf ?
i think you get what you pay for in poles, the thing you have to look at is how much you would spend in the long run cus you could go out and spend a bit of money on a 8mtr pole, then as you get better you will want something a bit bigger, then go out and buy a 14 and a half mtr pole, then after a bit want something bigger and go out and buy a 16mtr pole when really you could have gone straight out and got a 16mte pole and saved a bit of money. dont forget you dont have to fish that far out at the start, as you get better you can go further then you have already got the length to use if you need to. it saves having 3 poles in the cupboard doing nothing

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The carrot is out there wiltshire mafia

andypalf

Thanks for the tips lads. I agree that it's worth buying the best (and longest) possible gear as it is likely to save me from upgrading in the future.

Unfortunately I'm skint as usual and I also spend a fair amount of time carp fishing. So I'm not sure I can justify spending too much. So when I get the money together I'm going to plump for the Shimano Hyperloop BX (9.5m). I've found it for £90 with 20 rigs (should help me get started). Thanks for all the help guys.