My margin pole

My margin pole must be the oldest in use. I was given it secondhand in the 1980s by Roger Mortimer who worked with me on Angling Times and used to use it for eeling but had no further use for it. It’s a Century blank, I believe, and very, very heavy.  But since I normally use it only up to about five metres maximum that’s not a problem. The top two is only about four feet in length, so the elastic doesn’t stretch much, but it doesn’t need to...

The reason is that this pole is stiff, and fish don’t fight as hard when hooked as on modern poles, which bend. It’s the bending and the rasping of the elastic on the pole that fish don’t like. That’s why handlining can bring fish in so much more quickly – it’s banned on most waters but we did a test once with an angler (can’t remember who it was), who proved that just holding the elastic sees a fish calm down. Pointing a top two directly at a fish, avoiding any bend, has the same effect. The fish slows down.

The whole point of using elastic is to let the elastic do its work. If you hold the pole steady, not moving it, a fish tends to slow down and swim in circles. Put pressure on it by pulling the pole back and the fish responds. Of course to net the fish you need to pull back eventually, but I believe too many anglers play fish as they would on a rod and line. The secret with big fish, after the first run, is to try to calm the fish down and bring it slowly within netting distance before you make that final pull.

Easier said than done, of course!