Here endeth lesson Number Two - Fields End, Cambs

 Wednesday, and the forecast was reasonable, so I took Alan, from my village, for his second lesson. He owns only a rod and reel (perhaps two) and the first time he used a pole, on Decoy, he got some good fish, including his first barbel. I thought it would help him catch more in future if he saw just how precise your fishing can be if you use a pole.

The first - and most important - job of the day was plumbing up. I sat on his chair and I hope he watched carefully as I plumbed up in front, moving slowly out, until I found a definite drop-off at about eight metres. Fields End is an irrigation reservoir, with basically slowly-sloping sides, though I don't know how deep it is in the middle as it's about 60 yards across - probably about 12 feet I guess.

I then set the rig to be two or three inches overdepth and swung it out, letting it fall back to the spot where the drop-off was. First cast, on corn, I hooked a roach. At least Alan could see that the system would catch fish. That's so important in fishing. No amount of You Tube video will take the place of watching someone actually doing it!

I sat in the swim on his left.

Alan with his first-ever ide - a beauty of 5 lb.

Story of the day
Nothing much to report for the first four hours, though we both had two or three fish over 2 lb, plus some lovely roach averaging several ounces each. I was beginning to be a bit embarrassed, having taken Alan here, though no-one else seemed to be catching much. I tried a piece of cat meat and a 3 lb chub took it on the drop first cast, followed by another next cast. But they were flashes in the pan.

Later I came in towards the side, fishing a top three, and hit a couple of fish, so I went over to Alan and rigged him up with another top for fishing inside, and gradually we started to catch fish - carp to 4 lb plus the occasional ide. Alan had one of 5 lb, which he was mighty pleased with, as so he should have been.

A shower started and everyone on the bank stood up and put on their waterproof jackets; ten minutes later the sun came out and everyone stood up in unison and took them off again. Monty Python would have been proud.

Alan loves taking photographs. Me with fish!

Losing fish
At one point Alan lost seven good carp in a row. That was largely because a) he's not used to playing fish on a pole (though he did very well) and b) he was using my old Browning Sting, which is a put-in pole as opposed to put-over (ie you slide the bottom section over the smaller one in front, as opposed to slipping it inside).

These put-in poles are lovely and light, but very slim, making it a specialist job to insert a puller. So the elastics are fairly tight, the top two are fairly short (so of course is the elastic) and you have to add pole sections when you need to lessen the pressure. Not something which is easy on these put-ins.

Alan in action. The pole is so slim that the small pole cup is attached lower down than I would have liked.

The answer
The answer was to go over and swap the rig over to a top-three, with elastic running through all three. He got on much better with this and didn't lose any more. He ended with 10 or 12 carp to 4 lb and two or three chub or ide. I was pleased to see he kept feeding, which was undoubtedly a big factor in his catching fish.

I had more, best 7 lb,  because I came right in, to two feet of water, where the bigger fish seemed to be. I suggested Alan came in closer, but he said he was happy out at about five metres, so I left him to it. There's only so much anyone can take in in a single day.

Me, on messy platform, with a nice chub.

Conclusion
There's no magic in using a pole. but I lent him my Sting in an attempt to show how precise you can be. How easy it is to plumb up and feed properly, which is not as easy with a rod and line if you're fishing beyond the rod tip and feeding by hand. That's because most anglers will skimp doing it properly because they have to keep reeling in, adjusting the float, and casting out again to the same spot. It's so much easier with a pole because you're back, bang, right in the same spot (provided you hold the pole in the same place).

So if he plumbs up carefully next time he goes floatfishing I will be satisfied that the day was worthwhile. He later sent me a message saying he had enjoyed his 'lesson.' So it was a good day.

Here follows a video that Alan took during the day. Sorry about the angler!