beginner needs help please

[kwozemodo]

Hi

I am looking to go fishing on my local river the river thames, at goring or south stoke. But i have no experiance at all with fishing also my dad is not intrested so is of no help lol.

I am looking to catch Roach and Bream.

I would like some suggestions on rods, reels, rigs and basically most stuff lol.

Also if anyone could suggest a good UK online retailer.

Thanks, nick

sorry if ive missed anything out which i most probably have

[peakoverload]

Welcome Kwozemodo.

I used to fish the Thames as a kid but not your particular stretch but generally two methods work very well on the Thames and that is feeder fishing in deeper channels of float fishing a shelf.

In terms of a rod and reel you don't need anything too powerful as the Thames isn't that fast flowing and the species you are after aren't going to rip your arm off on a bite. Therefore a general 12-13ft float rod would be ideal. If you get one that has a screw thread in the top eye then you can attach a quiver tip and use the same rod for ledgering too. There are some rods that offer two different tops, i.e. you get a butt section and the a float top and a quiver tip top. These can be a little more expensive but are adaptable rods. The more you spend on a rod the better it will be and the longer it will last as a general rule of thumb but you should be able to pick something up for around £30 but if you can afford more, the better it will be so maybe look at getting a 2nd hand rod?

For a reel, pretty much any fixed spool reel will do. You don't need reels like baitrunners as these are designed for Carp fishing and personally I'd stay away from closed face reels. You easily pick up a decent enough reel from around £25

As for line, 3lb mainline would be a good starting point that would be okay for both float and ledgering.

When it comes to float fishing, you essentially have two types of floats, wagglers and stick floats. Wagglers are really for still waters and stick floats for rivers but whilst you would never want to use a stick float on a river you can use wagglers on a river if it's slow moving so ask at your local tackle shop what they would advise.

As for a good UK retailer. I personally use TackleUK.co.uk and fishingwarehouseshop.co.uk but there are many others that I'm sure others will recommend.

HTH

[kwozemodo]

Thanks for the reply peak, youve deffiantly steered me in the right direction.

Although i have a few questions.

1. What is a shelf? i am guessing its the top of the water?

2. What is feeder fishing?

3. What is ledgering?

4. What is a quiver tip?

5. You say stick floats are for rivers but then say i wouldnt ever want to use one on a river, i am confused by this lol?

Thanks for the help its really appreciated

Nick

[peakoverload]

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

1. What is a shelf? i am guessing its the top of the water?

If you were to take all the water out of a river you would find that the bottom isn't all even but will gently dip into the middle. On rivers with heavy boat traffic like the Thames there is often a deeper middle channel where the boats go. The river then often raises up and levels out in stages and these are called shelves. Fish often are found at the edge of a shelf where shallow water meets deeper water.

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

2. What is feeder fishing?

3. What is ledgering?

Float fishing is where you have a float in the water which tells you if you have a bite. Ledgering is when instead of a float you use either a large weight or a feeder. A feeder is a plastic of metal cage that you can put bait into which then empties out when it hits the water emptying the bait around your hook. When ledgering you then need some way of telling if you have a bite. There are various options here from using a bite alarm, bobbin, swing tip or quiver tip.

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

4. What is a quiver tip?

A quiver tip is effectively a thin extension to a rod tip which bends very easily. When you are ledgering you set the quiver so that there is a slight bend in it and then when you get a bite it either bends further round suddenly or springs back.

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

5. You say stick floats are for rivers but then say i wouldnt ever want to use one on a river, i am confused by this lol?

Apologies. I meant to say that you wouldn't want to use a stick float on a lake. Stick floats are really only for slow to fast flowing rivers. Wagglers are for lakes, canals and some slow moving rivers.

HTH

[kwozemodo]

Thanks for all the help.

pretty sure im going to get a float rod now, I was wondering when you set up a rig, is the rig always on a seperate line attached to the main line?

So a stick float would be best for my aims?

Also do you catch and release or do you keep some?

Thanks, Nick

[NICK R]

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

Thanks for all the help.

pretty sure im going to get a float rod now, I was wondering when you set up a rig, is the rig always on a seperate line attached to the main line?

So a stick float would be best for my aims?

Also do you catch and release or do you keep some?

Thanks, Nick

I only eat the biggies I personally find tench tastes well deep fried

[peakoverload]

Originally Posted by kwozemodo

Thanks for all the help.

pretty sure im going to get a float rod now, I was wondering when you set up a rig, is the rig always on a seperate line attached to the main line?

So a stick float would be best for my aims?

Also do you catch and release or do you keep some?

Thanks, Nick

A rig really means leger rig i.e. not float fishing and basically refers to the entire thing that enters the water i.e. mainline, hooklink, feeder/weight and hook. A feeder/weight would typically be attached to your mainline by any one of numerous means. Below that you would have your hooklink leading to the hook itself.

Would a stick float be best for you? Possibly. I would strongly advise asking at a tackle shop near where you intend to fish as they will know how fast the water is in your stretch of the Thames. You certainly could use a stick float but if it's not too fast you might be able to use a waggler. I used to fish the Thames at two places, by Richmond Bridge and by Hampton Court Lock. At Richmond Bridge the Thames was wide with a strong flow and found that a stick float was easiest/best. At Hampton Court though because of the lock it was more like a canal and very slow moving, so slow that a waggler was by far the best option.

Basically the main difference between a stick float and a waggler is this. A stick float is attached to the mainline via float rubbers so that the line runs vertically down the float. This means that the line comes off the top of the float and runs along the surface of the river up to your rod. On a river where the water is flowing this gives you greater control and allows you to position the line on the surface so that the float travels in a straight line. This is called 'trotting'.

A waggler is attached to the mainline via an eye at the bottom of the float only. What this means is that the line comes off the bottom of the float and travels underwater up to your rod. If you use a waggler on a river than the flow of the water can pull on the sunken line and pull it out of position.

As for catch and release. Yes always. Under UK law you are only allowed to keep coarse fish if you have express permission to do so. Without that permission you would effectively be poaching and would get into a lot of trouble.

Don't forget you also need a rod license which you can get from the post office or online. Anyone over the age of 12 needs one to fish anywhere in the UK. If you are caught without one you will receive a hefty fine.

HTH

[richard1980]

my advice would be dont buy off internet get to a shop and feel some rods first, if u like them then look on the web any decent tackle shop will point u in the right direction. Secondly get down to the river and ask the other anglers how they fish the water am sure u will find someone who is willing to help. And lastly everbody has an opinion and that is what they are an opinion the best way is to try things for your self and see what works best for u, try different floats and different hookbaits, different size feeders and groundbait. Oh and wen float fishing dont forget to plumb the depth correctly so you know where your hook bait is.