Tackle Talk - My Choices - Long Rods and Bolo Rods 

Lovely to have you as a viewer pal. I've done a fair few bolo fishing vids now, The setup is always similar, just the weight of float varies, usually more to do with power of the flow than additional depth but generally in this country, 3gram is the lightest you need for casting distance, 2g if you're literally trotting off the end of the rod and there's little flow and I'll go up to 6 gram for fishing further out and in more powerful flows, after that it's a feeder job. It's an easy method to master once you can cast effectively. I've just purchased a 7m Colmic Fiume 110-s - around 23ft which will allow me to fish up to 20ft deep swims. They're also great for trotting a stick float further out in shallow swims, though I don't do it that often, it can be useful on the Trent.

Great stuff. Watch my videos on the Derwent to see the preston bolo in action and the Trent match where I used the Acolyte.

Thanks Scott, we'll have a sesh on the river at some point and you can try em out bud.

Thanks Ewan.

Thanks Mike

You're welcome Dave

Thanks Tony

I know lots of people started using them for margin fishing on commercials with pins, these days the poles are so strong there's no need really though some do prefer to use a rod and reel. The bolo's are a specialist tool, popular on the continent and you can get them strong enough to handle barbel and carp over there. The trouble is this country is so wet so they don't find favour with UK anglers but I quite like them, certainly cheaper than buying a Tri-cast Allerton

Cracking rod Mike, you gets what you pay for, they ain't cheap like.

Bought it out of my redundancy pay 10 years ago, just to fish the lower Aire. More than paid for it's self with the odd match result. But just a pleasure to use, when all the other rivers were cold, low & clear. It could be almost relied upon to produce a double figure bag. Happy days

@@mikesmith4718 it needs a bit of talent at the butt end as well 👍. Some rods seem expensive but a great rod will last many years use and in comparison to decent poles these days they're all cheap.

They definitely have a place in my bag and the long traditional style rod is useful for greater float control even in shallower swims. Line pickup is very fast with these rods compared to a 13 or 14ft rod.

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel seen you use it a few times John but now i understand why, cheers mate

@@adrianfisher5906 brilliant, glad it helped out Adrian.

Thanks JW, hope you're keeping well.

Yeah I’m ok mate thank you. Bit depressing not getting out but it is what it is. I’ve actually been really lazy and need to do a million little tackle jobs. Hope your ok pal. Enjoying the channel. Keep em coming 👍🏻👍🏻

I need to sort the tackle out but I usually have a good prep over the spring and make enough rigs and hooklengths for the season. All the gear is filthy now but little point cleaning it up just yet. Try and get yourself out somewhere bud if only for a couple of hours, it really helps sort the head out. I'll try and keep a video a week coming. Had a session yesterday so back to the vlogs next week.

Yeah will do mate. 👍🏻👍🏻🎣🎣

Sounds good Keith, I've just ordered some of those double eye sliders I told you about from Germany - it gives me options in even deeper water. Did you trot lamprey for the barbel 😉

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel Nah! Chucked it out as a sleeper rod, centrepin + bolt rig and pellet. Well you never know your luck when fishing, owt can turn up.

Really it just comes down to weight and depth of the peg, the bolos are very light so can easily be fished all day. Some of the pegs I fish get over 20ft deep so you just need the extra length to fish a fixed float, I'm looking at the Daiwa Air Z 7m to tackle those swims now.

Yes just make the rig as usual with around 4ft of line and a loop. Use float rubbers to attach the float top and bottom or if it has a side eye make sure it will pass over the loop, if not you will need to identify which float the rig is made for and slide that on your mainline before attaching it. A thicker mainline is better to avoid sticking to the blank when wet and then the business end of the rig can be made up on something like 0.10-0.13 and whatever hooklength you choose.

@HOOKED Fishing Channel Understood 👍 Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated

Hi Phil, I tried the connoisseur at 17ft but it is heavy compared to the acolyte. I also tried the cadence 18ft that my friend has and that just seemed like the map to me albeit with nicer reel seat. I also tried the tricast allerton premier match but the top section seemed too whippy for my liking, if drennan made a plus version of the acolyte in 17-20 it would likely be high up on my buy list. If you can find one 2nd hand the Daiwa spectron 17-20 is a decent rod.

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel thanks for the advice John. Will keep an eye out for the spectron. Keep up the good work with your videos and stay safe.🎣👍

@@philwilkinson5480 you're welcome. BTW the maver signature pro classic float (longest version 16ft) is capable of handling barbel, a bit more powerful than the acolyte plus rods, might be a bit short for your needs though.

Abu 507 MKII Dave

Hi Lucian, I'm sure the tournament is a very nice rod but I haven't tried one so can't comment on it other than it's twice the price of an acolyte and on paper it's slightly heavier...227g Vs the acolytes 198g. Weight is a consideration when holding a long rod all day but then it depends what you want it to do, I wouldn't fish for barbel on my 17ft acolyte, I'd pick one of my plus versions for that. At the end of the day it's your money. If you specifically want one for trotting big or deep rivers for barbel, cadence do some stonger long rods as do maver and free spirit. Hope this helps.

Hi John, Acolyte 14ft plus or 15ft plus for double figure barbel 10 pounds +. Can you suggest, advice? Best Regards,

@@lucianmoraru3285 either will be fine, if you're fishing bigger rivers and fishing further out then I'd go for the 15 for better float control, I use a 14 on places like the swale but a 13 if I'm wading and trotting off the end of the rod.. Like I say it really depends on the venue, how far out you're fishing and depths you're encountering, as long as you have around 3ft line between float and the top ring that's fine for casting so for example a 13ft rod will cope with swims up to 10ft deep. Just one other thing to consider, a fish will be much further away from you to land, the longer the rod so when you're looking at 10+ barbel, I'd always go with the shortest rod you can get away with.

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel Thank you for your advice. Best Regards,

You're welcome, happy hunting.🎣

I'd never have thought that would work in salt water but it just goes to show, we're all constantly learning. Im a good hour from the coast so a bit stuck at present, doesn't look like the rivers are going down anytime soon but managed to get on a lake that finally defrosted after 10 days at the weekend.

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel please chek it out on here... its "trabucco tv- sea bolo passion" groundbait and maggots off sea walls and harbours... i couldnt believe it meself but its quite watchable...... ive done a weeny bit of sea/estuary/thames fishing meself with bass rod , huge lead and stinky mackerel/squid/lugworm bait... to be honest it was rubbish, theres not much in the sea... but i will try it again with maggots and bolo... im sure theres a few Bass catchable on light gear.... near features etc....

Yes mate , check the dwindling market for originals