Nice fish and fun to catch on my telescopics...

Jeff, how do you tie on line to your poles?

I normally attach 10 to 12 pound test to my telescopics directly to the eye and I change the line frequently to avoid bad spots...With no drag, heavy cover potential and bass filled waters I prefer to use heavier line.... I don't find that it hurts my fishing but I do know some folks like smaller line......If I have a great trip and catch a nice mess of fish, I take that pole out of service until the line is changed....That's one of my justifications for having 25 to 30 poles...LOL

ooooh -  10# - 12# stren WOW. That is some heavy line.

Dwayne - the way to attach rigs to the end of the pole is by using a large loop that will fit over your float / bobber. Now - if you are using the right float - then a loop the size of a quarter will do - if you are using something wider than a quarter - then, uh, well you will uh... have enough free time to tie any ole knot on there because we are fishing for bluegills - not sea bass.  The big loop allows you to fit the loop through that eye a the end of the pole - I never ever store the line on the pole when I put it away - this leads to broken floats, broken lines (from line damage) and broken dreams - [lost fish]. Once the big loop goes though the eye of your pole - then feed your hook through the line loop and feed that all the way up - over your small float and finally tighten it down on the  pole eye.

This is NOT a dumb question - as in the first competition I won fishing a pole with no reel - I had to ask my neighbor how to attach my rig. My teacher taught me - but I could not remember.

This attachment is key because it creates two pieces of line over the eye of your pole and makes it so your entire rig should never break off at the eye! This is important for snags and big fish - you also want to use a lighter leader so if you are using 3 lb. main line - you want a 2 lb. leader line - unless the bluegills by you are in the 8  lb. range - then you should go heavier on your line.

After you are done fishing simply - undo that knot carefully - reverse the process and then wind that whole rig up on a large piece of cardboard for storage in your box. There are also winders available like on my "Ready Rigs" in my store.

Exciting news too - I have coded a much nicer store and will be working on it over the next couple of weeks - it's just for live bait and a ton of pole fishing stuff - because bluegill pole fishing is a passion of mine

Good to see you posting, Johnny!

I also run a bead of thing super glue into the eye ferrule on the end of the pole tip. Just a little extra insurance.

Thanks for the loop attachment idea Johnny.

This is a fitting photo for this group.......

I also like to use a jig tipped with a cricket for gills on my telescopic poles.....

A few of my telescopic toys.....

Cane poles and spincast reels - Jeff, I very much would like to go fishing with YOU!

Just let me know when you get moved to the triangle David...or maybe in South Carolina...I fish alone 90 percent of the time because I'm out in an outlying area with low populations.....

We have obtained a small rental now in Greensboro and Lori is moving in next week. So it won't be too long before I'll be up there. Im shooting for end of March, in time to get a small garden going... :-)

I do appreciate the thought, Jeff. You are a prince. I was more making the comment because I like your style, sir!

Nice 13 inch Pasquotank slab Crappie caught on a 12 foot "Shooting Star" rigged with the Chartreuse Sparkle Charlie Bee Slider tipped with a minnow. Eight feet down in 25 total FOW that was 47 degrees......Had a total of six Crappie today...

Even got a little carried away and battled some small Striped Bass on my telescopics as well. My 16 footer handles them pretty good but it became more of a challenge on my 10 foot Fish Hunter, but I landed a dozen or so between 12 and 16 inches....Still had a blast....

I'm sitting in one of my favorite Crappie honey holes waiting on a Slab but this spot was slow today...There is a 12 foot hole where this tree fell and it shallows up to about 3 feet quickly at the mouth of this creek under the bridge....It's always better here when the water is moving in and out....

good lookin fish hole Jeff, I see you got the pole ready

Nice 17 inch "Pan" rock on my Shooting Star 16 ft. telescopic on a 4 inch live minnow......What a Blast!

Dont know just how to ask this or if terms are right, but I will try. Does anyone make up pole rigs before they go out? By rigs, I am meaning line,float, weight and hook. If so how do you store them. I have been looking at the snell holders.

I'm going to show a series of photos to describe how I secure my telescopic poles/line in between uses.......First things first, I have the HT Linewinders on 95% of my poles in use....The first image is a 16' pole stowed with the line secured around the brass tabs (HT LInewinder). This rig is ready to fish, unwind and bait up.....

This photo is a close up of the float and this is how I choose to stow the hook since the float can be moved on the line....this just requires adjusting the float to the desired fishing depth when you unwind for fishing........Certainly not the only way but I find that multiple poles don't get tangled up this way...I normally carry at least six of these poles ready to fish.....10 to 16 footers

Close up of an HT linewinder.......

Close up of the Float and secured Hook......

I keep the line tied to the eye and the rubber securing cap is attached to my poles with a lanyard and the rubber cap is notched to prevent damage to the line.....I have already confessed to using heavier line than many members but don't feel that it hurts my Gill fishing.....Proof is in the Photos.....These photos are just ideas that work for me........

This has worked for me but I understand the guy that reties every  time. Trust me, on good fishing days when I catch 20 or more fish, I take that pole out of service until I change the line....I like to see what hits so this means Largemouth, Bowfin, Catfish and Striped Bass to name a few.....If this helps one angler I'll be perfectly content.....Good luck everyone!!!!

I do it, too, Jeff, i.e., store my line on the pole's winder. I dont retie each time. I use a doubled loop of braided line at the eye, to which I add a hook leader of mono or fluoro.

Thanks David.....nice to know I'm not on the island alone......

While this is good for thicker line - for my bluegill poles the first thing I do is tear those off and wrap some electrical tape over any nubs on the poles. The line I use for bluegill success is far to thin to wrap around those steel posts without wrecking it. 

I just bought some 70-year old line keepers mean for poles and hand lines - these were big out of France down South - or at least the ones I purchased were. This line winder is then attached near the base of the collapsed pole with some handy dandy rubber bands - so i don't retie every time either. 

I would say with some of my fine floats it does not pay to keep your rig on the poles because then the float is vulnerable. If your float is durable and big - probably it is too big to best target blue giils. If your line wraps on those steel guides without getting damaged- your line is probably too thick to be the best fishing line for gills.

You're right Johnny. This is why my line wraps are covered with electrical tape and why I use home made floats. The latter are turned on a chuck, fashioned from balsa. Or they are simple stick wagglers. Line 2# terminal end hook line.

When I wrap my main braid is what goes around the holder.  The lead hooks into the cork in the end, and I use a rubber band to secure the float.

I would like to find some small line winders. All the reels Ive tried are too big and spoil the balance of the pole.

Thanks guys for all the help. Thank you Jeff, for the great pics, they help alot. The notching the cap idea is great. That is what always bothered me, about keeping line tied to eye. I was worried, with cap on,line would get weak spot. Once again thanks

Hi all. Im new to the group.

I have been thinking about makeing my own bamboo pole.

Last fall I got a few peices of bamboo, all of them about 16 foot.

They have been hanging by the tip end with some weights on the bottom end.So they would dry nice and stright.

I was thinking about makeing a couple of them in different lenghts.

Has anyone made their own bamboo poles ?

anyone have any suggestions ?

TIA

@ Chris - It sounds like you have the whole thing well in hand. Youve weighted and hung the bamboo, allowing it to season. As far as I know, this is crucial.

I would add some line winders made from paper clips, epoxied to the shafts of the pole. I'd finish the last foot of the tip by painting it white - then a fluorescent color. Finally, Id probably add a fly rod tip-top.

Maybe open up the last chamber section of the bamboo, at the butt, and fit a cork in the end. Then you could use it to store split shot, hooks, a few jigs and swivels... that sort of thing.

Thanks for the advise David. I was not sure what type of tip I was going to use.

I like the idea of painting the tip end, make it easer to see.

I was going to trim the bottom when I cut the poles to lenght

and just leave it open. I like the idea of makeing it into a small compartment.

Had a blast with my telescopic poles today.....Caught 26 gills and a couple bass.....Big fish of the day is pictured.....Good time...If you don't have a telescopic, you ought to get one!

As usual Jeff, how about some details? Were not that far apart, that your general conditions are like mine. I was planning to go tomorrow morning, and would be interested in your technique.

The fish I caught today David were staged in about five to six feet of water @ 56 degrees.....A little stained from overnight/morning rains with the passing cold front so I went with my Berkley Gulp Chartreuse Minnow tipped with a live cricket again....Most fish were caught three to four foot deep today without a split shot, so I was fishing a slow sinking presentation and it was getting hit....

slow and easy, right.

Had a good day with my telescopic rig.....caught some nice Gills, a few Crappie and some bass...The cover I was fishing forced me to use a 10 foot pole so that got interesting on some of the larger Crappie and Largemouth.....Nothing gets your blood pumping more than that big bluegill circling violently after the hook set and you try to figure out when to flip him in the boat....Just a whole lotta' fun to go back to the roots of fishing......I like a challenge and catching the bigger fish on small telescopic rigs provides me just that......It's time to break out your poles!

Been having a blast with the Bream Busters down in South Carolina the last few weeks.....The Durango by Shakespeare and the Shooting Star have been getting a workout.....Been using a 12 footer for cricket fishing and plan to get out the 16 footer for some minnow fishing this week........Enjoy it when you get out there.....I'm definitely Cane Pole Crazy!

That's so cool Jeff. Man, I don't know where you get all your muscles to hold up a 10' pole like that. That's the smile of a master completes his day with wonderful catches.

Larry, the few times I have used any artificials on a cane pole.

I either used a slip bobber set up, or set a jig a few feet below a non slip bobber, I allowed the motion of the water make the jig move. I have never tryed using small spinners on a cane pole.

I have used some small spoon lures and small super duppers

to jig with, it seems like they always get hit when they are fluttering down.

keep us posted as to how the spinners work out.

chris

Well I think I got a good deal. This afternoon I had to go to walmart, I went to the sports dept. and I found a 10 ft. B & M Black widow cane pole. marked $7.96

I do not know if this was a good price or not, they wanted $10.96 for a 13 foot pole.I figured well it is only $ 8.00 so what the heck. I have spent more than this to make cane poles before.

Now I have never used a B & M pole before, is there anything I need to know about this pole ? 

I cant wait to give it a try.

In my opinion B & M makes a good pole for the money Chris......10 footer is great for gills....you will feel like you're in trouble if a predator gets hooked....difficult to pick up larger fish with the ten footer......not as much an issue from a boat if you're using a landing net......Lots of fun in my humble opinion! I never leave home without my ten footer....really like it when I'm in thick brush and overhanging trees.....let us know how it goes Chris!

I echo the comments here, Chris. The B&M is a good pole; they're all made in China, anyway, at that price.

It will do the job. I do agree with Jeffrey, too. If you hook something really big, your skills will be tested.

I picked up a 13 ft Cabelas Classic Crappie Pole yesterday up at the Cabelas in Hamburg, PA. 11 bucks...looks like it would handle a 3 pound or slightly better largemouth. I might want to be a little careful around docks, where is where I'd like to use it. One private lake I recently got permission to fish this season produced an 8-12 and a 9-8 largemouth last year! Pole busters?

Definite pole busters for a 13' crappie whip, Jim!

I actually have a handicapped friend who just wants to get out and catch a few bluegills...this may help in getting him on the water and a few fish in his hand

Should be exciting and hope to see a picture of your friend holding a big gill very soon....nice gesture!

Well, I have been using the 13 ft Cabelas Crappie pole during my kids fishing classes and along with the 10-ft B&M Black Widows we totaled 279 fish in five trips to the local community lake with gills approaching 9 inches and red ears slightly larger. What great, old-fashioned fun this is! Maybe not for everybody, but I have a blast with it. More details coming!

Love the canepole, Jim. I haven't hauled mine out in a while, though.