Start with the right tackle

WORDS & PHOTOS: Derrick Nel For too many conventional bank anglers, ‘specimen carp fishing’ sounds just too complicated, so in this series, specimen carp angler, Derrick Nel provides practical advice on the what, where, how and with what to also achieve your Personal Best (PB). I firmly believe that many anglers getting started in this exciting facet of fishing are spending money on items that they don’t know how to use properly, or even worse, may never need to use. Over the next couple of issues I take an in depth look at specimen carp fishing tackle and equipment, during which I will try to cover just about all the goodies needed to successfully target big carp in our waters. BANK STICKS AND BUZZ BARS Specimen angling is a sport that has shown phenomenal growth over the past decade or so, and with its growth, a number of carp tackle and bait products from various companies have graced the shelves of our local tackle shops. With so many products to choose from it can be a bit confusing to the avid bank angler who is ready to start his or her campaign in their pursuit of the big carp that inhabit most of our waters. My main aim with this series is to identify a tackle item and explain in detail what it is used for, which will help you decide if you really need it in your big carp arsenal. Bank sticks Bank sticks are adjustable rod stands that are somewhat different from our local conventional stands in that they are threaded to accommodate alarms and rod butt grips. Some are manufactured using round aluminium tubing which makes them light and easy to carry, while others are made from stainless steel which is slightly heavier, but more durable. They are also available in various lengths, and as I mentioned earlier, they can be adjusted to suit your situation on the bank. Most of the aluminium bank sticks have a clip system which latches onto the inner pole to keep it in place, whereas the stainless steel ones use a threaded screw. Personally I prefer the stainless steel bank sticks as I have found them to be much stronger and durable, and I also believe that the screw system works better than the clip, especially after a lot of use in various weather conditions. The better quality bank sticks have a sharp drill-type point which enables the angler to screw it into the ground with relative ease, and depending on the type of ground the bank stick is ‘screwed’ into, will aid with the stability of the bank stick. A single bank stick set up. These offer more stability and less ‘bulk’ than the pod on the left. Bank sticks were originally designed as an alternative to using a rod pod, and I believe that they are preferred by most of the top big carp anglers in the UK. Many of the English syndicate waters have lush green swims with soft banks that accommodate bank sticks with ease. This enables the short session angler to set up rods much quicker by simply screwing or pushing the outer pole of the bank stick into the ground, and then slipping the inner shaft into it. The angler would have screwed the alarm and swinger latch onto the inner shaft of the stick at home prior to the session; this ensures a simple, speedy set up at the water’s edge. Many anglers don’t like the bulky look that a rod pod gives to his slim rods and small-bodied reels, and only use their pods when fishing off wooden-decked jetties or if the ground is too hard to get a bank stick into. If you find that the ground is a bit hard to simply push or screw the bank stick into, pull the inner shaft out and with a rubber mallet gently tap the outer pole in. Try not to make too much noise when doing this as you could spook all the carp out of the immediate area, and if you do have neighbours, they certainly won’t be very friendly towards you! The reason for removing the inner shaft first is to avoid any damage to the top of the thread which needs to accommodate the alarm. Longer bank sticks are also used as extension legs to lift the front end of a pod so that the rods can be positioned upright in case the angler needs to lift his lines over margin grass or snags. Most pods have legs that can be screwed out completely and swapped for longer legs in the form of bank sticks. Buzz bars Many anglers use bank sticks with buzz bars that accommodate two, three or even four alarms at a time. For those of you that are not sure, a buzz bar is the cross bar which the alarms are screwed into. The rear buzz bar takes the rod butt grips and is normally slightly narrower than the front buzz bar which ensures that the rods lie perfectly parallel to each other. Three-rod single bank stick buzz bar; and a four-rod goal post buzz bar. As with bank sticks, buzz bars are available in aluminium and stainless steel, and come in two, three and four rod set ups. Some buzz bars have a single head into which a bank stick can be screwed, while others have dual heads to accommodate two bank sticks. I prefer the dual head buzz bars as they offer more stability and there is no chance of twist or forward movement when a big fish picks up the bait, especially when fishing with the reels locked up. The dual buzz bar and bank stick set up is commonly referred to as a 'goal post' setup. Bank sticks are also used as anchor poles for carp sacks in the margins. The longer bank sticks are required for this purpose as they need to be pushed in as deep as possible to avoid a sacked big carp pulling loose, and they must be visible above the water’s surface so the angler knows exactly where it is when he is playing another fish. I've also used bank sticks with great success to set up perimeter alarms around my campsite when fishing ‘dodgy’ waters. I use six bank sticks, two of them with alarms on, and push them into the ground around my campsite in a square formation. I use a strong dark-coloured braid attached to one end and run it through the alarms around the other bank sticks with enough tension to ensure that if someone walks into the line it activates the alarms. This simple security system has surprised quite a few late night intruders, and all of the times when we came out to investigate, we found the intruders running away. In my opinion bank sticks are ‘must have’ items as I believe that they will be used by the big carp angler for various tasks. My advice to you is to purchase quality bank sticks in two different lengths – a pair of short ones, and also four long ones. Bank stick and buzz bar set up. Good stability, but a hard take on either the left or right rod normally causes the buzz bars to twist. *Next issue: Rod pods – helping you to select the right one.

Start with the right tackle

SPECIMEN CARP FISHING: PART 1

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