Anglers in the United Kingdom and Ireland love fresh water fishing, known as coarse fishing. As such there is a huge market for the latest and greatest coarse fishing tackle. Technology is always coming up with something new for coarse fishing, and the range of coarse fishing tackle can be quite bewildering.
For coarse fishing there are two main types of tackle: rod and reel, or pole. A rod and reel is the typical fishing tackle recognisable even by people outside of the sport. With a rod and reel the line is fed to the tip of the rod from a reel at the base, through a series of eyelets. A pole on the other hand has no reel and has the line attached to the tip of the rod.
Course fishing usually involves a rod and reel system, but these are only two parts of a three part system, the final component of a coarse fishing system of course being the line. Let’s look at each of these three items individually.
The rod itself will have a few specifications that will indicate its performance for various types of fishing including coarse fishing. The length and action of the rod will decide the cast length and the control the angler can have over the float. Typically a coarse angler using a float rod will use a rod of around fifteen feet long although slightly shorter is perfectly acceptable. The longer the rod, the further the float and bait can be cast. A longer rod also affords the angler greater control over the cast particularly in challenging windy conditions.
Although a nice strong rod is required to land larger fish, a soft tip will help catch smaller fish as it has a less aggressive action on the hook in the fish’s mouth and is less likely to rip the hook out of a small fish’s mouth.
The second main component in coarse fishing tackle is the fishing reel. There are three different technologies used for fishing reels.
- Open faced spinning reel with front drag
- Open faced spinning reel with rear drag
- Closed face spinning reel
The open faced spinning reel with front drag is perhaps the most common type of reel for coarse fishing tackle and float fishing. Most anglers prefer this over the rear drag type as front drag tends to be a lighter reel. A closed face reel is more like the type of reel associated with lure fishing, but rather than being mounted on the top, it is mounted under the rod as with any other coarse fishing reel. Because the line is stored inside a closed face reel housing, it is the favoured type of reel with many UK coarse fishing anglers.
The next of the three main components for coarse fishing tackle is of course the fishing line. Fishing line is specified by diameter and breaking strain and comes in normal or pre-stretched condition. Generally, a normal line has a larger diameter than a stretched line. Obviously a pre stretched line has less give in it than a normal line, and this selection is largely down to the preference of the angler.
The final components in a coarse angler’s equipment will be hook and bait. The selection of hook and bait will be dictated entirely by the type of fish. There is a massive selection to choose from with various specifications such as with or without eyes, barb design, loose or attached.
Using different variations of the above coarse fishing tackle it is possible to construct a coarse fishing rig for many different fishing situations for any of the target fish species. Choose carefully and correctly and your coarse fishing success is one step closer!