How to master Distance Sticks
Walking out your lines is an old and often messy method to ensuring you hit the spot. Master Distance Sticks and you’ll be more on-the-money – and with less agg!
The most successful anglers on any water will have one quality in common: accuracy. You can be accurate with many different aspects within carp fishing, but by far the most important is casting accuracy. The ability to get your rig bang-on the right spot, first cast, every time can work wonders when it comes to upping your catch-rate.
The first important thing to do is when you have hit your spot is tighten up to the lead and then place the line under the clip on your reel’s spool. This means when you make your next cast the line will hit the clip and land your rig at the correct distance. But how do you know the correct distance after you’ve made your cast and unclipped the line? Well, here’s a superb method which makes no disturbance and ensures your reel is clipped at the same distance every time!
1. Take your rod and place it on the ground.
2. Push your Distance Sticks into the ground – one at either end of the rod. If your sticks don’t have out-turned ends, it’s best to angle them outwards slightly – this ensures the line won’t slide off halfway through wrapping-up.
3. It’s now a simple case of securing the lead around one of the sticks.
4. With the lead secure, pick up the rod, open the bail arm and feather the line out whilst wrapping the line around the sticks in a figure-of-eight motion.
5. Do this until you have hit the clip on your reel and then take note of how many times your line went around the poles. This will probably also be a half or a quarter because the chance of it finishing directly on a pole is very slim.
6. Now do the same with your spod rod – but there is a difference: as a rule of thumb, in depths over ten-feet, reduce the spod distance by one third of the depth; one quarter the depth in water when five-to ten-feet deep and not at all in depths five-feet deep or less. This always ensures the bait falls just behind the rig.
How to mark your main line
1. Marker pen
Extremely easy to use, nothing for the line to catch on and can be rubbed/scratched off in seconds – and for that very reason it’s best two place two or three marks on the line.
2. Pole elastic or supple braid
Pole elastic is better than the supple braided marker variety as it’s softer and doesn’t catch on the cast. To tie either to your main line, hold the elastic/braid parallel to your main line, form a loop and go through said loop and your line four times.
3. Electrical tape
Classed as a bit of an old school method nowadays, but it’s cheap and comes in a variety of colours. Simply cut off a strip of around an inch long and fold it around the line and trim off the excess.
To successful hit the spot time and time again - regardless of whether you're using Distance Sticks or walking your lines out - you need a very line-friendly line clip on your reel, and the one on the new Mitchell Avocast 7000 Black Edition is as soft, cuddly and friendly as they come. So if you're lookng for exceptional design, mechanics, and value (they're currently offering two for the price of three!) then check out our review...