The pole gives you total control of your tackle whilst float fishing, allowing you to use much lighter rigs, provide a level of accuracy that a rod and reel can't produce. The pole allows you to place your bait in exactly the spot that you want to fish, it allows you to chum with ground bait or loose particles with extreme accuracy. It also allows you to land fish much quicker that with a rod and reel. Once you learn how to use pole, you'll ask yourself why it wasn't sooner.

What makes pole fishing the leading competitive method on fresh water?

• The first and most important reason is bait presentation.
  The short distance between the tip of the pole and the float makes the rig under angler's constant control. There are tricks that can be played when pole fishing.
  Whether holding the float still, moving it left-right with various speeds, slowing it down in a current, or sometimes lifting it up and down, there is always a right way to manipulate the hook bait in order to cause to be it appealing to any nearby fish. Often you just have to copy nature. Just try to match the same look how is the natural forage laying, or moving along the bottom.
  Another great trick is to use hook bait that matches or imitates native insects or other food items living in the water. For example, bloodworm, often 'shoot' themselves few inches above the bottom before slowly sinking back down. By simply lifting the float up a few inches with the pole, and dropping it back down, the hook bait basically mimics this natural movement. As this is often the only way to get shy fish to bite.


• The second main advantage of pole fishing is accuracy.
  Because we feed ground bait to attract the fish under the pole tip, our hook is constantly around a small concentrated area of feed, i.e. in front of the front of the fish's mouth!


• The third indispensable advantage of the pole is being able to fish with the lightest of tackle (that means a smaller float, thinner line, and/or a smaller hook). It is a fact that lighter tackle always produces more bites, since, obviously, it is less visible to the fish.

There are many varieties of poles available. Poles can be used to fish shallow or fast rivers, to small ponds or large lakes. They come in different lengths, strengths and designs. They can be used to 'bag-up' on small fish like Roach, or to tame the hard fighting Carp. Poles allow you to fish with a great level of precision and sensitivity. It is a very popular technique with match fishermen, and when used in the hands of a professional, can result in a huge weight of fish. It really is something you have to see and try to believe.
Poles are big, long and taper to a fine tip. The line of a float rig is tied onto the end of the pole tip. It can also be set up to attach to the end of a piece of Elastic, placed inside the pole tip. The elastic is used to assist in fighting fish. The float rigs used are similar to ones used on a rod and reel. The attached float rig hangs from the pole tip and is accurately pushed out over and into the water. The length of line between the float and the pole tip can vary in length for the type of fishing you want to do.
Using elastic in the pole tip allows the fish to fight against something. It also helps to keep a tight line between the fish and pole tip. It can also protect the pole and float rig when the fish surges away.
Once the fish is hooked, it will try to swim away. Your pole tip will curve towards the fish. If the fish is 'foul hooked', then it is at this stage when the hook hold will most likely let go. If you are catching small fish then they can be swung out of the water, and into your hand. If you are catching big fish like carp, then you can use special techniques to trick the fish and land them.
You can find more information in more details about elasticating fishing pole on
How to Elasticate a Fishing Pole page.
There are a few different techniques that can be used to land fish on a pole.

• Dabbling involves "dabbling baits" next to stumps, riverbanks, holes in moss beds and other tight spots. In these situations, a pole allows bait to be presented and retrieved over structure a rod and reel could not reach without fouling. This technique can be used with a variety of artificial lures and natural baits and with or without a bobber.


• Sling-shot In order to get a bait or lure under overhead structure like docks or limbs, hold hook by the bend, pull back to put tension on pole and release. The lure is "shot" ahead in whatever direction the pole is aimed. This technique is best performed with artificial lures.


• Strolling is basically manual trolling along a bank that is free from obstructions. To do so, simply walk along water's edge with pole extending at a right angle over the water. Be sure to extend the pole in or out to work around structure as you pass. This can be done with a variety of natural baits and artificial lures.


• To tire the fish by making it swim around is the most common method. This should only ever been done up to the point of being able to land it.


• The following method is used to trick larger fish into swimming toward you and into your landing net. You need to have a long pole to do this. Once you hook the fish, you need to push the pole tip away past the fish, so it is between you and the pole. If you put a bit of pressure on the line, the fish will most likely 'bolt' away from the pressure, and move towards you. A variation on this method is to keep the pole tip right above the fish.

Catching big fish on the pole is very challenging. Pole fishing can be used to catch almost all fish. It is a technique that more often than not lets you optimize any situation. You can 'bag up' when the fish are feeding, and also catch fish when other methods will fail.
The one thing to remember is that it is the preferred method for match fishermen. Match fishing produces the best anglers around the world. A pole in the hands of a good match fisherman will show you what is really in front of you in the water. And does not matter how far casting tackle advances, there will always be spots a pole can place bait that a rod and reel cannot reach. And fishermen wishing to become attractive anglers are best served learning the basic techniques involved in pole fishing in addition to mastering the use of casting tackle.
First, it is extremely important to know the basics of preparing fishing pole first before going into the details of artistic fishing. And the most important that you start off with good equipments. And having a good equipment means having a good fishing pole.