I have a ticket on a well known circuit water full of bigguns..

Baiting poles have become all the rage, not just shipping a bait out 5-7 wraps under a tree or in the margin, but basically fishing them at 20 wraps plus, into the middle of the pit, sometimes further. Shipping baits out directly onto fish or bubbles.

Some of them have deepers, some of them even have an electric winch which lowers a camera down to the bottom of the lake, and sends a video feed back to a monitor on the bank.

For ages I've just stuck by my regular method of casting and spombing and I've done ok, but I'm struggling to compete with these poles.

Part of me wants to cave in and get one - but it just feels like a baitboat on a stick, and once I've had success with it - I'll always be reliant on it.

What are people's thoughts on these? A legit fish catching tool, or basically just cheating?

In reply to Post #1
Your fishing your rules
Don't worry what anyone else thinks

No different than bait boats, drones, bite alarms, the hair rig and many others. Over the years we've adapted to make catching fish easier.

If that's not how you enjoy your fishing, don't use them. I still use my normal marker float and lead, and don't like the thought of bait boats either, possibly to my detriment.

Fish how you enjoy, and should you wish to compete, adapt to the times, if not, enjoy your fishing your way, put in the extra effort and make it work ☺️

In reply to Post #1
Desperate to catch by any means neccessary, not proper anglers ,especially if they are all doing the same thing sheeple/anglers..

Fish to your strengths and when you catch one ,take pleasure from the fact you did it on your own terms,and not being a slave..to the latest fad or gadget..

Where I fish ,baitboats are banned drones are banned and so are those deeper cheaters,..

What gets me is the so called Carpanista Turn there noses up at the mear thought of using a bait boat. But see nothing wrong with the use of a baiting pole which is basically a bait boat on the the end of a pole..

In reply to Post #1
Baitboat on a stick

In reply to Post #1
Sorry, just make me chuckle when people talk in wraps and not actual distances - we use different length rods, just saying... as to using a baiting pole, well, if you think that's unsporting, don't use a catapult. I have ten grand of sonar in my boat, which has 3 networked Humminbird units with live imaging and some would say that's unsporting? Each to their own is what I say. If you don't want to use, don't. All I know is, if I'm fishing a big Irish Lough for pike, I'm not going to fish it blind.

In reply to Post #1
I have a Nash BW pole with more sections than I can count with Deeper and Fishspy capability and TBH its a PIA to ship out anything more than 20m and keep steady and then trying to watch 2 screens at the same time. I'd forget it if I were you, fill a PVA bag with some pellets and a wafter and fire it out at the bubbles.

REALITY CHECK
PEOPLE ARE SUCH BLOODY GIGANTIC HYPOCRITE`s
all the shyte about cheating ??
FFS the biggest cheat is THE HAIR RIG THE ****ING FISH HOOKS ITSELF AND the bite alarm wakes you up from your deep sleep to reel in your fish !

..yea using a boat or baiting pole or sonar etc takes all the skill out of it blah blah bullshine
and people say its cheating ???

get a grip if you cant see either way the end result is no different FFS !!!!
Point of Fact in 1963 while fishing Farnham Anglings Cut Mill Pond I had a row when one of the old time locals came round shouting YOUR CHEATING THATS AN ELECTRIC BITE ALARM NO SKILL YOUR JUST CHEATING THEY SHOULD BE BANNED !!!
and it pissed me off
and things like it have ever since like when clubs banned the use of HEMPSEED as it drugged the fish and made them addicts and I see the narrow minded attitude has not changed today either has it ?

In reply to Post #9
So you've always chested

In reply to Post #9
Spot on

In reply to Post #11
Id hardly call it cheating?

If it is classed at a cheat, then the list below falls into that category

alarms
baitboats
rowing boats
maker floats
marker poles
wading
pre baiting
underwater cameras
spods
spombs
drones
fish finding devices

you get my drift.

there's nothing wrong with any tools to aid angling, what is wrong with them, is the user

In reply to Post #1
Love the fact you ask about the validity of baiting pole use but refer to distance in wraps

If it were me I'd ban wrap sticks, the use of the word wrap and banksticks in general just to stop people trying to get around the new wrap rules

I can clearly see my own hypocrisy.... Whilst bait boats aren't for me at all, I'd have no problem using a baiting pole. Even though they both negate the need for casting! I'm not even sure where/why the line is drawn between them!

Many years ago on Ravo, I used to cast a lead onto the far bank, walk around, tie a rig on then lower it under an overhanging bush using a tin cup gaffer taped to a landing net pole!

I guess as long as you're not ruining anyone else's fishing, do it on your own terms and enjoy.

In reply to Post #13
oh so funny...

i have a 50 ish acre reservoir at the bottom of my field

On the far side, there's a section, quite a long one, 100 odd yrds where the cattle go to drink.

i was in the field messing about last summer and noticed an angler very close to the drinking patch. 10am, lovely summers day, the cattle wandered down to drink.

i saw the cattle spook, buck and kick and the "angler" rose from his pit to find one of the beasts tangled up in his wrapping poles, it pulled them out of the ground, ran up into the grazing field with the poles attached to its back legs. after sometime they freed from the hind legs. No damage to the animal....BUT...

The angler stood there almost crying when he retrieved said poles, all tangled and bent

I didnt laugh too much

As ever it's clearly an emotive subject for some

If you are not breaking any rules then it's not cheating. It comes down to your own feelings on the matter. If you are satisfied that the method is justified and you can look back on the capture without regret then that is all that matters.

Would I use a bait boat for my UK fishing? Not while both my arms work. It took me years of practise to be (semi!) proficient with a rod, reel and line only. That's the way I learnt as a kid and that, for me, is real fishing. Using a bait boat would negate a special catch and I'm not aiming for more than half a dozen bites a year on the water I fish.

Would I use a bait boat for holiday fishing in France? Yep, no problem. One hand on the remote, one hand with a beer, drop it where you want each time and sit back and relax. Nice easy holiday fishing.

Would I use a pole to get a bait on a little spot in the edge under a tree at 5 yards? Sure, if it was the only way of doing it safely.

Would I push a pole out 80 yards (is that even really possible?) into open water? No, what a faff when you could flick a rod onto it.

Would I cast a Deeper sonar around a lake looking for features and fish? No. I like using a rod and lead.

Would I use a Raymarine sonar to check out the depth and weed growth on a proper boat and electric outboard? Yes, all part of the fun when fishing a big pit that allows boating.

All that may see contradicted to some, but I don't care. So long as it's within the rules then my fishing and my rules are all that matter to me.

In reply to Post #13
Wraps is old school. All distances these days are in sections 🎣

Anything that helps put a carp on the bank is cheating in my book, I like to hide in my full camou clothing behind or near some marginal foliage, then with my carp flute I charm them in close enough so I can pounce on them with a gaff and hoy them out on the bank (spawning time I don't even need the flute) funnily enough its also usually around spawning time I up my PB, call me old school but I like to have them setup in a glass case.

If anyone's got any syndicate spaces DM me if you like.

I've used a baiting pole for years, caught me a few bonus fish along the way for sure.

Until the Bushwhacker came out with its infinite distance the humble 12 or 18m baiting pole was considered an "edge" and definitely viewed differently to how they are now.

I think they are great!

In reply to Post #1
Well you've clarified one thing from this thread. This forum is full of baitboat/baiting pole using cheats! 😂

Seriously do what sits well with you personally. I like the skill of casting so I avoid catching fish through using any method that my 4 year old son or wife could execute. ✌️

In reply to Post #20
Well you've clarified one thing from this thread. This forum is full of baitboat/baiting pole using cheats!

Exactly

Never had a bait boat and never will, I'm a man of principles

In reply to Post #21
If you got hit by a sudden illness and could not longer cast would you use a baitboat then

In reply to Post #22
I personally would, but it's unlikely you'd be able to fish for carp without physically being able to cast isn't it? Reeling in, dealing with the fish, assembling a shelter, barrowing gear,all quite reliant on good use of your arms.

In reply to Post #22
Then I would say good luck to that person

Know a bloke who has one good arm, fishes one arm style

In reply to Post #1
Each to their own, as long as you are not breaking the lake rules then crack on. I dont use one personally but cannot get the mentality of people who think stuff like this is "cheating". Who is it cheating exactly?

In reply to Post #20
Yeah I mean I'm not claiming that using a pole is cheating, it's coming more from the perspective of where I fish - where there's very much an "us and them" attitude, where some people think it is blatant cheating, even going so far as to "not count" the fish that the pole-anglers catch.

The essence of it really boils down to baitboats are banned - however, with a mega-long pole, some electronics and a bit of DIY, we can make something as good as a baitboat (albeit on a stick), and that winds some people up, I've been on the fence with the whole thing.

I think I'm probably going to get one, they seem to come into their own in the winter, where the fish are not "troughing" on big beds of bait so much, but they will eat a small patch in one go - the water where I currently am - the pole anglers are having some phenomenal results for January, and I feel like I'm missing out.

I think people fail to realise that there is definitely an art to using a pole, or even a baitboat effectively. It's just a tool, and it does take some time to learn to use them effectively.

I use a pole as and when and find it properly useful, that said, if I was on a lake where everyone was dropping tiny little patches of crumbed up bollie onto bubblers, I would probably be inclined to do something different and spread 20k of boilie around a marker float.

In reply to Post #27
Oh behave yourself!

In reply to Post #18
Brilliant 😂

In reply to Post #24
I knew a chap who fished with only one arm. He always wore wellies to go fishing and would put the rod butt in the boot, and reel with his one arm. I saw him with a very good double figure carp held normally; a friend Steve Bugg was behind him holding one end of the fish, while he held the other.
Brilliant picture, good mates and a good laugh together.
That's mates and memories for you

In reply to Post #30
Each to their own, as mentioned there are quite a few contradictions in peoples tolerance of certain tactics for eg happy to use a sonar attached to a boat but the thought of someone casting out a deeper is preposterous lol.

There's always a novelty to using any new gadget / tactic / gizmo that has a sense of intrigue and excitement about it.

However they require more money, more gear and generally more faff.

using an aid to take a baited line out be it a pole, bait boat, rowing boat or any other device isnt "Angling" there may be another term for this process but i havent a clue what that would be.

I take a pair of speedos with me and just swim my baits out.

In reply to Post #13
But you can make a wrap whatever measurement you want so can put people of who are spying on you lol

People need to focus on their own fishing bit more rather than this or that is cheating. I don't use a pole/boat but everything has its time an a place. Is wading down a margin to set a trap cheating too!

In reply to Post #33
There's the next korda underwater video getting censored then...

In reply to Post #32
So why is that cheating but using a bait alarm not? Or using a rig that hooks the fish for you instead of having to strike?

In reply to Post #35
Yes banned on my club waters,along with most other things. Its a wonder we catch anything.

I think people are a bit hypersensitive about the word cheating.

But as far as boats and poles and what have you go, to me it's a question of merit, and i do think that baitboats and poles take away some merit, as do bolt rigs, bait alarms, euroaqua and overstocked puddles.

Anybody doing some lure fishing? Underhand casting parralel to a reed collar while sitting under a tree, balancing on your toes, trying not to fall in, and catching that pike that way?

But fair is fair, i do cheat in the way that is being discussed here, oh yes i do, but i still cherish and value my float caught carp way more than the gazzilion caught on pay lakes, with bait boats, depth finders and all that stuff. I mean, just keeping it real:P

In reply to Post #37
never said it was cheating i referred it to none Angling practice

In reply to Post #9
It's 2023 and people still think Hemp is a dangerous product that will turn kids into mass murderers, but that's a different topic altogether.

No-one cares when Ringer ships out a bit of roach food in a cup on an 18m pole to catch a gammy 4lb mirror do they?

Bait Boats have been largely welcomed in the Pike fraternity for shipping deadbaits out. So why not us?

There is a lot of finesse in shipping out a spoon of particle 18m onto a small spot. I'd rather be on a place full of pot smoking pole lovers than a be on a pond where everyone is "smashing the granny out of it bruv" whilst spodding out 'Soop' at 1829120101 wraps. The constant sound of "whoooosh, SPLOSH" from all over the drink will do my head in.

Each to their own of course. I just choose not to fish waters like that.

In reply to Post #41
So if you don't use a bait boat or pole you can't be subtle getting your rig and bait in? Surely that's the skill right there..

In reply to Post #40
Ok, why is it none Angling practice compared to the others?

In reply to Post #43
Non or none

In reply to Post #44
Good point well made 😂😂😂

In reply to Post #45
I think if you can cast to the spot it's not cheating, if one uses other means then I'm not so sure. Is casting a lead onto the far bank then dropping it in cheating?

Hit the nail on the head casting to the far margin an dropping it back in with a rig is no different to using a pole or a boat.

In reply to Post #46
If it means you are away from your unattended rods with baits in the water then it a no no on my lakes. But then virtually everything is banned by our committee. We can't leave baits on the hooks when the hook is in the butt ring when you go to the khazi.

In reply to Post #48
That's not a bad rule to live by. I've witnessed the carnage a goose made once.

In reply to Post #49
Yup, I've had a Greylag do me leaving it, hadn't even gone to the loo, just propped up against my bivvy as my alarm had gone off setting the other rod up. Unhooking that was tough, managed it in the end, and he stayed for some of my particle after so can't have been too upset 😂😂😂

In reply to Post #50
Birds are thick as mince.

In reply to Post #51
Yeah, dated a few of those.

In reply to Post #12
Ban all of them for me

In reply to Post #51
I'd rather thick than crafty in both cases.