"This is proper fishing," smiled Alan as he lifted a giant roach straight to his chest. He unhooked the fish, left the same bait on and swung his 11metre rig back into the lough, fed a ball of groundbait before swinging in another seconds later.
Unfortunately, my plea for a go on his gear was met with much less enthusiasm but I was happy watching Alan empty the place to be honest.
You have probably guessed by now that we are in Ireland, fishing this good is very rare in England, which is one reason why thousands flock there each year.
Pole to hand is one of Alan’s favourite methods and one he has had some huge weights on.
To simplify things the pole to hand is similar to whip fishing, a length of line to hand but more stepped up. The tackle needed is very specialist, as is the feeding and all round approach. Alan reveals all to Angling Times Advanced…

Spares at the ready
Alan’s rig roost looked like a pole display with several long poles on it of various lengths. “A range of poles is essential and I like to have at least four set up to cater for different weight floats and different fishing distances,” said Alan.
Before you book a meeting with the bank manager to arrange an overdraft, the poles Alan uses for this method are Shimano Beastmasters that cost 650quid - still quite a hefty investment but Alan still uses Shimano Solstace poles that are years old from time to time.
This method is all about speed and little finesse so it’s important to have poles set up from eight metres up to 12 metres to hand. On occasions when the fish are getting ready to spawn they will come closer to the bank and can be caught on shorter distances, but in the main Alan uses 8.5 metres to 12 metres.
Poles for this type of fishing need to be slim and forgiving. Slim poles are normally softer than bigger diameter poles and the soft action is important to pendulum cast the rig out and take the strain when swinging fish up to 1lb in weight. Stiffness is not needed because the pole is not directly over the float.
“Don’t try using your normal match pole for this type of fishing because you will break it, I can guarantee that. You need a slim pole that you can throw around a bit. I helped design the beastmaster, its slim, strong, yet light enough to use all day,” said Alan.

Rigs for pole to hand
Alan uses mainline between 0.20mm and 0.25mm matched to 0.16mm-0.18mm Shimano Silk Shock hooklengths. “These fish are wild and hungry and not in the least worried about line thickness,” he says.
Mustad Bream feeders in a size12 are his favourite hook to present three maggots for roach or a piece of dendrobaena for hybrids.
“Casters can work on the hook but I tend not to use them because shelling is a problem, which wastes catching time. I can catch several fish on one hookbait with maggot and the stamp is usually no different,” explained Alan.
Strong silicone to attach floats and olivettes is important because the strain can easily cut thin stuff. Secure silicone will prevent the float slipping when bagging too.
“I have had the float move down the line before and not been able to tell because the distance between the float and pole tip is such a long distance. I found out on that occasion because the bites gradually faded and the fish got smaller. It’s a mistake I wont make again,” said the four times world champion.
Alan’s uses Tubertini Bazzerla CM6 floats and usual sizes are 2 grams for 8 metres in perfect conditions and up to 10 grams for 12 metres in windy weather. 4gram, 5gram and 6gram cover most situations for Alan. Big lead olivettes are the order of the day to shot the floats (or brass when fishing in Northern Ireland as lead is banned) and large lead droppers rarely smaller than a number 2.
Carbon stemmed floats are important; wire stem floats will not cast properly and can bend under pressure.

Groundbait for pole to hand
Van Den Eynde Dynamic Feeder (1 kilo) Superoach (3 kilos) brown crumb (2 kilos) is Alan’s current favourite mix. This produced a sticky mix that bound easily with just a single squeeze.
“I realise many people wont be able to buy several bags of continental groundbait and brown crumb is a useful bulking agent. Be careful not to add too much because it will break the mix up, which is the last thing you want,” said Alan.
“Dynamic feeder is a groundbait I have recently taken a liking to, it binds really well and contains large particles such as crushed hemp that will keep the fish in the area.
“Six to 10 kilos is the normal amount of groundbait I mix up. I kick start the peg by feeding just a couple of balls, I never ball it big style because the fish are already in the peg, it’s just a case of getting them competing by feeding a ball every cast. Balling it is a mistake because loads of fish will come straight to the bait and cause missed bites and a slow start.
“Another reason to build the peg gradually is you can often draw the fish closer during the day, that’s hard to do if you have put a load of bait further out,” explained Alan.
To the groundbait Alan adds casters and hemp. The hemp can go in at once but casters need to be added gradually to avoid them going sour and floating. Four pints of casters should suffice for 6 kilos of groundbait.

Fish the pole to hand like Alan Scotthorne
1) With the pole between your legs let go of the hooklength and lift the pole upwards.
2) To gain more power shift the hand you let go of the hooklength onto the pole and swing the rig out pendulum style.
3) Point the pole straight ahead just above the water and aim to get the rig to land perfectly straight out in front of you.
4) Feed a ball of groundbait just short of the float, if you can’t feed with your spare hand, stand up and feed.
5) Strike firmly and pull the fish steadily to hand, then repeat the process.

Get the power
To swing fish straight to hand it’s important that your chosen method of shock absorber stretches very little. Alan uses Drennan Power gum in 14lb breaking strain threaded through the top two of his pole doubled up. He uses a plastic micro-connector to attach his rig.
“Powergum stretches only a few inches when doubled up, which, with the soft action of the pole is ideal for catching roach at speed,” said Alan.
“I have tried tight strong elastic but it comes nowhere near powergum in terms of performance and durability.”
Alan uses bands that grip the butt section of his pole to hook his rigs up when they are not being used. His rigs are just a few inches shorter than the length of his pole so a fish comes straight to hand when he swings the pole high between his legs. Netting fish is a rarity with this method unless catching bream or big hybrids but it is very simple. Swing the pole high between your legs and pull back with your chosen hand steadily and net the fish with the handle in your other hand. Alan suggests trying to get in the water with a platform and skimming the fish across the surface to hand for extra speed and efficiency.

At its best
The pole to hand is a method when on lots of fish. It should be used when bites are coming within seconds of the float settling or when the water is so deep it forces you to fish to hand. If bites are slow and come after several minutes the long pole short line is probably the best option.
“I normally have both the long pole short line and long pole to hand set up in Ireland. I start on the short line and if I find the peg solid I will quickly change to see which is best,” said Alan.
Wind can cause problems with the pole to hand but it is still fishable, just harder work. Head winds mean heavier floats will be needed to swing the massive amount of line out properly but side winds can pose the biggest problem.


The result – over 60lb
Long pole short line gave Alan plenty of bites to begin with but switched to the pole to hand after 15 minutes to speed up the catch rate. He started at 10 metres to hand but with the wind proving awkward in his 15ft peg he started dropping the odd ball of groundbait shorter in an attempt to bring the fish closer to the bank. It worked, to an extent, but the fish kept drifting away from this closer line.
Alan decided it would be best to persevere with 11metres and soon got into a rhythm again with roach between two and six ounces.
I was in awe watching Alan, swinging his float out pendulum style, following the float with a ball of groundbait fed underarm (which landed on the float every time) and smoothly bringing a fish back a few moments later it was great to watch.
Alan decided (when the wind was at it’s worst) to have a cuppa break and to let me have a go.
Despite me being a lefty (handed) I soon got into the ‘swing’ of things and caught some fish to begin with but was soon knackered due to the constant recasting and swinging of fish. This was partly down to poor technique and partly down to being a weakling.
I struggled to swing the pole pendulum style with a single hand and had to stand up to swing it out with two hands. After gaining confidence (and a bit of strength) I managed it and found it was all about timing, you don’t have to use brute force if your technique is right, which Alan pointed out. I couldn’t feed a ball of groundbait under arm to begin with either but with a bit of practise I could.
“Sandra and I normally like to get a bit of practise in before fishing a festival because it does take a while to get the hang of things again. It’s like any other fishing, refine it to your way of fishing and always look of ways to improve by catching bigger fish, or catching faster, it’s this that will catch you the really big weights,” concluded Alan.



This article appears courtesy of Angling Times Advanced