polo mint and balloon rig for getting extra distance

[Senor Feeshy]

In order to get yer bait out quicker and thus less washed out, you could try this.
Get a 10g automatic lifejacket inflator and fix it securely inside the neck of a deflated baloon. This way you can cast further initially and you can use a lager baloon for visibilty.
The baloon inflates after sinking 10cm.
You now have more options as to what you use as yer release mechanism; you can use something that will disolve quicker due to the extra initial distance obtained.

Now obviously an automatic inflator is expensive - yer gonna be paying quite a bit for a charter for the day targeting shark anyway - but seeing as this is an experiment, why not. Maybe there are cheaper refillable alternatives.

The problem I see with your plan is this. The amount of line used to get out there is normally at least what ya need to play a fish of any decent size so you'll probably end up having to cut the line

[jg]

This subject has go over 70 replys. It must have something going for it . Here my input suck the polo as you tie the rig with dissovling PVA tape the sort we use in coarse angling ...

[gfkelly1969]

After a restudy of the initial theory and extensively investigating gfkelly1969 concept, I feel there is one major over sight that has yet to be addressed.
Retrieval.
Let us just procrastinate here for a moment and assume gfkelly1969 theory with his Polo mint actually works. A number of contributors have cast (pardon the pun) doubts on it, but for this point in time, we’ll agree it works.
OK, so we have enticed, say a blue shark, weighing in at about 100lb onto our bait say 400m out.
If we assume, we initially used a 12/13ft beach caster to launch our study rig, pray tell, how, do you gfkelly1969 propose retrieving such a deep water fish at such a distance out?

to all that cast doubts on if it works i would suggest they try it out first

blue shark have been caught from the shore before http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/shark%20-%20blue.htm quote Shore tactics: Shore tactics for shark - surely not! Blue Sharks have been caught from the shore from several marks in Ireland, perhaps the most famous being the Green Island mark in Co. Clare. To allow for bite detection at distance, a balloon rather than a float is used as the marker, and again mackerel is the key bait. Most new quality beachcaster rods will hold onto a blue shark from the shore, and you will need lots of line (> 500 yards, 450 metres) so a big multiplier reel is vital, something like a Penn 545 GS, or even bigger! Bear in mind that the further south in Ireland and the warmer the weather has been, the sooner the sharks show...

if you hook a blue shark its like any fish you hook you have to fight it to get it in,anything is possible in fishing

[gfkelly1969]

why not save yourself all this bother and learn to cast? 90% of the time the fish are within 100 yards

Tbh I'd have to agree with Eric on this one, most of the time you don't really need to distance cast in Ireland to find fish, a reasonable or quite often a short cast will put you amongst them. The only practical use I can see for this type of approach would maybe be for putting large whole mackerel baits or whatever out a reasonable distance for Tope etc. The problem as I see it with using this type of approach with say a flapper rig is that by the time you actually get your bait out that distance would the baits not be washed out? As I said before I like the lateral thinking of these rigs and I'm always fascinated reading about other similarly inventive rigs and techniques used in other parts of the world but I can't see myself getting a pack of balloons for the tackle bag, not for the marks I fish anyway.

that's true a lot of fish are in close but i i find it hard to get them at any distance at the moment and i always wonder what else is out past distance i can cast also a lot of the members on site cant spend the big money on the good casting rods,maybe the rig can get them to the same distance as the good rods,its all a experiment,i love trying different rigs to see what works,a lot of members added their ideas which is great,probably a lot more ideas out there yet and i would love to hear them

[gfkelly1969]

In order to get yer bait out quicker and thus less washed out, you could try this.
Get a 10g automatic lifejacket inflator and fix it securely inside the neck of a deflated baloon. This way you can cast further initially and you can use a lager baloon for visibilty.
The baloon inflates after sinking 10cm.
You now have more options as to what you use as yer release mechanism; you can use something that will disolve quicker due to the extra initial distance obtained.

Now obviously an automatic inflator is expensive - yer gonna be paying quite a bit for a charter for the day targeting shark anyway - but seeing as this is an experiment, why not. Maybe there are cheaper refillable alternatives.

The problem I see with your plan is this. The amount of line used to get out there is normally at least what ya need to play a fish of any decent size so you'll probably end up having to cut the line

very good idea the automatic life jacket inflater it might be worth trying,cost about 15 euro,i will have to look in to cheaper refillable as well
the problem with the line could be reduced a bit by using a boat reel loaded with low diameter line,was thinking of some thing like yo zuri line http://015d0c6.netsolhost.com/Products/ ... eChart.htm maybe there is other low diameter line out there that i dont know about

[gfkelly1969]

This subject has go over 70 replys. It must have something going for it . Here my input suck the polo as you tie the rig with dissovling PVA tape the sort we use in coarse angling ...

the subject might be a bit mad but i am seeing some very good ideas being put forward,i never heard of the dissolving PVA tape it sounds good,i will have to investigate it a bit more

[Surfrod]

Another problem I envisage is bite detection and strike response time.
For our initial theory, we are now assuming that our trial rig has manoeuvred the right distance. The Polo mint has dissolved and our bait is presented properly and is now in place.
Problem (a) and I know this may have been glanced over before, but with such a distance out, a fair off shore wind/breeze blowing the balloon from behind, it’s safe to assume the sea is choppy and the balloon would be seen bobbling up and down. This in my opinion could lead to false sightings of a take.
Problem (b): With so much distance on the line, I again see a problem when the balloon does go down and attempting to strike, to drive home the hook.
Any ideas how these problems may be overcome??

[gfkelly1969]

Another problem I envisage is bite detection and strike response time.
For our initial theory, we are now assuming that our trial rig has manoeuvred the right distance. The Polo mint has dissolved and our bait is presented properly and is now in place.
Problem (a) and I know this may have been glanced over before, but with such a distance out, a fair off shore wind/breeze blowing the balloon from behind, it’s safe to assume the sea is choppy and the balloon would be seen bobbling up and down. This in my opinion could lead to false sightings of a take.
Problem (b): With so much distance on the line, I again see a problem when the balloon does go down and attempting to strike, to drive home the hook.
Any ideas how these problems may be overcome??

Problem (a) as with any other method of fishing on a windy day it will be hard to see a bite,the main thing to watch is the tip of the rod and not the balloon
the balloon will cause some movement on the rod but after watching the tip of the rod for a few minutes you should be able to tell the difference between the wind the balloon and a bite

Problem (b) if the line is tight the balloon will slide back along the main line and you should be able to strike with no problem,with a lot of fish you don't need to strike to set the hook
with the rig at distance it will take a bit of trial and error to see what will work and what wont

[gfkelly1969]

here are a few more methods that people use to get the bait out far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-KxVRs6dPA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tB0R0XY0k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF4LkPCLSuc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9phrP9UUco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmOK8AdR3EE

[Determined Dan]

mad trace .and i guess all the posh fish in the sea will prefer the scent trail of a polo mint than a bait.handy for fish with bad breath.

[Surfrod]

Having taken time out to investigate long casting/presenting methods in depth, I have now, I believe, come up with a fool proof theory that could be the answer.
Two people required for this.
Flat sandy beach is essential.
A fair off shore breeze necessary.
Para board required
First person picks up leader and heads off on the para board waiting for the breeze to pick up the chute. When airborne, he is taken out on the breeze. At the required distance, he drops the leader and hey presto, you are out the required distance.

[rockyb23]

Fair play to you mate.

FWIW I'd rather be reading your thoughts and experiments than some people's attempts to be funny.

Keep up the original thinking.

[The Austrian]

I second that, fair play to you, gf, love your posts

[coddingya]

great idea never thought of it before
but what about scrapping the polo mint. and instead use your balloonstied directly to your line. heres the complicated bit and at the base of the balloon where the rubber is darker you can put a needle thorough and put a hook in and tie to a spare rod and when the balloon gets to where you want strike your spare rod bursing the balloon and dropping your rig where you want. or bring an air pellet gun and shoot the balloon and have great fun getting some target practice. or probably even easier with two rods again tie a quick release knot above your rig and let the balloons out strike spare rod releasing the knot and removing the balloons from main line just a few ideas up there with the cobwebs

[Surfrod]

Coddingya..
The basic problem I see with your prognoses is the balloon. We had toyed with a similar set up before but could not agree on what the primary colour of the balloon should be.
Nonetheless, the insertion of a needle into the balloon could in my opinion cause floatage problems.
Whilst I envisage more rubber from the balloon owning to it getting tied in a knot at its base, I still see we could encounter problems once the tip of the needle is inserted in the aforementioned balloon material.
Also, if added weight, that is, an additional rod is loaded unto the balloon, I feel here again, their could be an issue with a floatage problem.
Also another issue to consider is the haulage of a gas battle to fill the balloon up with. And then on top of that you may face a problem of also lugging a shotgun about as well as pellets to load same shot gun.
The next problem I see we could be faced with is not alone reeling in the jig, but also the spare rod that you sent up with the balloon.
I’ll take some time away to look into your suggestions and will endeavour to revert to you with my ideas on same as soon as possible.
In the meantime tight lines.

[dickyfish]

I must say i have enjoyed reading this thread over the last while and have to report that the mate and I gave this a go last autumn in donegal. We had an offshore wind and got out an impressive distance. The one issue was that we kept losing gear on the retrive, i think there must have been some rough patches out a bit that kept snagging us; any ideas to counteract this?

[gfkelly1969]

I must say i have enjoyed reading this thread over the last while and have to report that the mate and I gave this a go last autumn in donegal. We had an offshore wind and got out an impressive distance. The one issue was that we kept losing gear on the retrive, i think there must have been some rough patches out a bit that kept snagging us; any ideas to counteract this?

glad to hear that some one tried it and it worked well you could use a lead lift like in the link here http://www.lathams-fishing.co.uk/breaka ... d4459.html the lead lift should bring the lead close to the surface and hopefully away from any snags

[johnfish]

this is getting tried in carlingford lough for tope this summer,good man great idea

[gfkelly1969]

great idea never thought of it before
but what about scrapping the polo mint. and instead use your balloonstied directly to your line. heres the complicated bit and at the base of the balloon where the rubber is darker you can put a needle thorough and put a hook in and tie to a spare rod and when the balloon gets to where you want strike your spare rod bursing the balloon and dropping your rig where you want. or bring an air pellet gun and shoot the balloon and have great fun getting some target practice. or probably even easier with two rods again tie a quick release knot above your rig and let the balloons out strike spare rod releasing the knot and removing the balloons from main line just a few ideas up there with the cobwebs

another idea that could work well but you would have to carry more gear with you,i like your thinking might try out that idea

[gfkelly1969]

this is getting tried in carlingford lough for tope this summer,good man great idea

i hope it works well for you,i would love to see some one getting big fish from the shore with the rig