Redesiging swingtip project novel

[TF_inky finger]

My summer season was nothing to write home about and i needed something different to do to keep me interested. To that end i thought about redesigning the swingtip after reading an idea off the net from years ago.The swingtip is something i still do once or twice a year with all the usual problems. The rod was changed from a specialist poker to something a bit softer in the tip and middle as i had skimmers in mind. The rod was a problem but i thought that a powerful ish pellet waggler would fit the bill and the budget (sorry tricast yours was to expensive). I settled on one from shakespeare. (11ft pellet wag). The first time i used it the rod was a to soft so it got shortened and was better. The swingtip was made from a number one pole tip section with the line running through the middle and drennan fluro green catapult elastic connecting it to the rod tip no real tangle problems. The carbon tip was a bit light so the mark 2 was weighted but i had a few casting problems. The original post talked of using aluminum tubing. A quick visit to the local model shop and i left with 3-4mm internal dia tubing and two of the girls from victoria’s secrets. The next stop was the tackle shop for internal ptfe bushes. The drennan ones fitted perfectly well a trip to maplins for some shrink tube and i was done.
To make the mark 3 i crushed one end of the tube and slipped over the heat shrink tubing then shrank it. I then drilled a 2.5mm hole 25mm ish down from the crushed end. The next
stage is to slip over the catapult elastic and push in the internal ptfe bush at the other end. I did put a ptfe bush in the top hole but this didn’t last long so gave up on this idea.
The 1st trial worked really well the only change was to shorten the catapult elastic down to 2ins or so The even weight distribution was a great help on the cast and when settled.
The rod was still a bit soft so i shortened it further and then further still by trapping it in the car door ! Bugger. The next rod was one from GoOutdoors and already had the tip eye missing and so cost £15 ! The rod is a waterline karma 11ft pellet waggler rod ( 12 lined rings,locking handle and hook ring) and is very powerful compared to the shakespeare and does chuck a 30grm feeder 50yrds
The only changes i’ve made to the swingtip is to use an external bush to aid casting distance. This will cast pretty well trouble free without much thought if you don’t cast really hard and show bites and liners like you wouldn’t believe especially if you use braid.
The downside is the distance and the fact that threading the line through this swingtip is a pain (i remove the ptfe bush and yes i’ve done the usual tricks). If you have trouble sinking braid then get some KlinOn liquid from the carp section of your local shop it works a treat. You will also get older anglers going misty eyed when they see what you are using. I have had more interest in this bit of kit than anything else while fishing. If i go into production it will come with a free keith arthur moustache or dennis white mutton chops cerca 1970. inky
inky

[TF_millie]

I’m from the swing tip era never bought a shop bought swing tip in all my life we used to buy a drennan screw in quiver tip take the screw off and can you remember 3 in 1 oil the flat rigid plastic that connected the lid to the can well we used to use that it could be bent into any shape u wanted and when it was towing the swing tip wouldn’t ride up until you got a bite,it took us years to find and make them like that as for the rod nothing over 10ft was accurate enough to cast in the same spot as you needed to throw it over your shoulder not over your head like quiver tipping requires and stiffer the better with a reel no faster than 5-1 for the slow retrieve not to cause hook pulls.We found fibreglass rods were actually better than carbon ones so you could punch a feeder out upto 80-90 yards

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