Thomas Turner
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I have been lamenting that the float in general coarse angling is nearly an extinct animal but not necessarily so. This week it is trotting under the microscope and the art is absolutely alive and well down on the Test, at Broadlands, if a trip there a couple of winters back is representative. That winter’s day I was astonished and humbled by the skills on show. Most of it pin work and pretty much all of it beautifully controlled in seriously tricky water…. The Test in heavy conditions is no pussy cat but these fine fishers were murdering it. I can think of days with guys like Mark Everard, Martin Salter and Keith Elliott and simply purring at their trotting talents. The fact remains that I am talking about the best and, as for the rest, the feeder on most rivers reigns supreme and that’s a tragedy in so many ways.
THE TRENT EXPERIENCE
I say that off the back of sessions I had years back with float craftsman Andy Field. Andy had mastered Trent barbel on 4BB sticks allied to a 14ft float rod and pin loaded with 4lb line. The trick was float control in a twelve foot deep swim along with heavy feeding. We took only a single rod and the routine was for one of us to feed whilst the other played a fish and then reverse roles in turn. Once the barbel were on the maggot/caster/hemp mix, we barely had a trot without a take, the float typically going no more than five yards down the swim. Once we (Andy!) had worked it out, it was easy and exhilarating but here’s the point. Repeatedly we would attract an audience of anglers fishing traditional feeder set ups…and blanking. No matter how many times we were watched and no matter how many barbel we landed, we were never copied. There’d be some mutters of appreciation, some head scratching but then it was back to the tip for all of them. Of course, Andy was only following in the footsteps of the grand old Trent masters like J W Martin so let’s remember there is nothing new in angling!
SIGNATURE METHODS
As a guide, I often say to friends chose a method you are happy with and have confidence in. Make it your go-to approach whenever it is applicable and work at it to make it ever better, session on session. You could say trotting a medium sized river is my signature. I purr over a steady paced run, 4 to 7 feet deep, running over sand and gravel. I’ll settle myself into a good fishing position, and that might mean wading, and then I’ll work a 14 foot float rod, (the Thomas Turner Classic+ of course, has there ever been a light rod with so much spine to it?), centre pin, 4lb mainline and 3 or 4 BB stick to my heart’s content. I’m a simple chap and I don’t fuss over shotting patterns, most of which I find fussily over complicated. Most of my bulk shot I’ll generally place 12 to 18 inches above the float and that is often all there is to it! I’ll feed heavily with maggots mostly, putting in a serious handful every cast. I might not get more than bits initially but I’m quite sure chub, barbel, bream, perch and even roach will begin to respond after no more than forty five minutes. The glory of the method is that you never quite know what will come along next..it’s a real cornucopia of delights and surprises and of all methods in the fishing world, this is my favourite.
FEEDING
I cannot over stress the importance of this on many/most river situations. A pinch of bait does nothing on bigger rivers apart from feeding the minnows and bleak. A gallon of maggots for three hours on the Wye or Severn is not too much. Two kilos of corn might get barbel going. On the Trent, Andy would never dream of a session without a gallon plus of bait. Mash is great for pulling in chub and trotting big pieces of flake down the line. But again, two loaves are needed just to get them interested ..and then use a conker sized piece of flake on a size 6!
SMALL RIVERS
One of my eternal loves is the river Wensum where fish stocks are massively lower than on the Wye or Severn. The water is slower, more shallow and often clearer. This is the case for tight trotting, for much smaller floats, often pole floats carrying just a number 6 shot. Your hook here might be a 18 and the hook length 2lbs BS. Baiting is equally scaled down..a pint of maggots or two tins of corn will do a whole day. Mind you, on the Wensum, you might have to travel to find your fish, whereas on the Wye you want to bring them to you. That’s a big difference and the variety of trotting situations is one of its delights.
Trotting-get out there if you can!
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Trotting is a massive subject but let’s not make it complicated , because it’s not.
Good gear…tick.
Plenty of bait-tick.
A well chosen swim and place to fish it from….tick.
Steady feeding and even delaying the first cast fifteen minutes to build up confidence….tick.
Decent line control and mending in a wind that is not too unruly….tick.
A well chosen, visible float, especially in low light conditions…tick.
Barbel, chub, roach, dace, perch, bream, grayling, even river carp..all tick.
The nicest way to fish a river…a big tick for sure.
A method you can take anywhere and improve every session you fish it..tick.
A fantastic method for educated fish that have seen it all feeder approaches before….a massive tick too.
The post Conjuring Up Coarse Magic. Float Fishing – Trotting appeared first on Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques.
Continue reading...
THE TRENT EXPERIENCE
I say that off the back of sessions I had years back with float craftsman Andy Field. Andy had mastered Trent barbel on 4BB sticks allied to a 14ft float rod and pin loaded with 4lb line. The trick was float control in a twelve foot deep swim along with heavy feeding. We took only a single rod and the routine was for one of us to feed whilst the other played a fish and then reverse roles in turn. Once the barbel were on the maggot/caster/hemp mix, we barely had a trot without a take, the float typically going no more than five yards down the swim. Once we (Andy!) had worked it out, it was easy and exhilarating but here’s the point. Repeatedly we would attract an audience of anglers fishing traditional feeder set ups…and blanking. No matter how many times we were watched and no matter how many barbel we landed, we were never copied. There’d be some mutters of appreciation, some head scratching but then it was back to the tip for all of them. Of course, Andy was only following in the footsteps of the grand old Trent masters like J W Martin so let’s remember there is nothing new in angling!
SIGNATURE METHODS
As a guide, I often say to friends chose a method you are happy with and have confidence in. Make it your go-to approach whenever it is applicable and work at it to make it ever better, session on session. You could say trotting a medium sized river is my signature. I purr over a steady paced run, 4 to 7 feet deep, running over sand and gravel. I’ll settle myself into a good fishing position, and that might mean wading, and then I’ll work a 14 foot float rod, (the Thomas Turner Classic+ of course, has there ever been a light rod with so much spine to it?), centre pin, 4lb mainline and 3 or 4 BB stick to my heart’s content. I’m a simple chap and I don’t fuss over shotting patterns, most of which I find fussily over complicated. Most of my bulk shot I’ll generally place 12 to 18 inches above the float and that is often all there is to it! I’ll feed heavily with maggots mostly, putting in a serious handful every cast. I might not get more than bits initially but I’m quite sure chub, barbel, bream, perch and even roach will begin to respond after no more than forty five minutes. The glory of the method is that you never quite know what will come along next..it’s a real cornucopia of delights and surprises and of all methods in the fishing world, this is my favourite.
FEEDING
I cannot over stress the importance of this on many/most river situations. A pinch of bait does nothing on bigger rivers apart from feeding the minnows and bleak. A gallon of maggots for three hours on the Wye or Severn is not too much. Two kilos of corn might get barbel going. On the Trent, Andy would never dream of a session without a gallon plus of bait. Mash is great for pulling in chub and trotting big pieces of flake down the line. But again, two loaves are needed just to get them interested ..and then use a conker sized piece of flake on a size 6!
SMALL RIVERS
One of my eternal loves is the river Wensum where fish stocks are massively lower than on the Wye or Severn. The water is slower, more shallow and often clearer. This is the case for tight trotting, for much smaller floats, often pole floats carrying just a number 6 shot. Your hook here might be a 18 and the hook length 2lbs BS. Baiting is equally scaled down..a pint of maggots or two tins of corn will do a whole day. Mind you, on the Wensum, you might have to travel to find your fish, whereas on the Wye you want to bring them to you. That’s a big difference and the variety of trotting situations is one of its delights.
Trotting-get out there if you can!
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Trotting is a massive subject but let’s not make it complicated , because it’s not.
Good gear…tick.
Plenty of bait-tick.
A well chosen swim and place to fish it from….tick.
Steady feeding and even delaying the first cast fifteen minutes to build up confidence….tick.
Decent line control and mending in a wind that is not too unruly….tick.
A well chosen, visible float, especially in low light conditions…tick.
Barbel, chub, roach, dace, perch, bream, grayling, even river carp..all tick.
The nicest way to fish a river…a big tick for sure.
A method you can take anywhere and improve every session you fish it..tick.
A fantastic method for educated fish that have seen it all feeder approaches before….a massive tick too.
The post Conjuring Up Coarse Magic. Float Fishing – Trotting appeared first on Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques.
Continue reading...