Drifting Leger Rigs

[Andrew Calvert]

On two waters I fish boat access is impossible/restricted. There are a few features which can be located by drifting a leger rig with a ballon and paperclip setup (150 yards+), this is however not particulary friendly to the environment, especially since the number of runs in a day can be well into double figures, and due to the inaccessibility ballons cannot be retrieved at the end of a day. Does anyone out there have a solution? I don't agree with the use of bait boats (why not invent another gadget to play the fish as well). I'm surprised a CUNNING tackle manufacturer hasn't produced extra quickly degrading ballons to go with some of the useless tat they do produce.

 

[Carp Angler]

When I'm cod fishing and need to get the bait well out of the back of the boat I use a polystyrene block and place my lead and hooklength on this and sail it out.
It has some welding rods bent thru it and a swivel attached to the front to which I attach the line of a spare rod, I pull the baited rig off of the block and reel it back in.

Using this principle, can you not attach a light reel line e.g. 4lb to the balloon on a spare rod and reel the balloon back after you have tugged it off?

 

[Chris Bishop]

Tried attaching balloons to line on a spare rod but it tangled all over the shop.

It's probably a stupid question but how come you have to fish so far out, is it pressured..?

 

[BUDGIE BURGESS]

A bit of a problem here Andrew.I have always been lucky enough to be able to walk around at the end of the day and retrieve my balloons.A good tip here is too always attach a weight to your balloon so it does not blow away once the rig has been detached.One well known Res I used to fish the far bank was a long way (over 8 miles once you had driven around)I struck agreat deal with a young lad who lived in a house over looking the water.He picked the ballons up for me and in exchange for a couple of bob returned the weights on a weekly basis!Unfortunately the only way other than a bait boat is the attaching the balloon to another line method and trying to overcome the tangles.Good luck.

 

[Andrew Calvert]

I've nearly got a rig sorted but it needs some tweaking to be successful, so any input is appreciated. I tried using a drifter float without the additional stem and set it directly above my bait/trace. Attached at the top end which upon a stike will pull out I then have a sliding waggler float rather than a drifter to which the weight pulls the mainline through stopped by a bead and knot. The only problem I have is the weighting arrangement. In order to have enough weight to pull the mainline through the float, cock the float against the bead and provide limited resistance (i.e. static weight during a run)the float has problems on the drift as it's overloaded. But too little weight and the float is very unstable when acting as a waggler, and despite using a drop off alarm the weight will be "towed" by a running fish, meaning very poor and therefore dangerous bite indication. I'm sure somebody will provide that spark of genius to complete this rig!

 

[Chris Bishop]

I can't picture this - does the drifter float stay on the line or pull off..?

If the water's not too shallow why not drift it anyway..? Or use a pancil float with a throwaway vane, just held in place with a laccy band.

I used to lose loads of vanes because they pulled off as I was retrieving the gear, sinking without trace.

How about a bit of margerine tub..? Or better still why not use a bit of stiff card, which will biodegrade after it comes free..?

Just sail it out there and when it hits the right spot give it a good tug to pull the vane off.

Then you're left fishing with a pencil float; only snag would be getting the depth setting right because if you try to set it to lay bait/weight on bottom it'll drag and stop it drifting on the way out.

There might be a way round this via drop clips like the ones the Norwich guys invented for fishing pits with uneven bottom contours.

 

[Andrew Calvert]

Chris the drifter is initially attached top and bottom, and then with a good strike the top is freed and then fishes as a waggler, giving a float leger set up. It sort of works, but it's the weighting problem that's the drawback. Tommorrow and Saturday are giving winds, so I'll attempt to refine it, I hope.

 

[Chris Bishop]

Check out the drop clips invented by the Norwich guys for fishing over gravel bars etc. They have a separate stop held in place with a clip on the float - looks cumbersome, have never tried it, but is meant to allow you to fish the rig shallow to coast it over feats like bars etc, then pull free to release rig to proper fishing depth when it's over deeper water. I'd have thought you'd need a lot of weight to hold it steady at range as the line would be floating for the drift out there.