Guys, Am I right in thinking most people use these on poles because you have to have the line behind the float to hold it back? Could you use a long whip or even a long rod 15/16'. Never tried the style at all, so just thinking while I'm not fishing! Cheers Rich.
Flat floats.
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I've only used them with the pole, either held still or eased through. But I've seen several articles about using them on running line, and some extraordinary claims about how well they can be manoeuvred or even held back. I've never seen it done, but who's to say it can't be done to some extent.
The write-up on some of these floats specifies use on rod and line.
Cralusso floats - Fishingfloats.eu
The write-up on some of these floats specifies use on rod and line.
Cralusso floats - Fishingfloats.eu
wetthrough
Well-known member
sam vimes
Well-known member
Yes, you can use them on a rod and line. Not surprisingly, they are only useful for fishing "off the tip", so they'll only be effective to the range of your longest rod. Rather than the classic flat float/lollipop (Sensas Desque), I'd suggest anyone wanting to try similar with a rod and line might want to take a look at some of the various Cralusso floats (Bubble, Shark, Bolo, Surf, Torpedo etc) that can be a better option. Some models can be used to trot and hold back hard, where a standard lollipop is only much use when holding back.
Another Dave
Well-known member
I take it the float's flat to reduce the drag?
Aknib
Well-known member
I remember these first starting to hit the headlines here around twenty years ago when I was regularly pole fishing the Trent for Roach, wasn't the standard shotting pattern to overshot, laying on the bottom, so that when a fish picks up the bait it lifts the excess shot and sinks the float to indicate the bite?
I'm not saying they don't have their day but I've never really seen the point, ok you might get away with a lighter float but I generally tend to go as heavy as the conditions dictate with a 'conventional' float and it does the trick.
Flat floats just appear to be a variant of 'laying on', possibly brought over from the continent as their standard take on the theme.
But the grass is always greener, as they say, especially the tackle dealers.
I can't really see the bait acting any differently and given that that sorts the presentation there are plenty of other floats which will do the same job... Namely registering the bite.
Over complicated and unnecessary imo, but I'm probably wrong lol
I'm not saying they don't have their day but I've never really seen the point, ok you might get away with a lighter float but I generally tend to go as heavy as the conditions dictate with a 'conventional' float and it does the trick.
Flat floats just appear to be a variant of 'laying on', possibly brought over from the continent as their standard take on the theme.
But the grass is always greener, as they say, especially the tackle dealers.
I can't really see the bait acting any differently and given that that sorts the presentation there are plenty of other floats which will do the same job... Namely registering the bite.
Over complicated and unnecessary imo, but I'm probably wrong lol
mikench
Well-known member
This will surprise many people but i bought one of these and have never used it believing it was only for pole use which i don't do. I was going to give it Kev when i saw him next.
View attachment 8519
Should i give it a go?
View attachment 8519
Should i give it a go?
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steve2
Well-known member
Back in the 60’s there were a number of flat floats made under various names. Some were called sail floats, some aerofoil floats I remember trying them but they were not suitable on the waters I fished at the time. I think Allcocks made them.
Just found them on the net under the name of Streamsearch.
Just found them on the net under the name of Streamsearch.
The last time conditions allow me to fish the Dorset Stour the guy below me was using one. I wandered down and had a craic with him. He was using it for the first time and kept consulting the instructions. He fished it in 10 ft, 4 rods lengths out, well overdepth on a river carrying a foot of flood water. At first nothing happened then everything tightened up and away it went trotting down stream straight as a die without the slightest deviation, so it worked. He never had a bite on it. Personally I would have fancied my chances better with a plank of wood, but what do I know. Pete
sam vimes
Well-known member
Pete,
from your description, I'd suspect that he will have been using a Cralusso Surf float rather than a Cralusso Ray. I have quite a few different Cralusso floats and the Surf is the only one with instructions so detailed that even a brain dead slug couldn't remember them. With practice, the Surf can be manipulated in ways that go way beyond simply inching down a set line. I never mastered them, mainly for lack of suitable river venues, but I've seen them worked across the flow and even upstream, as well as held back and trotted normally. They are quite impressive things. The snag is that they take some practice to use at full effect. They can certainly be very effective. The problems are that people presume that they are insensitive, they are expensive and they are rather strange to use. Striking, retrieving, casting and playing fish on them can be downright weird.
The Surf is a totally different animal to the Ray, which is simply Cralusso's version of a standard lillipop/flat float. If allowed to trot at the pace of the river, the lollipop floats do anything but go straight as a die. They tend to turn and twist in the current, even when it appears to be very evenly paced. The angle of the sight tip also ends up at an odd angle unless they are held back.
ian g
Well-known member
I have a Cralusso Surf float , being a bit of a sucker for a gimmick .As Sam says they take some practice to master and feel odd when you do catch something , never really had the patience .
I'd read this somewhere before. Can you tell us a bit more about how a float can be made to go upstream, as that's rather counter-intuitive to say the least. What kind of presentation would that be? Or is it about trying to get a float in position to run through again without reeling in and re-casting? I know that under some circs - eg a lack of flow, an upstream wind and line held up high - a float can be pushed against the flow, (anglers whose rivers have a prevailing upstreamer have to have set ups to get the floats to go down, as with Toppers) but I don't think that's what's meant with these Surf floats. I'm not trying to catch you out - I find the idea quite perplexing, and I didn't get it when I read the claims in the Craluso blurbs.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Kev, I've no idea exactly why you'd wish to do it, just that they can be manipulated in such a manner. I've not come close to mastering the Cralusso Surf, though I do have some. The best I've managed is to inadvertently move them in or out across the flow and occasionally upstream without know exactly how. It comes down to rod tip/line angles Whilst the video, not being in English, doesn't tell you much but it does show it being manipulated in all sorts of ways, often in direct comparison to a normal flat float fished with a pole. I can only assume that you might wish to manipulate a float in such a way to get a bait into a certain position that may not be possible by other means. I don't believe for one moment that there's any intention of it being "trotted" upstream with the intention of catching fish whilst that process is going on. However, I suspect that the odd perch (and other fish) might be induced to strike at a bait moving upstream in a similar way to drop shotting or lure fishing. Ultimately, I didn't/don't use them enough to master them. I also prefer to trot rather than fish static/semi static. When they offered an advantage over a conventional float, I largely switched to using the Cralusso Bolo.
The Cralusso Bolo is the one I've used quite a lot. As far as I'm concerned, the shaping of that float does indeed do what it's intended to do, stops the float coming to the inside. It allows you to keep a line, further out than a longer rod might, in a way that isn't possible with traditional floats. However, it suffers from similar issues as the Surf. Striking, retrieving, casting and playing fish can be downright strange. People also assume that they are insensitive. I used the Cralusso Bolos quite a bit on the Trent at one point, with a fair amount of success.
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I think that's called winding in Kev :w.
Aknib
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Nearly rolled off the sofa with that one, brilliant! :laugh::laugh::laugh:
Richard Bartlett
Active member
I don't own one, & have never used one, but I'd place a good bet on the technique of getting it across/upstream being based very heavily on the sailing tactic of tacking - the technique sailors use to push a sail-powered vessel into the wind. Just a guess, but the force to push the float upstream has to come from somewhere, & sailors cracked it centuries ago!
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I got one and got as far as you !
After i've had a few sessions this year, if that hapens I will make a point of trying it out.