Shotting for a stick float

[silvers]

I know Tigger, formerly of this parish, would advocate a float of the proportions of those Woody’s bolo floats for fishing small, shallow rivers .... but i’d Certainly not call that “stick float fishing”.

Steve2 ... yes ... I use different shooting patterns for different purposes and understand exactly why i’m Using them. Don’t always get it right but equally try different set ups to maximise the catch.

 

[sam vimes]

Despite it being very much against the grain for most, I use 3 and 4g Bolo floats for an awful lot of my river fishing. However, you are talking about a fast shallow river where the touch of the smallest minnow sees the big tip bury. With that being the case, the big tip of a bolo float also allows me to trot an awful long way and still be able to see the float.

This week I've been fishing a slightly slower and deeper river. My usual Bolo floats are pretty much useless. Maggots will come back sucked dry without you noticing any hint of movement on the float tip. Therefore, stick floats are back in play, though I still favour the heavier end of the spectrum mainly to facilitate casting with a centrepin.

I also find that little but bulk shotting is particularly effective. For this reason, I tend to use olivettes. The only shot I bother with are to make small adjustments on how much tip is visible However, I know full well that, if I were fishing a slower lowland river, lighter stick floats and multiple shot/shirt button shotting would come into play depending on the target species.

 

[tigger]

Silvers, why are you bringing me into a topic about how to shot a stick float?
I don't see how my float preference has anything to to with how to shot a stick float?
Plenty top experts on FM to answer the question so leave me out of it.

 

[108831]

Stick float fishing to me is really based on 3no.4 to 8no.4 floats,to me these are for delicate-ish presentations,which are too numerous for me to remember off the cuff,above these shootings I use Avons,balsas,chubbers or bolos,years ago floats like pacemakers were used,on a two to four feet deep river I would normally start on a 3/4 no.4 float,unless wind makes it awkward,however that goes out of the window if I fish the 'pin',5/6bb minimum float sizes seem to work best to me,often double that,depending on pace,it's a minefield really,years ago I believed on a normally level river all shots down the line had to be no.8's with a no.10 tell tale,often today I use olivettes and two no.8's and catch well more often than not(on the pin)...

 

[silvers]

Silvers, why are you bringing me into a topic about how to shot a stick float?
I don't see how my float preference has anything to to with how to shot a stick float?
Plenty top experts on FM to answer the question so leave me out of it.

oh - you're back!
I was actually trying to make the point that Sam Vimes made in the following post more eloquently - there are different styles that suit different venues, approaches and people.
the floats in the photo were similar to your preferences - that's all.
Your methods clearly work - but perhaps are not optimal for the situation in question, although details are scant (i'm not familiar with the Dane other than photos).
hope you're keeping well and catching

 

[tigger]

oh - you're back!
I was actually trying to make the point that Sam Vimes made in the following post more eloquently - there are different styles that suit different venues, approaches and people.
the floats in the photo were similar to your preferences - that's all.
Your methods clearly work - but perhaps are not optimal for the situation in question, although details are scant (i'm not familiar with the Dane other than photos).
hope you're keeping well and catching

My method on saturday just gone (on Mikes intended water) was to use a 3 gram bolo float, guess what?...it worked, surely that can't be right?

 

[Keith M]

On the relatively small rivers and streams that I usually trot I use both Avon’s and Sticks and am rarely able to trot further than around 20 to 30 metres and more often than not no more than around 12 metres because of bends and weed and protruding branches across the river; so I don’t think I really need to use the extra weight of a Bolo float although I’m open to giving them a go just to see.

I usually use a Stick float shotted about every 6 inches or so with size 6 shot with one or two size 8s closer to the hook. I occasionally place my No.6 shot in pairs if there is not enough depth and I need to add a bit more shot for the float I’m using.

I usually change over to a crowquill Avon or even a balsa if I’m fishing a swim that is a little more pacey and/or turbulent and a bit deeper so I can use the extra shot to get my bait down to feeding fish a bit faster and easier; but I prefer the Avon which doesn’t seem to ride up quite as much as the balsa because of its more pronounced shoulder.

Most of my shotting is loosely based on one of the following three shotting patterns depending on the pace and depth of the water, the bait I’m using and how and whereabouts in the water the fish are feeding on the day.

I don’t profess to be an expert by any means but this has always worked for me.



Keith

 

[silvers]

Hi Tigger,
agree with all of that apart from your preference for small bolo for close range work.
Shot close to the hook - I always sigh when I read of people who don't put their tell tale within 10 inches of the hook on the waggler. I sometimes put a no.4 within 2 inches!
I still have a tendency to fish too light - so consciously counteract that when setting up.
Different methods are optimal for each situation, feeding pattern and day. finding that optimum is part of the enjoyment of the day for me.

Nice catch BTW

 

[108831]

Nice diagram Keith,I don't think there is such a thing as an expert in the methods within trotting,on tiggers rivers they are turbulent,boily and fast in the main,rivers like the Trent can be similar,but often when fishing the stick there you are fishing for roach,which often require little refinements to maintain a decent catchrate,chub can be the same,but on quick boily water,control with a bigger float gives good presentation,I don't think silver's was questioning the effectiveness of the bolo(which is basically an Avon anyway),or tiggers ability to catch on it,horses for courses I reckon,I reckon the bolo float might work well on the Thames in winter,once the first flushes raise the pace,on my local rivers a float over 4AA would be a rare tool indeed...

 

[mikench]

Tigger is a fine exponent of the art of trotting and his success speaks for itself.

 

[john step]

When I first started realising there were better floats than a porcupine I read up on the matter. A short publication marketed by Ultra Floats by the maestro Billy Lane was compulsive reading.
I started off trotting with a selection of Billy Lane avons which I found were extremely versatile.
I still have a few which are pressed in to service. In fact if the avon was the only one top and bottom float available I dont think catches would diminish much at all.

 

[Keith M]

Billy didn’t like the stick float at all and much preferred using the Avon float.

I still have his brilliant float fishing book where he describes all of the floats of the day and when and how to use them, and I still look through it on a cold winters night.

Keith

 

[John Keane]

I only really trot for grayling, which doesn’t require a great deal of sophistication and my bad eyeshite dictates that I use Drennan Loafers in 3.2 or 4.4g with Hi-Viz tips. I keep 6ft ready tied rigs on pole winders and, since most of the weight needs to be down the line, I use in-line olivettes as my bulk.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I think you'll find that Billy Lane wasn't so much against using stick floats as against misusing them as the fad for stick floats saw them being used in circumstances where other floats would suit the bill far better (excuse the pun!).

 

[trotter2]

Undoubtedly if I was restricted to one type of float for running water I would choose the Avon in a selection of sizes . Regarding the use of stick floats if you read Billy lanes 3 books is views did actually change regarding the use of stick floats in the last book published ,he accepted the stick as a great running water float and used the wirestem version as a favourite.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

If you can find a copy Mike, then Billy Lane's "Encyclopaedia of float Fishing" is an excellent tome and covers most every type of float you are likely to ever need to use.

It might be from the early 70's but most of the information in there is still pretty much valid today, and let's face it, there have never been a more successful float angler than Billy Lane

 

[nottskev]

Do you have a water butt in your garden Mike? I use mine to get the shotting required on my stick floats just right.

And if you do, keep hold of the line; if you let go and you've overshotted the float, it will end up at the bottom. How do I know..... mg:

 

[John Keane]

And if you do, keep hold of the line; if you let go and you've overshotted the float, it will end up at the bottom. How do I know..... mg:

Get hold of a tall sweet jar or one of those clear plastic containers that come filled with zip ties or bungee cords. Great for shotting pole rigs or any floats for that matter.

 

[Keith M]

I think you'll find that Billy Lane wasn't so much against using stick floats as against misusing them as the fad for stick floats saw them being used in circumstances where other floats would suit the bill far better (excuse the pun!).

You are most probably spot on Mark, I bow to your wisdom; but he certainly didn’t sound that keen on them when he wrote in the 2nd print of his book in 1976 ‘Float Fishing tackle and techniques for still and running water’ (which is the book I have); In chapter 5 ‘The Avon Syndrome’ Billy was comparing the Avon with the Stick Float and below a diagram showing both the conventional Stick and wire stemmed Stick both shotted shirt button style he writes:

Quote:

Here, for me, you see all the disadvantages of the stick float, shotted here to the now classic string-of-shot pattern with shots evenly distributed between tell-tale and float. These disadvantages are such that I haven’t had a Stick Float on my line for more than two years, and I don’t expect I shall ever use one again. That’s how strongly I feel about it.

He does write later in this chapter; when comparing the normal stick with the wire stemmed Stick; that the ‘wire stemmed Stick’ is the only Float he would use in place of an Avon, in an upstream wind when conditions are perfect, but he goes on to say :

Quote:

In the case of the wire-stemmed Stick this adds up to the fact that it can only be used when conditions are perfect. The slightest roughness caused by wind or water turbulence and the immediate need, in my view, is for a switch to the more stable Avon. Now, I am sure, you can see why I said earlier that I would only use such a float once in a hundred times.

This is why I thought he didn’t really like the Stick Float. However if he did change his views over time; as trotter2 indicated; then that would explain why he could have mellowed in his views about using the Stick.

Keith

 

[mikench]

I used a spaghetti jar in the end . I used a 6x 4 stick float which sank until I removed 2 of the size 4 shot. I cannot understand why.