[Fred]

Manx Fisher

Could you repost your informative thread on float fishing, thats if you can remember, particularly how to overcome tangles on casting.

Ta ever so

Fred

 

[Manx Fisher]

THANKS TO THE WONDER OF GOOGLE 'CACHES' I WAS ABLE TO RETRIEVE THIS
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This could take a while - I hope Mike is adding an article on this to the new version of the site

Bait: alive or dead - doesnt matter. A thin strip of mackerel is probably going to be the easiest to come by (fishmongers everywhere will sell it) and that will attract pollack and mackerel. Lugworm/crabs/mussels will attract the colourful wrasse.

A picture paints a thousand words... but here are the words

Sliding float = a float that is free to slide up and down the line.

Thread a small bead, followed by the float, then a small ball weight onto the reel line. Tie one end of a small swivel to the end of the reel line (trapping all of the above on the line). Tie about 12 inch length of line to the free end of the swivel, and then a hook (Aberdeen ot Viking size 1 or 1/0 would be fine) onto the end of this line.

Final step: Tie a stop knot onto the main line. When cast out, the bead/float will slide up to the stop knot, and the weight/bait will sink below to the waiting fishies.

You may need to experiment with a couple of different weights until you find the right one to '****' the float. It should sit so that it is mostly submerged in the water (only the top inch or so sticking out). If it sinks any further than this then the weight is to heavy, if it lies flat then the weight is not heavy enough

Without knowing the pier, and the depth of water I can't really say where to tie the stop knot. As a rough guide, most places I fish I have the float set at about 10-15ft deep (so the knot is tied onto the line 15ft away from the hook) The stop knot can be slid up and down the line while you are fishing, so you can adjust the depth to suit / experiment.

Thats the basics of it. Not a perfect illustration, but hopefully enough to provide some fun.

 

[Manx Fisher]

AND ALSO THIS
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Getting more technical, I usually use a 20lb hook length, and 15lb main line. Obviously, if you get snagged the mainline breaks first, and everything is lost - the lost float then frustratingly bobs around in front of you for the rest of the trip.

I had thought about building a weaker link into they system so that only the hook length would be lost (short section of 10lb line from the swivel on the end of the reel line to another swivel, onto which the hook length would be tied) but have never got around to trying this in practice.

Final tip on float fishing ....

Sliding floats are fine for lobbing in close, but as soon as you try to cast they usually get all tangled, and the hook length ends up wrapped around the line above the float. To get around this you need to use either a split shot or another stop knot to trap the float higher up the reel line from the weight than the hook is below the weight. So, if the hook length is 12 inches, then put the split shot/stop knot at least 13 inches above the weight, with the float and bead free to slide above that. The reason this works is that when you cast, the weight (being the heaviest object) tows the rest behind it - because the hook length cannot now cross over the float nothing tangles. I sometimes use this method to cast out sandeels under the float and then inch them back on a slow retrieve for catching pollack.

 

[swelleyman]

Thanks for the lesson Manxy! Probably goes some way to explain why you've had such a good haul of species!

 

[Manx Fisher]

Not quite Swelly - more to do with the many hours I spent trying, however, I must try harder this year so I can count a bullhead - you have inspired me now