The drop or 'tell tale' shot

[tiddlertamer]

Anyone reading this who is new to fishing or showing others how to fish, as a general rule of thumb, the tell tale shot (the bottom shot) should be placed a maximum of 10 cm's from the hook.

 

With depth plumbed up so the bait is just touching bottom (or slightly laying on say an inch), will prevent fish becoming deep hooked - especially this time of year when fish are very active, hungry and competing for food.

 

The tell tale shot not only catches you more fish by seeing every "nibble", the slight pulls and lifts of the bait but good fish care too.

 

It always concerns me when I see preloaded floats being fished without a single bit of shot in a few feet of water, inevitably the angler is catching as the bait slowly wafts down and then the inevitable...... a fish with a hook deep down and panic. Nobodies smiling then!!!

 

Maybe all fishing forums should have a good practice corner, with anglers giving little tips they have learnt from experience.

 

 

I think it's worth noting here that that this topic applies to moving water and bulk shot lines being used for trotting.

 

I'm happy to broaden out the subject to still waters but some of the issues would I believe be very different.

[lutra]

Often you need a shot 5/6 inches from your hook to keep your bait down so as to drag bottom on the trott.

I agree, but i think you and me are fishing faster running rivers than others on here. Trying to see a 1/4 inch lift bit on a 4 or 5bb float at up to 50 yards isn't going to happen without a telescope and i don't think your boulder-strewn up and down river beds and turbulent water helps much either. On the bright side i think most bites in faster water do result in the float going straight under.

[Guest tigger]

I agree, but i think you and me are fishing faster running rivers than others on here. Trying to see a 1/4 inch lift bit on a 4 or 5bb float at up to 50 yards isn't going to happen without a telescope and i don't think your boulder-strewn up and down river beds and turbulent water helps much either. On the bright side i think most bites in faster water do result in the float going straight under.

 

 

Hows your Silstar been performing Bri, did it cope ok with the recent chub captures ?

[gozzer]

Thanks to everybody for responding.

 

Clearly a complex subject which I'm still trying to get my head around and to which there are a range of interesting opinions.

 

Regarding a fish moving several feet without it registering, could the use of a 'tell tale' shot actually have an adverse affect? i.e. Could the use of this extra weight, no matter how small, cause the fish to think it unnatural and reject it quickly?

 

As I said in my earlier post, it can vary from swim to swim, and size of float, distance, bait, species and thickness of line can all play a part.

In a deep slow moving swim, the action of the tell tale will be more noticeable than in a shallow fast swim.

This is why in fast water I prefer to bulk with a number of smaller shot, (say BB or AAA) than just use two or three SSG. Combined with the 2 or 3 dropper shots it gives me more scope for adjustment if needed.

I feel that one shot moving will cause the one (or group) above to move and register on the float better. This is why I try to use a 'shirt button' pattern when ever I can, I just scale up (within reason) the size of shot to suit. It's not always possible though, so then I use bulk shotting with a string of smaller shot below.

 

As someone said, when fishing fast water, the float usually goes under to signal a bite. But I think many would be surprised just how many 'bites' they have had before one registers like that.

I have sat for many hours watching anglers trotting, and the number of fish that take, and then reject the bait without the float going under is surprising.

 

With a tell tale, I have found that the float leaning to one side can signal a bite, a slight deviation in speed or direction can too, as well as the normal dip or rise.

Without a tell tale you are just relying on the resistance of the line in the water, between the hook and the bulk shot, to transfer a bite to the float. With a couple of droppers and a tell tale, the action of each shot on the one above makes the transfer quicker and more obvious.

 

 

John.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Unless I'm trotting a river, where getting the bait down quickly is important, I'll use bulk shot near the float or at least small shot, shirt-button style, when fishing stillwaters. I think in stillwaters, shot is enough to make wary fish drop the bait without any indication on the float, normally given away by the well chewed skin left on the hook.

 

By the way, if you suffer a lot from false bites, it's worth taking some correction fluid (that's Tippex....lol) or mouse dropping shot. It saves from those annoying little nibbles that are actually fish biting at your shot, rather than the bait. If you can't get mouse-dropping shot, you can buy lead heads from the fly department that serve the same purpose.

 

 

....andy....

[lutra]

Hows your Silstar been performing Bri, did it cope ok with the recent chub captures ?

Its ideal for good chub, its the good barbel that i think might make it into a 4 piece rod but Ive yet to test that.

 

How about you have you been on the Ribble yet?

[Guest tigger]

Its ideal for good chub, its the good barbel that i think might make it into a 4 piece rod but Ive yet to test that.

 

How about you have you been on the Ribble yet?

 

 

I'll pm you Bri and then we don't take over TT's thread

[lutra]

One thing i sometime do when things go quite in a swim is to bunch my shot together 12" from my hook and inch it down very very slow (holding back hard) over depth with the shot on the river bed. Nearly always finds another fish or two in the faster swims.

[Guest tigger]

One thing i sometime do when things go quite in a swim is to bunch my shot together 12" from my hook and inch it down very very slow (holding back hard) over depth with the shot on the river bed. Nearly always finds another fish or two in the faster swims.

 

 

 

You've been watchin me Brian I vary the distance of the shot from the hook though, 12 inch is about as far away as I have it.

Edited June 23, 2009 by tigger

[ColinW]

Dick Walker's argument was not that a tell tale shot "made no difference" but that he could use a large shot to achieve the same aim as a small one. In other words the force required to lift a float quarter of an inch with a BB right next to the hook is the same as required to lift the same float tip quarter of an inch with a number eight right next to the hook.