trotting - holding back

[lutra]

The main advantage of "holding back", is that you have more direct contact with the float, and therefore when you strike, less line to lift to set the hook.

 

John.

When fishing a long way out and having trotted down the river it can give you a big angle to try and strike through and try to hook a fish. I sometimes find it better to keep the rod tip low and just strike hard and try to hook the fish with the line still on the water with some angle still in it.

[lutra]

Must be alkward casting any distance using a set up 12ft deep with a 13ft rod ! I mean you can't very well use a sliding set up and hold back so your float must be fixed .

Yes but Mark might be taller than you Ian.

[Tigger]

Yes but Mark might be taller than you Ian.

 

 

 

I never thought of that Brian :lol:

[Vagabond]

If you have a good up stream wind you can just lift the line off the water and let the wind blow it there.

 

Good post Brian

 

...and as you fish the Ribble, you get a good upstream wind from the SW more often than not. (brings rain too, I can only remember one day on the Ribble when I didn't get soaked.)

 

By contrast, fishing the Upper Medway, if you get an upstream wind its from the Northeast, which means it tends to put the fish off. When the wind is good for fishing (SW or W) its a downstream one.

[Mark Wintle]

The basic casting technique for fishing 12ft deep (can manage up to 15ft) with a fixed float is to use a very light (the float is light in weight not the shot load) Avon that takes 10-12BB as bulk. The float itself has a crowquill stem (never cane) and very light balsa (hollow) or styrofoam body. With the bulk set about 2.5 to 3ft from the hook the float will follow the bulk on an underhand catapult cast. To do this (with a fixed spool reel loaded with 2lb or 2.5lb line) grab the line about a foot above the hook and pull on the line to put a good bend in the rod then sweep the rod outwards, releasing the line. 30 yards is possible with this cast and this method is the one made famous by Topper Haskins on the Bristol Avon where the water is deep and many swims have overhanging trees, making overhead casts difficult..

[Tigger]

The basic casting technique for fishing 12ft deep (can manage up to 15ft) with a fixed float is to use a very light (the float is light in weight not the shot load) Avon that takes 10-12BB as bulk. The float itself has a crowquill stem (never cane) and very light balsa (hollow) or styrofoam body. With the bulk set about 2.5 to 3ft from the hook the float will follow the bulk on an underhand catapult cast. To do this (with a fixed spool reel loaded with 2lb or 2.5lb line) grab the line about a foot above the hook and pull on the line to put a good bend in the rod then sweep the rod outwards, releasing the line. 30 yards is possible with this cast and this method is the one made famous by Topper Haskins on the Bristol Avon where the water is deep and many swims have overhanging trees, making overhead casts difficult..

 

 

 

Yeah, I know how it's done Mark (obviously the light line will help). I have only ever tried fishing at a rods length in depth when using a centrepin but managed that ok and got to a good 60ft out ( I was using a six pound line and a 4 gram float though). I think you prefer an open faced reel if I remember correctly but I find a centrepin still keeps better contact with the float even at range if you know how to use one correctly, or should I say... use one often enough and get the nack.

[Dick Dastardly]

Mark many years ago I came back to England to do a Draughting course at Hermitage (near Newbury) I was very much into the match fishing then.I was lucky enough to be introduced to a couple of local lads who used to regularly fish the Bristol Avon Opens. I tagged along and fished them every weekend for the few months I was there.Never managed more than a section win (twice) but I was quite happy with that.

 

Biggest thing though was that for the first match I didn't actually fish (had only fished the Bristol Avon once (Keynsham) and then as a very young lad) but went along to watch.The lads introduced me to Topper (who was flogging floats at the draw) and told me he was a good one to watch. I learned a lot about using an Avon float down the middle in deep water that day (just as Mark has described).

 

Where it really helped me was back on a German river (R. Lippe) where closed season (UK) "International" matches were often held ran by the Army but most of the top UK match teams and groups would come over. On one of these matches I was pegged next to Dave Vincent (who later went on to get an England cap) After the weigh in he asked if I was a Bristol boy as he could tell I had been taught by Topper!

 

Please excuse the reminisce!

[chavender]

there is another way to hold back beyond a rod length or two (holding back ,without holding back!!) squared off ,but its counter intiitive to how most would trot a float !! and takes a little practice to get the balance right .now to understand the process it helps if you understand the princables of upstream ledgering !

 

the squared off method (balanced loop) is only really effective with a down shotted chunky float (avon or chubber or big balsa) and floating line .with this method everything looks wrong but works great ,you cast slightly upstream then let 6' or so trail behind the float ,then flip over the rest of the line so it lays 90° to the float & let out as much line as you need inline with the tip ,to form a big bow ,or corrctly a box edge .

 

 

the water pressure on the surface ,pushes against the strait edge ,the 6' of line behind the float is held back just enough by the bow to slow the floats progess ,the line that runs out from the rod tip parallel to the bank ,ads extra drag and control .the angler only has to control the rate the line is released the bow and bottom line absorbes the pressure to pull the float inwards as the line isn't tight too the tip so no pivot point .

 

i know its all goes against the standard docterin but it works and does take a little practice to get the angles right etc but thats half the fun..

[Dick Dastardly]

Interesting,Stiking must be very difficult though?

[gozzer]

When fishing a long way out and having trotted down the river it can give you a big angle to try and strike through and try to hook a fish. I sometimes find it better to keep the rod tip low and just strike hard and try to hook the fish with the line still on the water with some angle still in it.

 

That's when using a line that doesn't sit too high on the surface comes in Brian. The resistance from the line trying to cut through the water, means you don't have to take up the slack to set the hook. The only problem I've found is, if you are trotting neat a snag, you have more line to take up before you have full control over the fish.

 

John.