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Stillwater floats - NOT wagglers.


philocalist

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Twp parts to this request for help, I guess?

1/ Perceived wisdom seems to be that a float attached bottom-end only is more sensitive to bites than a float attached top and bottom (even if it's the same float and both are correctly shotted!) Is this REALLY the case, and if so why? ... or is it just something we all go along with? :rolleyes:

2/ Based on this assumption, the go-to stillwater float is usually a waggler of some type, attached bottom-end only, usually with bulk shot up tight against the float to aid casting / avoid tangles etc. This typical set-up is not the easiest to use if you need (or want) to be able to perhaps frequently alter the depth at which you are fishing - I'm not at all convinced that sliding shot up and down the line / loosening and retightening shot etc does not compromise line strength, and I've yet to find any of the various attachments gimmicks that are available, satisfactory - best compromise currently is the use of multiple float stops / gripper stops etc, but it's getting a bit silly when I'm sometimes needing to use 3 or 4 below the float and more above it, to prevent line slip - and invariably there is still the need for attaching weight to the line close to the float, even with loaded wagglers.

 

I guess what I'm looking for is a pattern of float, likely attached via 2 / 3 float rubbers, that retains sensitivity yet can be slid easily up and down the line at will without possible damage - much of this is an easy enough cast of maybe 20m or so with a lighter float, but on occasion I need something bigger - maybe a 3.5 or 4g float that will easily fly out to maybe twice that distance - I can aceive that easily enough with the right waggler, but I'd rather be using a float that could be easily adjusted, as the lake bottom where I'm fishing typically varies in depth by no more than maybe 9" maximum, but being 3" in depth away from where I need to be sees bites die off dramaitically.

 

Any thoughts on patterns ... or am I worrying about technicalities too much? :D

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Top and bottom attachment allows you to hold a float back against the current without it pulling under. Bottom end only allows you to easily sink the line, thus reducing drift. You could fish a top and bottom float on a stillwater if you wanted, I saw it done quite a lot when I was a kid by blokes who are now no doubt six foot under. Most top and bottom floats don't have a very fine tip, so you would want to dot them down.

 

Alternately, there's no reason at all why you couldn't attach a waggler with float rubbers, either top and bottom or just at the bottom.

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I use a float adaptor (so I can swap and change the float, usually a loaded one) trapped between two drennan leger/ grippa stops and I haven't had any problems with the stop moving on the cast.

As Steve says using a float attatched with rubbers all the way up will certainly stop yyou from sinking the line. If there's no wind it's good to have your line floating, makes for better striking.

I do often use a peacock quill (chopped to the desired length) and attatch it by a bottom rubber only.

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If you thread very fine silicone rubber tube on the line - the stuff supplied for pole floats - and pinch your locking shot on that it will prevent damage caused by the locking shot, and provided it is wet will move easily when you want it to. When tin shot first came out I used it all the time and really ought to get back into using it again. The advantage of bottom end only at range is beating drift and the float folds on the strike better but under the rod tip, which in effect is the same as pole fishing, top and bottom gives a better strike. I sometimes use a pole float like this when fishing very close in with a rod and reel where the effects of drift are minimal.

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Philo,

 

Buffalo fish are skittish. I often attach the float to the TOP only. I confess it is almost like fishing with no float at all except that the line is vertical presentation in the water.

 

Phone

 

Nothing fancy - any common feather intertwined will work.

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Philo,

 

Buffalo fish are skittish. I often attach the float to the TOP only. I confess it is almost like fishing with no float at all except that the line is vertical presentation in the water.

 

Phone

 

Nothing fancy - any common feather intertwined will work.

Sounds like something I might not be trying soon, add to the fact that casting any distance would be impossible, a waggler (bottom end fixed) will cast like a (dart) a game played in Pubs (Bars) in this country. :huh:

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In Asia, they tend to fish their Stillwater floats top and bottom. The guys fishing for tilapia in a pay pond that I visited were using a pattern similar to this - and yes, that is 10 floats foe £1.75 with free shipping.

Species caught in 2020: Barbel. European Eel. Bleak. Perch. Pike.

Species caught in 2019: Pike. Bream. Tench. Chub. Common Carp. European Eel. Barbel. Bleak. Dace.

Species caught in 2018: Perch. Bream. Rainbow Trout. Brown Trout. Chub. Roach. Carp. European Eel.

Species caught in 2017: Siamese carp. Striped catfish. Rohu. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Black Minnow Shark. Perch. Chub. Brown Trout. Pike. Bream. Roach. Rudd. Bleak. Common Carp.

Species caught in 2016: Siamese carp. Jullien's golden carp. Striped catfish. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Alligator gar. Rohu. Black Minnow Shark. Roach, Bream, Perch, Ballan Wrasse. Rudd. Common Carp. Pike. Zander. Chub. Bleak.

Species caught in 2015: Brown Trout. Roach. Bream. Terrapin. Eel. Barbel. Pike. Chub.

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