Worming for salmon

[TonyPrior]

I'd like to do a bit of worming for salmon in a slightly different way from the usual. The riverbed where I fish is heavily striated and eroded sandstone, which results in lost tackle if you put on a couple of BBs and try to trundle it along the bottom - the end rig jams in the rock cracks. The current is quite strong as it runs through a gorge for about half a mile. The water varies from 2 - 10' deep. I'm using a converted double-handed fly rod, 12'6" long, and either a fixed spool reel or a fly reel, loaded with either monofil (15lb), braid or an old fly line, depending on the advice I may get here. I'd like to fish a lobworm on pennel tackle below a float, ideally so it swims down for 15-20 yards, a little off the bottom. I'd appreciate any advice on terminal rigs and/or floats to achieve this.
Thanks
Tony

[Vole]

Google "bouncing betty" - probably with a strict setting if using the family or work computer...
There appear to be two sorts, the first is a bit of tubing with a small lead in one end and a swivel in the other; the other is a ball of rubber about an inch across - either is a bit less likely to find the tiny snags than a bare shot, though which works best in your river is a matter for experiment.

[TonyPrior]

Google "bouncing betty" - probably with a strict setting if using the family or work computer... :chuckle:
There appear to be two sorts, the first is a bit of tubing with a small lead in one end and a swivel in the other; the other is a ball of rubber about an inch across - either is a bit less likely to find the tiny snags than a bare shot, though which works best in your river is a matter for experiment.

Thanks for this useful suggestion. The river is mostly only around 7 - 10 yards wide, and a Bouncing Betty (the rubber ball) would make quite a splash. Jumping Jacks (the tube and lead) got snagged last season when I used them. If the line lies on the river bed it seems to end up in a crack. This is exacerbated by ledges and trenches, so the line does rub on edges of rock however hard one tries to keep in direct contact with the hook. Yesterday I freelined a brandling on #10s pennel-style, with a small swivel. Pendulum casting. Braid mainline. It worked OK - the rig being nearly weightless seemed to drift over the rock edges without snagging. However, I was just wondering if there was a technique from coarse angling that might improve it - specially in bite detection (if and when that happens). The idea was prompted by the nice little floats shown on another thread. Maybe it's something I'll just have to work out by trial and error :hat: