The lift method for tench

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JerryC
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The lift method for tench

Post by JerryC »

As Ron has pretty well covered ‘laying on’ the lift method, which is one I use quite often for tench, goes pretty much like this according to FJT in his 1958 book Angling in earnest.

Line strength can be fairly substantial, but hooks will have to be smaller of course. The tackle is arranged as follows. A small length of peacock quill (a small Drennan crystal waggler, or similar, works just as well) is fixed to the line by the bottom end only and by means of a tight fitting rubber band. One shot is fixed one inch only from the hook which may be a size 12 or 14. The whole is then set slightly deeper that the water and is drawn tight. The float will register the quickest of bites by rising in the water and falling over flat. If you wait until the float has laid flat you will be too late. The time to strike is when the float begins to lift.

I prefer to use this method with the rod set in two rests and my hand by the butt ready to strike. I really enjoy using this method, especially for tench. in my opinion it can be absolutely deadly, especially if you understand the reason you are using it.
Jerry
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Snape
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by Snape »

With the tench fishing time nearly upon us (or already here depending on your view of the close season), what are others thoughts on this method?
I really enjoy this method fishing close to lilies but I am often frustrated by the float dancing around but not lifting :hairout:
“Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers,” Herbert Hoover.
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JerryC
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by JerryC »

Snape wrote:With the tench fishing time nearly upon us (or already here depending on your view of the close season), what are others thoughts on this method?
I really enjoy this method fishing close to lilies but I am often frustrated by the float dancing around but not lifting :hairout:
Although FJT stated the shot should go 1" from the hook I often move things about and sometimes use a larger shot and move it say 6" from the hook, increase the amount of line before tightening up, (leaving a shallower angle) which can help. With tench being such a finicky species I find I rarely ever finish with the same set up that I started with.
Jerry
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Snape
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by Snape »

I always presumed the dancing float problem was due to fin wash and they just weren't picking up.
How critical is the size of the shot?
It was always recommended to be quite large (SSG?) but I wonder if that may put off a shy biting tench and so maybe a small shot would be better.
Also presumably the float lifts because the fish is head down when feeding and then lifts the shot when it goes horizontal. If the distance from the shot to the hook is too much this won't cause the shot to lift.
“Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers,” Herbert Hoover.
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JerryC
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by JerryC »

To feed off the bottom the tench must hold it’s body in a head down position. By using it’s pectoral fins to keep position the turbulence will move the baited hook away from it’s mouth. The fish could sometimes attempt to follow the moving bait and cause the float to move sideways without dipping. The way to go is not to reduce the weight near the hook but increase it, to anchor the bait so the fish can catch it. This is the whole purpose of the lift method as I understand it.
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Loop Erimder
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by Loop Erimder »

This is a method I intend to use next weekend at buryhills
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish

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Michael
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by Michael »

I much prefer the lift method, using a Drennan tench perfection float or the Drennan driftbeater float, with swan shot/s placed a couple of inches away from the hook............
Last edited by Michael on Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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JerryC
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by JerryC »

Although the lift method was popularised by the Taylor bros. it was in fact used prior to the 50's by River Lea fishermen targeting quality roach and catching the occasional tinca.
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by GloucesterOldSpot »

For such a simple set up the lift method must rank as the most mis-understood and mis-used tactic in coarse fishing. According to the accepted practice, all you have to do is put a four inch piece of peacock quill on the line (attached bottom-end only without any locking shot whatsoever) and set it 20% deeper than the swim. Then pinch on a swanshot two or three inches from the hook, bait the latter, cast into a tench swim and away you go. If only it was that easy...

To start with, the method only really works on a clean, even bottom, either with a fairly buoyant hookbait if over silt, or any fairly small bait over sand or fine gravel. If there's any rooted weed, larger stones or other obstructions through which the shot can fall, the method is counter-productive as the fish have to dig the bait out, in the process of which they brush against the line and give all those false indications Snape described. Secondly, the fish really have to be feeding well; if they're at all cagey they'll suck at the bait, sense the anchoring effect of the shot and move on.

Thirdly, the method relies on the float lifting to indicate a bite (it wouldn't be called the lift method otherwise) so you really need a float that lifts right up if the shot is picked up, which means a shot big enough to just sink the float; if you use one that merely cocks it, the float will carry the shot off-bottom if unwittingly cast into deeper water, suspending the bait above the fish. The residual buoyancy in the float will also make it hard to tighten the line up to the shot without dragging it, reducing the tension in the set-up which is its principle mechanical advantage. This restricts the method to shots of BB size or larger; anything small (with a correspondingly smaller float) cannot be cast accurately, let alone any distance.

If you feel you need a smaller shot - say a no 4 - to show sensitive bites, the best way is to use a float with a body low down and a long fine stem or antenna. Put a bulk of shot at mid-depth which just sinks the body, leaving the antenna showing, and attach a small shot (which should just sink the stem completely) near the hook. If the small shot is lifted the whole antenna will rise up, as the body carries the bulk of the shot. This works well for tench and crucians, and roach and rudd as well.

The original set-up works sometimes, but far more often it works against you.

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Willsmodger
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Re: The lift method for tench

Post by Willsmodger »

This is true. Fishing over depth in a weedy canal causes two problems. Firstly I drag in weed most casts, and secondly I'm never confident that the bait isn't buried in the weed. It's made worse if there is any draw on the canal. Fishing over depth with a biggish shot will anchor the rig, but will get pulled out of position eventually.
I used a dibber float with most of the shot bulked just below mid depth and one just above the hooklength.
Acting something like a stick float laying on, it worked ok.
Float dancing is a mystery however, especially the float 'popping' up a fraction, which I cannot relate to anything the fish might be doing. It's been dragged an inch or so, slightly dipped and (my favourite) radiates tiny ripples which I consider as opening negotiations.
What it won't do is go under, or indicate any really positive bites.
Such a lovely way of fishing, early in the morning, and when those tiny bubbles signal their arrival, so exciting.
They then proceed to drive me quite mad however.

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