Trotting in deeper water question.

[Santiago]

I'm planning a barbel fishing trip to a weir and plan to fish the tail, which is about 8-9' deep. The tail itself is fairly slow but either side there's fast water that's equally deep if not deeper. I plan to fish by trotting meat along the bottom just in the creases either side of the tail. I've never done this before. Any advice most welcome.

My main question though is how far from the hook is it best to place the shot? Thanks.

[Paul F]

Trevor it will depend how fast the flow is, if it is running through fast you will need the shot nearer the bait.

On the wye i put all my bulk shot, say 3SSG 18" from the hook, i then place 2no 6 or 1no 4 anything from 2-6" from the hook, you will want the meat just tripping the bottom.

Are you planning on using a slider float, or is the depth ok to manage with a 10ft rod?

[Santiago]

Cheers Paul, I can manage the depth as I'll be using a modern 121/2 ' waggler rod.

[Tengisgol]

I would say not to underestimate how slow the pace is at the bottom compared to the top, so certainly try a few trots holding back so hard almost to a stop.

With regard to the shot, obviously you can move that around and experiment but you can get really heavy really close to the hook if needs be.

[Olly]

Those newish Cralusso floats are (I have them but yet to use one) I think designed to do exactly that - bottom bouncing. Having watched the videos they seem to be able to do it well as you are holding back on the float's movement. Some take a large amount of shot - up to 20gm - nearly 3/4 of an ounce. A bullet weight close to the hook length will hold the bait down to be tripped along the bottom.

[Troydog]

One of the reasons I prefer to use a slider for this sort of fishing is that it is so much easier to cast. Even if your top shot is three feet above the hook, the cast is just aa gentle underarm swing to where you want to start the trot

[Ouse Wanderer]

Troydog, do you not find any difficulty holding back hard whilst using a slider?

[Mole-Patrol]

I also favour a sliding float for this sort of fishing. As well as the point about ease of casting it gives a more direct contact on the strike with the line pulling through the float rather than the float adding to the resistance. Regards holding back; I don't see what difference it makes.

My favoured rig is a sliding float with stop knot made from floss, a Catherine lead as bulk about 2 feet above the depth of water and one smallish shot near to the hook. I bury the hook in luncheon meat or home made meatball to prevent the hook point becoming blunt by contact with the bottom. If you cast slightly upstream the line flows through the float without disturbing its path as the lead descends. If you cast across or downstream unless you have enough slack line the float will swing in towards you as the lead sinks. That is the main difference between sliding and fixed floats.

[Phil Arnott]

I do a lot of trotting in deep water 10-20 foot. There is an issue when fishing deep water in being able to strike effectively and the easiest way of overcoming the problem is by using a longer rod. Getting the bait down quickly is also important, you don't want to be having the tackle settled 30 feet down the swim so bulk shotting is necessary. I prefer olivettes as a bulk weight as they are less likely to damage the line. Fishing fairly heavy floats with bulk weights does make mending the line easier but a longer rod is hard to beat when fishing in awkward currents and winds. An alternative is to use a waggler float with the bait and possible some shot dragging the bottom to slow things down. This is also a good method when fishing well across a river and was a winning method on the Trent at one time. I've been thinking of fishing for Trent barbel recently and this is the method I intend to try. It's also easier to cast a waggler than an fixed Avon on shorter rods because of the position of the bulk of the shot.

I think fine adjustment of shotting is something that has to be sorted on the day, just as fish sometimes like the bait swimming at the speed of the current or held back at various speeds.

One of the problems fishing weirs, depending on their construction, is that the speed of the current on the surface can be significantly different on the bottom, even going in the opposite direction. The fish of course know this and avoid baits moving unnaturally. I once had success fishing very heavy and holding the float static in the fast surface current off the edge of a weir sill.

The swim below is one I fish and is 20ft at it's deepest.

[Mole-Patrol]

That last part is why I use Catherine leads instead of bulk shot. Sometimes it is better to fish the running lead over-depth, on the bottom, effectively float-ledgering. Dead easy to make the switch using a Catherine lead. You can sometimes see the difference in flow rates at different depths by watching how leaves travel down the flow.

Fishing below weirs can be a bit more complicated that Mr. Crabtree let on. A skimming weir, where the water falls over the lip sends warmer surface water that has been heated by the sun into the lower reaches acting like a mixer tap. A sluice that lets water out from lower down the water column, a hydro turbine for example, doesn't do this and so the water in the lower stretch doesn't get heated up after the weir and can have a negative effect on the upper part of the weir pool.