Newark Needle float

[AshbyCut]

I was rummaging about under my bed tonight (don't ask, but cats were involved !!!) when I came across a box I must have had for years ... including a hook tier ... a disgorger, ... 12 quills from4in to 9 1/2in ... One float I will post about elsewhere ... and these 3 Newark Needle Floats of 5in., 7in., and 8 3/4in. If nothing else ... they certainly look splendid !!!

[Mitch300]

I believe I have the same set of three needle floats. If memory serves me correctly, they may have been an Angling Times freebie, posted to you when you sent in a few coupons. Late 1970s?

G. B.

[Dave Burr]

Sorry Mal, they did look different, futuristic even but they were pretty awful. Very good for stirring paint and for prizing lids off of things and impromptu darts however, considering the amount given away by AT I doubt that 2% were put into regular use.

[SkimmingTheCream]

Ive also got one somewhere that I think came free taped to the Angling Times. I seem to remember I tried it once or twice on the local lodges I fished at the time and then put it away and have never used it since. I had presumed that it was designed more for rivers ?
Trevor

[MWithell]

I hadn't thought about them for years. I might still have one tucked away somewhere. I can't remember actually using them.

[Wallys-Cast]

Actually not a bad Grayling or dace float. The plastic tip could do with a bit more colour but they work ok.

[John Milford]

According to a framed advert I saw for sale, Walter Bower's 'Newark Needle Floats' were introduced in 1979 - a litte more 'recently' than I'd imagined, but still 45 years ago!

I added a few more to my collection on Sunday, including one with a black tip - which is not a version I'd seen before.

As I now have a few duplicates, I'm going to give one a try soon - just out of curiosity.

[JW1]

I have never seen these before, they seem to have had a very bad press but they look similar to RV Righyni's grayling floats, so were they really bad?

[Duckett]

I have never seen these before, they seem to have had a very bad press but they look similar to RV Righyni's grayling floats, so were they really bad?

I recall my Dad bought a set the first time he saw them and tried them out on the River Weaver in Cheshire. I was late teens at the time and thought they looked hideous cobbled together garbage, so I wanted nothing to do with them. What can I say, after one session Dad chucked them and told the tackle shop exactly what he thought of them.

Later, they seemed to me to be a pointless re-working of a wire stemmed stick float. Isn’t the body far to long and heavy to imitate the Righyni float?

They do seem to keep selling on a certain auction site though!

Phil

[MGs]

I think I've mentioned this before. The only useful thing about them is the weights. I've used them plenty of times, when fishing hemp. Far better than the fish attacking split shot.