Re: Stick floats history
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:32 pm
Well gents, just read this whole thread and enjoyed every word.
Thanks for posting and keep it coming...
Thanks for posting and keep it coming...
The Traditional Fisherman's Forum
https://www.traditionalfisherman.com/
That would be a good interview, you will have to tell, where you can hear it or read it. I know about the big Avons, you are obviously fishing big rivers, which one's ? I would have liked to have had the chance to,"pick Toppers brains" Which methods did he use. Was he fishing Bread? That Bristol Avon is a big river, I have never fished it, but have been down that area plenty of times and had a look, while doing something else.DaceAce wrote:Most of the Avons I use take between 6 and 10BB, with the smaller ones used on 4-6ft of water and the larger ones in up to 12ft, with the 'Topper' specials for distance fishing. I once spent an enjoyable 2 hours picking Topper's brain on the designs and method; certainly not a float for holding back! A mate of mine is currently interviewing John Dean on his methods from back in the day. I think he changed to trout fishing after match fishing but also didn't have the time to practise once he was jointly running a tackle shop.
Thames Mudlarker wrote:Oh right, OK mate, got the wrong end of the stick ....lols....or should that be AvonSantiago wrote:You didn't. I just keep forgetting the Thames is one almighty wide chalk stream. Your post reminded me that's all.
Stuart
Firebird wrote:I think it's very much a fisherman's preference. I'm sure the avons would be just as good. As we can see from the different preferences expressed here, choice of float is not so important as how you use it. Plastic, wood, metal, quill - so long as it floats and feels right.Santiago wrote:I've an inkling that crow quill avons are perhaps mainly underrated by those that prefer to use stick floats for trotting. I would choose a crow quill avon any day for most of my trotting and never bother with stick floats these day, although I did make one recently and intend to use it this summer.
I think everyone's on a roll, I hope we can think of more to say.Crucian wrote:Well gents, just read this whole thread and enjoyed every word.
Thanks for posting and keep it coming...
I tend to agree with you AllRounder. All though I tried to fish canals as much as possible I did use to venture on to river occasionally. My stomping grounds would have been the slower rivers like "the Nene" but did also fish "the Trent and Severn occasionally. I used to carry wire stemmed sticks, some with Shoulders and some without. These were between 2BB - 14BB the bigger one's were used more in flood conditions. Very versatile, you can run them at the speed of the current or slow them down and even hold them still on a tight line. In the winter I would bulk shot with No 4's and a couple of No 10's or No 12's as droppers. If you spread the droppers especially the 12's and fish the bulk just off bottom, you can run the float through very slowly, with the hook/bait in front of the float. If you fished with a long hook length (2-3foot)with the same shotting you can actually stop the float dead, the bait will then be on the bottom, when you let the float go, the bait will still be stationary until the float passes the hook/bait by about 2-3 ft. Quite often by then a roach has already taken the stationary bait and as the float goes past it, it will just go under because the roach has stopped the bait.AllRounder wrote:Having spent many years fishing stick floats on the Trent,Warwickshire Avon and The Severn if I could only carry one float style I would choose a wire stemmed shouldered stick float every time. The larger Avon style floats are great for deeper waters or where there is a need for bulk shotting - perhaps the lower Severn or Bristol Avon.
I spent the last day of the season fishing the upper Severn with a Wallis Avon Rod and centre pin reel. In the interest of keeping everything traditional I put an Avon style float on - I have to be honest and admit that I was dying to change it to a modern stick float!
Hit the nail on the head, totally agree mateBackhand wrote:Firebird wrote:I think it's very much a fisherman's preference. I'm sure the avons would be just as good. As we can see from the different preferences expressed here, choice of float is not so important as how you use it. Plastic, wood, metal, quill - so long as it floats and feels right.Santiago wrote:I've an inkling that crow quill avons are perhaps mainly underrated by those that prefer to use stick floats for trotting. I would choose a crow quill avon any day for most of my trotting and never bother with stick floats these day, although I did make one recently and intend to use it this summer.
All these floats work on running water, the important things are getting the feeding right and the depth, plus the shotting. All these 3 are more important than the actual float.