Controllers for surface fishing

[Nobby]

Living miles from any tackle shops I did make a few floats of a similar nature. I was after trout down an overgrown green tunnel of a stream and the only way to get to where I wanted was an under arm cast with a weighted float. The float in the foreground was the one...it has a lead curtain weight within it .... the others are more bite indicators:




The 'bullets' in the background were controller floats that sunk the line nicely so the wind didn't shift my bait.

[Dave Burr]

Hanging the line over a thin tree branch is a killer method for wise fish. You cannot fish far out but confident fish will come to you if you wait and bait.

[Freeliner]

Interesting idea with the dog biscuit wrapped in the bread slice with freebies. Obviously as my username suggests I freeline on the vast majority of occasions but the wax or twig method gives that extra weight when the Carp shy off coming in close which I find is usually in swims where there is little bankside cover to keep out of sight. Sometimes I take to laying down to minimise my profile on the skyline although I'm getting to the age now where getting back up again if a get a take is more challenging.

[Duckett]

I like fishing for them amongst reeds and lily beds where I can drape the line over a stem or pad. At one local water the fish will very rarely take a floating bait in open water but they tend to drop their guard in the pads. It can be quite exciting trying to extract them from such places. I've yet to catch a really big carp off the top but I keep trying.

Your comment reminded me of something I had intended to post here but that slipped my mind. I met a young chap crawling round a lake I was fishing over the Bank Holiday weekend. He was fishing just as you describe. I was fishing one of the few open swims alongside some lily pads. He passed me, or lay on the opposite overgrown bank several times dropping his freeline bread amongst the lily pads.

Whilst I was packing up he came over and started asking me questions about my centrepin - an early Rapidex. We wandered back to my car and I showed him the other 2 ‘pins I had with me, a Gary Mills aerial type and a Grice & Young Avon Royal Supreme. By the time we parted I felt like I had sat an oral exam on centrepin fishing! His parting comment was to thank me and say that he was going to have a look and buy himself a centrepin as it seemed far better suited to his style of fishing than his big fixed spool baitrunner. I think I helped a young angler with traditional instincts discover traditional tackle! Neither of us caught a thing that day but I shall remember it with great fondness.

[Julian]

For surface fishing at a reasonable distance ( say up to 30 yards or so ) I freeline with two Bakers meaty meals adult dog biscuits ( the large biscuits) on a Drennan wide gape no. 4 hook. It’s surprisingly very easy to cast accurately a good distance with the weight of the two biscuits as long as your spool is well filled.
The size of the two large biscuits means that only reasonably large carp can get the two biscuits in their mouth. It works surprisingly well for carp fromabout 15lbs upwards.

[Lovatt]

Hi everyone I have used controller floats in the past these days I a cigar float with no controller floats.



Trefor

[Homer Simpson]

At my club pond, floating bait is banned.
I use a small 2” bit of dowel with a cut down hook for an eye rammed into one end and a float stop.
Then I have either bread squashed so it doesn’t float or a chunk of luncheon meat about four inches below the surface.

Any cruising carp slurping on top seem to fall for that.

[Dave Burr]

At my club pond, floating bait is banned.
I use a small 2” bit of dowel with a cut down hook for an eye rammed into one end and a float stop.
Then I have either bread squashed so it doesn’t float or a chunk of luncheon meat about four inches below the surface.

Any cruising carp slurping on top seem to fall for that.

You've brought up something that many do not think about, bait fished shallow can be a killer for carp. When they are coming short, a piece of flake fished beneath a large piece of crust that you have wrapped or threaded onto your mainline, solves casting weight, freebies and bite indicator issues.

[Duckett]

At my club pond, floating bait is banned.
I use a small 2” bit of dowel with a cut down hook for an eye rammed into one end and a float stop.
Then I have either bread squashed so it doesn’t float or a chunk of luncheon meat about four inches below the surface.

Any cruising carp slurping on top seem to fall for that.

You've brought up something that many do not think about, bait fished shallow can be a killer for carp. When they are coming short, a piece of flake fished beneath a large piece of crust that you have wrapped or threaded onto your mainline, solves casting weight, freebies and bite indicator issues.

The “coming short” point is often underrated by anglers in my opinion, including me! Last year, after about half and hour spend surface fishing with bread for Carp and Ide for the very first time, my girlfriend (a primary school teacher and so a very quick observer of behaviour) turned to me and said, “Carp aren’t actually very good at surface eating, are they. They aren’t designed right, they keep mostly missing until the bread start to break up and sink.” I’m going to admit here that I had spent years surface fishing and fishing just under the surface for many fish and hadn’t noticed that about Carp. D’oh!

Phil

[Homer Simpson]

Initially I did it to get around the rule, but it's a "killer" on our pond ( lake is a bit too grand).

So much so I only do it in the evenings when the usual gang have gone home as I don't want to be accused of cheating.

Every time I get a fish , I think "why didn't you think of this before" because it's entirely logical. The carp seem extra cross about it too