Whether it be Float fishing or Ledgering I am always trying to refine my rigs, suffice to say my rig mechanics need to improve. What I will say is there is no substitute for time spent on the bank defining what works and what doesn't, what can be trusted and what cannot.
If you've followed my channel over the past couple of years you would have seen some of these trials and tribulations regarding my Float fishing rigs, in particular myself losing several large mullet! Well the same thing has just happened with my Adjustable Paternoster Ledger rig!! Either that or I am on the worst run of my life!
So what do I think the problem is and what am I intending to do about it? Well having lost a 3.5lb fish due to my 8lb trace snapping near or at the quick change lead link of my
adjustable paternoster I needed to have a thicker length of line between it and my hook link. When this happened it led to the bottom float stop I had used to trap my hooklink swivel sliding off and consequently the hooklink that the fish was attached to doing the same. Fortunately I was using barbless hooks so the fish should have found this easy to get rid of. Still it is not something I am happy about; I never like to leave a fish with a hook in it. Initially I thought maybe my 8lb Drennan Method Feeder Line was too weak and contact with the bottom had created a weak point. I also wondered if the quick change link had allowed the knot to slip around it thereby catching a sharp edge and cutting it? I cannot conclusively prove either of these things but there are a couple of measures I can put in place to prevent breakages and my hooklink slipping off should I be unfortunate enough for the line bellow it to break or the lead come off. I didn't really want to go up in breaking strain but have decided to go up to 10lb mainline for my river mullet fishing and even higher if fishing near or on the open coast. This I hoped would provide more abrasion resistance without loosing too much finesse. Whilst watching a match fishing video I came across the method of "twizzling your line" to effectively provide an intertwined length of line and thus producing a doubled over length of line to act as a rubbing leader and therefore more abrasion resistance. I could trap a snap swivel in the the loop created at the bottom, thereby being able to still change weight or feeder size. I have settled on a twizzeld length of 6-8 inches but can’t make my mind up as to whether I shall have the snap swivel running in the loop or tie an overhand loop knot in it and then loop the swivel over the loop in the rig. At the hooklink end I shall tie a figure of eight loop knot to trap the twizzled coils in place and this should also provide a stop to prevent my bottom float stop from sliding down and off the end should the worst happen and the twizzled section or snap link/weight break off! I am currently fishing my 4 inch hooklink about 6-12 inches from the lead so this still allows enough adjustment to suit my needs. It would be nice to fish the hooklink nearer the lead but if I needed to do this I could fish a running ledger or longer hooklink. If you watch the video below you will see the rig minus the twirled boom section. This section basically sits below the two float stops.
So armed with my new adjustable paternoster rig off I went to try again. Unfortunately no mullet were caught due to large levels of rainwater in the system but I did hook a large trout which thrashed around before eventually ridding itself of the hook! Time will tell but at least I have found a simple rig that is easy to tie and adjust; not only that but it hooks fish.
So what refinements have I made to my float rigs? As I’ve previously mentioned I had been loosing a lot of fish; big fish at that! For a while this perplexed me and I thought I had solved the problem by adding a small swivel into my setup. I had noticed how much the fish twisted and spun during the fight. To be honest it came as a bit of a shock at first, it wasn’t something I had remembered from my youth; I had hoped the swivel would counteract this and thus help the hook stay in. On reflection I’m sure that it is helping to a degree but it certainly has not cured the problem. Why had I not lost fish when I was younger? This perplexed me for ages, then one day after another big fish loss it finally dawned on me; back in my youth I had always used barbed hooks. Now I don’t really want to use barbed hooks but I certainly don’t want to loose anymore big fish; a compromise had to be made. Going forward I am going to use semi barbless/micro barbed hooks. I use strong balanced tackle and other than the fish I lost above whilst Ledgering due to bad rig mechanics I never loose fish to snags. Should I fish a really snaggy swim then I will use barbless hooks as I am not going to chance loosing a fish to snags and it not being able to shed the hook, but more often than not this isn’t an issue when float fishing. When Ledgering I may well have to use barbless hooks as there is more chance of getting your rigs snagged on the bottom, but whilst float fishing I am generally fishing an inch or so off bottom so rarely if ever encounter this problem. Now I am no match angler but when it comes to float fishing I take my inspiration from the likes of Dave Harrel and the great, late Billy Lane. Float selection is based on the flow and depth of the water in front of me and the amount of wind or direction in relation to the flow. If you follow my channel you will see that I fish rivers and the swims I fish vary from deep glides to shallow turbulent runs. One day I may be fishing a pencil slider in 15ft of slow moving water and the next an Avon float in 8ft of turbulent water. Last season I did well at a new spot but found that the wind would very often switch throughout the session. As a consequence of the ever changing winds problems with bows in my line could ruin a session. If I attempted to use any of my usual straight bodied Wagglers or Avon floats I wasn't able to sink the line behind the float or control it enough as the drag from the bow in the line was impeding its flow or even accelerating it (the bow preceding the float through the swim dragging it through too fast for the fish to bite). Rummaging through my float box I found some beautiful hand made “Ducker” floats I had purchased from float maker extraordinaire, Ian Lewis. Check out his website here: https://www.handmadefishingfloats.co.uk/
These large bodied wagglers are attached bottom end only, thereby sinking the line behind the float just as a long straight waggler might but the large body also adds a degree of stability. If this wasn’t enough I would place a small shot further up the main line to sink the line even more, thus aiding my cause. If this didn’t work then there would be no choice but to Ledger. I do so much prefer watching a float and must admit to finding Ledgering a bit boring if bites are few and far between. Using these floats has definitely aided my presentation and going forward I see myself using them more and more. Check out the video below where I use them to good effect.
Another float I am keen to use is the Trent Trotter invented by Billy Lane. These floats are supposed to be excellent for fishing in very shallow water whilst also minimising disturbance on the strike; not a bad thing when fishing for spooky old mullet. I have a couple of swims where fish hold up on a dropping tide that this float should be excellent for.
Well that’s it for the moment but I shall keep you informed of my further trials and tribulations. Hopefully I shall continue to learn and put a few more of these sneaky fish on the bank.
Cheers for now.
The Constant Angler
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