[Keith White]

I'm going to try swinging a little 2" rockvibe shad under a converted bombarda on Sunday for the snipe.
I've done alot of float fishing and some float jigging for Pollack and Bass.

Anyone got any idea's to throw into the mix.

I also think that a cane stemmed float fished with the correct shot pattern would be great at detecting OTD takes. Just gotta try it.

 

[Ben Field]

Been thinking a lot about strung out shotting patterns especially. Also sliding float options for fishing deeper depths. Will post more later when my girlfriends out and not looking over my shoulder to check I'm working!

What rod are you gonna use?

 

[Keith White]

I'm thinking a long, very long, fixed float rig on a bolo rod Ben.
Will be using these for Japanese style float fishing for Bream and Mullet etc this season as a sideline...LOL

You wanna see the stuff you can get for this fishing style. Even shaped carbon shaft shirvvy spoons with interchangable shaped heads for throwing feed patterns.
Amazing stuff and a nice fish on a bolo rod with light line is crazy fun. Not a million miles away from converting to OTD light plastics under one.

 

[Ben Field]

Cool. I actually bought one of these http://www.fishingtackle24.de/product_info.php?cPath=0_24_29&products_id=10445&language=en last year for similar type of stuff but only ever used it for punching lures in super rough conditions. It's a really nice rod to use actually, only the 3.6m version though so more a light, telescopic rod than actual bolo, and I imagine (knowing proper bolo rods) you're thinking much longer. These are designed for saltwater rock fishing though! The casting weights are deceiving as they're only high mostly because of the length. The tip is very soft and the power is lower down. I'd go one step lower (TE5) for saltwater float fishing though.

I think that strung-out shotting patterns could have a lot of use, even without floats where any OTD fishing is involved. A lot of people will have to learn to thread their casts, but should be ok.

With a float and strung out shot, obviously bites will show straight away. Nice. Everybody loves float fishing too ;-)

It'll basically be coarse fishing all over won't it. Suitable float shapes etc (i.e. long and slim), cane of carbon stems. I reckon that wacky hooked Senko's could be a good bet so they're more balanced and sink more slowly. Floating, mono lines etc etc. Size of float will obviously be dictated by depth. Helluva lot of variables. And that's just when using smaller soft baits. Moving vib baits etc is obviousuly a different story, as is trotting baits down in current. All totally different techniques, as you know.

 

[Mike Kennard]

I have messed about with soft plastics under floats in the past trying to catch mackerel and gars but had zero success. Normally at fairly close range using a sliding Drennan Chubber shape float, bulk shot/ small bullet, two or three foot drop and a small aberdeen with a 2in grub or similar. One problem is that if you use long slim floats they bury constantly in any swell, bulkier shape floats (hence the chubber) tend to 'ride the waves' better which in turn works the tail on the soft plastic.
I haven't tried it recently and some of these experiments go back ten years or so using cheapie Bass Pro crappie lures which are rubbish compared to what is coming out of Japan now.
I have seen the float fishing they do in Japan with groundbait and the long bolognese type rods. They use mashed/dried shrimp based mixes a lot of the time for grounbait. I used to have a Daiwa amorphous bolognese which had an unfortunate accident with a big carp otherwise I would give it another go.

 

[Tajul Asyraff]

Iso

Hmmm...sounds like ISO fishing....+ with lure....i am sure u get lots of info regarding their tool if u google ISO...

 

[Mike Kennard]

Hmmm...sounds like ISO fishing....+ with lure....i am sure u get lots of info regarding their tool if u google ISO...

You are right, it is like ISO fishing but using lures where they use bait. The rods they use are stupidly expensive and lever drag fixed spools. Looks like good fun though and it might be worth a try for bream.....

 

[Keith White]

Hmmm...sounds like ISO fishing....+ with lure....i am sure u get lots of info regarding their tool if u google ISO...

You are right, it is like ISO fishing but using lures where they use bait. The rods they use are stupidly expensive and lever drag fixed spools. Looks like good fun though and it might be worth a try for bream.....

Yep, both right. ISO fishing with both lures and bait. Will be targeting Bream, Triggers, Wrasse and Mullet. Not sure about the lever drag reels at £600 a pop and am using 6 and 8 mtr instead of the standard 4.5 - 5.4 mtr 3 pc ISO rods or telescopics. Just as an experiment for now but, if it pays off, I'll invest in the right gear.

 

[Tajul Asyraff]

Found something that interesting for you guys for the experiment....
http://spartas.org/product/tama/foojin_tama_01.html
http://spartas.org/product/tama/foojin_tama_02.html
http://spartas.org/product/tama/foojin_tama_04.html
http://spartas.org/product/tama/foojin_tama_06.html
http://spartas.org/product/tama/foojin_tama_05.html

 

[Keith White]

Yea, thats very similar to what I want.
Nice.

 

[Nick Rowe]

Ragot Ballrag

Hi, would the Ragot Ballrag do a very similar job to that very smart looking Spartas float?
Although the Ballrag doesn't have the diving vane as standard, it ought to be easy enough to cut the vane shape into the plastic.
You could cast one a very long way too, and rigged to slide with stop knot or silicone float stops, you could fish at almost any depth.

not sure how well it would register an on the drop bite though................?

 

[Keith White]

Ball rag's were once very popular here.
They can create some considerable drag.

Swinging through, yes, they are great but our requirements are now considerably different now we are trying to hit those tiny bumps and taps.
Those bites won't change just because we are suspending the lure under a float.

We are searching right now for saltwater centrepins (i use an ariel 1960's model now) to trot, (upstream and down) small floats that will detect those 1 tap bites.
Are we fast enough to react ?

I used to be...
I used to be able to hit a dimple at 4 rod lengths from a Roach on fast rivers. This could be even harder though.

 

[Nick Rowe]

Drennan Driftbeater float?

Could a scaled down version of a pike drift float work?
Used without the 'sail' so effectively you'd have a very twitchy light wand pivoting about a buoyant ball. line runs freely through two eyes on a short stem below the water giving you a magnified action on the wand above water, (float stop to set final depth)

As I write this it occured that the Drennan driftbeater floats would get you very close to this, without much modification? or maybe add a line eye to the main float body to give you the two point link with the line?

 

[Ben Field]

I reckon the Cralusso floats could be the way to go: http://www.cralusso.com/angol/index.php Imagine trotting one of those down with the current... holding it back... letting it go...... all the while maintaining a straight run through without coming back towards the 'bank' you're standing on....