Float fishing with the float laying flat

[little oik]

What are all the pros and cons of using this method ?

When the warm weather is with us again(no laughing or scoffing please ).I intend to give it a go in the margins .However I am worried that I might hook some fish deeply due to poor bite indication with smaller fish .

The water will be 2 to 3 foot deep and I understand the concept of having the line wafting about in the water so as not to be "seen",but what happens when smaller fish up to about 5 lbs decide to take it ,as you I assume use this method about a foot or more overdepth.

Any thoughts

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

I think (and I'm likely to be wrong ) the fish doesn't feel as much resistance on the line

 

[barbelboi]

I'm not sure what advantage this would achieve over the lift method, laying on and sunken float which are all very sensitive to bite indication in their different ways. What fish is this intended for LO?
Jerry

 

[bennygesserit]

I have used extremely small floats in the margins i.e. one number 11 stott and the bait and had had better bites because the carp feel less resistance.
I have dabbed for carp before on a commie and its amazing how quickly they can spit the bait out. On a recommendation from the baliff I switched to a much much lighter float and had much more positive bites ( weather permitting ).

I haven't fished for carp with a "flat" float but I have had a lot of fun on the canal with a flat pole float and a whip fishing for roach and rudd on the surface with a floating caster.

You can even do away with the float completely and just stick your pole in the water with no float at all and just wait for the elastic to go screaming off , that works very well but is banned on some commercial waters I have heard this called "muppet fishing".

The other way is to coat your line with bright resin , the stuff you sometimes put on your float to make it more bouyant ( cant remember the name ) and you can see that float on the water and dissappear with a bite.

 

[little oik]

I'm not sure what advantage this would achieve over the lift method, laying on and sunken float which are all very sensitive to bite indication in their different ways. What fish is this intended for LO?
Jerry

Carp and Tench Tight in the margins . I have seen it used on the TV but have only seen large fish being caught (the one at the end of the programme usually).
I am worried if using 4 ft of line between hook and the float in 3 ft of water there's a hell of a chance of smaller fish picking up the bait without you knowing (coloured water ) about it till its down to its ar$ehole

 

[barbelboi]

Carp and Tench Tight in the margins . I have seen it used on the TV but have only seen large fish being caught (the one at the end of the programme usually).
I am worried if using 4 ft of line between hook and the float in 3 ft of water there's a hell of a chance of smaller fish picking up the bait without you knowing (coloured water ) about it till its down to its ar$ehole

I've never contemplated using the method you describe and can't really see the point. Everyone to their own but for tench the lift method (on most decks) takes some beating if set up right and is used for the right reason - it also does well for carp and roach. For carp the sunken float is also a tried and tested winner.
Jerry

 

[peter crabtree]

I fail to understand how a float undershot and laying on it's side offers less resistance? Surely it would create more resistance?
Can't see the point really.
Unless I have completely misunderstood the question?

 

[nicepix]

If you tow a boat rather than try to sink it you'll appreciate how easy it is to get the boat to slide over the surface.

I thought that I had added a reply to this but it isn't there so here goes;

I fish for carp in the margins this way. Rig is hook with bait, in my case boilie or stacked maize, shot about 2 feet from the hook to keep the hook length down, size of shot around No. 6 dependent on wind strength, and fished several feet over depth. After casting line is paid out to allow the float to take up a curve of line. Bites are indicated by the float sliding across the surface. Very effective.

 

[silvers]

There's a whole section devoted to the flat float in Kevin Ashurst's "world class match fishing" where he describes sailaway, unmissable bites in the right conditions.
He also professes to not understand why it works - but that it is incredibly effective on the right day.
He mentions fishing up to 4ft over depth in 6ft of water.
Frankly, if it's good enough for Big Kev ......

To my shame I've never tried it.

 

[keora]

This summer I fished a shallow (18 inches deep) corner of a lake where you could see carp browsing. I had to keep concealed behind marginal rushes since the fish were only a few yards from the bank. So I put on a small float with sufficient shot to cock it and fished about a foot overdepth, so the float was flat on the surface. This prevented fish swimming into the float, and I did get a carp this way.

For fishing deeper water, I'm not sure that a flat float is any better than a float cocked in the normal way.

The flat float method can be used in river fishing, when it's called stretpegging. I use an avon float with plenty of shot near the hook, and the float fixed about 2ft deeper than the depth. The float is cast downstream, and allowed to swing in towards the bank until it's directly downstream of the rod tip. I've caught large perch this way. Probably it's not used as much these days.