Trotting - Fast paced rivers

[Muffin]

Hi everyone,

I'm aftera bit of advice, yesterday I went to the Bristol avon fora few hours trotting. The river was up about 3ft and pushing through ata good pace, looked perfect with pleasnty of fish topping.

I was usinga 'topper' avon float about 6aa, but had real problems getting the float to present right and get any bites.

I tried having the shot bulked together and also like shirt button style, neither of which made any difference.

Is trotting still a good method in such fast flowing conditions, should I have tried to hold the float back more or is there a different float or shotting pattern that may work better?

How do you feed in such conditions, I tried a biat dropper but I imagine the bait just gets washed away so fast.

Any pointers greatly received, thanks.

Simon

 

[mike Gibson]

Hi SimonAs much as trotting is probably my favourite style of fishing, if the river is up by that much and has a correspondingly fast flow, presentation will always be a problem as you will need a lot of weight to get the bait down. Also, if the current is running really fast, the fish will probably be shoaled up in a slack or an eddy. May be time to get the quiver rod out and opt for a feeder or a running ledger? Or if like me you prefer the float, try finding some quiet water near a bend and fish laying-on style.

 

[Sean Meeghan]

When the river is up a fair bit you really need a lot of weight to keep control. I'd go for a big balsa or chubber that takes around 6 swan shot. The more weight the easier it is to control and fish won't be too fussy in coloured water. Heavy ground bait or a dropper should be fine. I'd look for crease swims with a fairly steady flow.

 

[Mark Wintle]

The shape of the float can make a big difference as can over-shotting the float. Very big floats don't always improve the situation and sometimes a lighter float like an alloy stick fished well over depth works better. The float needs a shoulder which a true Topper doesn't have as it is not designed for holding back.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

One of the best catches of roach I ever took from the Idle was taken in the company of the late John Ledger. The river was about 18 inches up and coloured and quite frankly John didn't fancy it.

I tried trotting for a while and caught one tiny roach. So off came the stick and on went the Lollipop float - a big one about 3" in diameter. I put 4 swans about 2" from the float and used my 15 foot rod. I fished well over depth and using two casters on a size 16 hook, Inching the tackle down the swim but only 3 feet from the bank in about 7 feet of water. I took 32 roach, most of them over a pound, the best 1lb 9oz. The bites were all positive slow dips of the float.

It was one of those days that I will never forget. Those roach made a lovely sight in the net.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

What's a lollipop float look like Ron?

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

That sounded sarcastic.

Seriously, how is it made up?

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

The lollipop float is based on the vaned float which probably goes back to the days of the Trent Otter. Go into your local tackle shop and ask for one. If they don't have one, change takle shops.They are not cheap at £3.95 (the last time I bought one) but for laying on and stret pegging in running water they are without peer.

They were developed by Italian match anglers I believe and have since gone out of fashion in this country. One of the makes is Milo. I have 4 of them in slightly different sizes. The round shaped vane which causes them to hold dead steady in the current, looks like a lolly on a stick!

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Yes, thanks Ron, as I wrote and pressed submit it clicked with me.

There's the Clarruso type with the angled bristle.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Ron

How about you doing a brief article for FM on stret pegging?

I'm sure there's plenty who would like to learn how to do it properly.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Yes well seeing as even the luminaries of today don't know what stret pegging is, I think I shall have to do something.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Well I have been reading some of your comments on the subject with interest Ron. It's about time you passed on the knowledge. I'm sure it will be well appreciated.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I think Mike Gibson has it about right-ditch the float-too much like hard work and probably not that productive...................

 

[Tee-Cee]

'32 roach in the net-they looked a lovely sight'Ron-surely not all at the same time?????

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

In the keepnet - a big one.

I doubt if I would have made such a catch without a keepnet.

 

[slime monster]

mark has it.... the shape of the float top is paramount for holding back and achieving stabilty and balance a common mistake when laying on in pulling water is to select a float with a large shot capacity ,this would still have to be over shotted to sit right when stationary or inched through

 

[Paul (Brummie) Williams]

Ron.........i could argue that stret pegging puts the shot much further than 2in from the float?

 

[Mark Wintle]

For lollipops try this:

Lollipop floats

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

Yes you could mate, but to be honest I do play around with the depth and the placement of the shots. I refuse to be dogmatic about it, and I think it is acombination of depth, current speed and type of bottom that decides how you rig thefloat.

 

[Cakey]

I was shown with no weight between the float and a ssg sitting on the bottom

float set at 2-6 foot over depth and the ssg 8-12 inches from the hook