Drinking straw night float.

tiinker

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tinker....have you any idea about what your drinking straws are made of??

I have some old straws which are plastic so providing the ends are sealed properly they will work. I imagine yours must be some sort of plastic ??
How thick is the wall of the straw, in other words I assume they will not bend if treated carefully??

I did see some once where the maker had sealed the ends with a cut down piece of peacock quill glued into the ends. One took the swivel (or shot loading and swivel) and the other a short length of cane to act as an insert which could be painted orange, or whatever...
Never saw them in use but they looked pretty good!

They are plastic and are made by a company called Zak! design. I bought a bag of colours straws in Asda about 4mm dia. the Zak! ones are a fair bit thicker and more durable. They are not far off as thick as a crystal waggler. I bought them in Home Sense 30 in a box for £1-29.
 

tiinker

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The earliest glowing night float that I know of is the one described by Robert Howlett in the Anglers Sure Guide [1706] Tis a good way to angle for carps in a dark night with rod and line floated thus, with glow worms: Scrape a inch in length of the butt end of a large swan quill till it be transparent, and prick three or four holes in it with a small needle round the tip of the butt end, to let air in; then cut off a inch and a half of that scraped end, and bind the open end twice or thrice about with a waxed silk. and fit a cork about half an inch long to go stiff into it. When you have put aglow-worm into the scraped piece of quill stop it with the cork.
When you have a bite, strike not before you glow-worm be gone a little out of sight. Hardest part of that is getting the glow-worms which are not worms at all but insects about the size of a earwig and similar in shape. I have only ever seen them twice in my lifetime they are as bright as a new starlight about a quarter inch of the tail end glows very bright.
 

Tee-Cee

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Thanks for that tinker. I shall push the boat out and buy a box for future experimentation.............


I would just like to add that fishing at night with anything that glows is not as easy as one might think. It takes time to adjust to following a small pinpoint of light down a river and even more so to sit and stare at one in still water. Staring at anything for long periods is very tiring and seems to do weird things to the vision after a while. (Could be just my eyes though!).
I did it for many years back in the eighties and found that short periods were best but definitely not in a 'full moon' situation which can seriously affect the definition between your float top and the surrounding area......
A good way to fish though, IF you don't weaken and probably best avoided following busy days at work when one is tired and prone to dozing off in the early hours......(pretty much most of us I suggest!!!)


ps In my night fishing days (the 80's) I used what was known as 'Betalights' glued into a float top (about an 1" would be visible), but even the brightest was not too great. Being filled with radioactive material they still glow to this day although they have been idle for many years now.................
 
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tiinker

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Thanks for that tinker. I shall push the boat out and buy a box for future experimentation.............


I would just like to add that fishing at night with anything that glows is not as easy as one might think. It takes time to adjust to following a small pinpoint of light down a river and even more so to sit and stare at one in still water. Staring at anything for long periods is very tiring and seems to do weird things to the vision after a while. (Could be just my eyes though!).
I did it for many years back in the eighties and found that short periods were best but definitely not in a 'full moon' situation which can seriously affect the definition between your float top and the surrounding area......
A good way to fish though, IF you don't weaken and probably best avoided following busy days at work when one is tired and prone to dozing off in the early hours......(pretty much most of us I suggest!!!)

I can sleep at the drop of a hat anytime anywhere. My sons and my friends say you may not be able to see Greg but you can always hear him snoring. I have lost count of the amount of times that the rod pulling around and the ratchet buzzing has woken me. I even have loops of soft cord on my rods that go around my wrist so the rod is safe when I nod off. Early one moning las summer I nodded off and Monty the fishery fox eat all my black pudding that I was using for bait he knocked the lid over I opened my eyes and he sat there not a foot away from me licking his lips. As luck would have it I had some caster in my bag.
 
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