This is aimed at those that are learning to use a stick or are unsure about it, not the experienced angler.
Just reading back over this thread made me think about fishing a stick on a river and reminded me of the necessity to be adaptable and have the ability to change set ups, sometimes completely.
For instance fishing a deep swim and maybe starting off with a heavy stick of about 8/9 No.4 and after constant feeding you find the bites drop off. You get the odd knock on the way down so you fish shallower by a foot or two and adjust the bottom shot to a slow falling set up.
After continuous feeding and adjusting to an increasingly shallower depth it becomes impracticable to fish with a big stick, it needs to be changed otherwise you will start to miss bites and, or, the fish will drop he bait. The old maxim of a No.4 for every foot is a good basis to work on for those that are unsure about what float they should be using and to speed up the changeover it pays to make up your stick floats on pole winders, so they are ready for that quick changeover when it becomes necessary.
I hope this helps some of you learners out there.