The birth of the waggler

I said I would and I have. I have just had a very long conversation with Ken Giles about the origins of the waggler, basically this is the gist of the conversation.

The waggler was developed specifically for the '71 national, the last of the "by weight" nationals and the BAA team were determined to win this at any cost. There was no such thing as the waggler before this time though various bottom end floats were used throughout the country, mainly using balsa and porcupine and sometimes a combination but non of them were good enough to fish the Severn. They had various stillwater floats that were used in the East Midlands like the Swinger etc but these were useless in the pacy Severn.

In a bid to gain distance and sensitivity and after much trialing and experimentation with various types and materials all attached top and bottom they came up with the waggler purely by accident. One of the team was fishing shallow, about two or three feet Ken thinks, using a top and bottom float and some of the shot got tangled directly underneath the float, he carried on fishing with it like this and he discovered that not only was it easier to cast but the bites were more positive as well. From that one accident the waggler eventually evolved, they soon realised they didn't need to attach the top at all and they could fish at any depth by locking the float either side, all they needed was a suitable material for the float.

Ken actually has a list of all the anglers that participated in the development but the main input was from Clive Smith (Ken's next door neighbour, his wife still is incidently) Kevin Ashurst, John Toulson(not sure of the spelling) Ron Russell, Stan Lewis and of course Ken himself. Being next door neighbours Ken and Clive discussed at great length all the findings of those that were reporting on their progress. The use of peacock quill came about through Kevin Ashurst because it was apparently the custom up north in terraced houses to display a vase with peacock eyes, the end part of the feather, this he realised was a likely candidate for making floats.

Ivan Marks had no input into this whatsoever as he was a member of the opposition and neither did Benny Ashurst, though his son obviously discussed it with him. Leicester Likely lads won the match using pacemaker floats which was their chosen tool.

So there you have it, from the horses mouth so to speak, the origin of the waggler float. It wasn't a development really because they started with a blank sheet, there was no waggler to develop and you must remember this was 35 years ago and they didn't have all the materials that we take forgranted now, in fact as Ken pointed out, their first wagglers used safety pin eyes at the base of the waggler, valve rubber off cycle tyres was their 'silicon rubber'.

Ken was, incidently, a great friend of Benny Ashurst and he also told me how the stick float was developed by Benny but I'll leave that for another day.

I'm glad you mentioned Kevin Ashurst Graham. I knew he had something to do with the waggler But wasn't sure to what extent.
Peacock eye feathers in vases oop north? I don't know about that one as they were consideresd to be bad luck if you brought them into the house.
Kevin was also responsible for bringing the caster into fishing.

One thing I forgot to mention what Ken said is, that although he and Clive got most of the credit for the waggler it was only because they cordinated all the bits of information that came from many sources during that lead up to the match itself. Anglers other than the BAA team provided this info as well but without knowing what the final float would look like.

Winning matches is all about getting a jump on the opposition and although you all start on a level playing field as regards kit and bait its little innovations, methods and practice that give one team an advantage over the others. It was as true then as it is today.

Benny was quick off the mark then because he won the Trentman a week after the Severn National - on the peacock waggler. Contemporary reports couldn't understand anyone fishing that way. Few secrets in the Ashurst clan! Benny and Kevin knew about peacock all right, well before 1971. But the method rapidly evolved that summer.

John Toulson also made a name with the method as well within a year or two.

Ken is a very informative person and there isn't much that has happened in the old river match fishing scene that he isn't aware of. He's a little older than me by about a year, but unlike me, names from 30 or 40 years ago just trip off his tongue as do venues and unusual facts and happenings. It was one of the most interesting conversations I've ever had about fishing and lasted for well over an hour, in fact it would have gone on for longer if someone hadn't rung his front door bell.

I was fishing at the same time and in the same matches sometimes (but I was never in his sort of league) and maybe because of this, things we were saying would spark another memory in him and so it went on.

He is still in touch with a lot of those famous names from the past and speaks to them on a regular basis and he also fishes quite often with Austin Clissett, who I asked about in particular but now its fly fishing not the river.

very interesting Graham.


Did these pioneers of the river waggler fish it initialy as we now do today or did it take a while to refine the method?


I wish I could have had the chance to see some of the great names mentioned in action.

First time I ever sat and watched a top angler fish the waggler on a river was Tom Pickering at shelford on the trent, poetry in motion. The way he would cast, sink the line,fire out a pouchfull bang on the spot then pick the rod back up all in one fluid action taking only about 2 seconds.

Thanks for the post Graham.

It was most enlightening

Beecy,

The waggler took off very quickly for those with the skills and open mind to make it fish. In 1972 England fished a friendly against France on the Trent. England "sportingly" picked a bit where there was little flow for 6 rod lengths and therefore the fish were out of range of the French poles. Ashurst and Toulson paralysed the french on their own.

The best book I ever read about the waggler is Ashurst's World class match Fishing which taught me enough to go out and practice for 3 months, and from there on it was just a case of keep experimenting and practicing (and watching superstars when possible as I did at the end of that summer in 1977. That book is long out of print but easy to find on Bookfinder.com and cheap too.