Trotting

I have just took up trotting on my local river.But do you have any tips on the type of rod,reels and lines to ues,As i am having trouble with my line twisting strecthing and knoting up after about 1 hour.I have only used maggots and casters so far caught plenty small chub roach,Is there any baits that i can trott with to catch barble.

Sounds like your hook length is spinning up,are you using double maggot,if so hook one in head and one in tail,you could also try a tiny swivel between your mainline and hooklength.

Cheers for that trisantona,Iam allso useing a open spool reel is this type of reel ok for trotting.

For long trotting you cant really beat a free running centre pin, trotting with a fixed spool reel is making life harder for yourself.
I know that a good one can be expensive but once you have used one you wonder what you ever done without one.
If you are using a fixed spool for long trotting (Not to be confused with short trotting) not only are you not able to control how the bait reacts in the water properly (ie, whether it lifts and falls as it travels down the swim or whether the bait travels ahead or behind the float); but you will get line twist which will get worse as the session progresses because when the bail arm is open line spills from the front of the spool and when you wind back in line is put onto the spool from the side. you can stop this by using a free spool reel but this is not really Ideal for trotting.

I have a book from the Osprey Anglers series where a well know Roach expert uses a tiny freshwater multiplier for long trotting just for fun, I also have one of these tiny multipliers (Abu Record 210) which he used occasionally for trotting and beleive it or not it was quite good for trotting (and better than a fixed spool reel.

With a good trotting reel the line will be pulled off the spool by the flow of water and you control the trot through using thumb pressure on the side of the rotating spool.

Best of luck and tight lines
)

I find that the rod needs not too many rings so as to make line release too hard; and not too few so as to make your line sag in between rings. About 11 ft is a good compromise for length.
Line strength is dependant on the fish size and the water.
When striking when long trotting you sometimes need to pickup a lot of line quickly on the strike so dont use a floppy rod, a nice crisp action is best.
Tight lines.

A fixed spool will be fine for trotting,you can stop the line by trapping on spool rim with your finger and let float run either by swinging the rod downstream or letting line go,i doubt if anyone still makes stick float rods these days,but never did agree with the mechanics of them anyway,the longer the rod the more control you will get (remember bolognese rods)but it needs to feel comfortable,the more rings the better and they need to stand off,try spraying rod with furniture polish to stop line clinging in wet weather.

Yes it is possible to long trot with a fixed spool reel, just as it is possible to run a mile with hiking boots on, but If you want to be able to do it using the best tools for the job and not just make do then use the kit that is best for the job.

lol

What like a small multiplier?..i use pins all the time and own over 100 but i wouldn't say they are any better than a fixed spool cause they ain't..as walker says a fixed spool can do anything a pin can only better !! Youv'e obviously never watched Frank Barlow and the like run a float down the Trent.

I actually use a closed faced reel for trotting, i've only got small hands and using the closed face reel is so much easier.

Trisantona comeon cool off, we will have to agree to disagree.
Its just a difference of opinion. and we shouldnt take it personally.
What a boring world it would be if everyone agreed.

By the way I also own quite a few centrepins and have been barbel fishing on barbel rivers (Kennet, Avon, Stour, Lea) with like minded anglers for almost 40 years now (with some success).

I think we might be talking about two different things here,
I was talking about Long Trotting for fish like Barbel in a Barbel river; which are generally rivers with lots of streamer weed, different depths, bends, fast and slow speed currents, big fish etc. etc.
Where it is an advantage to be able to control not only the speed but also the depth fished to cope with weed, different river depths and differing feeding levels all in the same swim through.
It is not just a case of trotting through a swim and mending your line. If it was then a fixed spool would cope admirably.

A few well known specialists (whos works you obviously have not read) which come to mind are, John Wilson, Chris Yates, Bob James, etc. etc. etc. all of whom advocate the use of pins when it is called for.

Knotties original question was:
"I have just took up trotting on my local river.But do you have any tips on the type of rod,reels and lines to ues,As i am having trouble with my line twisting strecthing and knoting up after about 1 hour.I have only used maggots and casters so far caught plenty small chub roach,Is there any baits that i can trott with to catch barble. "

(I bet he wishes he hadn't asked now).

I was not talking about being able to make do with a fixed spool; or what it is possible to do with a fixed spool, etc.

I know some people have trouble using a pin like Wendy who uses a closed face reel because her hands are too small to handle a pin and of course that is perfectly fine and valid (even a closed face reel is easier to control when trotting than a fixed spool) I was only giving someone some general advice on what I believe is the best reel type for long trotting for fish like barbel on a barbel river.

NB. Oh by the way I was not advocating using a multiplier; I was just quoting what another (very experienced and well known angler) wrote that he occasionally used for fun in his book in a chapter about long trotting.

Tight lines and dont take life too seriously we all have different opinions.

PS. Knotty if you want a great informative site for Barbel specialists see link -->barbelnow.co.uk

Maggot, i've never used a centre pin reel, are they easy to use? I love my closed face reel, i find it great for trotting the river, wether it would handle a barbel or not i have yet to find out. I've been using it to catch Roach.

Cheers lads and lasses for the info(You lot nearly got me confused),With all the banter.I think i will be buying the centre pin,And start putting a swivel on my line,(I have a little mutiplier,And just for a bit of fun i will try it tomoz on ribble).

Wendy, Centrepins are very easy to use once you have mastered the basics and know when to use one and when not to use one.
for example they are not very good at casting but Long trotting doesn't normally need long casts, its strength lies in its simplicity and control of a bait as it travels through your swim and further downstream.
for example after a bit of practice you'll find that you can raise or lower a baits level in the water by just applying different amounts of thumb pressure on the side of the spool, you can lift the bait over shallow bars or over underwater snags etc. and let it go deeper when you are over deeper water in the same way. You let the float pull line from the centrepin at the speed of the flow and are never out of control like you are when letting line spill of the spool on a fixed spool reel, and there is no snatching of line like you get when you engage the balearm because there is no balearm.
And when you strike you just stop the spool with the thumb and strike with a long sideways sweep.
Likewise Playing a fish is great fun as you are in direct contact with the fish with no gears between the spool and your hand, you can instantly give line under pressure from the fish with no chance of the line breaking when the anti reverse is on as there is no anti reverse, your finger is the clutch and is instantly changeable.
Big fish are not normally a problem as thousands of Barbel anglers will testify and the barbel is a powerful fighter as you know.
However there are disadvantages like when a fish runs towards you at high speed and you cant retreive line fast enough. but that doesnt happen that often and the advantages easily outweigh the disadvantages.
When you are retrieving the float at the end of the trot through you retrieve it by Batting the edge of the spool; where you tap the spool with your other hand to speed up the spinning so that you can retrieve the line under speed.
And there are also techniques to help you cast approx 2 rod lengths out but I suggest you read about it from a book as they can explain it in words and pictures better than I can here.
I would not use a centrepin for anything else as the Fixed spool reel is easily the master where normal fishing is concered but Long Trotting is the domain of the centrepin and I don't think it can be beaten in the hands of someone who knows how to use it properly.

Knotty have fun with your small multiplier but remember it wont be as good as a centre pin.
The book that mentions using a tiny multiplier just for fun when long trotting was 'Roach' by Dave Stuart who also mentions long trotting with a closed face reel for roach, another book in the same series is Barbel by Ian Howcroft which also explains the trotting techniques that I have just tried to convey.
Good luck and tight lines.

Maggot, thank you very much that was an interesting read. I do alot of trotting on the rivers, and think i may invest in a nice centre pin reel. Alan Roe from FM is an expert on them and uses nothing else. The way you describe using it sounds really good.

A good tip when you hook a medium size fish is to draw the fish upstream by raising the rod,this will get the fish away from the shoal,then bat the real and at same time lower the rod to take up slack,repeat process till landed.

One tip I was given when you choose a centrepin; which I found very true; is that the weight of the spool is more important than the length of time it spins freely for when you flick it with your finger,
This may sound strange but with a heavier spool there is inertia to overcome before it starts to spin; you can start it going yourself but then it spins too fast for a few seconds.
And when the float slows in a slower current the spool carries on turning at the faster speed for a few moments as it slows down; developing slack line for a few seconds.
But with a light spool the initial inertia is hardly noticeable and if your float enters a slower current the spool will slow with it faster. So your control will be that much better with a light spool on your centrepin.

Tight lines )

Well explaind maggot,I never gave the weight a thought.

If anybody want to know anything about fishing with a centerpin I am at the Cheshire Game Fair at Peover next Sunday and will happily answer all your queries I am doing two demos one in the morning and one in the early afternoon.
Cheers
Alan

Hi Alan,
Wendy mentioned that you used centrepins all the time.
Nice to hear that Im not the only angler who uses them.
How did the Game Fair go?
)