My take on the paternoster as follows:
I have used both the John Roberts rig, and a helicopter rig and I believe that the helicopter rig will tangle less. It is virtually impossible to avoid tangles. The main way to avoid tangles is via your cast. You need to lob the rig out, rather than give it a full-blooded whack. I also hold the lead on the back swing to avoid tangles.
Because the trace length is longer than the length of the John Roberts boom it can still tangle with the bomb trace. In fact, I have found that this rig tangles more than a helicopter rig. As I have said earlier, the most important thing is the way you cast it.
On rivers I like to use a surface float on the paternoster rig, as I fish from a boat and it is need for proper bite indication. On lakes I use a sunken float because it is a lot easier to set up. You don’t have to worry about the depth of the swim, which is particularly useful when moving about a lot or just repositioning the rig in your chosen swim.
I use the fox sunk floats, which I find very reliable and very buoyant. The have a rubber sleeve on them which means you can fish them semi-fixed to the top of your up trace. As mentioned earlier I attach the main trace to the up trace by way of a helicopter rig. I have used the fox helicopters in the past but don’t like these as they easily come apart which results in the trace flying up the up-trace and tangling around the float. I now use the John Roberts helicopter rig which I slightly modify by replacing the but that you connect your rig to with a berkly snap swivel as I have more confidence in their strength. I also attach the helicopter to the swivel at the bottom of the up-trace by way of a 1mm neoprene sleeve which completely stops the trace moving up the up-trace.
On casting it is important to watch the rig as it enters the water. Bomb, bait, float. You can get a good “feel” as to whether or not the rig is tangled.
To set the sunken float correctly, so that it is lying (almost) vertical in the water, and not leaning too far over is as follows:
Cast out and tighten down to the rig.
Place your rod on the rest. (Alarms turned OFF)
Take line off your spool a coil at a time whilst watching the point where it enters the water. The line should remain tight.
Eventually the line will not tighten up. This is the point at which your float will be vertical in the water. Wrap a couple of coils back on to your reel. Check that the line is tight, and then set your drop back.