Another Rip Off?......Stick Float Rods

I remember my oldest brother fishing in the River Idle many, many years ago and he used to love stick float fishing. Because he was my brother and because I fished with him on many occasions...I thought he was the best stick float angler around.

He used a 13' Fibre Glass rod and rarely missed a bite on it....I have seen him with nets of 2lb plus roach on many occasions...he was red hot on that river..especially with hemp seed.

Fast wind a good few years and we find that all the giant tackle manufacturers are totally wrapped up in trying to convince us all that we needed a special type of rod for stick float fishing...one with with a special tip spliced in. The spliced tip was of course for ensuring perfect connection when hitting a fish and it also supplied forgiveness too on the strike...or something like that anyway.

So being totally and utterly convinced that they needed one of these rods....everybody who was anybody purchased one...During this period of introduction..well, of the mass made variety at least...I strongly suspected that the tackle giants was simply convincing everybody that they NEEDED another rod in their armoury....it meant a load of extra sales to them if their plan succeeded.

In truth and in my humble opinion.....Stick Float rods was NEVER a necessary addition to our gear. They never really outperformed a decent waggler rod and they can't do the same today either.

All my stick float rods of which I have about 3 are indeed waggler rods...but I never waggler fish....but I use them and with great effect on the rivers I fish.

One last thought.....if Stick Float rods was so necessary....where are they all now?...do they even still sell them? I concede that the demand may not be as high but if that is so...it wouldn't be for Closed Face reels either then, seeing as they are used for Stick Float fishing...... but they still sell them in their hundreds maybe thousands.

There are still LOADS of anglers that fish rivers...but very few use "genuine" Stick Float rods.

Maverick

The best of the glass rods were quite forgiving and the normal lightest bottoms on rivers were Bayer 1.1 in those late 70s days; I was using 1.1 for roach to over 2lbs in the late 70s and only switched to 1.7 when the roach started to average over 2lbs (those were the days!). When carbon came in big time around 1978 the tips were quite fierce; they couldn't make a tip fine enough at that time so people started to splice in solid carbon tips. At the same time there was trend to fish much finer - 12oz bottoms and 22s on rivers which hadn't been the case so much in the 70s. The spliced tip rods did the job that was required at the time. By the end of the 80s, probably before that, the rod manufacturers made finer and more forgiving hollow tips and these, given the right rod, do the job fine. I still have some 20 odd year old stick float rods with spliced tips that are nice on a stick with fine gear - pound and a half main line and 12oz bottom but I reckon that few people buy the very few spliced tip rods nowadays. Most people I see float fishing rivers nowadays fish much heavier than we did 20 odd years ago.

Mav,


I'd agree that a decent match or float rod will cover the same ground (or water!!) - I think it's all down to personal choice. One of my best mates, who is an unbelievably capable stick float angler, swears by a long obsolete Maver float rod.

I have to be honest and admit I still think my Mk1 Drennan stick rod is top drawer but the IM9 float is equally at home.

Personal choice. As for stick fishing reels, either my Aerial Match or the old DAM coffee grinder closed face.


Cheers.

Yep...I fell for the old spliced tip malarkey years ago but I was never convinced even then. That said I had one of those classic Normark rods and TBH it was a superb rod for its time anyway. I then treated meself to a Daiwa GF53 Black Shadow which became my "go to" float rod for many,many years...almost entirely stick float work and it was excellent.That was marketed as a waggler rod but happily handled 2lb mainline and pound bottoms which was pretty well all I ever asked of it for 15 odd years. That rod was as near as I've ever come to any rod being "an extension of the arm". I knew it inside out...exactly what it could do and how it would react/perform in any given situation.

I still have both rods. I dont use them now but I just cannot bring myself to get rid of either...too many memories.

The best float rod I ever owned was an ABU Ferralite Mk. 6 I had it years and years and even when the but section broke I repaired it and still kept using it. Stick float fishing on the Trent, chucking a big zoomer across a Lincolnshire drain or scratching for silvers on the local res'. It would do it all.

The rods I use mostly at the moment are Greys; 12 foot TX and a 15 foot TX. They both have the backbone, but the VX hasn't quite got the sensitivity for 1 1/2 lb bottoms.

Mav,


To be fair, though, isn't the "Stick Float" description just a label - nothing more? It's a bit like the picture on food packaging "serving suggestion" - you don't have to eat it with beans or whatever but it's an option.

If the manufacturer labelled that same rod "float rod" or "match rod" the question would be redundant.

In recent years, advances in carbon and other technologies have given manufacturers greater range to build rods of many differing qualities, some of which have been labelled with species and techniques in mind.

Of course they want us to buy more but is it a rip off? To be fair, you don't HAVE to buy anything, do you? But, if you're like me, you almost certainly WILL!!!

Have a great Easter.

In truth and in my humble opinion.....Stick Float rods was NEVER a necessary addition to our gear. They never really outperformed a decent waggler rod and they can't do the same today either.
OK Maverick.

If the manufacturers had called their "waggler rods" "stick float" rods instead, would they have been good waggler rods?

What's so special about Tench float rods, aren't they just wagglers ?
Also what's difference between a waggler rod a pellet waggler ?

Have to agree, Mr Weasel


Labels, pointers, advice - nothing more.

I'd still fall for a good drennan stick float rod now though!!!


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beerweasel said:

What's so special about Tench float rods, aren't they just wagglers ?
Also what's difference between a waggler rod a pellet waggler ?

Click to expand...

Tench rods are just a little more powerfull than a standard Waggler rod.
Pellet Waggler rods a usually shorter with a more forgiving through action!

Ihave 2 Daiwa Infinity barbel rods-but i use them for the Baggin Wag! maybe they should call them baggin wag rods!!

My old Wychwood barbel rod was perfect for light beach fishing off Chesil last Summer.

It's a "suck it and see" thing I guess but I only ever use the descriptions as guidance, nothing more.

beerweasel said:

What's so special about Tench float rods, aren't they just wagglers ?
Also what's difference between a waggler rod a pellet waggler ?

Click to expand...

1.In essence,yes.,..but more powerful. I would not fancy fishing a pound
bottom on a tench rod.

2. About 2 foot.

I agree a label is just a label but it is an indicator of the basic characteristics of the rod and therefore tells us what the rod was primarily designed to do...and therefore logically what "style" or method of fishing it is best suited to. You have to start somewhere & most anglers are familiar with the "labels" commonly used ie wand/picker/avon/match/power float/method feeder/carp etc etc etc

But most rods will comfortably perform outside their stated optimum performamce range ie you could happily trot for barbel/chub with a tench float...or [as I have] chuck a method feeder with a pellet waggler rod. Its not so much what it says on the butt but what the rod can do and [as I've often said] you might be surprised at what some rods are actually capable of.

Bit like test curves really.....only an indication of what the rod can do but the same nominal tc rod can vary enormously performance wise depending on the blank quality,tapers,ringing & build. All of which affect the action and therefore what the rod is most comfortable doing & therefore "best at".

Never mind carp a pellet waggler makes a brilliant perch rod IMO but label it perch waggler & it wouldn't sell anything like as well.

Was looking at a reasonably priced Drennan pellet waggler rod the other day, perch rod?? Good idea, got me thinking now...

dorsetandchub said:

Mav,


To be fair, though, isn't the "Stick Float" description just a label - nothing more? It's a bit like the picture on food packaging "serving suggestion" - you don't have to eat it with beans or whatever but it's an option.

If the manufacturer labelled that same rod "float rod" or "match rod" the question would be redundant.

In recent years, advances in carbon and other technologies have given manufacturers greater range to build rods of many differing qualities, some of which have been labelled with species and techniques in mind.

Of course they want us to buy more but is it a rip off? To be fair, you don't HAVE to buy anything, do you? But, if you're like me, you almost certainly WILL!!!

Have a great Easter.

Click to expand...

No Dorset mate.....it's not just a label. A Stick Float rod has a fine tip...sometimes a VERY fine tip spliced into the main rod top section....whereas generally speaking a waggler rod has a hollow top section.

The top section on a Stick Float rod can have as many as 20 rings on it...and they get closer the nearer the top they get...this is done in an attempt to discourage your line from wrapping around the tip.

You see ...you have to remember that I am not saying Stick Float rods was no good....all I'm saying is that in my humble opinion they wasn't necessary .. The normal float rods of the day was more than adequate for the job as I have witnessed countless times.

Jack Sprat ( interesting post Jack) has a good point though when he says they was used for very fine fishing with low BS's....which is exactly right and I am sure they did a good job too but somebody has already beaten me to it when they also say that a standard float rod was often more than capable of handling fine lines.

Hi Peter.....Todays rods are allrounder rods.The manufacturers couldn't call their waggler rods ...stick rods..... because if they were waggler rods....... they wouldn't have a spliced in tip...would they?

Kippy and Nicepix.....know what you both mean and your stories are very similar to my own

Maverick

Mav,


I appreciate what you're saying about the ring set up, etc but what I'm saying is that I have happily used mine for fishing the waggler or any number of other floats. I don't feel they're just for stick float fishing which I see it as just a label or for guidance.

This thread should be titled smart marketing.

It is pretty clear to me that companies will label rods to coincide with whatever is in vogue at the time, it is clever marketing, convincing the buyer that you are fullfilling a need that the buyer does not even know existed!!

I have a float rod called a 'Specimen Float' rod. Perhaps it is a tiny bit more beefed up than the average float rod, but to all inents and purposes it is a float/stick float/waggler/match rod as far as I am concerned. The differences amount to very little, but to someone who is heavily guided by the label on the blank it may be a different story.

After all, how many float rods do you need?

:wh

I'd agree they're probably not necessary but I have to confess I do like my Drennan stick. Just personal choice, I guess.

dorsetandchub said:

Was looking at a reasonably priced Drennan pellet waggler rod the other day, perch rod?? Good idea, got me thinking now...

Click to expand...

And [as I said] it will also happily lob a small method feeder and at typically 11 foot handy on small rivers/tight swims. Very versatile rods the old PW though they do vary in action quite a bit. I dont get mine out that often[oo-er] but I wouldn't be withoutone.

---------- Post added at 21:04 ---------- Previous post was at 21:02 ----------

terry m said:

After all, how many float rods do you need?

:wh

Click to expand...

What ? Arrest this man immediately!

As many as I think I can get away with,sir ! Whether I need them is not the point