Where have all the float anglers gone?

I've just spent three hours floatfishing on the Stour. The river is a translucent milk chocolate colour which sounds worse than it is but with a favourable wind and tide it was easy fishing using a crowquill Avon and punch with groundbait; the result - 60 roach with two over a pound, some very nice dace with one weighed at 10oz, a couple of modest bream (2lbs apiece) plus odd bleak and a confused perch - total bag 18lbs - 74 fish.

But, given the ideal conditions, where were the other anglers? It's not even a long walkand was as simple as it gets yet totally involving.

Is the art of river floatfishing dying year on year?

Yes!

Don't despair Mark it means more fish for us to catch. That sounds like a fun session.

I fished a lake this week that holds some good carp and good roach. Conditions were good and the kids were on holiday. The kids fished big bombs and bait lobbed into the centre of the lake for carp. They all blanked.

What was a suprise though was to see 2 young anglers fishing the waggler for the big roach. Despite their 'zoro' style casting, because of a lack of line on their reels, they managed to catch a 2lb 1oz cracker. I was genuinely suprised to see 2 16 year olds fishing a float.

Now seeing young anglers trotting a river would be a very big shock.

over the last season on my local river which i visit at least once a week i seem to be the only one who uses a stickfloat,or even maggots for that matter,its good for me until i get closed in on both sides by the chuck it and sleep brigade,nothing against them(i used to be one although i didnt sleep)

for the last four years i have been teaching my son on commercialls,who is 12 and he is totally bored with catching fish on these venues,and when i ask him if he fancies a adays fishing turns me down,and this is from a lad that at the age of 11 came fourth at whiteacres rovermatch adults included,

but i have renewed his passion by taking him to learn something new(the river and the stickfloat)he just cant get enough and is sulking with me today because its lashing down and he has to wait till tomorrow,

there is nothing better than seeing his face light up when he catches a dace or roach on the float trotting,i thought i had lost him to the xbox ,but the river has saved me and him,

i just have to find something to do when march and the closed seasons come upon us,

i can feel a fly rod may come in handy here what do you think?

I envy you Mark! I've just spent three hours trying to float fish on my club lake in the most horrendous howling wind and rain...only the second time I've ever had to pack in fishing because of adverse conditions. It was glorious when I arrived, but within half an hour of arriving I was cowering under my brolly, waiting to do a Mary Poppins....Still, tomorrow's another day, so I'll try again!

Pin addict makes a good point that it can renew interest. I would certainly recommend any session anglers out there who fish with buzzers to try out a bit of river float fishing when the conditions are not right for Carp or whatever. It can open up a whole new world of opportunities in your fishing.

I got back into the float a while back…I am certainly no Dave Harrell but I do like to trot and also I have been doing some stret pegging on some of the smaller venues I fish which makes a change from looking at a quiver tip. I have also been fishing some large sliders on some of the bigger venues with a vague aim of catching a Roach. Its interesting fishing a float in 15 + foot with huge barges going past all the time. There is also a real sense of satisfaction in catching on a float especially fish like Barbel as so many people automatically fish the lead for them.

Will admit to you folks,that my recent visits to the Ribble have all involved sitting at a rod tip waiting for it to twitch.A couple of times I have thought it would be nice to trot a float but haven`t got round to it,mainly due to laziness.I want to fish the river more next year and fully intend to do some trotting,a technique I haven`t used for 2o odd years.

Do have a question for you.I only have a 13 foot float rod,rated upto 6lb mainline.Would I benefit from getting a longer,stronger rod?

It seems that float fishing on the running line is a dying art on all waters not just rivers ,i pin fished the river tone last week and what few anglers i saw were all on the tip. Waggler fish any still water and you can bet you will bein a very small minorityunless you count huge self hooking splasher floats or pellet floats that would not look out of place off the pier.

I'm dedicating this winter to beginning to learn the fine art of long trotting. Already had a very pleasing day down on the Kennet and off to the Hampshire Avon on Thursday to, hopefully, winkle out some roach. I'm really enjoying the more active and busy style of float-fishing. Went ledgering in Lechlade on Weds morning - boring, boring.

Imust say I cant remember seeing anyone float fish my local club waters, some look at me likeI am mad. (nothing new there then).

As for the rivers, only see the odd Angler now and then fishing the float. I dont mind, I enjoy watching the freeze this time of year just sitting there.

Roving with a float rod, best fishing there is.

Many is the time when I have seen a number of anglers on our local river Idle all legering, some of them with two rods fishing it Trent style.

And the Idle is absolutley made for float fishing, whether it be trotting, stret pegging or laying on.

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA) wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Many is the time when I have seen a number of anglers on our local river Idle all legering, some of them with two rods fishing it Trent style.

And the Idle is absolutley made for float fishing, whether it be trotting, stret pegging or laying on.</blockquote>
Can you just explain stret pegging again Ron?,/forum/smilies/nerd_smiley.gif <blockquote class=quoteheader>Ray Daywalker Clarke wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Imust say I cant remember seeing anyone float fish my local club waters, some look at me likeI am mad. (nothing new there then).</blockquote>
no, goodbye/forum/smilies/nerd_smiley.gif

Silly Spider,

Everyone knows how to Stret Peg, apart from Ron/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif.

The most depressing aspect is that the tackle trade themselves follow the current trends and it slowly gets more difficult to buy the actual gear you need.

There's a big fishing superstore 6 miles from me. The carp related section is now 2/3rds of the floor space and the selection of wagglers and stickfloatson sale hasn't been added too for at least 3 years now. Most of the secions are now empty and the only new floats are puddle chuckers or floats with big wire coils underneath for molding a method mix to.

Most of my river wagglers I now make myself.

Sadly due to health reasons my days of standing and trotting a stick float or a "Topper"down a flow have gone and therefore not particularly being fond of sitting on the feeder so has 90 percent of my love of fishing rivers.

For the very same reasons4 years ago I sold all my match gear,poles,box,scaffolding etc and reverted back to my roots to mainlyfloat fishing from a chair. Im pleased to say that it hasnt altered my catch rate or put me at any disadvantage.

An unusual occurence in itself that we found ourselves sat on a local commercial yesterday. I was catching carp to 4-5lb on a 4bb waggler and a few bream when a guy came round and asked me how it was going. I said a little slow but steady.He was dressed all in a local teams colours and he said Quote"I cant get a bite on the match lake, Ive been on the method tight to the island and Ive tried a cage feeder tight to the island.Its crap.Im moving"and this guy obviously fancied himself as a matchman. He hadnt got past the first grade. He moved to another lake on the complex and when we saw him later as we went sure enough he was chucking a method at the island.

I said to my mate that I could have spoken to that bloke until midnight earlier and he wouldnt have heard a thing. Everything he asked me I answered him and then he immediately discounted that and told me how his way was so much better. Meanwhile I was sat there catching steadily and he was stood behind me because he couldnt catch. A change of tactics to him would have meant changing whatever expander he was using to another make.I would bet you a fiver to a sixpence had he not had a line clip he could not have made the cast to the island without losing his feeder at least 50 percent of the time.And the thing is that through commercials there are thousands of anglers like him. They can talk the talk but at the end of the day they know "Jack S**t". Thats were a lot of float anglers have gone Mark. They are a dying breed.

There still are some very good and knowledgeable anglers fishing commercials but the general standard has gone through the floor.

"Roving with a float rod, best fishing there is."

No argument from me on that statement Ray.

On my local stretches of the Hampshire Avon there are still a few diehard float anglers left - thank God!

some good posts on here

I was brought up fishing matches onthe Trent, Witham etc, as were most people in this area (south yorks/north mids). thankfully I had a break from fishing for 5 or 6 years that coincided with the decline in the rivers and the take off of comercials so i never got dragged down the comercial route.

Now, whenever i bump into any of my old fishing mates in the tackle shop theyre all the same, all they can talk about is carp,pellets, power this and bagging that. When i tell them im off to the trent or whatever i always get the same response "not fished there for years, I'll have to have a day with you some time" but they never do. I think they are just so stuck in the rut of comercials and the easy/convienient fishing they offer that going back to proper fishing just seems too much trouble. Im sure though if they just made the effort to give it a go again theyd be back for more.

I think things are starting to change a little though as word is slowly getting round that there are roach in numbersin the trent again. Over the last two or three years ive seen more people turning up on the trent. Chatting to a few they are all the same, people who have not been for years, have heard things are improving and have come to have a go just for a change, then they realise what theyve been missing and go back for more

Do you know what Mark, I think float fishing is something that comes naturally to any angler that has been involved in match fishing, it is the match anglers preferred style of fishing and I don't think you ever lose it. That isn't to say that it is exclusive to match anglers but the modern anglers instinct is to fish with a lead or feeder and occasionally fish a float.

I am getting lazy in my old age and I'm not so eager to plug away for hours on end with a float mainly because my back prevents me from doing so but I still automatically think float before feeder. There is something very satisfying about catching fish on the float and it isn't quite the same when catching them on a lead, or is that just me?

I haven`t done any serious float fishing for a long time.....reading this makes me realise how much i miss it and how much i regret selling my fav float reel a few years ago.

When you get involved in a sport that has so may disciplines to try out within it......lure fishing,ledgering for example,you tend to put other things you liked doing to the back of the cuboard.This is what has happened with float fishing.

I am happy float fishing on the rivers, but dont mind float fishing the lakes.

I made a point of teaching my sons how to trot the rivers, and float fish the lakes.

I am pleased to sayall 3 boysstill enjoy doing both.

Well I would say that I think some of the reason that not many fisherman on the rivers float fish is due to the time, patience and skills needed to be learnt before one can have consistent results. We now live in a results driven world, and if people dont catch then they have learnt to think through the media its a bad days fishing.I do envy Mark when I read the stories of his catches whilst trotting, the last 5 times trotting have bought me a total of 3 fish, now I love float fishing but I'm now debating if there is any point in continuing banging my head against the brick wall or just to take the easy way out and use the feeder!

I think its a skill that takes a lot of experience to master, and I for one can unfortunately not spend enoughhours onthe bank to gain full experience of all conditions and eventualities.

But that wont deter me, for some reason I have lost all leave of my senses and will undoubtedly spend all next weekend watching my float drift down the birstol avon without so much as even a slight dip or bite. But at least I'm learning!

Its good for your soul and character building I've been told................