Driftbeater float and missed bites

Had an early morning session yesterday a tad breezy, decided to fish a driftbeater, set the correct depth and shotted correctly, the balance shot was some 6 innches from the hook. Bites were easy to see and easy to connect. Caught quite well for the conditions.

Bites were either pull under or slide away, the bites that lifted the float clear I couldn't hit missed at least twenty or so, striking as soon as it popped up got me nowhere, leaving it for a few seconds to dance around, didn't help either. I adjusted the balance shot as well, I was getting quite annoyed.

Any ideas as to why bites were missed?

Thanks

Nick

Could have been just very small fish. I find it depends on the species. When I am getting lift bites I find I have to keep experimenting when to strike, sometimes straight away, sometimes wait for a variable amounts of time till you get it right or sometimes wait for the float to disappear. And then you go to the same place next week thinking you have it sussed, fish exactly the same way catching the same species and its all different so, you have to start all over again finding what works. dumb fish or ....dumb angler!

Were you feeding hemp or is hemp used a lot on the water? it may have been fish taking and rejecting the shot.

If the float is drifting slowly it could be your bottom shot and hook is hitting shallower water or obstacles on the deck?

I think sometimes with any lift bite, it can be a bit of a lottery as to when you strike. Yes, a fish has picked up the bait enough to dislodge the balance shot.... however, it can also be the case that even though the fish has dropped the bait immediately, it can still take a while for the float to settle again, especially when you've gone to the trouble of making everything so sensitive. I use the drennan glow tip antenna floats quite a bit - so sensitive that if a fish even looks at your bait, you know about it - but with the exception of crucian fishing (when I'll happily strike at anything), I do tend to leave it until I'm really sure. So a lift bite - has to STAY lifted before I strike. The bit when it's moving, i'll wait and see. Similarly, I need to see it go under and stay under. Having said all that, I do love the sensitivity that I get using them, and I do still use them when the conditions are rough by setting overdepth and laying a shot or two on the deck. Not quite the same as the lift method in my eyes....

Thats the way I was fishing yesterday, pinned down to the deck, as it was nearly gale force early doors. The fish were small roach they seem to be the ultimate thieves as they can suck the life out of a maggot without even showing on the float. I was allowing time for the float to settle down after the intital lift, but the float generally danced around quite a bit. The larger roach i caught and the skimmers generally took the float under.

Very impressed with how well the float held in considerable gusts, I would concur that it was maybe juat the smaller Roach and Rudd doing the damge, bloody annoying though.

No fishing maggot, and sparing on the feed as I only had a pint left from a previous session, can certainly agree on the hemp angle though. Used to get this alot when I used the method many years ago for Carp the lead used to be moved around all the time as they were searching for the food items in my mix.

peter crabtree said:

If the float is drifting slowly it could be your bottom shot and hook is hitting shallower water or obstacles on the deck?

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That would have been my guess too, if the rig is only finely balanced the anchoring shot could be 'letting go' under the pressure of the tow and in turn registering lift bites until they settle again.

Did the wind/tow increase during your session?

If you experience this again try ignoring the lift, wait for something definite to happen, I have been getting lifts on the float recently while tench fishing i ignore them as i don't think they are bites rather fish taking my bottom shot (#6) as i have been fishing it close to the hook but just off bottom, i have also been using a lot of hemp in my groundbait.

No Steve, if anything the wind lessened, it wasn't happening on every chuck either, as it was I decided after the first few missed bites, the maggots had only the skin left, that I would wait rather than strike, i think once after waiting did I mange to hook one. Still I ended the session with around 30 caught so I wasn't too annoyed.

nicholaslukey said:

No Steve, if anything the wind lessened, it wasn't happening on every chuck either, as it was I decided after the first few missed bites, the maggots had only the skin left, that I would wait rather than strike, i think once after waiting did I mange to hook one. Still I ended the session with around 30 caught so I wasn't too annoyed.

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I'm then thinking that, if the wind lessened, the rig wasn't sensitive enough and the fish were nibbling away at the bait without an indication until they sucked in the hook and spooked, spitting out the bait which in turn disturbed the shot?

By which time it was maybe too late??

Would you have gotten away with a lighter rig once the wind/tow dropped???

Sometimes there isn't an answer for something and you have to take the bigger picture, in which case it sounds as though you did ok.

It might be an idea, under similar circumstances, to fish a lighter float... Dot it down and hook the maggots the other way around.

binka said:

I'm then thinking that, if the wind lessened, the rig wasn't sensitive enough and the fish were nibbling away at the bait without an indication until they sucked in the hook and spooked, spitting out the bait which in turn disturbed the shot?

By which time it was maybe too late??

Would you have gotten away with a lighter rig once the wind/tow dropped???

Sometimes there isn't an answer for something and you have to take the bigger picture, in which case it sounds as though you did ok.

It might be an idea, under similar circumstances, to fish a lighter float... Dot it down and hook the maggots the other way around.

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Yes you might be right Steve, although to be fair it was still quite breezy when I left. I was quite please with the mornings effort, considering the amount of wind I faced at 6:30 am I was considering going back home. As it stands it was an ok morning. Quite like the float it casts well, and didn't tangle once, thanks to the heavier shot by the hooklink.

I find the lift method very difficult and ultimately not very successful! I was fishing overdepth today but the float just disappeared with no lifting!!! I still missed a lot!

There's no doubt they're a good float in the right conditions and they come in various sizes, colours and weights...



Did I mention I was a complete tackle tart?

Joking aside I've used pretty much all of those and more, that's apart from the loaded wagglers which I thought I might need but still can't figure out why?? :laugh:

binka said:

There's no doubt they're a good float in the right conditions and they come in various sizes, colours and weights...

Did I mention I was a complete tackle tart?

Joking aside I've used pretty much all of those and more, that's apart from the loaded wagglers which I thought I might need but still can't figure out why?? :laugh:

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I think you've got a thing about black tits....tips :wh.

So thats why you drive around in a Pickford van!:wh

This is only my opinion, but I don't think this particular float is particularly good for the lift method and this based on the hundreds of times I have tried to make them work efficiently. I still have some of the original floats which I keep for fishing when the wind is serious, and I mean serious when they work very well, but NOT as a lifter!
Again, only my opinion, but if you really want to use the lift method, then the original 'Taylor' method is as good as any, but driftbeater floats are just that - to beat drift.

I'm well aware Walker, who shows how to set up the shotting in some of his old books, has them down as doing a great job, but I think normal shotting and fished slightly overdepth (for example) makes them ideal in extreme conditions with just the sight bob above water. Bites are positive and you don't miss many striking from the rest as the bob just sinks from view. I have never suffered stripped maggots, anyway...

In my tench fishing days on big waters they were my 'go to' float and they did the job perfectly.

For other less extreme conditions, many other floats would do a better job with less hassle IMHO. For example, this past week i have fished flake overdepth using a top and bottom quill float with a slightly bigger than normal bottom shot resting on the bottom to keep the flake in position Occasionally, but not always, the float would lift slightly (something like 10mm or even less) which I struck, resulting in fish anything from 3" to 12" long (roach) so very sensitive. All that had happened is the fish moved that bottom shot causing the float to lift, minimally........
Still a 'lift method' of sorts as the float didn't go under, but the point is you don't need to have the float rising 2/3" to make it effective. All strikes were from the rest and I didn't miss many.

No, a 3 swan (or more) driftbeater when the waves are high is a handsome beast and perfect for the job, but not imho, otherwise!




ps Lovely selection of floats, binka! I can think of several waters where they would work a treat, but not necessarily for roach fishing imho