Articulated floats?

[binka]

I came across some articulated floats a while ago (can't remember where) which looked very old and probably porcupine quill if memory serves me but I guess it would have worked with most materials.

The top couple of inches had a tiny joint below it which allowed the tip to move freely of the main stem which I'm thinking might have been an attempt to prevent the whole float from cocking in strong tow.

I've never seen any since and out of curiosity I wondered if anyone is familiar with them and what the intended idea actually was?

 

[S-Kippy]

I remember these things from when I was a boy sat on the counter of my local tackle shop. I never knew what they were for and I was too in awe of the bloke behind the counter [ Jack Harrigan ] to ask. Porcupine quill with a sort of perch bob top as I recall....its a long time ago now !

I'd love to know what they were supposed to be for and your suggestion seems as likely as any, Steve.

 

[Derek Gibson]

I remember them well Steve, in fact I may still have a couple knocking about.

They were available from the mid fifties at ''WG Dawson's'' tackle dealer of Holme Lane Sheffield who always had them on display, as you say Porcupine quill.

If my memory is to be trusted I seem to recall old Walter (the Father of the current owner) telling me that they were to be shotted just enough for the tip to lay on the surface, and to strike when the tip stood upright. At least that's my recollection, very novel but Heath Robinson to me.

 

[tigger]

A sort of pull /lift bite then lol.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Was the bite detection better on these floats or what other reason was there for them

 

[flightliner]

I was going to say the very same thing as Derek .
I remember the first time I saw them was on a local dam on the outskirts of Sheffield (Howbrook) in the early sixties being used as Derek described, they were ok if a bite was positive in a downward direction which would cause the "top hinged laying flat on the surface" end to lift off the waters surface but any strong ripple would cause it to do that anyway giving a "false bite". Obviously many users withdrew their baited hooks on occasions only to find the maggots shredded with no sign of a bite, better, more efficiant floats would have registered a lift bite. They didnt last long before being consigned to the scrapheap.

 

[tigger]

If you think about it those floats would give a excellent lift bite if shotted normally, as the float would just flopp over as the bait was lifted.

 

[robtherake]

If you think about it those floats would give a excellent lift bite if shotted normally, as the float would just flopp over as the bait was lifted.

I've read that somewhere else, Ian - the float was an interrupted porcupine quill, all blinged out.

 

[kevt]

My uncle always fished with his float flat on the surface, it was a little white plastic float that had two holes in the base that allowed you to slide the float to change depth very quickly. He only ever fished with one number 8 hot down the line and always caught the fish on the drop. He had some very impressive fish on this including the biggest carp I’d ever seen at 12lb. He even had a 6lb tench which was again a massive fish as this was the early 90’s. That little float was called a “ducker” float and it was a really effective way to fish as you would watch the float twitch and slide away for a bite. I think the bites are more obvious than the dips you get on a cocked float, I still use a small peacock quill flat for fishing shallow as it makes spotting real bites and I can’t ever remember foul hooking any fish as the real bites are so obvious

 

[tigger]

As far as i'm aware a ducker float was a bodied waggler often used for trotting.

 

[devon stalker]

if they are the ones im thinking of "they were hinged with 2 wire rings and made of straight porcupine quill" and were used as per Derek and triggers explanation mind im going back probably 45-50 years now i remember working part time in a tackle shop when i was 13 and they still had some in draws then 42 years ago

 

[Keith M]

As far as i'm aware a ducker float was a bodied waggler often used for trotting.

Yep me too, used on a river when you have a downstream wind. I still have a few in my float box. They certainly don't have collapsing stems unless you tread on one Lol.

I had a couple of really strange little floats that somebody gave me in the 1980s which were like small plastic boat keels with flat coloured tops that lay flat on the surface; when a bite occurred the small float was supposed to vibrate and then upturn.
I never ever used them of course but I kept them just the same. they might still be in the back of the shed somewhere, if so then I'll put a photo of them on here.
Does anyone on here remember these things? They certainly never caught on Lol.

Keith

 

[binka]

I've been keeping an eye out for ages now with a view to getting a picture of one of these old articulated floats and this is in someone's current Ebay listing...



Quite different to others I've seen in that the tip is an almost mini bobber type.

I'm still undecided in my thinking about them, occasionally I seem to talk myself into seeing some sort of merit but just as easily dismiss it again shortly afterwards.

 

[peter crabtree]

Steve, shed art is becoming very popular these days....

Read my signature at the bottom of this reply;

 

[binka]

 

[Tee-Cee]

I think I might just make one, although it will mean ruining a perfectly decent porky quill...........Perhaps not..

I just cannot see the point, but happy to be persuaded!

ps Love the shed!