New Member

[Mark Carolan]

Hi Mark Carolan here from the east of Ireland. My favourite style of fishing is float fishing wether it be waggler, stick, Bolo, slider or whip. I fish these on canal, lake and my favourite river.
I’ve just acquired some 14” and 15” straight unloaded peacock wagglers made by James reed and I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on shotting patterns for these floats. I’ll be fishing into 12ft to 13ft of moving water probably with a downstream wind and the target species will be roach.
I’ll include a picture of one of my best bags of roach this year. 20 ¾ Lb

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Hello Mark and Welcome to FishingMagic

 

[103841]

Welcome Mark, look forward to your contributions.?

 

[mikench]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't sensibly comment on shotting patterns as I'm hopeless at it. I generally use loaded floats and if I was fishing depths like those on a Stillwater I would either use an olivette and a slider or float ledger with a Polaris or Locside float. I hope you have a long rod. I'm sure someone far more familiar with your quandary will be along soon.

 

[Mark Carolan]

Hello Mark and Welcome to FishingMagic

Thank you Peter

 

[Mark Carolan]

Welcome Mark, look forward to your contributions.?

Thanks s63

 

[Mark Carolan]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't sensibly comment on shotting patterns as I'm hopeless at it. I generally use loaded floats and if I was fishing depths like those on a Stillwater I would either use an olivette and a slider or float ledger with a Polaris or Locside float. I hope you have a long rod. I'm sure someone far more familiar with your quandary will be along soon.

Hi Mikench. Long rods love them. At the moment I use a Drennan 17ft Acolyte Float Rod for all my deep river Bolo fishing and I’m just waiting for a reply from Cadence about a 16ft CR10 #1 that I’m planning on using for the long straight waggler fishing.

 

[wetthrough]

Hi Mark and welcome to Fishing Magic

 

[Mark Carolan]

Hi Mark and welcome to Fishing Magic

Thanks Wetthrough

 

[markcw]

Hi and welcome to FM,
The long rod I use is a 15' - 17' Shimano Aspire spliced tip .

 

[Mark Carolan]

Hi and welcome to FM,
The long rod I use is a 15' - 17' Shimano Aspire spliced tip .

Thanks for the welcome markcw. Which floats do you use with the Shimano Aspire, waggler, stick, Bolo?

 

[Keith M]

Hi Mark welcome to the fold

I’m not really a sliding float fan, so I have several long float rods to cope with deeper swims (non are Bolo rods) including a 17/20ft float rod, a 15ft float rod, and a 14ft float rod down through 13ft and 12ft down to my shortest float rod which is 11ft.

I’m assuming that your river is fairly slow and steady moving which is why you prefer using a waggler to a stick/Avon type float; however you do mention ‘a downstream wind’ so that could also be why you prefer to use a waggler.
I often use a waggler on slower moving rivers myself especially when they are fairly wide.

If I were not fishing in the upper layers I personally would shot my float in a deepish swim like yours for Roach using my secondary bulk shot at just over half depth with single No.6’s down to no.8 shots spread out every foot or so below that, and with the main bulk tight up to the float to provide the main casting weight. That should register bites from just under the surface right down to the bottom if your hook length lands in a straight line away from the rod.

However I might move my shot nearer to the hook to get my hookbait down near the bottom a little faster if the Roach were mainly feeding along the bottom.

Tight lines
Keith

 

[Mark Carolan]

Hi Mark welcome to the fold

I’m not really a sliding float fan, so I have several long float rods to cope with deeper swims (non are Bolo rods) including a 17/20ft float rod, a 15ft float rod, and a 14ft float rod down through 13ft and 12ft down to my shortest float rod which is 11ft.

If I were not fishing in the upper layers I personally would shot my float in a deepish swim like yours for Roach using my secondary bulk shot at just over half depth with single No.6 and no.8 shots spread out every foot or so below that, and with the main bulk tight up to the float to provide the main casting weight. That should register bites from just under the surface right down to the bottom if your hook length lands in a straight line outwards.

However I might move my shot nearer to the hook to get my hookbait down near the bottom a little faster if the Roach were manly feeding on the bottom.

Tight lines
Keith

Cheers Keith thanks for the welcome.
That setup you outlined will be a great starting point for me. Thanks again for taking the time to write your reply.

 

[markcw]

W

Thanks for the welcome markcw. Which floats do you use with the Shimano Aspire, waggler, stick, Bolo?

Waggler, I use it on the Thames at Sandford Oxfordshire, slow moving there, also the stretch is ideal for both pole and feeder.
I also have a 13' Aspire which i use on there as well, again with a waggler,