Alloy stem shallow water stick float
These little shallow water stick floats are brilliant in fast shallow water. Their fat little bodies hold the float visible on the surface even in quite boily water. The wire stem helps cock the float quickly and keep it stable.
Recently, I spent a couple of hours to fish the upper Adur. I fished from noon to about half two catching a handful of Chub. Nothing more than half a pound, but they were in mint condition and full of life.
I fed the swim with mashed bread, fishing flake on a 14 hook. I like to use stale bread for the mash. To prepare it, I put a few slices in my landing net and sink the net, bread and all, under the water while I tackle up. By the time I’m ready to fish, the bread is soft enough to mash up in a small bucket. Whisking vigorous with my knife helps break the bread up.
I used a Shallow Stick float of 7 x No4 capacity. I did try a 5 x No4, but it was too light for the flow, I just could not control the lighter float.
On that occasion I used a strung out shotting pattern to allow me to hold the rig back, causing it to rise up in the water and over a shallow area to reach the fish further downstream. If the river had been the same depth throughout the swim, I would have chosen a bulk shotting pattern and allowed the bait to trip along the bottom. Either strung out or bulk shotting works well with these little floats.
I have yet to try shallow water stick float on a windy day, but I imagine like all stick floats it will be of little use in a downstream wind. Line control and presentation can be seriously effected when a downstream wind speeds up the surface layer of the river. But when used in the correct conditions, these shallow water sticks are a pleasure to fish with.
I used one of these on the Adur as reported in my post a handful of Chub. On that occasion I used a strung out shotting pattern to allow me to hold the rig back causing the rig to rise up in the water and over a shallow area to reach the fish further downstream. If the river had been the same depth throughout the swim, I would have used a bulk shotting pattern and allowed the bait to trip along the bottom, either strung out or bulk shotting works well with these little floats.
I have yet to try shallow water stick float on a windy day, but I imagine like all stick floats it will be of little use in a downstream wind. Line control and presentation can be seriously effected when a downstream wind speeds up the surface layer of the river. But when used in the correct conditions, these shallow water sticks are a pleasure to use.
Related
Small river float fishing for chub
Centrepin reels and how to use them
Bread mash for chub and roach fishing
