Float Fishing

[sparkey+1]

Hi Lads

Am going to have a go @ a bit of float fishing and as its years since I did it was looking for a bit of advice, what type of rigs what size weight, hooks,float do I need to change over to light mono and not use a leader and if any one has a good mark that is producing as I want my young lad to experience the trill of sea fishing. Any Pms welcome

Kindest Regards

Dave

[gerryl]

m8...think have posted this before...but here ye go

http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Sea-Angler/S ... g-fishing/

[yngkmd]

ive read this before and although the man seems to know what hes talking about i would say forget about using 2 or 3 ounce floats.

he talks about needing to get the bait down and keep it there but im my expierience float fishing on a rough day is never that successful, probably because the bait and float are tossed around so much but on a calm or only slightly rough day its much more productive, and because its calm you dont need a big weight. i would never use a float that takes more than a half or 3/4 of an ounce and about 5 or 6 inches long. main reason being is that (lets face it) most fish around are smaller (less than 1lb) with only the odd big one thrown in. so for fish of this size there is no need for big floats. ive seen guys out with floats 12 inches long and 2 inches wide weighted so a good 6 inches are poking out of the water and chucking it out as far as they can and not get anything,i suspect its because they cant even tell they are getting bites, if any.
i think its important to weight it so that the smallest amount of float is above the surface as you can get away with. for me its usally an inch or less, this give the least resistence for fish when they take the bait and are more likely to hold on to it longer

also when i float fish i prefer to do it from rocks or piers when there is deep water right at my feet, this way you can fish right up and down the rock wall. you should use a sliding float stop for this so you can change depth to find the fish, or as the tide comes in or out. im not a fan of the way the guy on the link above just ties a knot in his line. its not flexible enough for my liking.

i would never cast out far with a float, maybe 20 yards max but usually just drop it straight down less that 5 yards out. this combinded with never using more that a 12lb mainline and 8lb leader means that you dont need anymore than half to an ounce in weight. its also important to have your leader a weaker line than your mainline as obviously if you do get snagged, which can happen often if you are trying to get as close to the weed as possible, all you want to lose is your hook.

be realistic about the size of the fish and bring a selection of hooks to match, normally i start on a size 6 or 4 and if the fish are bigger or swallowing the hook go up in size or if i keep missing bites ill go down a size. its all very well throwing out big hooks and baits but if all thats there are wee wrasse you find it hard to hook up.

look for structures that will hold fish. piers and jettys are a good start, weed beds in an other wise weedles area, big submerged rocks, basically anything a fish can use for shelter will be a good place to try. floats fishing is perfectly designed for these sort of snaggy features as you can position your bait just beside or over them with out getting caught up too often.

another reason i dont cast out any great distance is that if there is a current running it will drag you float away very quickly, whilst doing so it usualy creates a big bow in your line in the water and can be difficult to stay in contact with the float which makes bites harder to hit.
saying that, a method ive found to be productive is to set the float a few feet over depth, wang it out and retrieve it slowly, doing it right and you should retrieve the bait in just over the tops of the weeds, have got plenty of pollock and colefish this way on rag or mack, never tried sandeel but i reckon that would be a good bait for this as well.

for a leader i would have 1 to 2 foot in length with a couple of beads. if you are casting out a bit i find what causes the tangles mostly is when it hits the water. in the air the mainline and leader will be beside each other so at splash down they can tangle. i find that if you feather the line with your hand just before it hits it slows down the float slightly and causes the leader to keep going so its almost out straight and tangles a lot lot less.

hope this helps, im a big fan of float fishing and its one of my most favoutite and most productive methods. if i can be of anymore assistance please dont hesitate to ask.

if you are taking the wee lad out and he has never fished before find anywhere with deep water 15ft+ and weeds, almost certainly be fish there. that way if you are just dropping it down, he can fish without having to learn how to cast that well, also dont forget about the weaker leader as ive know kids to actually cry when they lose a float. (im assume your kid is young enough for this to be a possibility.

[yngkmd]

these are floats i use

i find them the perfect size.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/PowerStorm-slider-Se ... 43a76bd4e5

[rockyb23]

Quality post above^^^

[sparkey+1]

Thats great info thanks very much for the help