Pole floats - using rubbers instead of eyes

For a while now I have been asking Nick Gilbert to make my floats without eyes. This includes glass stem deck floats as well as dibbers but here I will talk about the deck float.



On the long deck floats I use 4 rubbers on the stem and 2 on the tip and if you can find the right diameter silicon then you can make the end rubbers tight and the middle rubbers a bit looser to make sliding the float up and down the line easier. I also ensure the bottom rubber is around 10mm plus so it over-hangs the stem a little to keep the line under the stem and not to the side and it also provides more grip. I use 2 rubbers on the tip in case 1 splits and also so that I can slide one up to the tip if I want to, perhaps for paste fishing when you want absolute direct control of the float.

The reason I only use rubbers is that you have less components to suffer wear and tear, especially in snag pits and it reduces the chances of tangles and hook-ups, especially in windy conditions. I have even used this set-up with back-shot when the two top rubbers are at the base of the tip and find that I prefer this to any rig where the float has eyes. Let's face it, we don't need eyes on stick floats do we?

No doubt there will be those that insist having eyes is better but for Carp and larger silvers on days when bites are plentiful, I find using rubbers is simple, reliable and saves time.

GOT Baits ISK League round 2 – Monks lake 1

Sometimes there is little you can do to frame and even to win your section but in a league that is all about points then you can at least try to do something about getting the most out of your section and out of your peg. Today was a hard, cold day on a fickle venue that usually fishes well through the warmer months but can be harshly affected by conditions. Raised high and with no protection from the elements, the match lakes at Monks can suffer with howling winds and bitter cold even though down in the car park things seem quite calm.

So today I pulled up into the car park and met a few of the lads by the café. Within minutes I was regretting the fact that I had only worn a pair of shorts and a fleece and before long I was rummaging around in the car for a pair of waterproof trousers I thought I had lurking around. Thankfully they were there as my legs were beginning to turn a worrying blue colour and we all know that I don’t do BLUE! Having discussed the weather prospects, I visited the on-site shop and bought 4 pints of maggots as the only bait I had brought with me were hard sinking pellets and a few worms.

At the draw I pulled out peg 13, an end peg but up the wrong end, on the wrong side of the lake! For company to my right was Johnny Watt who also insists on buying red gear so our corner of the lake looked like a poppy filed with red luggage and clothing all over the bank. To his right was Rusty and being a good shallow angler I expected him to try and catch up in the water which might help me out to determine whether it was going to work. In other words, if I see him catching shallow then I know that I need to give it a go.

Today was going to be tough to call. Would it warm up a bit? Will they feed shallow? Should I focus on points and small baits? Where in my end peg should I fish? Will the wind become stronger and ruin any long pole line? How much tow will there be? I needed to do some serious thinking! I set the pole up and shipped out with a deck rig and plumbed up. At a comfortable 8.5m I had a very shallow 3’ so on went another section where I found 3’ 6” and decided to fish here for 2 reasons. Firstly, if the wind became any stronger and I fished further out then I would risk not being able to fish the swim I had fed. Secondly, if the fish come shallow then I would want to fish fast and easy and 10m is about the limit for feeding with one hand and slapping the rig with the other, especially if it is windy. So my decision was made to fish an easy length where I could fish up or down comfortably in the strong wind blowing from the right.

Towards the corner of the lake to my left, I also had an inviting line of reeds with a depth of around 3’ along the edge. My previous experience on hard days at Monks has taught me that feeding down the edge can rescue your position, especially later in the day when everything seems to have died out in front. I have had success feeding both caster and small pellets but using half a Dendra on the hook. A constant feeding pattern of a good handful every 5 or 10 minutes seems to attract and hold some decent fish. Given that this feed rate works out a bit expensive with casters and a waste of money if you don’t use them, I now opt for pellets unless it is winter and I know the fishing will be hard. Pellets need to be small but micros are too small for windy days so I opted for 2mm although 3mm would have been better in the wind. I also took some hemp for the same line as there are plenty of Barbel in the venue and I doubt either the Barbel or Carp would mind it going in as well as the pellets.

So, I now had 3 options in 2 swims. The margin, the 10m line with maggot on the deck and the 10m shallow if possible. I also brought with me a pair of pellet waggler rods and a bomb rod. I took out one of the waggler rods to fish either of 2 lines. Firstly out in front thinking that if it was a nice day then some of the bigger Carp could be hanging out in the middle and secondly I had the left hand bank which isn’t pegged and although shallow and featureless, there could be Carp there having been ‘walked up’ the bank.

Top kits were set up with doubled 8 slip for the shallow rig, doubled 6 Slip for the margin (I am currently trying this ‘doubled slip’ fashion thing) and then standard 12 latex for the maggot rig.

All floats today are made by Nick Gilbert, a dibber, a 0.6g Diamond for out in front and a 0.4g short Diamond for down the edge. The tow will be harsh and these fibreglass stemmed floats will be very stable. Although the shallow rig and margin rig were tied to 0.20 Fox Micro, I did step down to 0.14 on the maggot rig (for anything that swims) and a B911 hook.

Nick blew the whistle at 10.30 and I threw 2 handfulls of hemp and 2 of pellets down by the reeds and shipped my maggot rig out with a toss pot full of maggots. I didn’t want to use the catty at first as the wind would blow the maggots all over the place and although I usually feed a lot heavier than 1 toss pot every few minutes, I decided that it would be best to keep things tight in the wind.

After a few lifts and drags the float dipped and a nice carp was in the net. Another pot full and another few minutes later Carp number 2 was on it’s way in. Things were looking steady and after half an hour I had 5 fish for about 6 pounds which although is not good going for this place, it was steady and promising.

The steady sport continued up to the end of the first hour until I detected that the swim could do with a rest. Having fed the margin regularly, I decided to take a look so re-fed the maggot swim and ship half a worm down the edge followed by a handful of hemp and pellets. After a wait of 3 or 4 minutes the float slid under and a nice 2lb Carp came in. I re-fed the maggot line and shipped another half worm down the edge but the tip remained above the water with no further indications. I therefore decided that the margin swim needed longer to settle and went back out onto the maggot line where there were a few blades and the odd Carp and Ide waiting for me.

Hour 2 went by with smaller fish going into the net and bites slowing down. I estimated 15 proper fish and some bits for around 15lb. Another look down the edge brought me a small Tench and one more Carp but I had to swap between lines to string a few bites together. As time wore on, the sun came out and although the wind was still strong I noticed Rusty catching quite well on a shallow rig so it was time to give it a go. For 20 minutes I pinged pellets out to 10m and slapped and tapped all I could but to no avail. I just couldn’t buy a bite and was now worried that I may have over-fed the maggot swim with pellets. A look on the maggot rig provided little other than a few bumped blades and an odd Ide. Things were now looking grim!

I re-fed the maggot line to get them back onto the smaller bait and started feeding more heavily down the edge thinking that I might need to make the swim work better for me during the last hour or so. A quick look earned me another Carp around 3lb which was VERY welcome but still I could only draw one fish at a time from the swim.

Around the 4 hour mark I decided to take a chance and chuck the pellet waggler out just in case there were some nice fish sitting out in the middle. The sun was quite warm now but the wind was still cutting but I thought it was worth a look. 20 minutes of pinging and re-casting brought me nothing but 1 jerk on the tip which was probably the hook pulling from a foul-hooked fish.

With about 45 minutes left of the match I needed to decide what I was going to do with the time. I looked up the bank to assess what I thought my section had caught. Johnny next door was having a rough time and I was sure I was beating him. Rusty next to him was way ahead but the next 2 pegs along seemed not to have caught a great deal. I made the call and opted to ensure that I got every ounce of fish in the net that I could and try hard to take a section 2nd. I wanted to feed heavy with maggots but still be accurate so I brought the 10m maggot rig in to 5m and started feeding by hand. It was the time of day that fish expect the margins to get fed with unwanted bait and so maybe I could kick-start a new line.

Within minutes I was picking up blades and the odd Ide and I was hammering the bait in. Half a handful every 30 seconds or so and this was bring me bites but mainly from small fish. I kept this going until within 10 minutes I decided to look down the edge for one more decent carp. After a couple of minutes I missed a bite but sat there until the last minute hoping for a last bite…………..and it came. The whistle went and I called ‘fish on’ and gently played a 2lb Carp to the net. I guessed at 30lb overall but it is difficult to be accurate with so many small fish in the net.

There was plenty of groaning around the lake and a few guys approached me to report their stories of woe. I was expecting Nick to have winkled out a few but he walked along the bank with his head held low. The flyers would probably have done ok but it seemed that most other pegs had struggled. Me? I was just clutching on to the possibility of 4 points and luckily I got them having come 2nd in section.

A hard day’s work it was and I am not too disappointed that I have to miss the next fixture which is on notorious lake 2 at Monks. Seeing as we are able to drop our worse result though, I might just have chosen the right match to miss as the final 3 are all at Hartleylands where things are far more interesting and the weather probably a lot better.

So I will leave the league now for a few weeks being join 1st on 9 points but when I return I shall be half way down the table at least with a lot of climbing to do. See you then!

1 Collin Wood 60-12 Peg 23
2 Nick Allen 59-7 Peg 36
3 Dennis Price 57-14 Peg 22
4 Rusty 57-00 peg 16
5 Russ Evans 53-10 peg 24
6 Squeaky (guest) 51-0 peg 31

League Placing

1 Ian Carley, 5-4, 124-8 9
2 Matt Love, 5-4, 107-1 9
3 Nick Gilbert, 5-3, 133-13 8
4 Collin Wood, 3-5, 110-9 8
5 Dennis Price, 4-4, 105-1 8
6 Nick Allen, 3-5, 103-1 8
7 Jonny Watt, 5-3, 95-5 8
8 Mark Hathway 4-4, 69-15 8
9 Russ Evans, 4-3, 104-3 7
10 Jeff Driscoll, 4-3, 82-14 7
11 Russell Graves, 0-5, 57-0 5
12 Paul Kell, 0-5, 44-4 5
13 Pete Allen 2-2 63-11 4
14 John Haige 2-2 33-1 4
15 Chris Jones 3-1 27-6 4
16 Brian Pink 2-2 19-15 4
17 Trevor Little 2-1 81-6 3
18 Paul Slater 3-0 39-7 3
19 Al Loader 0- 11-10 2

GOT Baits ISK League round 1 - Hartleylands

.…………..and so my 2009 season begins, with the first match of the GOT Baits ISK League held at Hartleylands on Peartree and Bramley lakes. With new stories to be told, new lessons to be learnt and hopefully more pools money in the bank than last year, I was looking forward to some fine weather and fine fishing. Arriving early, I found a few anglers already there and soon the car park was full of handshakes, banter and £1 side bets. The draw was made and I had 8 on Peartree which although was not in the gap between the islands where I would have wanted, it was a half decent peg with a 4AAA chuck to the island.





Once at my peg I started getting the gear out rigged with various weapons of mass destruction:

2 Milo 11’ Light Waggler rods both with 3lb line on TD-R2058 reels and rigged with 4AAA Nick Gilbert balsa wagglers and hair rigged pellet band to a 14 Drennan Carp Match on 0.16 Fox Micro.

A Milo New Era 11’ bomb rod with a ½ oz flat bomb to 6lb line on a TD-R3012 reel and a 3’ tail with a hair rigged pellet band onto a size 10 Drennan Carp Match on 0.18 Fox Micro.

A top kit with one of the dibbers I designed and made by Nick Gilbert on 0.20 Fox Micro and with a hair rigged pellet band to a 14 Drennan Carp match on 0.16 Fox Micro.

A top kit with a KC Carpa Cocker on 0.20 Fox Micro set at 3’ to fish paste down the margin, with a size 10 Drennan Carp Match on 0.18 Fox Micro.

Both kits had doubled Slip in them as I wanted to try the system out and I had doubled 6 in the dibber kit and doubled 8 in the paste kit.

I also brought a method rod with me but it stayed in the rod bag as I doubted I would need it. I did however bring with me a new piece of kit that I thought would make feeding easier and help keep my catapult safe. It was a Preston bowl that sits in a frame off a box leg and the bowl is deep and can be angled to sit closer to my leg and hand.



I thought this would make life a bit easier and also save the odd catty from taking a swim. I also bought 2 new Drennan catapults to try out. I’m not sure what they are called but they have a black conventional frame, strong black elastic and a stiff mesh pouch. They looked like they would survive easier and tangle less.

Given the good weather we have been having and the fact that the air was humid although not exactly warm, I was convinced that a shallow approach would do well and so my plan would be to feed 3 lines. Firstly the waggler up to the island which always produces from the first chuck, then a shallow line at 8.5m and finally a paste swim down the right hand margin among a clump of reeds.

Bait for the day would be a bag of paste mixed with Pineapple Atomic Cloud along with 15 pints of 6mm hard sinking pellets and a few red maggots. I like the bright fluorescent colour that the yellow Atomic Cloud gives and if there were any lumps down the edge I felt that they would easily find the paste!

So I was ready for the whistle and had a few new things to try out, the Preston bowl, the doubled Slip and the Drennan catapults.



At the sound of the whistle I fed 3 pouches of 6mm pellets up to the island, a small handful on the pole line and 4 hand fulls down the margin at 4m. Another pouch went out to the island followed by my waggler and as I reached for more pellets the tip went round and Carp no.1 was in the net. A good first half hour followed with another 7 fish in the net and on target for the 15 per hour average I had set myself to win the section and maybe even frame.

The second half hour went much the same as the first with another 8 fish in the net and I was constantly feeding the shallow pole line so my work rate was high and I was pleased that the sun was not too warm. My back was aching a bit though as the Preston bowl was slipping down the leg of my box and I was bending down to reach the pellets. Although I had the correct attachment inside the clamp, the clamp just wouldn’t tighten enough to grip the leg so a bit of a re-think will be needed here!

During the 2nd hour things became a little erratic, picking up a fish close to the island then needing to drop away, going deeper, shallowing up, holding off the feed, feeding heavier and so on. It seemed that there weren’t the volume of fish there that I had hoped but I was still catching and wanted to carry on feeding the pole line a bit longer before going over it. By the end of hour 2 I had only 26 fish in the net and was falling behind my target so I decided to rest the waggler swim and go over the 8.5m line. First put in and the float went under and the doubled 6 came peeling out of the top kit. Within seconds I realised I had hooked a big fish but it took the Carp a bit longer to realise this, the Slip was soft and began to act a bit like hollow where it just keeps going and you cannot control the fish. Off it charged and the Slip just kept going. I know my top kits are long but I thought there would be more power in the system than this! 15 minutes later and an 8lb Common was netted, hooked perfectly in the lip. I re-fed both swims and immediately swapped the rig over to my trusty 14 solid! Note to self: try using less Slip and make up the distance with something like Dacron that doesn’t stretch!

Back out on the 8.5m line and not a sniff, I think the Common had probably swam through the swim several times holding a sign saying “get the hell out of here”!

More pellets went out to the island then and out went the waggler and another 2 fish were in the net within as many minutes. This didn’t continue though as once again I had to mess around with accuracy, depth and feeding pattern to string some bites together. By the end of hour 3 I had 35 fish and decided that it was time to have a look down the edge while I rested the waggler line yet again. Out went the paste and I sat quietly expecting a nice big lump to come along for some dinner……………but no, not a sniff!

Back out on the waggler then and a few more fish came to the net but it was still slower than I was use to. It is only mid-April though and I had noticed that the general size of fish was bigger than last year so maybe I wasn’t doing too bad. I couldn’t see anyone else on the lake catching much although Nick Gilbert was lurking somewhere down the bank behind a bush and was probably winkling out a few fish.

With the fish seeming to be a bit cleverer than last year or just not in the mood for a proper nosh up, I ended hour 4 on about 42 fish and still couldn’t get a sniff down the edge or at 8.5m so it was all about the waggler line now. I picked up the bomb rod and it suddenly dawned on me that I forgot to mix up any stiff paste to fish the conker so all I could do was fish a banded pellet. The tip flew round but again I could only pick up odd fish here and there. This was very frustrating as I felt that the conker could have saved the day and I was extremely angry with myself! So my last hour consisted of picking up fish on the waggler or bomb and I ended with 48 in the net for what I felt would be 70lb-80lb.

The scales came round and Nick had whooped me putting 103lb on the board. I registered 79lb and won my section. The other lake fished even worse and left me with a 2nd overall but with a very welcome 5 points in the bag. Seeing as I have to miss 1 round, the points are extremely valuable.

Today was quite interesting for me as I managed to learn a few more things about this place, the fish and also the new tackle I was trying out. I still have a bit of work to do before I am really happy with the way I fish this place but maybe next time I will be better prepared and the winter cobwebs would have been swept away.

Results:

1 Nick Gilbert 103-13
2 Matt Love 79-9
3 Ian Carley 78-14
4 Jonny Watt 73-14
5 Jeff Driscoll 63-6
6 Russ Evans 50-9

League Placing

1 Nick Gilbert 5 103-13
2 Matt Love 5 79-9
3 Ian Carley 5 78-14
4 Jonny Watt 5 73-14
5 Jeff Driscoll 4 63-6
6 Russ Evans 4 50-9
7 Dennis Price 4 47-3
8 Mark Hathway 4 44-8
9 Collin Wood 3 49-13
10 Nick Allen 3 43-10
11 Paul Slater 3 39-7
12 Chris Jones 3 16-14
13 Trevor Little 2 48-8
4 Pete Allen 2 23-3
15 John Haige 2 19-5
16 Brian Pink 2 9-11
17 Rusty (on Holiday) 0
18 Alan Loader (forgot about the match!) 0