The Fishing Coach

Now the next instalment of Martin’s barbel float fishing adventures. The next item of tackle I want to talk about is the line, because most of my trotting for barbel is done with a float attached top and bottom to give maximum control over the presentation of the bait, therefore the line must float. This enables me to mend out any bow in the line between the rod tip and the float, caused by the current, which would otherwise pull the float out of line when I tried to slow down the speed. To remove the bow I lift the line off of the water and lay it back behind the float by means of the rod tip, this must be done smoothly or the float will be pulled off line and a line must be used that can be lifted easily.

A braided line made of Dyneema filaments fits the bill perfectly as it floats on, not in the surface film and has the added advantage of having very little stretch, so even a large forged hook can be set at long range with out a strike that is liable to part the hook length. I used to use Bionic Dynacord made by Shakespeare in 10.4 lbs breaking strain but they stopped selling it and now only sell 15 lbs, which works just as well.

How can you trot a float with fifteen pounds line I hear you ask. This line has the same diameter as five pounds mono and is lighter to lift than mono. Why use such a heavy a breaking strain? Any finer diameter Dyneema braid has a tendency to tangle easily and the abrasion resistance is not all that the manufacturers would have you believe. This line does not need to be treated with floatant as often as mono but does tend to cast a shadow more than monofilament. Whatever you see in some shooting diagrams, I believe, that however hard you hold back on a float, there is always a bow of line between float and bait that passes over the fish before you baited hook reaches it. This can scare a shy fish so I tie a five feet length of eight or ten pound fluorocarbon monofilament line on the end of my main line.

Fluorocarbon line is very different from ordinary nylon in that its refractive index is nearly the same as that of water, so light travels through it the same way it travels through water and it does not cast a shadow. It is,however, a little stiffer than some of the modern co polymer hook lengths on the market so I add a short copolymer hook length in a slightly lower breaking strain. I prefer Silstar Match Team in 6.6, 7.9 or 10.1 lbs.

Next month I’ll tell you about my choice of hooks and floats.

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Martin at The Tackle Exchange in Walton showed me a new rod from Shakespeare, the Excelsior XL Match a slim line, stepped up, match rod which at fourteen feet is lighter than anything I have seen under two hundred pounds.

This rod is rated at six pound maximum main line but the power reserve in the butt when it is bent suggests they are being conservative. It has a lovely though action compared with some carp waggler rods that are just designed to cast big floats a long way but have a tendency to bump fish of when using small hooks. The tip is crisp enough to pick up a long trotted line both on the strike and in order to mend out a bow. This is the closest thing I have ever seen to an all round float rod. I was very impressed and waited for the price tag thinking that Martin was trying to sell me this rod and had forgotten what I had told him about my client’s budget. (This man has cost me some money over the years but has never sold me anything I have not enjoyed using.) When he said ninety pounds I searched quickly for excuses to buy one for myself but could not justify buying another stepped up float rod.

I bought one for Rob and it is still in my tackle store waiting for his work commitments to allow him another day out with me.

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It may be news to some of you that I don’t only teach young people and beginners, rewarding though this is. I have found that there are lots of people who fished when they were young and then discovered girls or devoted more time to education, going on, perhaps to university and a career. They then started to raise a family and for one reason or another want to return to fishing, sometimes after a gap of twenty years. They walk into a tackle shop or pick an angling magazine and suddenly realised they don’t speak the language anymore, angling has changed so much over the last couple of decades.

It would be wrong of me to put these people onto one of my young persons beginners courses as they will have retained certain physical skills that these courses are designed to teach and those returning to angling will have different levels of knowledge too.

I have developed a special one day taster course for such anglers to assess what they know, what they can do and what they want to do, then we can discuss what sort of skills they wish to develop. I often use the Twynesh Fishing Complex near Thorpe Park for these sessions as there are a good head of all types of fish and most methods of angling will catch. I must admit I tend to try and encourage most of these student towards river fishing as this is my particular favourite but I try not to exert too much influence as the important thing is for my customers to want to come back, it is a business after all!

One such student is Rob Blake, who had great fun catching carp at Twynersh on a number of methods and then chose a day float fishing on the river Kennet. I am a member of the Wasing Estate syndicate which provides three and a half miles of the river in the most peaceful and beautiful surroundings imaginable. Rob was so enthralled by trotting a float in fast clear water that he asked me to find him a rod that would suit both river and lake float fishing for fish up to six or seven pounds. He is still a beginner, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying, and didn’t want to spend a fortune on a rod. I looked around various catalogues and mentioned his needs to some of the tackle dealers I know.

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