Hinged floats?

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Mike Jordan
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by Mike Jordan »

Thanks for the info gentlemen. After trying it out this morning I can honestly say that I think it's best on my shelf as a curious ornament...I haven't had so many tangles and knots in my life!

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Martin James
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by Martin James »

Apart from the floats mentiond there was also a hinged float with a flat balsa top, we used them in the late 1950's when fishing for gudgeon, it was very sensative, and we thought it was great fun to see the balso top stand upright when we had a bite rather than sink as is normal, I stil use a hinged float.

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AllRounder
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by AllRounder »

Picked this one up recently from a car boot for a £1.50. I knew I'd seen it in an Allcocks anglers guide from 1968.
Listed as a Pendant Combination Float
I thought it might be fun for Zander fishing on the canal - as yet untried!Image

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Nobby
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by Nobby »

The late Sixties might well be seen as the time of ' The Float Madness '. Self-Sets, Profundis', Streamsearches and all manner of floats that mostly were more trouble than they are worth.


Perhaps the height of this madness came in 1967 when respected Nottingham dealer Tom Watson, offered camouflaged fluted Avons. Why?

No doubt more anglers were hooked than fish, but I do enjoy these curios.



.

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Vole
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by Vole »

I had one of those shown in the O.P., almost certainly a gift from an aunt or uncle who knew even less about angling than I did.
It quickly made me quite cynical about the offerings of the tackle trade, it seemed to be a solution in search of its problem. It certainly didn't solve any of mine, and I mentally filed it as "pretty but useless" along with Self-sets and perch bobs. And "Thames" floats which are actually pretty versatile once someone's explained how to get the most out of them - which the "Trade" were absolutely useless at doing.
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.

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DaceAce
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by DaceAce »

A mate had a Thames float - big cork body on beechwood stem - but our limited supply of lead shot - remember the sliding lid tin boxes? - meant that shotting one up was a nightmare. We stuck to our small porcupine quills and later simple balsa floats, all of which took three to five shot. By any standards the hinged floats are anything but sensitive. If you want sensitive I'll take a picture of some old French Cureau floats from the early 70s.

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Santiago
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Re: Hinged floats?

Post by Santiago »

I heard they're meant to be carp stalking floats which are supposed to be used near fully submerged so the top bit is just a few mm above the surface, and the line from hook to float is held tight with a link lead. False bites register by small dips due to line bites from feeding carp, and true bites are when the top half pops up and falls flat on the water. So when used in this way they're quite sensitive as long as the below lead is nearly balanced with the upthrust from the floats buoyancy. It's a common misconception that they work the other way around ; and this wasn't helped when an incorrect drawing was used in the advertisement!
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

Hemingway

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