The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

This is what Walker's Lily Pad 'Ole float really looked like. This just took me 10 minutes; it's unglued and unpainted. the stem is 10" and the quill is 2". Only just fitted the scanner.

RBTraditional wrote:Totally understand Tengisol, my mate Kev has Peter Stones tackle box with his float collection and often uses it when we fish, Petes old plumet gets used everytime we float fish on stillwaters, it always worrie sme that one day it'll end up getting snagged and lost............

Surely as a mate, you'd dive in to retrieve the plummet......

DaceAce wrote:This is what Walker's Lily Pad 'Ole float really looked like. This just took me 10 minutes; it's unglued and unpainted. the stem is 10" and the quill is 2". Only just fitted the scanner.

Walker floatIMG.jpg

I`m sure I`ve seen something similar in one of the Tenchfishers magazines, I`ll have to check.....

Tengisgol wrote:

RBTraditional wrote:
A copy of a float by Andrew Field? I thought he Never copied!

He's a mate but I still had to bribe him...

I wanted to try using the float but couldn't risk losing Bernard's original. Got some tench on it too!

Maybe he can make some more as they look like very practical floats to me..sliders for deep water and stability, small body for minimal shotting on 'the lift' and a nice long indicator so that main line can be pulled well down in water on windy days. A very good design- put me down for some please if they get replicated further...I really like them.

I think the float Bernard got was a reject. Anyone who makes floats to do a specific job gets far more that don't work than work as intended and the usual practice is to give away the rejects. A slider won't usually work properly without a decent shot load, certainly far more than 2BB.

DaceAce wrote:I think the float Bernard got was a reject. Anyone who makes floats to do a specific job gets far more that don't work than work as intended and the usual practice is to give away the rejects. A slider won't usually work properly without a decent shot load, certainly far more than 2BB.

As for a larger shot capacity, I would have thought so, with the tench fanning and sucking in and out causing disturbance, a lighter loading would cause indication problems?.......

For some applications, especially at close range, small sliders, 1 BB or so, can be deadly. It's my current preoccupation.
You do need smooth, new line, though.

I`ve never attempted sliders so small, as to require or need 1 or 2 BB Vole, so I`ll go with your findings, I must give it a go. What are you after?.....

Currently, roach, dace and chub in a shallow river. The two-ringed slider gives a faster, quieter strike. At least, at the full extent of its slide it does, even though that may just be a few inches; if a fish takes while all is being held-back, it's the same as any other float.
Match-men are adapting stick floats - google or search forums for either "puller" or "Sliding stick" floats; they are using them to get several "drops" per cast when fishing up-in-the-water.
Close in, you can lift the tackle up to the lower stop by lifting the rod top high; if you want to hold back without it sliding, you can often manage it by keeping the rod low - it's all a matter of juggling the size and load of the float against the flow and distance - and trying to work out whether it's worth it! Hand for easing a rig past shallows...
Then there's the ease with which a short, sliding rig can be cast into small spaces where a full-depth one would be more likely to foul... and probably more situations that I've yet to encounter.

P.S. It's very easy to try; just whip on a couple of small leger stops or a bit of stiff tubing - scoobi-doo stuff is ideal!

I've heard and know of the 'puller' method but nothing to do with what Walker was trying achieve on the Beane!