Stick floats history

[Backhand]

Yes it makes sense Backhand, Conditions can change a few extra inches off water can make a massive different to the peg. A flyer which only fishes well with no water in can sometime be useless with a couple of foot extra in. I only fish club matches and after a few years you get to know things inside out. But I can imagine fishing big opens would be very different with little knowledge of the river.

MA

One of my favourite things to do match wise. Was to go and fish someone else's water that I had never seen before. When I get chance to do it, my first post about making floats for a specific reason will be about just that.
It's good to know your home waters inside out though. Another matchmans adage is just that, find a water that you like and become an expert on it. The reason I prefered Canals was the methods you fished didn't vary much between the sections. The same methods tended to work over 50 miles of canal. With river fishing as you know, it can change more than once on one stretch. You end up taking to much bait, just in case you draw certain areas. But I used to love pleasure fishing on Rivers when you can chose your peg.

I must admit I am not very adventurous I tend to stick to the same angling clubs I have fished for the last 40yrs. But like you say you do get to know it like the back of your hand after the first 39yrs of it

I just wanted to like that, I was laughing as well.
I could be accused of that to a certain extent, because fishing the canal for 25 years and probably most years fishing the same venues. But as I said, I also loved going to other venues I didn't know, mostly in the winter, was great fun.
So are you the guru of your local waters.

[Backhand]

Why do we all go fishing in the first place. It's because of the unknown. Not knowing what you are going to catch next. Whether it's river or canals, it's the anticipation of not knowing what the next bite will bring. This is a whole new topic and I shouldn't be even mentioning it on a thread about stick floats and I won't discuss it, But that's why I don't understand commercial fishery type fishing. On the majority of waters especially in the summer, you know the next time the float goes under there is a 95% chance it is going to be a carp. I don't get it and I never will. Not going to say anymore on that on a thread about stick floats.

[Match Aerial]

I agree about a shouldered float,my favorite is a john allerton stick but you have to make them yourself these days' as unfortunally there not sold commercially anymore. I am a big believer in having the right float for the job.But as others have said you can do very good work just with a simple Avon float on running water,its a good all-rounder.

[DaceAce]

I still like my Allerton and plastic-stemmed John Dean sticks which always ride the water very well and easily outcast wire/alloy stemmed floats. As for Avons I really believe that crowquill Avons are far better than the easier to make cane-stemmed ones.

[Match Aerial]

Hi daceace question about the dean plastic stems have you by any chance managed to find anything similar to the plastic used for the stems on these floats.
The nearest I can find is plastic disgorgers not quite the right taper but to me looks a similar material. The other similar looking one is those cheap plastic kids paint brushes.

[DaceAce]

I have a feeling that the originals that John Dean made were using cheap kids' paintbrushes. I have occasionally made some using glass or carbon fibre but getting the balance right isn't easy!

[Backhand]

I still like my Allerton and plastic-stemmed John Dean sticks which always ride the water very well and easily outcast wire/alloy stemmed floats. As for Avons I really believe that crowquill Avons are far better than the easier to make cane-stemmed ones.

Now there is a name from the past. John Dean.Although I didn't fish the same circuit as him, everyone remembers when he was the top man on the Trent. Feeder fishing killed his advantage. I would have loved to have seen him fish a Stick float on the Trent. Word is that he was a very quite man and wasn't happy when people would turn up just to watch him. Probably the best stick float angler ever, would have been good to pick his brain. There is a big difference between just running a stick float through your swim and doing what he did. I heard he used to feed 3 different lines at once, so when the fished either moved away or came closer he already had been feeding that line, so when he changed lines they were there ready to be caught. He learnt his skill in club matches before moving on to opens. I believe although someone on here might know better, that when he got fed up, either by the watchers or the feeder anglers, he just went back to club fishing in obscurity.

My friend Ivan has always sworn by Crowquill Avons. He has showed me many he has made over the years. The river he fished the most in recent times is quite narrow and only between 3-5 feet deep, with the majority of the swims being 3 foot. He made lovely small Crowquill Avons to do the job, some of them only taking 2BB or less, worked a treat for fishing slacks or running through and holding back. A very underrated float indeed.

[DaceAce]

Most of the Avons I use take between 6 and 10BB, with the smaller ones used on 4-6ft of water and the larger ones in up to 12ft, with the 'Topper' specials for distance fishing. I once spent an enjoyable 2 hours picking Topper's brain on the designs and method; certainly not a float for holding back! A mate of mine is currently interviewing John Dean on his methods from back in the day. I think he changed to trout fishing after match fishing but also didn't have the time to practise once he was jointly running a tackle shop.

[Santiago]

I've an inkling that crow quill avons are perhaps mainly underrated by those that prefer to use stick floats for trotting. I would choose a crow quill avon any day for most of my trotting and never bother with stick floats these day, although I did make one recently and intend to use it this summer.

In a recent ebay purchase I bought a collection of floats which include the smallest crow quill avons I've ever seen, with cork bodies; I must try to make some like them. I suspect they'll take about 2bb.

[Match Aerial]

Most of the Avons I use take between 6 and 10BB, with the smaller ones used on 4-6ft of water and the larger ones in up to 12ft, with the 'Topper' specials for distance fishing. I once spent an enjoyable 2 hours picking Topper's brain on the designs and method; certainly not a float for holding back! A mate of mine is currently interviewing John Dean on his methods from back in the day. I think he changed to trout fishing after match fishing but also didn't have the time to practise once he was jointly running a tackle shop.

That would be interesting keep us posted on that DaceAce please