The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I always understood that this should be fished well over depth and the line tightened to sink the float until just a blob of orange can be seen.
To do this the shot has to be heavy enough to hold bottom whilst the float is wound down so it need to be well over shotted.
The fish shouldn't feel much weight as it lifts since the shot is supported by the rising float.

Hi snape yes that would be right ,I don't fish my lift rig like that . It's fished dead depth to the shot .
Personally I find for me it works better and is more sensitive that way. Showing lifts,Bob's,and sailaway bites. But yes your right winding down to set the float would require more weight if you want to do it that way.

Match Aerial wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:13 am Hi snape yes that would be right ,I don't fish my lift rig like that . It's fished dead depth to the shot .
Personally I find for me it works better and is more sensitive that way. Showing lifts,Bob's,and sailaway bites. But yes your right winding down to set the float would require more weight if you want to do it that way.

Yes, and my further understanding is that the 'winding down' method helps when the lake bed is undulating as even an inch difference in the depth each time you cast can throw out any fine adjustments you made earlier.

Especially when it's a little windy or there's a little undertow.

Luga00 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 3:10 pm

Match Aerial wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:13 am Hi snape yes that would be right ,I don't fish my lift rig like that . It's fished dead depth to the shot .
Personally I find for me it works better and is more sensitive that way. Showing lifts,Bob's,and sailaway bites. But yes your right winding down to set the float would require more weight if you want to do it that way.

Yes, and my further understanding is that the 'winding down' method helps when the lake bed is undulating as even an inch difference in the depth each time you cast can throw out any fine adjustments you made earlier.

Yes definitely It would, totally agree luga.

Santiago wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 3:24 pm Especially when it's a little windy or there's a little undertow.

Like I said from the start you need ideal conditions Santiago .
Agree any tow or drift and it won't work.

If there is a lot of tow or drift I simply don't fish the lift method, I use it when I think it will work in my favour.

Same with me Reeding if conditions are in favor I fish my preferred method, usually the lift method and as light a set up as I can get away with.
Too much tow and the pole comes out, if its far too much for that the open-ended feeder.
Anything more and I go for a pint lol.

I remember reading some years ago that as the float rises its buoyancy lifts the shot from the bottom so the fish feels no weight at all until the float is flat on the surface.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember who wrote it, but seem to remember that it was a well known and respected angler / writer.

OldAngler wrote: ↑Fri Apr 27, 2018 1:39 pm I remember reading some years ago that as the float rises its buoyancy lifts the shot from the bottom so the fish feels no weight at all until the float is flat on the surface.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember who wrote it, but seem to remember that it was a well known and respected angler / writer.

This seems plausible in theory but I doubt how much, or even if, it applies in practice. Certainly when the fish first picks up the bait it will feel the weight of the shot initially until the float rises enough to take up the slack of the line and when the float has either risen to the full amount held down by the shot or lies flat then the fish will feel the whole weight. I think this 'buoyancy argument' is by and large irrelevant to why the lift method is a successful one.