The ideal lift float

[OldRod]

Duckett, aka Phil, mentioned "the ideal lift float" in a recent post.
I would be very interested to hear TFFers thoughts on this topic.
(I know some don't rate the life method, but I also know that some do)
OR

[RBTraditional]

Well probably not strictly the “lift method” but when it comes to laying on particularly for tench on the Romney marsh drains I find a small crow quill float which takes little weight to cock is the perfect foil for shy bitting tincas….

[Tony.J.Newman]

I remember years ago trimming and trimming a goose quill down to just balance a shot to get the perfect lift effect. Bait was breadflake. Down and away goes the float and in comes a one pound Roach. No hint of a lift!

[Olly]

I believe it was a short length of straight quill - attached bottom only - which laid flat on the surface for a bite.

I now also use the Drennan float - Driftbeater. 4 sizes.

[Grumpy]

I adore fishing the lift for Tench.I choose my float according to the conditions on the day,anything from a small quill to a bodied waggler.I always shot my float so that it only just sinks.Fish slightly overdepth and slowly tighten up to get the reqd amount of float showing.This gives a very balanced and sensitive set up.This works well for Tench,Roach and Bream,these often give a huge lift.

[JAA]

I tend to use either a small porcy quill with a 3" long 1.2mm cane antenna or one of a variety of floats built on 1.5mm cane with a body made of small cork-balls.

The former are a bit like these and I weight them with solder-wire and two no.10 shot, so that the antenna is sunk to within a quarter inch of the tip. For crucians I use the no.10, but a BB for tinca works well also, although theses are only for close range.

[Duckett]

By a strange coincidence I just finished painting my Lift Float Mk IV! Not varnished yet though. These are reverse seagull quill because that is what I have at the moment but my preference is reverse crow quill for the smallest. Mark I and II were both tweaked lift floats made by Ian Lewis. The difference between III and IV is mostly about tip painting pattern and colour to allow for dusk and dawn.

I love the lift method so much that I probably use it far too often! It’s my preferred method for Tench and Crucian, though I’ve caught everything on it and some of my best Bream sessions have been using it. For me, it’s never a bodied float and I use the lightest shot I can, allowing for conditions, distance and my ability to see the tip. I now only attach them using Drennan Flexible Float Links as I find they rise better and make striking more effective. I’m not averse to some shot immediately below the float, if I have to use a larger one, but I try to avoid it if I possible can.



Phil

[Ryeman]

When fishing the lift method as invented - or popularised by- Fred J. Taylor, you set the float to just over depth, cast in, put the rod in a rest and tighten down until only the very tip of the float is showing. If the float is too buoyant, too much will show. I remember reading Fred J. Taylor's description of how he set things up. He put a swan shot an inch from the hook, and fixed a length of peacock quill, bottom end only, just above the shot. Then he dropped it in the water's edge and noted how much of the cocked float was sticking out of the water. He then cut bits of the float top off with scissors, until the float wouldn't quite carry the shot, and slowly sank. Then he slid the float up the line until it was just over the depth of the water when being fished .So you cast in and the float lies flat, then cocks and almost submerges when you tighten down.
To answer the question, the ideal lift float is nothing more than a simple unadorned length of peacock quill. But if you like black bands on the float, to show when it lifts, you can trim bits off the bottom end of a pre-painted float, rather than the top, in order to set it up as Fred J. described.

Alan

[JAA]

When fishing the lift method as invented - or popularised by- Fred J. Taylor, you set the float to just over depth, cast in, put the rod in a rest and tighten down until only the very tip of the float is showing. If the float is too buoyant, too much will show. I remember reading Fred J. Taylor's description of how he set things up. He put a swan shot an inch from the hook, and fixed a length of peacock quill, bottom end only, just above the shot. Then he dropped it in the water's edge and noted how much of the cocked float was sticking out of the water. He then cut bits of the float top off with scissors, until the float wouldn't quite carry the shot, and slowly sank. Then he slid the float up the line until it was just over the depth of the water when being fished .So you cast in and the float lies flat, then cocks and almost submerges when you tighten down.
To answer the question, the ideal lift float is nothing more than a simple unadorned length of peacock quill. But if you like black bands on the float, to show when it lifts, you can trim bits off the bottom end of a pre-painted float, rather than the top, in order to set it up as Fred J. described.

Alan

A black indelible pen is useful for adding bands to unadorned peacock quill and if you like you can even colour the tip red/yellow with a second pen.

[Duckett]

When fishing the lift method as invented - or popularised by- Fred J. Taylor, you set the float to just over depth, cast in, put the rod in a rest and tighten down until only the very tip of the float is showing. If the float is too buoyant, too much will show. I remember reading Fred J. Taylor's description of how he set things up. He put a swan shot an inch from the hook, and fixed a length of peacock quill, bottom end only, just above the shot. Then he dropped it in the water's edge and noted how much of the cocked float was sticking out of the water. He then cut bits of the float top off with scissors, until the float wouldn't quite carry the shot, and slowly sank. Then he slid the float up the line until it was just over the depth of the water when being fished .So you cast in and the float lies flat, then cocks and almost submerges when you tighten down.
To answer the question, the ideal lift float is nothing more than a simple unadorned length of peacock quill. But if you like black bands on the float, to show when it lifts, you can trim bits off the bottom end of a pre-painted float, rather than the top, in order to set it up as Fred J. described.

Alan

I’d opt for popularised to be honest. Once you’ve tried laying-on in a river, the lift method in still waters is surely but a short step in an obvious direction, or so it seems to me.

My greater sacrilege is that I find any peacock quill far too buoyant for the method. The amount of shot needed, even for a short piece, reduces the sensitivity too much for my liking. That’s why, several years ago, I settled on quill types that are hollow as they progress to the root end.

My last problem with the peacock quill lift float may just be aesthetics but, I like the fact that I can have as thin a tip as I want, at almost any length, with crow, seagull, goose, pheasant quills etc.

Phil