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 Float
fishing for carp
Float fishing is not often
the first chosen method for carp anglers. It seems
all to often these days that anglers arrive at
a water, set up the usual bolt rigs, chuck them
out into the middle of the lake and just sit there
and wait for the bites to happen. Float fishing
seems to be becoming a forgotten method. I have
seen many a time when anglers are sitting waiting
for a run, not even looking at the water and carp
are moving around in the margins right under their
rod tips, completely unnoticed. Younger anglers
tend to be taught to ledger from their very first
fishing trip, and never taught any other methods.
I think this is a shame as there are many other
ways to catch carp, and for me a day watching
a float can be one of the most enjoyable, even
when I blank, which is quite often I must add.
Float fishing memories
I can remember when I first started
coarse fishing as if it were yesterday. I was
about 12 years old and a neighbour had heard that
I was keen to go. He was a few years older than
me and was a member of a local club. He agreed
to take me one evening after school. We were to
visit a small lake on the clubs brickworks site,
a series of half a dozen lakes which had been
dug out during the brick making process, stocked
with fish and run by the club. I hadn't yet got
any tackle of my own, so borrowed a spare match
rod and reel, which he set up for me and taught
me to use. We fished a small bay completely surrounded
by reeds and about 3-4 feet deep. The simple porcupine
quill float rig was baited with single white maggot
on about a number 14 hook. I was shown how to
cast and had to get it right fairly quickly in
that swim. I caught my first roach after about
10 minutes, and proceeded to catch several more
roach, rudd and perch before dark. Had I not done
so, then maybe I would not be fishing still today,
but from that moment I became addicted to angling.
It was not very long before I managed
to beg and borrow a few quid and buy myself the
basic kit, which I needed to float fish, and I
joined the same club that I had fished that evening.
It was all very simplistic, a rod, a reel, a float,
a packet of hooks, bait box and some shot. The
rod was tied to the crossbar of my bike, everything
else was in a carrier bag over one handlebar.
Luxuries like tackle boxes and seats would come
later. If it didn't fit in the bag, it wasn't
needed.
 After
a few trips and talking to other anglers, I learnt
that I could catch small carp, tench and bream
on this float method, and I developed the skill
until I was catching some reasonable sized fish.
The point - you can fish with very
little tackle, it needn't cost the earth and you
can catch fish. Sitting in the swim with just
a carrier bag to lug around, watching one float
and nothing else matters in the world is a far
cry from the modern day carp angling scenario.
I am not suggesting that we should all go carp
fishing with this little tackle, but just sometimes
it is nice to revisit those days when you didn't
need a fork lift truck to shift your gear from
the car to the swim. Float fishing can be fantastic
fun. Not only do you need less tackle in the way
of indicators, buzz bars, throwing sticks, and
all the other paraphernalia we tend to lug around,
but it can also be very productive. You are a
lot freer to move around, and that means that
you can approach a swim without any noise and
fuss. Bait can be presented almost silently in
front of feeding carp and you can sit and watch
the float, able to detect even the slightest movement.
More importantly, you are continually watching
the water, waiting for a tell tale swirl or the
knocking of carp in amongst the reeds or lilies.
So why is it that most modern carp
anglers don't bother to float fish? For years
it was the main method of all coarse fishing.
A float, weights, hook and bait attached directly
to it. But anglers wanted to catch bigger fish,
namely carp, and they soon wised up to angling
pressure. New methods had to be found to outwit
them and to tempt the larger carp to take a bait.
Eventually, the hair rig was born, and then the
bolt rig, a rig attached to a "non-movable"
weight causing the carp to hook itself. Carp anglers
never looked back, bigger specimens were being
caught more regularly and gradually this method
became the norm. Now however, the carp have wised
up to this method and new rigs are continually
being developed in order to keep up. What the
carp may not have seen for a long time though
is a simple float rig. Like the recent return
to favour of monofilament traces, this can out
fool some very large carp which have wised up
to noisy anglers chucking several ounces of lead
at them.
OK, so you want to give it a try.
What are you going to need? Well for a start,
a fairly light rod. You don't want to be striking
a bite at close range with a 2-½ lb test
curve carp rod. At best your end tackle will disappear
straight into the tree behind you, at worst you
will rip the lips of a fish.
 Rods
A match rod will handle the smaller
carp but anything bigger will have you in difficulties.
A reasonable ledgering rod or low test curve carp
rod would be better. Reel wise, a smaller bait
runner type reel or other good quality reel capable
of holding a double figure fish will do the job.
Unlike match fishing, although we are using float
tackle, we stand a good chance of catching at
least a double figure fish and so the line should
be upgraded accordingly. Use too light a breaking
strain and you will get broken up on the first
carp. This is not just inconvenient, but not fair
on the fish. Too heavy and you will find it hard
to cast and control float tackle especially if
it is windy. I would recommend at least an eight-pound
line, more if you expect bigger carp into the
high double figures or more.
Floats
The float is very much up to the individual
angler and the weather condition you are dealing
with. If it is a calm day and you are fishing
close to the bank, then a small waggler or stick
float will be perfect. I prefer a waggler attached
at the bottom only so that I can sink the line
between rod tip and float in case of wind drift.
In windy conditions however, or if you need greater
casting distance, a float which will take a bit
more weight is called for. Again I prefer attaching
it bottom only for the same reasons, but this
is very much a matter of personal preference.
Weights
Weights are next and here I prefer
to use a putty type weight so that I can get greater
control over the amount I am using. Split shot
are fine for smaller fish but do tend to weaken
the line slightly and I won't take that risk.
I am not going to go into a great amount of detail
here about positioning of the weight as it would
warrant its own article, but I like to keep the
majority of the weight close to the hook so that
I know when the bait is just on the bottom. If
you are fishing deep water then some weight further
up the line will give you greater presentation
and control on casting.
Hook size will depend on your quarry
and the bait being used, but I don't tend to go
any smaller than a size 12 and no larger than
a 6. I would also fish lighter in the winter but
that again is personal preference.
Bait
And so on to bait. Anything that can
be used on a bolt rig can be used for float fishing
and that includes hair rigged boilies, but for
float fishing I like to attach my bait directly
to the hook, and provided you are not pestered
by smaller species, then maggot, worm, luncheon
meat, sweetcorn and all the usual smaller baits
will work. The advantage of this type of fishing
is that bait can be changed far more easily without
causing too much commotion in the swim, so try
a few different ones and see what works. If you
are fishing close in then loose feeding small
amounts of bait can work well, little and often
being the rule. Very often this will attract the
smaller species to start with, and that will in
turn attract the carp.
Also remember that you are travelling
light in order to be able to move around, and
so you don't want to feed up the swim heavily
and then decide to move on after half an hour.
The only other tackle you really must
carry with you is a landing net, unhooking mat,
maybe a pair of rod rests and a few spare hooks,
floats and weights in your pockets. Also, a good
pair of sunglasses can be a godsend when you are
trying to watch a float in bright conditions,
and they will also help you spot any fish moving
around near the surface.
 Float
fishing methods
As for methods, there are to many
for an article of this size, but I will explain
my favourite, a method known as laying on. It
is called this because the bait lays just on the
surface. The float is attached bottom only and
fished very slightly over depth, so that it will
just sit upright when the line is pulled taught
between the rod tip and the bottom weight. This
causes the line to sink just under the surface
, which prevents any surface drag. The rod can
then be positioned so that the tip is just under
the water's surface so that any wind resistance
on the line is eliminated.
Using this method, if a fish moves
off with the bait, the float will start to travel
along the water's surface and then disappear.
If however the fish picks the bait up and doesn't
move off, the bottom weight will be lifted off
of the bottom, and the float will pop up and lye
flat on the surface. Only then when the fish does
move off will the float disappear. This can be
very exciting and indeed frustrating. Sometimes
a float will lift up, not move for a while and
then return to its original position without going
under at all. You could strike on the lift, but
often this results in a missed fish as the fish
is just sucking at the bait. Timing the strike
just right is imperative and a bit of practice
is needed. If the bait does start to move away
across the surface, then that is the time to strike,
in the opposite direction to that of the float.
I love this method of fishing
and recommend it wholeheartedly. If you want to
try something different, and something that might
fool a few carp who are used to all of the methods
being used around the rest of the lake, then give
it a try. You won't be sorry.
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