Not all work and no play

The floats have been coming out of the workshop at a slow and steady pace, but the weather had been awful recently, with my local river bursting its banks regularly and the colour of strong tea for what seemed like an age. Eventually a break in the weather for a few days coincided with a little time off and I was able to head out with a pint of reds to see what was about.

The river was finally looking in fine fettle, along with ample raw materials for float making available for collection..

After a recent conversation with a chap regarding the merits of Reg Righyni's design, I had rigged up with one of the first attempts I had turned out, and it was performing admirably, although this was after a swap from a yellow-tipped version to a darker red which showed up a lot better against the bright reflections coming off the water, even with polaroids on.

There were fish about, although without waders one observation which had brought to mind the recent conversation was Righyni's suggestion that with his pattern of float "the stem acts as a keel and the float is self-cocking. With one or two shot on the cast, it floats with the antenna only above the surface." Now obviously Righyni doesn't specify the size of shot, but with a short Nottingham cast on the centrepin and a desire to feather the landing in short succession the float was not the easiest to cast in an awkward wind. And that was with about 1.5 g of olivette and dropper, likely more than Righyni's "one or two shot". 

I don't think it's a great leap of imagination to see Reg Righyni's design a forerunner, albeit with a much smaller shot-carrying capacity, of a thick-tipped and steel or alloy-stemmed Bolo float, and that may be the next step if a further cast to get the trot where you want is required. Something for the workshop should the weather turn perhaps.

Righyni also extolls the value of braid in his 1968 publication of "Grayling", whilst pragmatically recognising it does have shortcomings, particularly on windy days. His conclusion was that mono on a fixed spool reel and braid on a centrepin were the inevitable conclusion for "dedicated long-trotters", it may be something I'll try but not until it's time to replace the mono on the 'pin.

Incidentally, the reel I was using and in the above photo is a Vectra SST-3 from Canadian tackle company Raven, in case it's not instantly recognisable for European readers. Made for steelhead float fishing in Canada and the US, what little I have read about it did suggest it was more popular on shorter float rods, it's light weight apparently making it less desired for 13 foot rods or longer. I picked it up cheaply on a well-known auction site some years ago probably due to it being little known on this side of the Atlantic, and personally I found it suited the 13ft Acolyte Plus perfectly, maybe down to the very light weight of the rod. The reel weighs just under 190g loaded with 100 yards of 4lb mono, compared to, say, a J W Young Purist II at 290g weighing half as much again. Combined with one of the lightest 13ft float rods available it was a pleasure to use all day. (Yes I know there are a couple of lighter rods out there, I have at least one, but not at the price or with Drennan's availability in almost every tackle emporium you venture into).

Besides, if a rod is tip heavy adding weight at the fulcrum or pivot-point of the lever is not the best way to balance the rod, weight at the butt is going to be more effective.

Hopefully the weather will hold out for a couple more trips before the end of the season, whereupon a short break will hopefully be followed by a campaign chasing the local Crucian populations.