A complete guide to the stick float and trotting on rivers
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Introduction
Trotting a stick float is a fantastic method for river fishing. Trotting allows you to run a bait down stream searching out a swim rather than waiting for the fish to come to you. Although trotting isn't as popular as it once was it still has its place in river fishing, In the right situation trotting can still dominate over pole and feeder tactics.
Trotting is an art form and perfecting the method comes with practice. This article takes you through all the essentials for a successful days trotting.
Tackle
Rods
A true trotting rod for rivers should be light weight and have a soft forgiving tip action. This helps to avoid hook pulls and breakages of the low diameter hooklenghs. These kind of rods are far different to most of the float rods on the market at the moment with most rods now aimed towards towards commercial carp fisheries.
Buying second hand is usually the best option but there are a few appropriate rods on the market if you shop around.
12ft
This is an ideal length for smaller backwaters and narrow rivers where you may be fishing in tight swims and not need to fish very far out.
13ft
Most people's number one choice for targeting rivers with enough length to control the float in most situations and lighter than a lot of the longer models in the hand making them comfortable especially as on a river you will be holding the rod for the entire session.
14ft
A step up from the 13ft giving more control over the float when fishing a bit further out into the river or on windy days when a 13ft model may lack control.
Reels
2500/3000
A small reel is essential for trotting a stick float. Trotting is a tactic that requires holding the rod for the entire duration of a session so a smaller reel will definitely make your session more comfortable. With very short casts involved for trotting on rivers we can scale right down to a 2500 or 3000 size reel.
Closed faced
A closed faced reel is a forgotten item of tackle in the modern fishing world but they are still as good as ever for trotting on rivers. The enclosed spool means that you can trot a float in windy conditions without the line blowing off the reel qcausing tangles.
Mainline and hooklinks
Mainlines should be kept as light as possible. The lighter the mainline the easier the line will peel off the spool allowing you full control of the float as you run it downstream. A three pound mainline is a great starting point used in conjunction with a lighter hooklink of two and a half pounds, The lighter hooklink means that this is the only part of the rig that will be lost if you get snagged or broken off by a big fish.
When trotting for bigger species such as chub or big perch the mainline can be stepped up to around five pounds with a three or four pound hooklengh. This will help land those bigger bonus fish but is still light enough to allow the stick float to be fished effectively.
Float choice
See below: A selection of stick floats.
Three plastic stem stick floats on the left
Three wire stem stick floats on the right
There are two main types of stick float. The wire stemmed stick float and the lignum or plastic stem stick. Although very similar each have there own job and should be used in different situations.
Wire stemmed stick float
Heavy lignum or plastic stemmed stick float
When to choose a stick float
To get the best out of the stick float you're ideally looking for a smooth glide. Stick float fishing involves running the float down the length of the swim so a straight piece of river with a decent amount of room to trot the rig is ideal. Avoid swims with big boils on the surface as this will make your rig act very unnaturally.
Shotting patterns
A big confusion with trotting is choosing the right size float. As a general rule I use one number four shot for every foot of water. A number four shot is the equivalent of zero point two grams so in a swim of six feet in depth I would start with a float which took six number four shots (1.2 grams). This is a good place to start and then slight adjustments can be made whilst fishing.
My favourite shotting pattern for fishing the stick float is a shirt button style shotting pattern. A shirt button pattern is a rig with shots evenly spread throughout the rig like the buttons on a shirt. Avoid using big shots like BB's for shotting stick floats as they create a lot of resistance on the strike and can often lead to missed bites, Instead use a larger amount of smaller shots like number eights or number six's depending on how heavy the float is.
The rig
Here is my favourite stick float rig featuring a shirt button style shotting pattern. This float rig is the ideal set up for slow to medium paced swims fishing up to 2 rod lengths out depending on the conditions on the day. Here we are using a wire stemmed stick float however if you wanted to fish further out or the conditions changed and became windy it would be swapped for a lignum or plastic stemmed stick float instead.
Step 1
I start by threading the four float rubbers onto the mainline which is 3lb monofilament. I then attach the float via the rubbers with the big runner on the tip of the float and the other three smaller rubbers spaced equally on the stem.
Step 2
I then shot the float with a series of no.6 shots spread evenly throughout the rig with the last no.6 shot just about the hooklengh
Step 3
The hooklengh knot is a simple loop to loop connection. In this case the hooklengh itself is a flurocarbon of around 2.5lb's breaking strain.
Step 4
The last dropper shot is a number eight and is placed on the hooklengh around eight inches from the hook. This gives the hookbait a slow fall through the last eighteen inches of water making it more likely to be seen and picked out by the fish. A number eight shot is the largest shot you can still buy made from lead, I would recommend using a lead shot as the dropper as lead is soft and less likely to damage the light line than some other types of split shot.
Step 5
The hook is a kamasan B611. This is my favourite hook for fishing bread punch. Click the link below to see my guide on hookchoice.
Below: a good mixed bag of silvers all coming to the rig above in just a short session of around 2 hours.
Great Item thank you.
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