John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
November 6th 2009
Stick Float Success
It will soon be the perfect time to start using stick floats up and down the river Wensum and other small, easily paced lowland rivers. Target species will be roach and chub but you can't discount perch and even the odd barbel if the weather is reasonably mild. What we're waiting for is rain to colour the river, to some degree, and also a few frosts to knock back the weed though, to be honest, weed hasn't been a big problem on the Wensum since it was cut by the EA.
These smaller rivers are comparatively undemanding when it comes to gear. A thirteen foot trotting rod is about right and I personally can't contemplate not using a centrepin. Fixed spools, of course, do work. Traditionally, I use four pound mainline with a three pound, or less, bottom to a sixteen or eighteen hook, if trotting maggots. If bread is the bait, then the four pound line straight through to a size ten or twelve hook and a piece of flake is about right. 
I almost always go for stick floats for this type of work. Generally, a float that takes three to four BBs is about sufficient - but, for me, it's got to have a red tip. Shotting is traditional shirt-button style and I generally have a small shot - say an 8 - just a few inches from the hook.
On the Wensum - and on all similar rivers - I look for two types of swim primarily. The first will be a long, comparatively featureless straight. Here, I'll bait reasonably heavily to get fish interested and to draw them from different parts of the river. If I'm trotting for more than fifteen or twenty yards, I might actually take off the stick float and put on a heavier, more visible Avon type float. With more shot, too, it's more easily controlled at distances up to fifty or sixty yards. But it's close in with the stick float that I really enjoy the most and which definitely brings the better results, especially for roach.
My second type of swim will be more intimate. Perhaps a deep bend or a run close to a raft or an overhanging tree. Here, I know that I'll be close to fish and I can really get down to the intimate business of trying to lure them out of cover and into taking food.
I go either for maggots or for bread. I don't tend to mix the two baits. If you try to get them feeding on maggots and then move to bread you rarely stand much chance. As a rough guide, I'll tend to go for bread in warmer, more coloured conditions and maggots if it's colder or there is less colour.
Feed is a difficult question. It's dangerous to put in too much and over-face the fish, especially in cold conditions. Yet, if you don't put enough feed in you might not get them looking for bait at all. Little and often is generally about right.
Another problem is how long to give a swim before moving on. If it's chub I'm after, I'll probably move quite quickly but roach can be much more fickle and it pays to give a swim at least an hour before discounting it and moving on.
Always use your eyes. Look around constantly to see if fish are rolling - roach particularly. That's why it's good to get down at either dawn or to stay on into dusk if you can. These are the prime rolling - and feeding periods.
Enjoy and give me feedback if you can.