John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
December 17th 2009
Float Work!
I had Andrew Field, float maker extraordinaire, down at Kingfishers at the weekend. The object was simple. Try out some stick floats, work on his trotting techniques and see if we could catch him a first ever chub!
The weather really was fine. A bit cold perhaps, traces of icy rain in the air and a wind that was sneaky and we could have done without. But the river looked fine and some small roach and perch soon proved there were fish about. But it was a chub that Andrew wanted, vital to christen his new Hardy Marksman 14 foot float road and accompanying Conquest centrepin reel.
We moved around a bit, dribbling maggots into half a dozen swims before we found the fish we were after. I think astonished is a word to apply to Andrew when he hooked that fish. Its sheer, dogged, bloody-minded insistence to burrow into the far bank. The power required to keep that big fish from, seemingly, climbing out of the river altogether and disappearing over the next meadow! But it's amazing how much pressure you can apply on balanced tackle and with a through-action rod, even a three pound hook length is relatively secure. We didn't weigh the fish but it was knocking five, perhaps a few ounces over and we just floated back to the cars.
Notice the use of the verb! Andrew's floats really are something to behold. Each one is a perfect miniature work of art. Beautifully whipped, painted, varnished and finished with an individual, gorgeously-displayed feather! But, better than that, these floats work like you wouldn't believe. Because they're not mass manufactured, because they're handcrafted, Andrew can create floats for the most unique and personal of situations. For example, I told him what I wanted for my river stick float fishing here in Norfolk and the floats he's come up with are simply the best I've ever used here.
The great news is that Andrew has consented to make ranges of float uniquely for us here at Kingfishers. We're at the earliest of days yet but together we are sitting down to design ranges of float that really will make a difference to your fishing. There's a lot of hype in the tackle trade, I know, but Andrew is one of those rare gems, one of those true, creative geniuses and it's a massive coup to get him on board. Watch this space!