Plumbing up.

[Silver fan 82]

A lot of my fishing has been done predominantly on stillwaters either commercials or club waters. On the occasions I have been to the river I have usually either used a link ledger or feeder set up.
I know Ive been missing out not getting on flowing water more often. Im planning on doing a lot more river fishing.
My question to those of you who float fish rivers is when trotting do you plumb the depth the usual way with a plummet or do you set the float at a set depth, run it through the swim and see if it catches bottom to gauge the depth?

 

[Silverfisher]

Depends on the pace of the river for me. On the fairly slow rivers that are local to me like the Thames, Warwickshire Avon and Ouse I plumb like I do on stillwaters although it is difficult to be as precise as it is on stillwaters so after plumbing I always run the float through a couple times without bait just to gauge whether I have plumbed it right. When I've fished quicker rivers like the Wye, Severn, Itchen etc I tend to just skip the plumbing bit.

 

[Silver fan 82]

Depends on the pace of the river for me. On the fairly slow rivers that are local to me like the Thames, Warwickshire Avon and Ouse I plumb like I do on stillwaters although it is difficult to be as precise as it is on stillwaters so after plumbing I always run the float through a couple times without bait just to gauge whether I have plumbed it right. When I've fished quicker rivers like the Wye, Severn, Itchen etc I tend to just skip the plumbing bit.

OK, thanks for that. So on a faster paced river you would alter the depth until you are just off bottom or gauge it according to bites?

 

[Silverfisher]

Just off the bottom for anything but the slowest paced rivers to be honest unless. That way when the float goes under you know it's a bite (well aside from the odd snag) as the hook catching the bottom on flowing water obviously pulls the float under a lot quicker than on a Stillwater so can do a good bite impression at times. Whether I actually do it "the done way" I'm not sure but it seems to work for me.

 

[Dave Spence]

I always plumb up but, as previously stated, it is not as precise as on a stillwater. Make sure you have a heavy plummet (I sometimes use two) and feel it down rather than just watching the float.

 

[Silver fan 82]

Just off the bottom for anything but the slowest paced rivers to be honest unless. That way when the float goes under you know it's a bite (well aside from the odd snag) as the hook catching the bottom on flowing water obviously pulls the float under a lot quicker than on a Stillwater so can do a good bite impression at times. Whether I actually do it "the done way" I'm not sure but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for the advice, cant wait to get out there!

 

[Silver fan 82]

I always plumb up but, as previously stated, it is not as precise as on a stillwater. Make sure you have a heavy plummet (I sometimes use two) and feel it down rather than just watching the float.

Good tip about having a heavy plummet, makes sense thanks.

 

[PAB]

most of the rivers near me are tidal now that is a nightmare when you first start.

 

[Silver fan 82]

most of the rivers near me are tidal now that is a nightmare when you first start.

Yeah I can imagine!

 

[Silverfisher]

Good luck, there's no nicer form of coarse fishing than float fishing on a river for me so I sure you'll enjoy it!

Good point on tides. When I fished the Waveney last month it was rather bizarre fishing in 4ft of water in the morning and only 3ft in the evening. I'd fished the broads before where there's a bit of tide but nothing like the foot change on the Waveney which was rather novel for coarse fishing haha

 

[mickthechippy]

on the lower stretches of the kent stour below grove ferry, the tidal rise and fall can be a fair few feet

the thing that always amuses me, is you can be trotting down for most of the day, then for about 10 mins your float is semi still, then you start trotting upstream, tis a weird thing

 

[Silverfisher]

I've had that on the Bure, it is quite bizarre.

 

[PAB]

Good luck, there's no nicer form of coarse fishing than float fishing on a river for me so I sure you'll enjoy it!

Good point on tides. When I fished the Waveney last month it was rather bizarre fishing in 4ft of water in the morning and only 3ft in the evening. I'd fished the broads before where there's a bit of tide but nothing like the foot change on the Waveney which was rather novel for coarse fishing haha

quite often get a difference or 8 or 9 foot in the same day session.

 

[PAB]

I've had that on the Bure, it is quite bizarre.

it is something I have got to except as the norm now seems strange when I fish a non tidal river constantly after altering your depth.

 

[KevinT]

The trick I find is to have no shot on the float / use a decent size plummet I use a 20g and then flick the plummet down stream so the float is up stream of where the plummet lands / as the float passes over the plummet it will go under if too shallow / if the float passes on the surface then you reduce the depth / once set right you can tighten the line between the plummet and float and usually see the float tip just under the surface - perfect for roach and dace. Flick the rig and plummet down the swim to gauge the depth along the run / take the plummet off and shot the float and then have a few runs through without bait to see if there are any snags or things on the bottom that are higher than the average depth roots / sticks ect.... Make a depth mark on the rod (I use white electrical tape) Once started don't forget to stop the float at the end of the trot and leave for a few seconds as the better fish can take the bait as it rises. Keep changing depths as I believe the fish can move up and down the water levels during the day. You sometimes are better fishing a bait over the top of the fish as they will rise to the bait as if the bait is too deep it goes under them and they ignore it, you can always return to the marked depth just off bottom and start searching again.

Tight lines

KevT