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bait dropper

D

David Traynor

Senior Member
Hi, does anybody use bait droppers? if so you know how acurate they are, ie, with a fast flowing river does it drop exactly where you will be casting or is it only worth using them in a slower flowing river?

Many thanks Dave
 
Hi Dave
I use baitdroppers all the time in the warmer months, ..being a hemp and caster fan.
I have a massive collection of brought and homemade droppers ranging from 2oz upto 1/2 a pint and can honestly say that the best were the Thamesley plastic type.
They went out of production for a few years, but a repro. is now available.
The key is not the weight of the dropper,...but the weight of the sinker in front of the dropper,..which must be heavy enough to overcome the drag of the current against the dropper body.
Heavy droppers often suffer from a too lighter lead, and in rivers like the Avon will kite about all over the shop, dropping bait just where you did'nt want it!
A smaller balanced dropper will cut the surface like a knife in experienced hands, and end up where intended on the riverbed,
I had double figure barbel coming to the dropper on the Avon last season, as I waited for it to empty it's contents,...never bounce a dropper in fast flows,...the contents will end up at sea!!;)
 
Tim Lennon said:
which river will you be fishing Dave?
DT's Thamesley might be okayish in the Avon, but wouldn't cut it in the Wye with a few feet on! Come to think of it, I never found the Thamesleys much good in the Avon...
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Have to disagree Tim,..Big baitdroppers are total cr*p in fast flows, because of their imbalanced design, ..I have adapted mine with a bigger lead on the front.
It is not about the size of the dropper, it is all about the balance. The bigger baitdroppers require so much lead to stop them kiting,.. you need a spod rod to cast them out!
The Thamesley design has worked for me on the Avon and the Wye because it is a balanced piece of kit,,..as they say,..it's not always size that counts!:D
I've been using baitdroppers for the past 35 years ,..shop brought, and my own in rivers up and down the land and have never found anything to surpass the Thamesley design.
If you cast a shop brought big baitdropper into a big river carrying extra water it is a lottery as to where it hits the riverbed, whereas a smaller balanced design would sink quicker and hit the spot,..and would also make less disturbance and not need a broomstick to cast it.
 
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I've got loads of them as well, the biggest one is a 'Ye old oak ham' tin and the smallest is a Fred Crouch special.
The Fred crouch is an interesting design and one which I have scaled up for my own home made jobs. The weight is fitted to the bottom of the body of the dropper rather than hanging on the bottom of the actuating leg. This helps to ensure that the dropper opens as it hits the bottom of the river.
It is not possible to cast the big ones, they are used for baiting up close in and getting allot of bait down quickly, I usually toss them in underarm.

The biggest one I have ever seen was on the charter boat I used to go Tope fishing on. It was made from a Cadburys roses tin and was known as Rasputin.
The name came from its secondary use which was for returning cuckoo wrasse quickly, when they are caught they almost always come up with the swim bladder prolapsed out of the mouth, this makes them impossible to return and easy prey for the seagulls. The traditional remedy is to puncture the swim bladder which allows the fish to live but condemns it to a life on the bottom. However; if you pop them into Rasputin (Wrasse put in) and drop them back down the swim bladder is re-pressurised and the fish goes back to its normal life. Because wrasse are territorial fish it is easy to verify that the fish are fine and as the boat doubles as a dive boat for scallop divers the resident wrasse are well known and recognised by the divers.
 
Dave Taylor said:
Have to disagree Tim,..Big baitdroppers are total cr*p in fast flows, because of their imbalanced design, ..I have adapted mine with a bigger lead on the front.
It is not about the size of the dropper, it is all about the balance. The bigger baitdroppers require so much lead to stop them kiting,.. you need a spod rod to cast them out!
The Thamesley design has worked for me on the Avon and the Wye because it is a balanced piece of kit,,..as they say,..it's not always size that counts!:D
I've been using baitdroppers for the past 35 years ,..shop brought, and my own in rivers up and down the land and have never found anything to surpass the Thamesley design.
If you cast a shop brought big baitdropper into a big river carrying extra water it is a lottery as to where it hits the riverbed, whereas a smaller balanced design would sink quicker and hit the spot,..and would also make less disturbance and not need a broomstick to cast it.
Click to expand...

we'll have to agree to disagree. I've been using baitdroppers for 36 years and think the Thamesley is average at best. I've still got 3 of the originals if you're interested in buying them?
Oh, and I didn't say "big" baitdroppers in my first post...I said "heavy"
 
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Why would I want to cast a heavy baitdropper into a swim when a lighter one will to the same job with less chance of spooking the fish?..And lug the extra weight?
 
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Tim,..I apologise for having seemed to be less than gracious,..it was probaly past my bedtime!
As you say we can agree to dissagree on this one!
All the best
Dave T
 
Tim Lennon said:
we'll have to agree to disagree. I've been using baitdroppers for 36 years and think the Thamesley is average at best. I've still got 3 of the originals if you're interested in buying them?
Oh, and I didn't say "big" baitdroppers in my first post...I said "heavy"
Click to expand...

Tim, you have a p.m.
 
Hmm, im not sure if I'm any wiser to be honest, I fish on the Severn and the dane, when I have fished the Severn when it has extra flow I do think is this dropper actually going where I want it to, so I tend to now use pva bags. But would really like a lot more bait down on the river bed than that to be honest.
 
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