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River Trent float rig.

Richard Isaacs

Richard Isaacs

Senior Member & Supporter
I thought I’d share this having evolved a very basic common used rig to work a little better for me personally.

The rig in question is as old as the hills and any quick search on google will find it to 90% with individual changes to suit the user.

The mechanics are simple. Strong line, big float, bulk weight, strong hook.
Adopt this and you’ve got a float rig predominately designed for barbel on big powerful rivers…… but the devil is in the detail as often said and I’m going to put afew details up that may or may not improve it further for people. It certainly has for me.

Firstly I must confess that I hadn’t caught a barbel on the float by design until just 2 years ago. I’ve been float fishing pacy rivers since I was at school but targeting barbel has been relatively new to me. I now have way over 100 of them under my belt with 80 plus caught since June this year when most of my rig fettleing has taken place.

Floats …. It’s cost me a small fortune to find just 2 that I think are perfect. A float has got to be able to be held back hard and still sit relatively vertically in the most turbulent of water. At first I thought this was predominantly down to the weight applied but it’s not. It’s a combination of the float design and the amount of weight applied as I’ve found through trying out hundreds of them.
My choice of float shown here
IMG_1295.jpeg

@Andrew Burt big floats or sensas Somme (modified) these are the best I’ve found for holding back hard in powerful water and still retaining a semi vertical presentation.
I think it’s due to the body bulk being down at the bottom rather than like most with them being tapered towards the top. They are my personal best 2 floats for the job.

You’ll also notice they are 11g and 12g. Big yes but through experience of trying smaller ones I’d now say your wasting your time putting anything smaller than 10g on for the Trent particularly. I’m trying to save you some money here so don’t waste it on 6 or 8g floats.

The sensas Somme’s usually come with very thin tips. I can’t see them after 30-40 yards so mine are modified with wider tops. Andy’s are perfect as they are.

Attached only with silicone rubbers I do not use float eyes or body holes. I never have I never will. I also use lots of rubbers on the stem a minimum 4 of because I don’t want my depth being altered even after a good scrap

There is nothing on my entire rig that I can’t change in seconds without tackling anything down. That is crucial to me.
Barbel give you feeding windows and the last thing you want to be doing is stripping your rig down for 5 minutes to change a broken float while they are on the munch.

Bull weight.
Like most I don’t use split shot. Not anywhere on my rig is there a single shot. I use olivettes and I like the drennan ones (to a degree)
Like my floats the line doesn’t pass through them. And no company has yet come out with one I can fit and change without part tackling down (unless it’s 6g or under then there is plenty)
My olivettes look like this
IMG_1296.jpeg
IMG_1299.jpeg

Stainless rod fitted inside them and attached to the line with 0.7 diameter silicone rubber is by a mile the best way to use them imo.

They are very tight gripping the line. They never slip out of position even after a good scrap all my tackle stays put… very important!
they can however be re positioned by hand where you want on the line, they can be changed in seconds if needed with heavier weights to suit different floats if conditions on the day change.
and no poxy float stops to bother with. Float stops are Again another item that doesn’t belong on my rig I hate the things.

If you are going to fit olivettes like this be sure to round off the ends of the stainless rod to prevent a sharp Edge cutting your tube or line. I use a file and get them perfectly rounded off.

Next item on my rig is one i begrudge a little because I don’t want to use it. That’s the swivel. I want to fish straight through for these powerful fish and while that may raise eyebrows I’m sure, I know that unless something cuts my mainline the weakest part of my rig is the hook knot. I don’t need a hook length it’s just adding a weak link further up the line.

However it’s there because I don’t want line twist permanently deforming my rig during the course of the day so I use a drennan size 14 quick link swivel and it’s spot on. I can replace hook length’s again very quickly with no changes to the rig.
IMG_1298.jpeg


My hook length is exactly the same Material and diameter as my main line I see no advantages to make this thinner or lighter, that would be daft in my opinion. I’m fishing for double figured barbel on fast rivers. The entire line set up on this rig is made up from Korum glide float line. Been using it this season and I absolutely love it. The properties in this line are exactly what I want. It’s the most buoyant line I’ve ever used, it’s strong, it’s clear and it pays off my reels so straight and controllable I’m definitely sold on it. It comes in 250m spools too which is very useful for filling up afew reels
I use 0.23 for both main line and hook length. (8lb approx)
IMG_1297.jpeg

Lastly the hook. Size 10 or 8 Kamazan animal. Used them for more than 15 years and they are superb big fish match type hooks. Everyone has a pattern they like and I use these exclusively from size 18-8 for all manner of fish. It’s a great hook.
On this rig definitely barbless. I unhook 90% of my fish in the water while holding a rod and net etc so I don’t like faffing with barbs.

And that’s is. My float rig for barbel. Pretty much the same mechanics as everyone else’s but but with some tweaks to make it suit me.

It’s definitely tried and tested with the last 65-70 barbel I have caught being on this latest evolution.
 
Great post. Very informative
Richard Isaacs said:
I thought I’d share this having evolved a very basic common used rig to work a little better for me personally.

The rig in question is as old as the hills and any quick search on google will find it to 90% with individual changes to suit the user.

The mechanics are simple. Strong line, big float, bulk weight, strong hook.
Adopt this and you’ve got a float rig predominately designed for barbel on big powerful rivers…… but the devil is in the detail as often said and I’m going to put afew details up that may or may not improve it further for people. It certainly has for me.

Firstly I must confess that I hadn’t caught a barbel on the float by design until just 2 years ago. I’ve been float fishing pacy rivers since I was at school but targeting barbel has been relatively new to me. I now have way over 100 of them under my belt with 80 plus caught since June this year when most of my rig fettleing has taken place.

Floats …. It’s cost me a small fortune to find just 2 that I think are perfect. A float has got to be able to be held back hard and still sit relatively vertically in the most turbulent of water. At first I thought this was predominantly down to the weight applied but it’s not. It’s a combination of the float design and the amount of weight applied as I’ve found through trying out hundreds of them.
My choice of float shown here View attachment 24950
@Andrew Burt big floats or sensas Somme (modified) these are the best I’ve found for holding back hard in powerful water and still retaining a semi vertical presentation.
I think it’s due to the body bulk being down at the bottom rather than like most with them being tapered towards the top. They are my personal best 2 floats for the job.

You’ll also notice they are 11g and 12g. Big yes but through experience of trying smaller ones I’d now say your wasting your time putting anything smaller than 10g on for the Trent particularly. I’m trying to save you some money here so don’t waste it on 6 or 8g floats.

The sensas Somme’s usually come with very thin tips. I can’t see them after 30-40 yards so mine are modified with wider tops. Andy’s are perfect as they are.

Attached only with silicone rubbers I do not use float eyes or body holes. I never have I never will. I also use lots of rubbers on the stem a minimum 4 of because I don’t want my depth being altered even after a good scrap

There is nothing on my entire rig that I can’t change in seconds without tackling anything down. That is crucial to me.
Barbel give you feeding windows and the last thing you want to be doing is stripping your rig down for 5 minutes to change a broken float while they are on the munch.

Bull weight.
Like most I don’t use split shot. Not anywhere on my rig is there a single shot. I use olivettes and I like the drennan ones (to a degree)
Like my floats the line doesn’t pass through them. And no company has yet come out with one I can fit and change without part tackling down (unless it’s 6g or under then there is plenty)
My olivettes look like this View attachment 24951View attachment 24952
Stainless rod fitted inside them and attached to the line with 0.7 diameter silicone rubber is by a mile the best way to use them imo.

They are very tight gripping the line. They never slip out of position even after a good scrap all my tackle stays put… very important!
they can however be re positioned by hand where you want on the line, they can be changed in seconds if needed with heavier weights to suit different floats if conditions on the day change.
and no poxy float stops to bother with. Float stops are Again another item that doesn’t belong on my rig I hate the things.

If you are going to fit olivettes like this be sure to round off the ends of the stainless rod to prevent a sharp Edge cutting your tube or line. I use a file and get them perfectly rounded off.

Next item on my rig is one i begrudge a little because I don’t want to use it. That’s the swivel. I want to fish straight through for these powerful fish and while that may raise eyebrows I’m sure, I know that unless something cuts my mainline the weakest part of my rig is the hook knot. I don’t need a hook length it’s just adding a weak link further up the line.

However it’s there because I don’t want line twist permanently deforming my rig during the course of the day so I use a drennan size 14 quick link swivel and it’s spot on. I can replace hook length’s again very quickly with no changes to the rig.
View attachment 24953

My hook length is exactly the same Material and diameter as my main line I see no advantages to make this thinner or lighter, that would be daft in my opinion. I’m fishing for double figured barbel on fast rivers. The entire line set up on this rig is made up from Korum glide float line. Been using it this season and I absolutely love it. The properties in this line are exactly what I want. It’s the most buoyant line I’ve ever used, it’s strong, it’s clear and it pays off my reels so straight and controllable I’m definitely sold on it. It comes in 250m spools too which is very useful for filling up afew reels
I use 0.23 for both main line and hook length. (8lb approx) View attachment 24954
Lastly the hook. Size 10 or 8 Kamazan animal. Used them for more than 15 years and they are superb big fish match type hooks. Everyone has a pattern they like and I use these exclusively from size 18-8 for all manner of fish. It’s a great hook.
On this rig definitely barbless. I unhook 90% of my fish in the water while holding a rod and net etc so I don’t like faffing with barbs.

And that’s is. My float rig for barbel. Pretty much the same mechanics as everyone else’s but but with some tweaks to make it suit me.

It’s definitely tried and tested with the last 65-70 barbel I have caught being on this latest evolution.
Click to expand...
Great post. Very informative and clear photos. Thanks. Will give it a go as I too have just "discovered" the joys of river trotting!
 
Paul Bullinger said:
Great post. Very informative

Great post. Very informative and clear photos. Thanks. Will give it a go as I too have just "discovered" the joys of river trotting!
Click to expand...
I’ve always preferred to trott a float over more stationary types of fishing, it’s just a much more enjoyable experience.
My chub fishing has predominantly been done with float rods over anything else for more than 25 years.

Since more recently getting on to rivers where barbel are a realistic target on the float, I’m completely transformed now and have very little interest in catching them by other means.

You’ll never experience a fight from a barbel in the same way on ledger tackle it’s in a completely different league.

You’ll never give yourself a better edge in the worst conditions either as bright sunny days with low clear water is the kiss of death for static baits but a moving bait can empty a river when it’s like this.

And the bite…….😳
Little tip here but use a soft bait like meat and you’ll see what I mean. The float dips, and because your fishing a tight line to a heavily reduced pace float it’s quite common you won’t get opportunity to strike…. Just make sure you’ve got a firm grip on the rod 😜
 
An observation from my match fishing days if I may, Rich. That rubber nearest the float body. According to better anglers than me (Alan Scotthorne no less) There should be a little gap between the rubber and the float body, as if it's tight up against the body, the angle of the line means it can cut into the float body when under pressure and damage it. Moving it away a little, lessens the angle, thus reducing the pressure on the floats body.

Also, as you're wading in the river, and I'd assume running the float straight off the end of your rod. Have you tried a flat float ??
 
I usually do leave a little gap there Si I’ve only just put the rig together this morning again for the next trip. I don’t think there is enough pressure for the line to cut into the float body personally but it can start over stretching the rubbers ive found if there isn’t a gap there so I do usually leave one.

Yes I’ve tried a flat float and the pole anglers are welcome to keep em. They are fine if your just holding back and not moving the bait at all as they just cut through the river but they offer crap stability and control when letting it go down even at reduced river paces. I’ve had them kicked off the river path far too many times part trot to even remotely like them at all.
 
Great post Rich, it’s definitely something I wish to do more of. It’s not really an option in the Ouse these days (for Barbel) but I do prefer float fishing for Chub in winter. I aim to do more float fishing for barbel on my Severn club book when time permits. One question about tactics…when fishing the pacey stretches are you holding back to just let the bait “inch” it’s way through the whole stretch or varying the speed?
 
I should clarify really that by holding back hard I mean vastly reducing the pace of the float vs the pace of the current but rarely actually stopping it completely. (Where a flat float would be better I suppose)
I’m still trotting and running a float down the current which I want to stay on a certain line down the river.

We all know that the surface of the river is faster than the flow at the bottom and if we let a float go freely it’s going to toe the bait behind it at an unnatural pace. If you reduce that pace by half say, you’ll kick the bait out in front, and your olivette if heavy enough should be relatively vertical to the float.
I find the float with more hips and arse as ap posed to more chest, gives better control at doing this and travels quite straight along the trott with a tight line to it.

What I don’t want which I’ve found flat floats are notorious for is any boils in the surface flow to kick them off the trot path.

My olivette is always very close to the bottom
As close as I can get it without it catching. My bait being kicked out intentionally infront should then also be close to the bottom despite its natural buoyancy. I’m fishing 2ft or more over depth and while the bait may touch the bottom from time to time it’s not getting held up unless the depth decreases enough through the trot path for the olivette to catch.
 
Brilliant post Rich and thanks for taking the time to put it together.

I've started float fishing for barbel this season (all be it I've only been out 3 times and to venues I don't know on the Middle Severn so the learning curve is steep).

I've fluked one small barbel and had plenty of chub.

I'll certainly be attempting some of your ideas when I do get out next.

Thanks

Lewis
 
Alan Palmer said:
you holding back to just let the bait “inch” it’s way through the whole stretch or varying the speed?
Click to expand...
Depends on depth changes Al. In a perfect world my trott path would be say 5ft deep from start to finish
In this case I’d find a speed very quickly that offers the presentation I want and stick to it. However we don’t have a perfect world and my trott path could start at 5ft and drop to 7ft.
I’d work that out just as quickly and tailor my speeds to suit so that I can fish with my bait down for as much of it as possible.

So for the first 15 yards say I’ll be holding it back slowly and actually kicking both the olivette and bait up and right out in front going quite slowly through and again with a few trots you’ll get a feel for it as it should be at a pace to keep it as Low as possible.

When the river bed drops I’d just increase the pace it goes through to drop the olivette back down but never let it get toed by the float.

It’s never going to be the best presentation for the whole trot so you need to decide where the bulk of your bites are coming from. Make this depth the place where your presentation is at its best and compromise the other areas slightly by varying your speeds to lift and lower your baits.

Don’t totally neglect them mind and not worry about presenting well in the whole path as I’ve found countless times they can be right under the rod tip.
 
Lewis Baldwin said:
Brilliant post Rich and thanks for taking the time to put it together.

I've started float fishing for barbel this season (all be it I've only been out 3 times and to venues I don't know on the Middle Severn so the learning curve is steep).

I've fluked one small barbel and had plenty of chub.

I'll certainly be attempting some of your ideas when I do get out next.

Thanks

Lewis
Click to expand...
Getting as far away from finesse as practical is definitely the key I think.
Barbel don’t care about line diameter, rig sensitivity or hook size and my advice would be if you think your rig is quite crude, it’s probably not crude enough.

Massive floats, big bulk weights and getting your bait to trundle along the bottom in the most forceful water is imo the best way to do it. Feed plenty if you start catching despite the fish type, if I go through a spell where I get 3 or 4 fish for as many trots I’ll double the feed from 1 -2 pouch fills per trot.
When they get on it you’ll struggle to take enough bait with you. Most of my sessions that get cut short are because I’ve ran out of bait.
 
Fantastic Rich. Are you using your home made boilies as bait or something else. Also do you loose feed anything or is the rivers pace to fast to do this effectively.
Thanks
Mike
 
Neil Blakemore said:
Great post Rich. Encourages people to think about what they do.
Click to expand...
I think you’ve got to and I think I’ve made it sound more complicated than it actually is. I don’t want to put newcomers off the idea at all.

The rig is actually very simple and as I said as old as the hills. My “tweaks” don’t improve its ability to catch fish that’s for sure. They are just personal modifications to make it more adaptable to change.

The method I adopt again is something I believe all good float anglers do with such a rig. I don’t think you could successfully get a bait to trundle the bottom of and uneven river bed without speed variation. And it’s as simple as releasing line at a given rate and watching what the float does.
Gathering up information as quickly as possible to know what the river bed is doing so your able to make your bait follow it.

Another thing you can do is set your rig to your high points. And run through at 1 pace to trundle the bottom at only the high points. Your speed would definitely be more natural but you’ll be up in the water for a proportion of the run.
I’d only do this if the proportion I was touching bottom was (A) 80% or more of my run length and (B) where most of my bites were coming from.

Barbel will definitely come up in the water to take baits but from my personal experience lower is better
 
Fishing a top and bottom running line float, whilst standing in the water, no matter what species of fish you're aiming to catch. Is the best way of fishing, in my opinion.

I'd imagine lots of us started out fishing that way, I certainly did.
 
Simon Archer said:
Fishing a top and bottom running line float, whilst standing in the water, no matter what species of fish you're aiming to catch. Is the best way of fishing, in my opinion.

I'd imagine lots of us started out fishing that way, I certainly did.
Click to expand...
Couldn’t agree more Simon.
On the nene back home I do a lot of it but only from the bank due to the nature of the river being very drain like.

This obviously comes with its own set of challenges that extremely long rods and lots of line mending are required to make the best of it.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Couldn’t agree more Simon.
On the nene back home I do a lot of it but only from the bank due to the nature of the river being very drain like.

This obviously comes with its own set of challenges that extremely long rods and lots of line mending are required to make the best of it.
Click to expand...

Upper Trent, below Willington outfall when the power station was operating. Warm water on a cold day. Bait apron, Bronze maggots, Ultra stick float. 90340 hook. Good fishing. I've gotten a little lazy nowadays regards my fishing and just lob a lead or feeder out.
 
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