River Trent float rig.

[Richard Isaacs]

Brilliant post Rich! Thanks for posting this. I was going to pm you and ask you about your float rig, you've saved me the trouble

Anytime Mark.
Like I said at the beginning I’m only 2 years into barbel fishing on the float so I’m learning as I go and sharing as I learn because it is different to other forms of trotting.
More simple in some aspects and more difficult in others.

There’s bound to be far more experienced members on here doing this better than me and I welcome their input on it because if they do something I don’t and it puts more fish on the bank, I wanna know about it

 

[Paul Bullinger]

As I said earlier...great post and such useful information . Got back into trotting last season and the missus bought me some chest waders for Xmas which I've been using this year. A few weeks ago, standing mid-river in the Upper Bure I was sorting out an embarrassing birds nest on my reel with my rig in the water a few feet from where I was standing, when, (you've guessed it) my rod tip started to go mad. The culprit was a lovely 3lb brown trout which took the half eaten worm a few feet from where I was standing! Sorry fly fishermen . It was returned unharmed. Not exactly trotting but great catching when standing mid-river. Love it!!!

 

[Tim Marks]

Great stuff Rich; excellent informative posts.

I haven’t float fished for barbel for decades (Kennet), I will have to follow your lead and try again.

 

[Ben Marr]

Good post, and some nice tips.
Personally I dislike straight through, you can easily lose all your gear if badly snagged and I'm a tight git!

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I forgot to add.
I don’t use eyed hooks. I really think they are such messy thing’s unless used with a hair rig. Spade’s definitely offer a much neater streamline presentation for hook mounted baits.
They strike cleaner and have that directness with the line that an eye can’t match being more of a pivoting joint. They definitely hit more bites no question.

While they are more commonly associated with matchman and fine tackle I use them for my strong barbel rigs too.

 

[Jon Frisby]

Totally not criticising you here Richard, but we both have experiences in float fishing for Barbel etc. Heres just a different view to it.
See im not a fan on using spades tbh for bigger fish. I did find on multiple catches, that the spade did sometimes damage the line, during the battle trying to land barbel on the float. I'm an ex matchman, and I'd tied hooks by hand all my life. So knew what I was doing, but they always snapped, a couple of mm above the hook.
I do fing that trick with the 0.7mm gauge and the olivette excellent another reason not to use line stops.
Most of my pegs on the Trent are a good eleven foot deep at least and at least 2 rod lengths out so holding back slightly is the best I can do. So a slider either a top and bottom float or a speci wag is the way forward for me. I guess you using a 10 to 12 gram float, because you are holding back hard and keeping the bait hard on the bottom as a lightly wouldn't enable you to hold back hard etc. I suppose the rod literally gets ripped put of your hands....
Its a great little ditty on float fishing for barbel. I really hope some of you guys get on and give it a go... we have probably til mid October max, to get some in....

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Totally not criticising you here Richard, but we both have experiences in float fishing for Barbel etc. Heres just a different view to it.
See im not a fan on using spades tbh for bigger fish. I did find on multiple catches, that the spade did sometimes damage the line, during the battle trying to land barbel on the float. I'm an ex matchman, and I'd tied hooks by hand all my life. So knew what I was doing, but they always snapped, a couple of mm above the hook.
I do fing that trick with the 0.7mm gauge and the olivette excellent another reason not to use line stops.
Most of my pegs on the Trent are a good eleven foot deep at least and at least 2 rod lengths out so holding back slightly is the best I can do. So a slider either a top and bottom float or a speci wag is the way forward for me. I guess you using a 10 to 12 gram float, because you are holding back hard and keeping the bait hard on the bottom as a lightly wouldn't enable you to hold back hard etc. I suppose the rod literally gets ripped put of your hands....
Its a great little ditty on float fishing for barbel. I really hope some of you guys get on and give it a go... we have probably til mid October max, to get some in....

Superb write up Jon.

Your absolutely right I perhaps should clarify that the rig is best fished no more than a rods length off the end of the rod out and with a 15ft rod 8-9ft deep is probably your maximum really before adopting a slider.

Different worlds I’d say mate as I’m fishing sections of the middle where it’s relatively shallow and very pacy indeed and your right you need 10g to anchor while controlling the speed. Natural river surface pace is little use where I go really. A speci wag certainly wouldn’t be my choice for the areas I fish.

So yeah I agree with absolutely everything you say mate we fish the same river under completely different conditions.

I will say your trouble with spades is a new one to me. Never had that happen but then I don’t tie them by hand I use a stonfo hook tier. That knot and hook design has never let go on me but again it’s individual preference.

I hate eyes tied by the eye. I find it messy and I find you can miss more imo

 

[Jon Frisby]

Cheers Richard I didn't want t to step on your shoe's. In terms of float fishing, I'd rather fish your area, mine can be dam hard work at times battling depth, downstream winds and banks that only an Ibis, would feel at home on....

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Cheers Richard I didn't want t to step on your shoe's. In terms of float fishing, I'd rather fish your area, mine can be dam hard work at times battling depth, downstream winds and banks that only an Ibis, would feel at home on....

You catch bigger fish more regularly jon so it probably evens itself out

 

[Simon Archer]

Try tying some of these babies,.....

I knocked this up back in the day. Not pretty, but it worked. Meant all my hooklengths were the same length. You just had to make sure the hook was the correct way in the tier, else the line would come of the back of the spade rather than the front.

 

[Chris Belcher]

Loving the QC olivette solution - are these just superglued in? Definite market for these Rich!

Q - Have you tried braid as a mainline alternative yet?

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Loving the QC olivette solution - are these just superglued in? Definite market for these Rich!

Q - Have you tried braid as a mainline alternative yet?

Not super glue chris….. bearing fit, they’ll never move.

As for the market, these actually already exist but for some reason 6g is the biggest I can find.

 

[Vince Maddock]

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.

Great post (and subsequent replies) as it happens I'm off to the Trent at the end of the month to try and catch my first float rod Barbel.
I've taken heed of your advice and ordered a few things, but I wonder Whether you're using a centre pin or fixed spool reel?

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Great post (and subsequent replies) as it happens I'm off to the Trent at the end of the month to try and catch my first float rod Barbel.
I've taken heed of your advice and ordered a few things, but I wonder Whether you're using a centre pin or fixed spool reel?

Pin in recent times. Much better for setting and sticking to a speed.
Done it with fixed spools as well just as successfully but the feed of float is obviously more jerky

 

[Vince Maddock]

Pin in recent times. Much better for setting and sticking to a speed.
Done it with fixed spools as well just as successfully but the feed of float is obviously more jerky

I'm fine with a centre pin, spent a lot of time on the Tees and Wear catching Dace, Grayling and Chub, but I'm a little daunted at the prospect of a heavy Trent Barbel, in a strong current stripping a huge amount of line. Am I over thinking it?

 

[Jon Frisby]

If its off the rod end or a rod out centrepin is ok. Just be aware of the friction burns you may get . Also check the wind direction as its a typical downstream wind. North or North westerly better for west Bank..

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I'm fine with a centre pin, spent a lot of time on the Tees and Wear catching Dace, Grayling and Chub, but I'm a little daunted at the prospect of a heavy Trent Barbel, in a strong current stripping a huge amount of line. Am I over thinking it?

No your not over thinking it at all. That’s exactly what they do. Give em half a chance and they’ll empty your spool. It’s even more fun on the pin as you’ll come away with rapped knuckles if you put your hands in the way when she’s off for a down stream screamer.

Down stream winds are a pain but tolerable if you are trotting not too far out. They are much more challenging to deal with from a bank.

It’s great fun there’s no better way to catch em. Just gear up for em because on balanced float tackle even the small ones of 5-6lb can cause mayhem. Sometimes the little ones are worse

 

[Bill Walford]

Best thread for many a while. Thanks Rich, so much hard earned knowledge

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I hooked one opposite bobs island not long ago that completely embarrassed me.
Tore off like a train and just kept pulling back it was a game of tug n war because every 3 turns I made on the reel it took 4 back.
I was playing it steady away convinced it was either double or the weight of a fag paper shy of double.
Bloke on other side afew down obviously watching …. Then I saw this bloody thing. I swear it swapped places at the last minute
If I’d of said 6lb I was being generous.

Obviously I rested that fish for at least 15 mins unhooked it in water and just tipped it straight out so I didn’t have to get it out and show anyone what took me the best part of 10mins to land

Showed me right up

 

[Jon Frisby]

I hooked one opposite bobs island not long ago that completely embarrassed me.
Tore off like a train and just kept pulling back it was a game of tug n war because every 3 turns I made on the reel it took 4 back.
I was playing it steady away convinced it was either double or the weight of a fag paper shy of double.
Bloke on other side afew down obviously watching …. Then I saw this bloody thing. I swear it swapped places at the last minute
If I’d of said 6lb I was being generous.

Obviously I rested that fish for at least 15 mins unhooked it in water and just tipped it straight out so I didn’t have to get it out and show anyone what took me the best part of 10mins to land

Showed me right up

Try hooking a good double in the dorsal fin