John H

I am quite new to pole fishing and have been buying ready made rigs but I want to start making my own. The problem is, I don't really know what size floats to get. I mainly fish canals that are 3 to 5 foot deep using maggot, caster, bread punch, small pellets etc. I am thinking of buying some Malman floats but I don't know if I need 4x10, 4x12 etc. I sometimes fish the odd commercial when I go to a caravan site which has it's own pool but I mainly fish for silvers so I am assuming I could use the same floats?

Any help would be appreciated.

John.

Poleyyyy (steve)

Hi John and Welcome
4x10 seems a little light for summer fishing unless you are fishing on the drop 4x12 and 4x14 would be better as it would allow better presentation of your baits.If the canal "tows" you may need to go up to a 4x16 bulked to try and hold it in the swim easer.
As for the caravan,s own pool I would use a more sturdy float something like a maver ice (dont know the patten name sorry) but it is a hi-viz tip carbon stem and you put the line thru a eye on the side then thru the body of the float so if you hit a lump the float will take the pressure better than a lighter float and you can use em on the canal if you want to go after some of the bigger fish.
as a guide use 0.1grm float for every foot of water so if you fishing a 4ft deep swim you need a 0.4grm float there are some convertion charts on the site somewhere that allows you to convert,say a 4x12 in to 0. watever (4x16 is about 0.5grm).
Hope this has been of some help to you
Steve

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John H

Thanks for your help Steve. It's my birthday soon so I'll pass the Malman website address on to my daughter.

John

Poleyyyy (steve)

Not a prob John any time mate

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A bad days fishing is better than a good day at work?????

tk

Sound advice from Poleyyy there John H.

Mind if you are fishing the W&E down the road from you, as there's negligible tow with virtually no boats and the nearest lock being a few miles away, I generally go a little lighter than the rule of thumb and use 4 x 10 (0.2g) and 4 x 12 (0.3) floats down the track unless there is a strong surface skim when I may go a tad heavier to steady things up

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John H

Thanks for that Tony. I suppose I ought to have mentioned about the lack of boats & locks.
I might give the Cannock Extension a go on Friday afternoon (weather permiting). Do you know if you can park down that little road that is a sharp left over the new bridge when you are heading towards the Turf?

tk

Not sure John - for that 'area' I just park off the road on the spare ground on the lhs before the new bridge.

Alternatively if you are heading for the bottom end of the 'boat section' you can now get a few cars off the road down on the A5 and just walk up the bank to the canal

__________________
Even when I draw a half decent peg fate conspires against me...............