Waggler Fishing - More Weight = Better Control

[@brianreed1451]

I fished fiddleford yesterday. Too much colour and blowing a gale.3 of us fished. A fer gudgeon 1 roach 1lb perch and a,4lb bream. Should drop the colour out this week

[@paullinwood5089]

I fished further downstream this morning, found the remains of a low double pike that had been ottered. I see otters there more often than not these days, have they always been so active along those stretches ? Needless to say, the strong wind made for difficult fishing!

[@brianreed1451]

@paullinwood5089 300 otters killed on our roads every year so yeh its a problem. Wimborne stretch full of otters. Avon even worse

[@paullinwood5089]

​@@brianreed1451 I had no idea there were so many around. It is a worry to see evidence of them so often on the rivers,

[@davetaylor8858]

I loved my Mitchell 300 but despite regular greasing the constant grinding noise from the gears was so annoying it was relegated to the drawer in the garage and replaced by a cheaper reel with a ball bearing action.

[@MarkWintleFishing]

The gears do wear out in time and they get noisy though rarely fail.

[@brianreed1451]

I use Diawa 1657DM have 5 of them. Funny enough I gave my last M Match to my dear friend Dave Swallow many years ago

[@brianreed1451]

3 of us fished by the way😊

[@brianreed1451]

tell me Mark. Can use use a Trolly around Breech

[@MarkWintleFishing]

About half is accessible. They put the roach down though!

[@stevebond-k6v]

What does a hole in the tip and side of the float do? What is the benefit, apart from filling with water?

[@MarkWintleFishing]

The displacement (volume) of the tip affects sensitivity (Archimedes). 10 mm of a 3mm round tip displaces 70 cubic mm. A hollow tip with a hole in the side and open tip, assuming .25mm thickness sides of tubing displaces 21 cubic mm so 3.5 times more sensitive but equally visible. Of course, on a river it can be advantageous to have the solid tip as the increased buoyancy helps drag line on the bottom.

[@MarkWintleFishing]

The Drennan interchangeable tips are A) made from too soft a plastic, B) don't have a big enough hole in the centre to counteract capilliary or surface tension effects. It's ideal if the hole is 2.5 mm or greater which is why I use Rizov tip made from thin-walled hard plastic. I cut a scoop on one side only into the tip using a very sharp craft knife. I'm not aware of problems in having a longer waiting time for the tip to settle. The density of the plastic does NOT matter as it is the overall buoyancy of the float that matters. The tube could be made of metal and it would still work though the shotting needed overall would change and the float would be top-heavy. If the density DID matter my plastic-tipped floats would sink! Dave Harrell's company produces floats with + cross sections, an old idea going back to at least the 1960s. They work on the same principle - as you say, large side view, little volume. I don't have access to such tips so don't use them.

[@MarkWintleFishing]

You are falling into the old trap. With the solid tip the extra no 4 and no 8 that the hollow tip supports are in the weight of the solid tip. So start again. Given two identical peacock quills, one with the hollow tip, one with the the solid tip, both tips exactly 3mm in diameter, the hollow tip one takes 3AAA, 2 no 4 and a no. 8 to set it right down to a dimple. Take off a no 4 and 20 mm shows. The one with the solid tip has the heavier tip to support so the shotting is slightly less, 3AAA plus 1 no 4 to take it down to a dimple. Again take off the no 4 and 20 mm shows. Archimedes at its best. The two floats do fish slightly differently as one has more weight in the tip together with less weight in its base. I have a special test float with a sealed balsa body and a 3mm cane antenna at one end and the 3mm stell shaft from a 3" nail at the other. Whichever way up it is with 25 mm of antenna showing another no 4 shot takes down the antenna exactly the same amount. Sadly the myth of different densities making a difference to sensitivity persists, even in excellent books like The Rising Antenna where I explained the above (section of hollow tips with a hole in the side) yet elsewhere in the same book the wrong claims are made.

[@MarkWintleFishing]

Answer to your last question is - loads.