The Flat or Lollipop Float

Flat Floats

A recent online discussion regarding flat or lollipop floats together with my own rediscovery of river fishing using these has prompted me to write on the subject.

Flat floats were designed specifically for fishing a flowing water, that could be a river or canal that flows. I think originally conceived on the continent to me they are one of the best recent angling inventions alongside Baitrunner reels and Stotz.

 

 

The picture on the left shows the float's profile in the direction of the flow.  The picture on the right shows the side on view.  Other designs of flat float are various shapes but follow the same basic design idea of having a slim profile against the flow.

The flat float is really a pole equivalent of the stick float. Both are designed to fish in and combat the effects of flowing water. And indeed there is no reason why either float should not be used on pole or rod. I came third in my first ever match on the river Trent (Winthorpe) fishing a stick float on my then state of the art 7m fibreglass telescopic pole. The benefit of the pole and flat float is that you can fish much further out with a pole than a rod.

The Science Behind the Design

To understand the logic, and theory behind the flat float I will need to go over some science.

I think most anglers understand that the very bottom layers of the flow in a river are slower than the surface, but by how much? Experimentation has shown that a river's average flow occurs at 0.6 of its depth at any given point. Thus if the river is ten foot deep then the average flow will be six foot below the surface, and for a five foot deep river it will be at three foot deep. As the river shallows towards each bank this average point too gets shallower but remains at 0.6 of the depth.

In practical terms this means that in our ten foot deep river the flow in the bottom four feet of water will be at least 50% slower than the water on the surface. And towards the very bottom will be slower still. It is this major difference that the flat float was designed to combat.

I think we can safely assume that our optimum catching potential will occur when we match the bait's speed to the flow at whatever depth we are presenting that bait. Though fish show signs of not be logical at times and will take a bait when it is moving faster than the flow or is even stationary in it. This is where the angler's skill and ability to read what is happening comes to the fore.

Assuming though that our aim is to present a bait as near to the natural flow rate as possible then for me the flat float is the ideal tool.

The design is obvious in its intention. To provide a minimal amount of cross section area to the flow while carrying enough weight to combat the higher flow rate in the top 60% of the depth. Hence the shape and the necessity to carry a heavy load, up to 50 grammes (2 ounces) or more in some cases. Some of the larger floats have shoulders to utilise the flow to push and hold the float underwater.

To carry the same loading a normal bodied float would need to have a comparatively huge cross section presented to the flow and this would cause problems in float control and reading of bites. In turn this may mean that a normal float might need to carry a much bigger loading than a flat float to achieve the same degree of sensitivity and presentation. Stick floats attempted to overcome this by using a heavy wood in the bottom half such as lignum vitae or even metal stems.

Shotting & Hooklength

I prefer to use an olivette that is in the region of three quarters of the float's stated loading. So a 0.7 or 0.75g olivette would go on a 1g float. This gives me enough spare capacity to lock the Olivette (inline), droppers and spare shot to add to the droppers if I feel it necessary. To start with I will place the olivette a foot above my hooklength and then add two No.8 droppers below that. The remaining shot will be added around the olivette but with more below than above. These spares can be slid down to increase the weight of the droppers.

I will also seek to overshot the float on the day so that it has to be held back for the bristle to show above the surface. Different flow rates will dictate a difference in the amount you need to overshot.

My hooklength is ten inches. This allows me to go nearly that much overdepth if required. A longer hooklength may, at times, be useful.

Fishing the Float

The ideal I am trying to achieve is to have the float bristle vertical while the float is held stationary. This tells me the bulk shotting, the olivette, is just about directly beneath the float and in turn indicates that the bait should be near the bottom and ahead of the float. The following diagram shows what I mean.

The diagram also shows what could be or is happening underwater when the bristle is not vertical.

 

 

If the bristle is not at or near vertical but leaning back towards the rod/pole when held back then a heavier float is required. Really only trial and error will tell you how heavy a float you need on your local river for different conditions. On the river Nene I use a 1 or 2g float. In times of flood I may need heavier, but then I wouldn't be fishing the river.

Once I am happy that the float is fishing as I wish then I can start to experiment on exactly how the fish want the bait presented. For those that have fished a stick float then the process is much the same with a flat float. The float can be held hard back in one position, the very bottom layers may be almost stationary and thus the fish are picking up static feed and bait. The float may need to be inched through such that if the bottom layer of water is moving slowly the bait is matching it. I may let the float run so that it sinks then reappears as the olivette catches it up and the line below runs through and gets ahead. A combination of all three should see the angler getting indications as to which is best on the day or even in that hour.

Bites can be any indication on the float, a dip, lift or stopping if running through.  Lift into any change in the float's behaviour.

Storage

You may wonder how to store flat floats as they will not sit neatly on a winder.  The solution is to attach the float by way of four pieces of silicone tubing and not thread the line through the float's eye.  That way the rig minus float can be stored on marked winders and the floats in a suitable storage box.  For my 1 & 2g floats I use an old videocassette case. 

Doing this can also aid changing floats if light conditions change and demand a different colour bristle.  I have red, yellow & black bristled versions.

It is also worth using more line on the rig than you would for a Stillwater.  You may want as much as six foot of line, possibly even more, so that the float can be run a fair distance down your swim.

Acknowledgement

I have to thank various others from whom I have picked up hints and tips on these floats, particularly storing them.  My main source is

https://www.maggotdrowning.com/forums/index.php