Gold Medal Floats

BRISTLE TOP STICK FLOAT

🪄 BRISTLE TOP STICK FLOAT

(Hyper-Sensitive Presentation for Shy Biters)

The Bristle Top Stick Float is a pattern I developed myself, adapted from a pole float. It looks like a standard stick float — but with a key difference: a nylon bristle tip.

The idea came from fishing for wary, older roach on the Warwickshire Avon. With a normal stick float, the presentation had to be absolutely perfect, but these clever fish would often swim with the bait, suck out the maggots, and never register a bite. That’s when I began experimenting with a bristle tip to pick up the tiniest of movements.

🧰 Design & Features

  • Body: Traditional slim stick float shape

  • Tip: Fine nylon bristle insert for extreme sensitivity

  • Shotting: Can be heavily shotted down — just leaving the bristle showing

  • Grease: A touch of pole bristle grease keeps the tip upright above the surface

  • Rigging: Standard stick float set-up with rubbers for quick conversion

  • Use: Ideal for shy-biting roach and delicate presentations

The bristle top makes the float ultra-sensitive, showing the tiniest lift or dip. It is perfect when normal stick floats are too blunt to detect delicate takes.

🌊 Why It Works

  • 🪝 Ultra-sensitive tip picks up the faintest bites

  • 🧭 Overshotting creates a steady, ultra-still float

  • 🐟 Perfect for big, shy roach that mouth the bait cautiously

  • 🌀 Greased bristle allows precise height control above the surface

  • ⚖️ Quick to adapt — any normal stick float can be converted with rubbers

This method creates a natural, drag-free presentation, making it far easier to tempt better-quality roach that might otherwise ignore the bait.

🏆 Clive’s Match Memory

🎣 Venue: Warwickshire Avon — shy roach peg
I was getting tiny dimples and missed bites on a standard stick. Swapping to my bristle top made all the difference. With the tip just above the surface and the float shotted right down, the slightest tremor signalled a take.

That day I picked off some beautiful quality roach that many would have missed entirely.

🧭 Pro Tip

  • Use pole bristle grease to keep the tip sitting upright.

  • Over-shot slightly so only a few millimetres of the bristle show.

  • When you start missing bites or see small dimples — switch to the bristle top.

  • Keep the presentation natural with no unnatural drag or movement.

  • Convert standard stick floats quickly using rubbers and spare bristle inserts.

🕰️ Classic Float Heritage

“This float is all about finesse. For shy-biting roach, nothing I’ve used is more sensitive.”
— Clive Branson

🎨 Illustration Box

🪶 Float Type: Bristle Top Stick Float
🌊 Ideal Venue: Slow to medium pace rivers
🐟 Target Species: Roach, dace
🪝 Rigging Tip: Over-shot and grease the bristle for fine control
🧪 Key Advantage: Ultra-sensitive bite detection

🪵 Materials Timeline

  • 🕰️ Early Years: Standard cane stick floats with painted tips

  • 📈 Developed: Nylon bristle inserts for improved sensitivity

  • 💡 Modern: Quick-change rubber systems to convert standard floats into bristle tops

✅ Some illustrations from the book

Order the Complete Float Manual

📘 The Float Manual — over 167 pages of knowledge, techniques, and illustrations — is now available.
To order, simply click the book image or contact me directly:
📩 clive@angling-news.co.uk

📘 Download the Complete Float Manual – Instant Access

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Written by World Champion Clive Branson, The Complete Float Manual is a 167+ page eBook packed with practical techniques, classic float designs, diagrams, and championship-winning methods.

✅ Learn how to use wagglers, stick floats, pole floats and more
✅ Discover the history and evolution of float fishing
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✅ Ideal for beginners and experienced match anglers alike

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