Gold Medal Floats

Crystal Waggler

THE CLEAR CRYSTAL WAGGLER

🪶 INSERT CRYSTAL WAGGLER

(A Classic Memory – River Severn, Shrewsbury)

The clear crystal waggler is one of those innovations that you either take to or not. I’ll be honest — when they first appeared on the scene, I wasn’t fully convinced. But one day on the River Severn at Shrewsbury, that opinion changed completely.

I drew a perfect peg just above the footbridge. The swim was alive with dace — visibly swimming up in the water. I began fishing with a peacock waggler cast across the river and caught a few quickly.

But I didn’t realise that people crossing the footbridge could see the shoal — and each time my float trotted down, they were pointing directly at them. Whether it was the flash, shape, or shadow of the float, something spooked the fish.

I remembered some clear plastic crystal wagglers sitting in my box. I swapped over, cast out again… and the transformation was incredible.

It was as though the dace knew what a peacock waggler was — and simply couldn’t see the crystal. My catch rate exploded. By the end of the match, I had a good double-figure bag of dace and walked away the winner.

From that day onwards, I never underestimated the power of invisibility.

🧰 Design & Features

  • Material: Clear extruded plastic (moulded)

  • Types: Straight or inserted waggler

  • Options: Loaded versions, tapered inserts, body wagglers

  • Extras: Interchangeable coloured tips (yellow, orange, black, white), float adaptors, green/blue stems for extra camouflage

  • Accuracy: Shot capacity marked on the float is highly reliable

Unlike peacock, the crystal waggler is manufactured to precision tolerances, so the stated shotting capacity is almost exact. Inserts can be swapped out for different colours and lengths, giving an angler full flexibility in changing light conditions.

🌊 Why It Works

  • 🫧 Almost invisible to fish in clear water conditions.

  • 🪝 Perfect for shy-biting fish feeding up in the water.

  • 🐟 Less chance of spooking fish when casting over their heads.

  • 📏 Precise weight rating means accurate, repeatable shotting.

  • 🪶 Excellent for on-the-drop presentations.

Fish in clear water are often more cautious — darker or opaque floats can spook them, especially on bright, shallow days. The crystal waggler removes that obstacle.

🧭 Pro Tip

To make the float more practical when dragging on the bottom, I fit a peacock insert into the top of the crystal body. This gives extra buoyancy and makes the float less likely to drag under in tricky flows.

Experimenting with coloured tips can also help when surface glare or changing light makes bite detection more difficult.

🏆 Clive’s Match Memory

🎣 River Severn – Shrewsbury, County Ground

  • Peg just above the footbridge.

  • Dace shoal visible in midwater.

  • Switched from a peacock waggler to a clear crystal.

  • Result: Double-figure bag of dace and a match win.

  • Lesson learned: sometimes, the best float is the one the fish can’t see.

🕰️ 🎣 Innovation Insight

“Crystal wagglers changed how I fish clear venues. Their near-invisibility gives a distinct edge on days when every fish counts.” — Clive Branson

🎨 Illustration Box:

  • 🪶 Float Type: Insert Crystal Waggler (straight or loaded)

  • 🌊 Ideal Venue: Clear rivers, lakes, and canals

  • 🐟 Target Species: Dace, roach, chub, rudd

  • 🪝 Rigging Tip: Standard shirt-button shotting; peacock insert for extra lift

  • 🧪 Key Advantage: Near-invisible float body = less spooking, more bites

📘 For insert combinations, tip colour selection, and “on the drop” finesse tactics, see Clive Branson’s Float Fishing Manual (Paperback & PDF Download).

 

 

 

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