In the history and introduction to pole floats, we must first begin with the basics. Pole fishing and its rudiments have been with the British angler for decades, yet it was only in the World Championships, on England Warwickshire Avon at Luddington in 1981, that it came home to the British angler that pole fishing methods and techniques can and do beat the waggler and stick float methods. France won the event fishing with the pole. France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, were the Front runners on pole methods for many years, with these four countries dominating the World scene.
England knew they had to learn these deadly methods if they were to compete. I was privileged to be one of the anglers to see in the early years of the developments, from the conception of pole fishing and methods from those championships. Pole floats are designed to be controlled at all times by the angler, with the use of the pole, and most pole floats are aerodynamically shaped, another words, shaped to perform with the water conditions, still or moving, also making them ultra sensitive to shy biting fish.
The two basic designs are pear shapes, a drop pear, and a reverse pear. From these two shapes, most pole floats are developed. A rule of thumb is a drop pear for still water and a reverse pear for running water, although the opposite can work equally as well if controlled. 35 years ago, I wrote an article with one of the weekly angling papers; I was fishing with one of the best river anglers of the time, Chris Taylor, from the West Midlands. He was winning a fair share of matches at the time, fishing at Stratford on the Warwickshire Avon, he opted for the waggler, and I fished the pole. Catching a few fish and mastering the Avon chub with the pole opened the eyes of the feature writer, Kevin Wilmot. With a double-figure bag at the end of the day, I quoted ”one day matches will be won with the pole” Now these days there isn’t a week that goes by without someone winning a match on the pole on natural venues and commercials. Still water pole floats are developed very differently from running water pole floats. This is generally for the benefit of working the float in the still water. The basic designs are developed from a pear drop, or sometimes called a teardrop. The aerodynamics of this float is the tapering effect, allowing a sharp taper of the body, which in turn becomes more sensitive as the float is weighted down in the water. The broader base of the float being down most allows balance and stability in the still water; from this shape, most still water pole floats are developed. Conversely, most river pole float shapes are a reversed pear with the bulk acting as a shoulder, allowing the float to hold back easily in a flowing swim. Also, by overshooting the float, the angler can control the speed of the float along the swim. (See Diagrams below)
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I believe the French anglers are the best in the World, on still water pole fishing. Their development with still water pole floats over the years has been an inspiration to me and most other great anglers in this country and abroad. Swapping our British float methods and techniques for pole methods and techniques has been easy for me, for being the first World Champion to win on the British waggler; has opened many doors for me. Making many friends and acquaintances in the international scene has been a great advantage, having swapped and tested many pole floats. Using the principle of colour camouflage, I colour the base of most of my pole floats with a white colouring, thus achieving minimum dark shadow over the feeding fish. With materials such as carbon glass, polystyrene, balsa, wire, nylon, tungsten, and other space-age compounds, pole floats are now well into the 21st century; the poor fish have no chance at all
POLE FLOAT CONVERSION GUIDE
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