Warwickshire Avon - Philargyrists and Photopolarimeters

I've never quite found the perfect float for canal Zander fishing that could also be used on the river. The Korum 8 gram Snapper Bobber Floats are almost there as they are very small indeed, made of high-buoyancy hard balsa and can withstand quite a bit of abuse.

But I've been using them of the river of late where unless you're fishing at close range they are difficult to see in lots of situations. To be fair the river was on the rise for this session and despite the turbulence of the 'slackish' water I was fishing they coped with the change in water quite well.

The Warwickshire Avon had reason quite dramatically in 24 hours and the gin clear water now had some colour in it perfect for Zander, well if it wasn't for the amount of debris coming down.

It had risen a foot and a half I'd say maybe more and I knew it wasn't going to be easy but the only real slack was close in so seeing the floats wouldn't be an issue. I like fishing floats for Zander and as light as possible because it amplifies bite registration. 

Fishing a simple running rig like I often do you just wouldn't pick up the same detail where sometime Zander can really mess around with the bait till taking it confidently. 

Often I'm sure they pick up the bait and drop it but with the floats being so sensitive that can be seen on the surface. They are finicky biters in the main but then can go all of a sudden Chuck Norris at the flick of a switch, 

So something like this inspired by the Bezos rocket 😃could do a job for both river and canal, because being a dumpy float with more red showing I could see the float much further away where on the canal its not really an issue.

What is an issue though is I've tried various nightfloats, even a bite activated night float all the way from the sleeping giant but none of them cut the mustard. 

The beauty of a 3D printer is that you can vary the wall thickness without having tool feasibility and issues so the float would always sit flat on the surface with the chemical light facing up. So 0.75mm wall and increase to 3mm or so should surfice 

Ok I knocked this up rather quick but you get the gist. I could print in clear material and fit a switchable LED light with battery etc, however as the bite activated float showed it just gets too heavy. 

Anyway the design came out at 8 grams (float only ) which considering its dumpier than the Korum jobbie I might get a couple printed and painted.  Now in many fishing books that refer to the Zander or Pike-Perch as almost a cross between a pike and a perc,  and many still believe today its the results of hybridisation and that it isn't a species in its own right.

That is because many anglers in the UK are still yet to catch one, and see this magnificent fish with 'Dracula Teeth' in its own right.  With Halloween just round the corner its a great time to get accustomed to the species. 

Anyway back to the session the bites came thick and fast however after four runs and no fish to show for it it was obviously small fish picking up the bait but not quite getting it all in. 

That can happen on the canal a lot hence why I use small baits in the main because both a big fish and a small fish will take a small bait. 

Eventually the bite culprits revealed themselves and a couple of schoolie two pounders were caught.  They may be small but for me its encouraging signs because there will be much bigger fish around for sure, and its nice seeing this class age appearing in an area they hardly showed before.

Now I did have a fruitless half an hour in to dusk for a last gasp barbel but after some debris took me out twice it was time for the off. With the river dropping I'm sure in the next couple of days it would be in great nick for a Barbel. 

Hopefully I can get back out Friday evening as that's the only window of opportunity I'd get, before that I've another ideal for the 'ideal float' watch this space, this one includes a light source but still light enough for its application.