Premier Loaded Missile Slider Fishing Float. Set of 3. (Sizes 1, 2 & 3)

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One thing’s for sure, though, it’s something you have to master if you ever want to represent your country! The feeder is banned in most international events and that opens the door to this brilliant float-fishing tactic.

Next, comes the fun bit or maybe the patient bit, whichever way you look at it. Below the olivette, I now start to attach some number nine-shot, I say some, as I am now beginning to create a stiff boom below my bulk. This line of shot I add can be anywhere from 20 to 30 and more, depending on the actual float. Not everyone I use is the same, so the number added can vary. In terms of performance both rigs fished perfectly all day, no tangles, no tears but sadly, no bonus fish on either set up! It proved an interesting and enjoyable session, winkling out some pristine roach on single and double maggot. What was clear is that twisted braid and long hooklengths change the way a bait is presented in a way that classic loading doesn’t. It's that long hooklength, helped naturally by the stiff braid, that makes the fall of the bait so effective. Steve Gardener talks about the waggler rigs he used for roach and dace over 20 years ago, when hooklengths of 1.2 to 1.5 metres, with a couple of small dropper shot attached, were quite normal. These Italian rigs have something of the same suppleness about them, no matter what style of float you fish with up the line! Pierre Francois 'Skippy' Deschipper. Is the angler who got me fishing the slider again regularly, a great thinking angler 'Skippy' has improved and refined his slider fishing further since we spoke in 2010.

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So far I'd been using these big floats to catch just small roach and bleak, but after an hour or two into the session I got a bite right over the feed on the Italian rig, almost immediately after the float settled, and it was no small fish! As I was using a 0.12mm hooklength, I took my time and eventually saw a beautiful bronze bream of about 4lb (1.9kgs). A few more bleak followed, then on the German rig the float buried and another bream, this time slightly larger, was hooked. The bite came just to the right of where my feed was landing and it was apparent that the particles coming off it had drifted in line with the wind. This pattern continued for the rest of the session. I would feed in bursts of 5 or 6 balls each time, which were followed immediately by a few bleak and roach, then a bream, usually away from where the feed had landed.

I create a stop knot with a simple four or five turn overhand knot. I like to use the exact same material and diameter as the actual main line. You must also leave the tag ends really long and mine are around three inches. Any shorter and you create a stiff bristle effect that impedes the travel of the stop knot through the rod rings. First things first, I suppose I must clarify what a slider float actually is! As the name implies, it is a float that can slide freely up and down the line. A stop knot fixed somewhere above the float determines the actual depth you are fishing. This stop knot can travel through the rod rings freely, which allows you to cast out easily even when you are fishing a depth that is much deeper than the actual length of the rod. Feathering the line. Secondly you need to be able to dab your finger on the lip of the spool just as the float is about to land. This is called ‘feathering the line’ and even if you never fish a slider it is a powerful ally if you are fishing any float method because it will lay the hook length and all your shotting out in a nice straight tangle free line as it hits the water.Thread the float onto the line taking care that the lower end of the angled hole goes through first and the line comes out of the higher end of the attachment The reel’s line clip is also vital for the way I like to feed. I actually cast beyond the feed and hit my line clip so it is around three to five reel turns further out. This allows me to reel in three, four or five turns to sink the line adequately. Once the float is in position I often open the bail arm of my reel and pay out some line, just to let the bulk reach the bottom and settle everything properly. However, in shallower swims like today that is not always so necessary. For the stop knot, I like to use a length of Power Gum as this does not damage the line and can be easily removed after the session. England and Italy may be the two classic homes of slider fishing, but it's great to see how other nations are taking the style forward. I mentioned at the start that Pierre Francois originally renewed my interest in slider fishing with his simple tube system. Here is how his system works: To feather the line this is where your finger should be placed immediately after releasing the line whilst casting. By removing and replacing your finger from the lip of the spool you can control the way the line leaves the spool, slowing it up as you reach your target. By applying this light resistance to the line you can straighten everything out and cause the shotting to settle neatly away from you in a lovely tangle-free straight line. Practice makes perfect so go to it. Don’t be put off.

My local River Ouse is the perfect venue for this, a deep, slow-moving piece of water. By deep, in some areas along the length, it can be over twenty-foot deep, which lends its hand to the slider perfectly.

Keith

According to JW Martin in his book, 'Barbel and Chub Fishing' (1896) the slider float was actually invented by George Holland around 1860. The full story was said to have been published in some obscure journal called 'The Recollections of Nottingham George.' I will then take three inches off the depth and establish whether the bottom shot is still registering or not. If it is registering then I know the depth is no more than three inches more than I am set at. If it is not now registering I know that I am no more than three inches overdepth and I take another three inches off the depth to place that bottom shot just off bottom. Slider fishing is something of a lost art in the UK – over here if we need to fish at distance in deep water for bream and skimmers we turn to the feeder. Research. I spent a lot of time looking and searching for new floats and rigs to try out. This proved really exciting because I began to realise that the slider was no longer the simple 'English versus Italian style' contest. As Pierre Francois showed, other countries were developing their own slant on sliders, Michael Schlögl in Germany being a prime example, along with the some of the latest developments from Cralusso... like their new Zero slider attachment.