Simple Match Fishing Forum

Aok guys and gals, be interested in your input on this one......


You are fishing the cut and decide to use your 'favourite' 0.3g float that is shotted 'cock on' with no 11s and 12s

Its blowing a bit in your face and you want to 'stabilise' things with a back shot

Given that the float is shotted 'spot on', what size back shot would you use.............. and what would you 'take off' to compensate for it? In this hypothetical situation, given that you've a couple of foot between pole tip and float, where's the best 'point' to place the backshot - or what factors influence you in the placing of it?

Take 1 number 12 off and replace with an 11 about 6inchs from me tip with abit off vaso on me tip problem solved

3 methods I have used over the years TK, each work in there own right for stabilizing your rig in a wind.

1st is one I haven't used in a long time, place a bb or aa half way between float and tip of pole, rig shotted as normal you just hold to the shot out of the water and surprisingly reduces most movement on ya float, looks ridiculous but does work.

2nd take the same size shot off from below in the rig and place it dead level with the tip of your float, with this way obviously the shot is left to go under and is a method I use a lot, sometimes if there is also some water movement as well with the wind it helps to use 2 or 3 shot in a line above and hold back tight from pole tip to float.

3rd and one I have only used over the last few year, again leaving your rig set perfect as is, this time place a number 8 6in up from float then a 2nd 6inch from that and a 3rd 6 inch from that, this method is similar to the first as in keeping them al out the water and stops a lot of the movement on the float.

Lastly a method I have never tried but have heard a lot of people are now doing is to use the line big carp anglers use with the lead core, approximately 12inch of this is attached to the pole and your rig then attaches to the lead core line, theory is the lead sits and holds against the wind

TK yesterday i fished with 3 No9 above the float the reason for this is i was on a high bank and needed land my fish.the river had dropped from previous weeks i had just less than three foot to play with.Leaving me with extra line above the float these worked well as it was very blustery. At time i put them together and others i spread them out but 90% of the time i was in control of the float

Ta guys

Use the whip and one of my wagglers---( said tongue in cheek)

Use the whip and one of my wagglers---( said tongue in cheek)

As you know i've been fishing the Welland through spalding it's a small venue with steep banks yet only around 3 ft of water at this time of year the roach population migrate into the town for the winter .Free fishing means anyone can fish any peg and the sport is second to none on the right day but with the weather as bad as its been the wind can often be swerling and blustery. This makes fishing very difficult as you can be pegged high off the water and using light laggy you often need a little more line than you want . This sunday the river had dropped ! yes dropped and i was lucky to have two and half foot of water to fish in and the wind was horrendous . My rigs were made up on top 3s so i had loads of line above my float so i decided to back shot the floats on my rigs some use big shot upto BBs or No4s . Well i used No9s and three of them the reason for this was the conditions one minute the wind swirled strongly and i could bulk them up and keep control of my float . Next it might drop and blow in one direction when this happened i could spread the shot out which worked brilliantly with the length of line between float and pole tip . In the past i've used big shot and always found them to tangle now i am talking about natural rivers here and not commercials . My question is how often do you use back shotting and do you use lead core big shots or more than one shot i think this will be interesting as the presentation

Personally I don't use back shot on the cuts. Probably been caught out on very rare occasions due to wind.
Mostly fish the Shroppie anyway as the winds tend to more favourable than most cuts (except last Saturday).
Never use Vasseline, leave that to the jail birds!!!
Always think back shot on a cut is an extra hindrance to get tangled up with.

If you want anything to hold your float up, finger and thumb, pinch the bridge of your nose then straight on the tip of the float. Try it, you'll be amazed how it works. Little tip I picked up from the matches I fished with Shakespeare, (not William).

Used back shot extensively on the River Trent. Inevitably the wind was a bad downstreamer. The srength of the wind, with the flow, dictated how many back shot to use (always the same size as your main shot below the line and space out the same way only above the line. Impossible if you had a deep swim, that called for 'bunch and dropper'.

Only my view for what the crappity smack is worth

Mind you I catch crappity smack all anyway nowadays