It was during a feature on The Glebe Fishery last year that master craftsman Mick Wilkinson showed me his latest pole-float creations. Mick, who has been making and selling floats for several years now, was keen to demonstrate the qualities of his new Track pattern – four floats taking 0.2g, 0.3g, 0.4g and 0.5g.
With bodies made from high-density foam, long stems from 0.9mm glass and long bristles made from 1.8mm hollow plastic, the floats are designed for use on the bottom in water over two feet deep.
Mick was using them to catch carp and skimmers on a very windy day, and he explained how a long float, dotted down so that only the very tip of the bristle was showing, would always produce more bites than a smaller float taking the same weight, in adverse conditions.
Now I’ve long been a believer that the less weight I have on my pole-rig line, the more commercial-water fish I’ll catch. So you can understand why these floats immediately caught my eye.
Since that fateful day, I’ve used these floats for probably 90 per cent of my lake fishing for on-the-bottom work.
They’re incredibly strong. Mick tells me I can stand on them without crushing the body but I have to admit I haven’t tried that, preferring to take his word for it. Their durability is enhanced by the fact that the glass stem goes right the way through the body to be glued into the hollow plastic antenna.
Mick has gone against the current trend of spring eyes on pole floats for commercials, opting instead for a thick-wire eye, glued in close to the body top. I’ve had no problems with these eyes pulling out.
Another quality I love about these floats is that they keep their shotting capacity. What I mean by this is that the floats sink to exactly the same place in the lake as they do when I shot them at home to make up rigs with them. Too many floats sink out of sight after sitting perfectly in my cut-down cola bottle at home.
The floats can be dotted right to the tip, making them perfect for shy-biting F1s, and I find that I use the 0.2g and 0.3g sizes even in windy conditions, the long bristle helping create stability by pulling the float through the turbulent top few inches of water.
You might have gathered that I love these latest additions to the MW Floats range. I suggest you give them a try.
| MW Floats Track Sizes: 0.2g, 0.3g, 0.4g and 0.5g Tip colours: Orange, black and yellow Price: £2.35 Contact: www.mwfloats.co.uk |
