Set up a simple float rig
A waggler float, three shot and a size 16 hook will catch you more fish than most tackle boxes. Here is how the pieces fit together.
Step by step
Thread the float
Pass the line through the eye at the bottom of the waggler, then lock it in place with a shot either side.
Set the locking shot
Two thirds of the total weight goes next to the float. This is what makes the rig cast straight.
Spread the rest down the line
Three or four small shot, spaced out below the float, slow the bait's fall and register shy bites.
Tie the hook
A size 16 to 18 for maggot or caster, a 12 for sweetcorn. Use a Palomar or a knotless knot.
Plumb the depth
Clip a plummet on the hook and adjust the float until only the tip shows. Now you know where the bottom is.
Fine-tune the tip
Shot the float down so barely a centimetre of tip is visible. The less resistance a fish feels, the longer it holds on.
Why a float first
A float does two jobs at once: it presents the bait at a chosen depth, and it tells you what is happening down there. Nothing else in fishing gives a beginner that much information for so little money.
The shotting matters more than the float
Most people buy a float and clip a lump of lead under it. The rig then casts badly and registers nothing. The fix is the shotting pattern: the bulk near the float to carry the cast, the rest spread below it to slow the bait and show bites.
Reading the tip
- Tip dips and holds — a fish has the bait, strike.
- Tip lifts and lies flat — a fish has taken the bait upwards, off the bottom. Strike.
- Tip trembles but nothing more — small fish nipping. Try a smaller hook or a smaller bait.
- Tip drifts steadily — that is wind or tow, not a bite.
Log the next one
Every catch kept, conditions filled in for you.