When it comes to tackling deep water venues – 10 foot plus – beyond pole range, you only really have two options: Feeder fishing, or break out the slider float. As an international angler – I fish for the Welsh team – I don’t have a choice really as feeder fishing isn’t allowed in international float fishing competitions. So the slider is a tactic that I have had to learn and master! Although, saying that, once you get a few little bits right there is very little to master really. Plus, in my opinion, there is no better way to spend a day’s fishing than catching bream on a slider float. Having grown up in South Wales, I spent my salad days fishing on venues like Llangorse and East Dock in Cardiff, all places that are very deep and so the slider became the ‘go-to’ tactic. I think that fishing it a lot in my formative years, is why I love it so much these days. The Beauty Of The Slider Long forgotten and rarely used these days, due to its wrongly perceived difficulty to fish well, slider float fishing is almost like feeder fishing, but with more possibilities available to the angler I reckon. There is much more you can do with a slider than you could ever do with a feeder set-up. For those of you that have never encountered the slider, briefly it does what it says on the tin! The slider involves the use of a large, heavy, bodied float, which once cast is set up in a way so it is able to slide up the main line, allowing you to easily fish deep waters with all the sensitivity, flexibility and sheer enjoyment of watching a waggler. As a tactic, it has received a lot of bad press over the years, as many anglers reckon it’s too difficult to bother with. True, the feeder is an easier method in this situation, but it is also very one-dimensional. You can only fish hard on the bottom and you’re forced to feed every cast too. Unless of course, you swap over to a bomb. Using the slider float gives you many more presentation options. Also as long as you follow a few simple rules, the slider is as easy to fish as a standard waggler. The main problem I find is that anglers tend to look at it as another float setup and so try to fish with complicated shotting patterns or too light a float. These easily rectified problems are what sees these anglers tangling every cast prior to throwing the rod up the bank before going back to their trusty feeder rod. By making just a few tweaks, you can cast a long way all day without a single tangle. The Advantages Of The Slider? Known as a deep water (generally any swim over 10 feet) technique, the slider can also be used to great effect on shallower lakes if they are badly affected by tow. You can even fish it on the river too if you want. It’s a very versatile tactic. Like I said, the method involves using a semi-loaded, large, bodied float, which once cast in, slides up the main line to a stop knot tied at swim depth, enabling the angler to fish deep water easily. A bulk of large shot, or an olivette if you prefer, provides the main weight to pull the main line through the float’s bottom eye so it ‘slides’ up the line. Once the stop knot is reached, the bulk will register; cocking the float then the dropper shot will allow the hook bait to fall naturally to the lake bed, trimming the float’s bristle perfectly. PICTURE FOR SHOW ONLY!!!Body of the Float completely BLACK
