Colin Jacobs wrote:
:: Why does my floaters sink? I soak them in water put them on a 4 hook with
:: 8lb line but they always sink. What is the secret?
::
:: CJ


Judging by your line stength and hook size, I'm assuming you are going for
carp?

Three things: 1) you are using way too big a hook.
2) You don't soak them in water, you use them dry.
And 3) you don't put them on the hook at all (as in piercing them with the
hook point.)

I wouldn't use anything larger than a size 12 for floating baits, I used to,
until I witnessed a bloke catching dozens of 'em while I had one or two, he
reckoned the larger hooks don't sit right on the surface of the water, so I
dropped down to a 14 and caught fish - use a good quality hook, I use
Kamasan Animal barbless and have landed surface carp up to 16.5lbs, I've
never had one straighten or bend.
You don't say which floaters you are using but I'll guess at chum mixer
biscuits?....to be honest I've never had much luck with these, nor any of
the commercially produced floaters neither, in my experience carp prefer
bread, preferably crusty brown, but any will do, if you still want to try
mixers, soak them at home the day before and when fully expanded, lay flat
on a teatowel on top of a newspaper, cover with another tea towel and put a
newspaper over the top and put something on it to soak some of the water out
of the biscuits overnight, or you can place them on a tray in a warmish(very
low) oven for an hour, this gives them a bit of rigidity while still
allowing hooking.
Another way is to use them as they come (still dried) and put them on the
hook with a bait band, this leaves the point of the hook showing.

Personally, my way of getting carp to the surface is to use small expander
pellets (not flavoured - just plain fishmeal)[1]...once they are up on the
surface they will take anything, this is why I use only bread, and i use a
piece no bigger than a 10p coin, any bigger and they will knock it about
trying to get bits off it, when it's small they bite the whole thing.

A £1.50 bag of these will last me for months, I just drop a few dozen in the
margins and wait for the reeds to start moving, I very often walk along the
bank and feed a few patches with expanders then go along with a breadflake
and sometimes you can practically place it into their mouths!

HTH

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.