Favourite Floats

The other night I lost my favourite float. I'd gone to fish on the Lancaster Canal in Carnforth for a few hours on Monday evening and was making my first cast when this awful event happened. I'd set up at what I guessed to be about the correct depth and had attached an extra BB shot to plumb the depth. I was aiming for the far bank but completely misjudged the distance and sent the float straight in to a large tree opposite me. I tried pulling it back but predictably the 3lb line snapped the wrong side of the float. So my once prized vintage cork and cane antenna float that I had lovingly restored now hangs forlornly from a tree. I'm upset because it was the float I had been using when I caught both my personal best roach and tench in the last couple of weeks.
 If I had mass produced modern plastic floats in my collection it wouldn't have bothered me at all. But this was a piece of angling history- a float almost as old as me and crafted to be both aesthetically pleasing as well as functional and by its very nature completely irreplaceable. Therin lies the dilema of using vintage tackle. It may break or get lost and if this happens it is bound to hurt. Last year I snapped the last few inches off my Sealey Octopus Cane float rod. Luckily I have managed to repair the rod so it is once again usable but a float left hanging from a completely inaccessible tree is gone forever.
I shouldn't despair so much as after all I have a plenty more floats to use and love. In the 19070s I was totally in thrall to Denton floats mainly because my local tackle shop in the Forest of Dean sold them. I still have plenty left in my collection and with a few other Winfield ones probably have more than enough to last my lifetime.



A few of my favourite Denton floats

Of course there are also a wealth of handmade traditional style floats to be bought on auction sites and I often fall  for these too. There is something quite special about a lovingly produced goose quill tench float that I just can't resist. Porcupine quills are another fascination for me and these too can be sourced easily from the internet and even at car boot sales.




Goose quill Tench flots

Like anglers from years ago I probably have too many floats but I have always loved them. Nowadays I make some myself. It's cheap and relatively easy to do and you find that you improve with every one you make. I make them in a vintage style that owes much to the Denton floats I always liked. If I lose one of these then there are no tears as I can replace it within a week.
 As for that cane and cork antenna I'll have to search the auction sites for a possible substitute. In my heart I know I will never replace a float that I caught a near 2lb roach on but I may find a usuable alternative.