Top river tactician, Wayne Swinscoe, has been in winning form with the help of some cleverly adapted pole floats.

A few months ago I decided to adapt some Drennan Crystal Dibbers so that I could use them on a particular stretch of narrow river that I match fish midweek throughout the winter months. All I’ve done is replace the short glass stem with one some 2-3 inches longer for more stability in running water. They’re now perfect for pole fishing across in shallow running water.

Finally I drew a good peg where I could put them to the test. The 30-odd pegs on this stretch are all shallow, 2-3ft deep with a width of 11-13m. The fish that reside here are quality chub, roach, dace and even a few trout.

Match conditions last Wednesday were awful, freezing cold and gin clear. You could see the bottom all the way across! Fortunately my peg had plenty of cover. I set up a stick float, a straight lead and two of my adapted Crystal Dibbers in 0.2g and 0.3g sizes. The lighter one was for running through under the cover and the 0.3g was for holding a bait still further across in the steadier water.

An hour into the match with just one good dace to show for my efforts on the stick float it was time to try further across on the pole. I had been loose feeding casters upstream of the cover and could see the odd dace flashing for them. As I gingerly shipped the pole across, the dace melted away, never to be seen again!

After what seemed an age I decided to change to the heavier Dibber rig pushed even further across, right under the cover. At the same time I started to cup a few casters in.

Nothing happened to start with. The word on the bank was that it was fishing horrendous. Then, out of the blue, I had an indication on the float. Five minutes later I had three chub in as many drops. Game on!

I managed another one, then a roach and with five minutes to go two more plump chub slipped into the net. I ended up with six chub, a roach and a dace for 10lb 15oz and a comfortable and very satisfying win on a cold, clear and rock-hard day.

Did the floats contribute? I think so! One thing I also learnt was just how strong these floats are. Having to pull for a break a few times they came clattering back into the bank with no damage, so I managed to use the same Crystal Dibbers all day!