A purpose built rod for casting conventional float tackle can be a joy to use, giving you great sport and distance, but you will probably need to build it yourself. The last one I built was based upon a 13’ freshwater match rod. I stripped it to the bare blank, shortened the tip by 4 inches and then equipped it with large diameter rings, starting with a 40 mm butt ring set 60 inches up from a snap lock reel seat. Either side of the reel seat I set two grips and a third on the bottom. I then put on a lined tip ring and there it was – a beautiful rod that could cast a ¾ inch non-toxic weight and matching float nearly 100 yards from the shore. It was lovely to use until, sadly, an accident broke it beyond reasonable repair.
The second alternative – distance float tackle – is a streamlined tackle that can be matched to either a plain hook or a wishbone rig and used to catch fish at great distance with only a carp rod, matching reel and two ounce lead weight. It is very effective and catches large numbers of garfish and mackerel, often taking two at a time since the baits are close together.
Sometimes it can be useful to get a bit further out for species such as mackerel and garfish, especially on a low tide when the fish stay further out. There are two ways of doing this, one of which is to build a rod especially for the purpose and the other of which is to use a heavier weight on a rod like a carp or pike rod.
