Stick Float Fishing Part 5 - John Dean, His Influence, rods and floats
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- This is part 5 in my series on stick float fishing. I've dug out an original Bruce & Walker John Dean Stick Float rod that I've owned since 1981 coupled with a Mitchell Match and John Dean stick float to fish the Dorset Stour for roach.
John Dean came to prominence in the mid 70s, mainly on the river Trent where he enjoyed huge success on the float in matches, winning Amnglers' Mail Matchman of the Year award in 1979/80 with a record points total. He was in the winning Nott's Fed. team of 1980 that dominated the 1980 Div. 1 National with a record points total, and John was rated so highly at that time it was predicted that he'd win his section more or less regardless of the peg he drew which he duly did with 12lbs of roach. The JD rods (stick float and waggler) and floats came out in about 1981 which was the year John fished for England in the World Championships at Luddington on the Warwickshire Avon.
John was a perfectionist when it came to all aspects of his fishing, keen to get the rod, floats and even a stickler for his split shot being perfect.
I've never got close to his level of success in big matches but it's no coincidence that my biggest wins (up to 200 pegs) were mostly using this rod and at least a couple using those superb floats. Furthermore, I had a great deal of success catching specimen roach using this rod and using it in preparation for this video resulted in roach of 1-14 and 1-9 (on the video).
If you want to make your own stick floats that emulate the JD ones you could do worse than copy what John did and make some with plastic stems from children's paint brush handles.
When the Trent became feeder dominated in the early 80s John packed up match fishing and turned to trout fishing with great success though he still coarse fishes. He contributed to Jim Baxter's 'The Rising Antenna' book on waggler fishing and if, as promised, Jim's book on the stick float comes out next year then I look forward to a contribution from John.
My two latest books, 'Big Roach 2' and 'Ivan Marks and the Likely Lads' are available from calmproductions.com
Had the pleasure of sitting behind John watching him fish the stick on a Burton Joyce open when I was younger, absolute legend
I watched John the two days of the 1981 Luddington World Champs; I know he fished a waggler on Day 1 but cannot remember what he did on Day 2; I did buy his rod from a dealer that day though.
@@MarkWintleFishing i can tell you he fished a stick on day 2 cause i stood behind ,watching in awe as he displayed unbelievably accurate casting skills to a tiny spot on the far bank for a few chublets in a flooded river.
He obviously ddn't have much as he's recorded as DNW. It was hard to find much action that second day and I suspect that in trailing up and down I missed what little action there was. I can remember watching a Scottish angler who had a big far-side slack that he tried to fish with a waggler but of copurse he was sinking his line which very quickly pulled the waggler out of poisition - a host of far better English anglers were advising him to fish top-and-bottom and hold the line off the water.
@@MarkWintleFishing he had a pound or two which was ok in the section..he could only catch in one tiny spot when the stick arrived in front of a little drain on the far bank
@@johnsmith-px1sr I think the weights on the second day in the individual match were much worse than you remember; Dave Thomas won with 2-10 and just 15oz was 5th the second day as the river was very coloured and ripping through.
Yep that photo at the end that's you the guy I met on the Frome
Been using John Dean floats for years, still slowly building up my collection but still the best floats out there
Really enjoy the videos Mark
I'm always looking out for JD floats but now have plenty. I also make my own version of JD floats with kids' paintbrush handles.
I bought some John Dean stick floats in the 80's, still in my kit today and caught some lovely Colne Roach using them less than 2 weeks ago
I sometimes think the original JD plastic-stemmed sticks were and still are the best sticks made, full stop. I cannot fault them though it's good fun to make your own versions with plastic paintbrush stems.
still got a few of the original j d sticks mostly wire stems but don't use them now, the trent has changed in that you have to fish further out with heavier float's i like the drennan big sticks in order to find any flow. really enjoy your vid's mark proper fishing .
have you ever used a center pin for full control of the stick float no line sag tight to the turning drum all the way down ,nice video
I spoke to Jim Baxter and he confirms that his new book on stick floats which should be out in 2021 will have a substantial section on John Dean.
Did this book ever come out? I’ve not seen it about
I believe it's being designed; as yet no confirmed publication date. I'm as eager as you to get my hands on it.
The book is called 'Stick Float Wizardry' and is now available from Amazon or the publisher, 1889books
Mark, thank you for making the videos. Along with your articles they are very helpful to me. No one in my country fishing roach with stick float technique, so it's very hard to find any information on my language. Now i'm using a good centrepin reel, which allows me to cast at good distance and trot float freely, but after watching you, i'm thinking about fixed or closed face reel. The problem is, that i am left handed and worrying about strikes - won't the line slide between finger and spool when strike with bail opened? Another question: as left handed person i have a very poor choice of closed face reels - i found daiwa 125 m on ebay (this one has switchable handle), do you know something about this reel, worth it purchasing? Sorry for my english. With best regards, Artyom.
With open faced reels it's a matter of practice in trapping the line with your forefinger, one reason why it's important to have a reel that has a spool that can easily be reached with your finger. Closed-face reels like the Daiwa 125M make this easier and many English anglers use them for trotting as they are less prone to tangles. The Daiwa closed face reels are generally well-regarded - I've got a Daiwa 120 that is similar to the 125M and it's been reliable.
Is John possible making a contribution to the new book on stick floats Mark?
I certainly hope so.
John Dean is featured in Jim Baxter's new book, Stick Float Wizardry - out November 2022.
What sort of depth was the peg you were fishing today Mark , just interested to note the depth for a 5 no 4 stick float .
Between 5 and 6ft. I could possibly have got away with 4 no 4 but I wasn't sure if the wind which was a facer though light and quite variable - sometimes nothing, sometimes upstream, occasionally downstream - might prove troublesome. I was tempted to use one of my home-made sticks as well.