swim depth

[simon240uk]

i have been reading lots of things about plumbing the depth of the water with your float and a plumet but where do you start, 2feet 6feet??? what about having a pole rig with just a plumet at the end and a bead evey foot up from there,drop it in the swim with your pole and count how many beads are under the water,is there anything out there like this???



simon

[martin56]

Hi Simon - Plumbing the depth is the means of finding the bottom, you start by trial & error but rule of thumb is start with a depth of say 1/2 length of the rod. If the float lays flat, then you're OVER DEPTH so adjust the float & cast again to the same spot, if the float then sinks, then you're too shallow, so slide the float back up the line & cast to the same spot again.
Continue till the float sits perfectly COCKED (note there is no shot on the line yet of course)
Now you know were the bottom is.
I personally now make a mental note of where the float is by looking @ which rod ring the float is nearest to when the hook at the reel, then if i decide to fish OFF the bottom for a while (or even fish OVER DEPTH during the session, i can easily go back to fishing at the proper depth without re-plumbing & risk disturbing the swim.
This all seems very long winded, but believe me only takes a couple of minutes tops.
If you fish a different spot even in the same swim remember the depth can vary ALOT so be prepared to re-plumb.
With practice you'll know this as if the float now settles quicker, then your a bit short (shallow) as the shot falls through the water.

[BoldBear]

There are several different methods of finding the depths of your swim but using a plummet or a large shot pinched onto the bend of your hook is the quickest and most convenient method when you are fishing.



If you are not fishing but are just tryng to map the depths of a water (without an electronic depth guage) then there are simple methods like the two below which you can use:

To find gulleys and depths when you are mapping out swims on moving water you can use a drilled cork; cast out and as soon as the lead hits bottom start winding in; the cork will lock onto the line at the depth when you tighten up and start retrieving.
You can then mark the depth against your rod rings onto a simple map.



When you are mapping out swims on still waters you can find gulleys, bars, platues etc. using the method in the diagram below; Cast out then tighten up until the float is tight to the lead then pull a foot of line at a time off of the reel; counting the feet as you go; until the float emerges at the surface.



These ways you can quickly cover a lot of water quite quickly.

Or you can save up and buy an electronic depth finder

[simon240uk]

The thing I was talking about can but used on a pole and just dropped in and there is no adjusting at all, three beads under the water is three foot deep, this can be moved about your swim to map the bottom in one ship out

[BoldBear]

Originally Posted by simon240uk

The thing I was talking about can but used on a pole and just dropped in and there is no adjusting at all, three beads under the water is three foot deep, this can be moved about your swim to map the bottom in one ship out

Surely when someone is fishing with a Pole they can do this without having to attach any beads to their line at all, by simpy lowering their pole until the plummet gently hits the bottom then they immediately know whether they need to set their float deeper or shallower in that part of their swim by looking at the position of their float on the line, and also mark the depths with some tippex on their pole.

The angler doesn't then have to go through all the trouble of removing the bead setup first before then attatching their float, shot and hook etc. and then carefully measuring that their float depth matches the depth you found with your bead setup.

However if you are not actually fishing and you are just trying to log what the depths are very close to the bank (say within 14 metres) then your method sounds fine, but whether enough anglers would really need it and be willing to pay for one, is another question, but I wish you luck with it. It sounds fine for what you want and if you had some time to kill before a match I can see that it would give you a good idea of the topography of your swim.

NB. I have in the past on a reserviour; measured depths from a boat using a fine rope with different coloured knots tied every foot; when I was looking for gulleys and bars on the lake bed, plus on some ships they used to drop a similar rope over the side to monitor the depth in fathoms on uncharted waters.

[chris.oldgit]

thats where the expression ' swinging the lead' comes from.

[barbelblanker]

Agree with boldbear, why make life more complicated. If I am using the pole I lower the rig with the plummet on it, THEN if the float has gone undert I watch the tip till it hits bottom. Take the strain then lift the pole again. Estimate the depth and adjust. Sometimes I think people are looking for an answer to a problem that probably does not exist. On the other hand it is the very thought process of discussing it that can lead to some clever ideas. It's only last year I realised just how useful marker floats are for quickly mapping a lake. Keep thinking and asking.

[martin56]

Plumbing the depth BEFORE a match !! ??
Up here in the north you'd be disqualified for gaining an advantage before "TIME" was called.
(unless the rules are now more relaxed - i have'nt match fished for years)
A long time ago i remember a bloke being disqualified for flicking a cig' end into the river on the basis of assessing the flow before TIME.