Since the last patch fixed kamakaze roach taking huge boilies on size 6 and 4 rigs its now pretty hard to catch anything with a float set up. On most lakes its got much tougher to get a take and on some (like foundry dock) its nigh on impossible. Added to this is the added downer that the only fish that you now seem to catch on a float set-up are the tiddlers. The float set up has got so worthless that in most of my tacklebox set up's I've replaced it with a 3rd ledger rod which I find quite sad as the mechanics of this game have fish hooking themselves on all ledger set up's so you just haul your bait out and reel in whatever takes it. None of that messing about keeping a tight line and setting the hook at the right time. I'm not sure how true to life this is as my only RL ledger fishing was with a swimfeeder or an Arsley bomb and a swing or quiver tip and with all of those set ups you had to keep a tight line and strike at the appropriate time but maybe carp rigs do set the hook when the fish takes the bait. I have never used one IRL. Something wonderful lies dead in the water so I propose a moments silence as we doff our cloth caps and mourn the demise of float fishing.
Agree, right from the start the float fishing has been neglected. Cannot even adjust the depth to fish, and that cartoon bubble above your float is just not needed. Just makes the actual float graphic brighter and sharper. (Fishsim 2 did it brilliantly years ago). I think when this game came out it was aimed more as a arcade game where as the people who bought the game were genuine anglers wanting a more realistic game. Shame the float fishing has been neglected. It's just chuck out the carp rig now at all the venues and wait for the buzzer to ring. Hope they will look at the float fishing side of it.
Think thats a great point about people buying the game ended up being genuine fishing enthusiasts rather than someone looking for some arcade fishing like a lot of the American Bass Angling games. You would hope that Dovetail and its developers would notice the obvious change in it clientèle base and look to offer something more akin to a real simulation with still a hint of an arcade based game (No one wants to fish for 2 days on a video game and catch nothing). The float fishing needs lots of work and I have noticed the bite rate has dropped massively since the updates/new waters. Also as I have pointed out elsewhere on this forum, it would be nice to be able to change your tactics to more specifically target different species of fish - Of course the species are very limited but I have never gone out thinking I will try this method to catch a monster tench for example as the Carp take everything 95% of the time whether its float fished bread flake or maggot with small hooks.
Having spent a bit of time experimenting with float fishing after the patch. I think I was a bit premature in announcing the death of float fishing. Given some reasonable effort its still possible to get in amongst the tench, bream, roach and nuisance carp with a waggler. What has changed is your odds of catching anything worthwhile on the smaller hook sizes, so if you are after the specimen roach and bream you are going to be most successful with worms, corn or bread on a size 12 waggler. The size 14 does still catch fish but at a reduced rate with far more nuisance carp in the mix. from 16 down to 20 the bites were reduced and all I have caught on these was small roach and the odd small carp. Given that you cant change the depth of your float its only really sensible to use it for margin fishing in the patches of weeds you can find on most lakes. If you can pull tench out of the deep bits of the lake (and I must admit I haven't spent time trying to) on a float set to 2 foot depth then that's about as accurate as catching all the specimen carp on snails with a size 12 waggler and a 8mm dumbell (which wasn't accurate but was great fun while it lasted). On the whole I think dovetail got it about right with the patch. Float fishing seems to be working quite well in the way I guess the developers intended. on a size 12 in the margins with a decent amount of feed going in and your ledger rods reserved for stalking any big carp or cats you spot (otherwise it can provide too much of a distraction) you can get a decent days fishing in. You certainly wont win any matches as you cant keep pace with 3 ledger rods with the fish hooking themselves and waiting patiently to be reeled in (most of the time) but if you enjoy float fishing you will probably have a nice virtual day at the lake and that's the object of the game when all is said and done.
Thank you for the post GOrd0n Bennett. We're relieved to see that there is still some life in the float fishing mechanic of the game but we have had a number of reports of issues with float fishing or just requests to improve it so it is going to be passed on to the development team to allow them to make improvements to it.
It would be lovely to see the role of float fishing upgraded a little. If you ever get around to predatory species (Pike and Zander) then a sliding bung float and a bottom fished deadbait were favourites last time I went pike fishing. Either way for me and possibly others sitting and watching your float bobbing about is the most relaxing and involving way to spend time real or virtual on the banks.
