Latest Content
A tench caught fishing the lift method

Need a Lift? Try the Lift Method!

Late Spring, into Summer is the perfect time of year to target tench, carp, crucians and bream in stillwaters. This gives me an excuse to use one of my favourite techniques – the humble “Lift Method”. Forget fancy anti-eject combi-rigs and the like; the lift method is simplicity itself. All the terminal tackle you need is a float, a hook, a swivel and some swan shot.

The principle of the lift method is to over-shot your float and fish with all of the weight laid on the bottom. The float is set slightly over depth, so that when the rod is set up on rests, the float can be made to sit upright by simply tightening the line, so you can finely adjust how much float tip is visible. When a fish takes your bait, the shot is often lifted from the lake bed, which causes your float to lift out of the water, sometimes even laying horizontal on the surface! It is this action from where the method derives its name. Very often, however, you’ll notice knocks on the float tip before it disappears, just as you would with a waggler. Either of these bite indications are positive enough to justify a strike. The float is attached bottom-end only with float rubbers. This allows quick depth adjustment and enables your float to pull free if a hooked fish takes you into a snag. It’s easy to make your own lift float, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just cut a length of porcupine, peacock or crow quill to the desired length and paint the tip a bright colour. It couldn’t be simpler. Still days with very little wind are the best times to fish the lift method. Surface wind can cause your line to drag and give false indications on the float. However, if there’s a bit of undertow on the water you’re fishing and you want to ensure your bait stays put on the bottom, this rig really comes into its own. There are some limitations to fishing the lift method. It’s an awkward rig to cast – due to all of the weight being so far from the float – so it’s difficult to cast more than 15 metres unless you’re using a ridiculous amount of weight. This is definitely a rig for fishing the margins of ponds, lakes, drains and canals; for float fishing at distance you’ll have to switch to a conventional waggler or slider float. The rig is also most suited to shallow venues & swims – again due to the location of the weight. In swims up to 6 feet deep you’ll be able to cast the rig reasonably easily. Go beyond this depth and you’ll need to perfect your casting technique as lead & float twist & pirouette through the air! There are also more sensitive and reliable float fishing methods for hooking fish; you don’t see many match anglers using the lift method! Timing your strike to hit bites can be tricky and takes some practice and trial & error. If you arte fishing for numbers, the lift method probably isn’t for you but if you’re fishing for fun and excitement, the lift method beats most other forms of stillwater fishing.

Lift method rig diagram - how to set up the lift method fishing rig
The above diagram illustrates how to set up a lift method rig correctly

I prefer to use a hooklength attached to a swivel when fishing the lift, but if you opt to fish with the mainline straight through to the hook, you can easily adjust the distance between weight and bait. This can be useful if the fish aren’t feeding confidently, because a longer hooklength gives the fish more time to inhale the bait before it feels any resistance from your weight. As shown in the diagram, I attach one or two SSG shot to the rig by pinching them on the tag end of the swivel knot. This prevents damaging the mainline with the shot and it also allows the shot to pull free if they become snagged. I find it best to set up my rod on two rests, with the rod pointing straight at the float and the tip set just beneath the water surface. This will keep the line sunken, meaning you’ll get less false bites from gusts of wind and passing waterfowl! If I’m fishing a water which contains large fish, I prefer to use a small free-spool style reel. This is useful if a specimen fish makes off with the bait when I’m not concentrating on the float. The fish is able to take line with little resistance, whilst I’m alerted by the noise from the reel and my rod is in no danger of being pulled in! Believe me, the first run of a tench or carp is one of tremendous power and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I recently used the lift method to great effect when I targeted tench on a local stillwater. The place is not renowned for huge tench, but I tackled it using lobworms over a bed of micro pellets and casters. I took in excess of 25 fish during the day. The largest was a fin-perfect 4lb 4oz tench, backed up by numerous fish over 2lbs, which is above the average size for the water. It was great fun watching the bites on the lift float, which were a mixture of lift bites and “sail-aways”. Tench have long been one of my favourite British species and it’s great to catch fish I adore on a method which is a joy to use.

4lb+ tench caught fishing the lift method
This tench, which took a lobworm fished lift-style, topped a hectic day!

I followed this session up with three short after-work sessions at another lake, managing to land a total of 5 carp between 4 and 9 pounds, along with a good tench and a perch. Add to these a few missed bites, and I have to say the action was fast and furious during these short trips. At one point, when fishing two rods, I had a double take and landed two carp in the same net! My tactics were the same – bait up with pellets and fish a large lobworm on the hook. Other baits I would suggest are sweetcorn, luncheon meat, expander pellets, and in waters where there are few silver fish, a bunch of maggots or breadflake are always worth a try.

A brace of carp caught using the lift method
This hard-fighting brace of carp struck at the same time, on different lift method rods!

In this age of over-complicated rigs and tackle that will cast to the horizon, you may be surprised just how much success you can have by fishing the margins with this simple, unobtrusive method. Bites on the lift method give you a real buzz, and by fishing light lines with forgiving rods, you can have some amazing battles with hard-fighting species such as carp and tench. I personally rig up with an Avon-style rod, with a through-action and a test curve of 1lb 8oz, coupled with a small free-spool or centrepin reel and 5-8lb mainline, depending how snaggy the water is. Fish to features such as lily pads, reedbeds or overhanging trees and be prepared to hang on when that bite comes!

A tench caught fishing the lift method
Late Spring tench like this beauty are suckers for the lift method. For extra sensitivity here I used an antenna float

  Andrew’s Top Tips for fishing the Lift Method:

  1. To help your float remain correctly positioned, use two float rubbers side-by-side.
  2. When fishing lobworms, use a long shank, wide gape hook – Mustad’s “Long Point Eyed Method Feeder” pattern in sizes 8 to 12 is perfect, as is the “Long-Shank Nailer” by Carp-R-Us.
  3. To help keep the worm on a barbless hook, use a rubber worm stop. My favourites are made by John Roberts. They are less fiddly than other brands and each one can be re-used several times. However, the Enterprise Tackle worm stops are also very good.
  4. When making your lift float, glue a short piece of 3mm stiff rig tube into the float tip, to allow the attachment of a standard isotope for fishing into darkness – a great time to catch bottom-feeders unawares!.
  5. If you bait up with groundbait or small pellets, keep an eye out for hundreds of tiny bubbles breaking the surface – chances are you’ve got fish hard on the feed and your hookbait may be next!
  6. If you find you are missing bites, try either a smaller bait or lengthening your hooklength – experiment and you’ll get it right.
  7. When fishing tight to snags or reeds, use a shorter 3 to 4 inch hooklength and with a good cast you’ll be able to land your bait within a couple of inches of the snag.

Good luck! Andrew.

More DIY fishing tackle making tips & hacks

I’m quite a hands-on guy and I’m regularly tinkering with things to improve them, adapt them or make them to suit my needs. If you liked the instructional above you may be interested in my other fishing tackle tips, tricks, adaptations, improvements & hacks. View them all here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Cast Your Eyes Here

Go Fishing With John Wilson - Anglia Television Series 1980s & 1990s TV Fishing Programme Show by John Wilson - Classic Vintage TV Episodes

Go Fishing with John Wilson – Original Anglia TV Series 1-4 now on YouTube!

If you were fishing in the 1980s and 1990s, John Wilson’s name was synonymous with …

Prologic quick change bankstick adapters - DIY hack to make all 3 designs fit one another

Prologic Quick-Change Bankstick Adapter DIY Hack Video: Make Old & New Versions Fit Each Other!

An instructional video describing the method required to convert Pro-Logic quick-change bankstick adapters (used with …

Leave a Comment - Let Andrew know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.