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The anglers of the town of Bolognese in Italy developed the bolognese floats.

The river there is very deep and wide, the only way to catch the fish was to present them with very long rods, and as the Italian nation was pole orientated they developed these rods from Stiff 8 and 9 meter telescopic whips. Bolognese floats were then developed to match the rods and the venue, which was up to twenty foot deep and 80 meters wide.

The bolognese float is perhaps a large version of a pole float. Yet made aerodynamically for holding back and slowing the bait in the fast flowing river.
 The shape of the float has a high reverse pear, which gives it a large shoulder, to hold against the water skim. Sizes range from five gram to 18 gram. Shotted with a loge Olivetti down and a line of shots, the method was to drag on hard to slow the bait down then by holding the float against the flow the bait would rise up, attracting those hard fighting barbel, bream, and chub.

These Bolognese methods have now found their way into our rivers and venues that suit the bolognese floats, deep and heavy pulling water, such as the River Severn, river Wye,Trent   Thames, etc... Ireland in particular has many venues that suit the bolognese method of fishing.

To use a bolognese float properly you need a long rod, a twenty-foot rod will sometimes do, I prefer to use a seven-meter bolognese rod, and the action of the rod is in the tip. Holding the line of the water at long distances is the secret in controlling this float. Because of its weight it can be controlled very easily, I like to grease my line to give me extra control. Using this method in the World championships in Northern Ireland on the Erne was the only method that would catch those wearily old bream. Italy of course was team winners, and that young Australian angler Dave Wesson was individual. My self-finishing fourth individual on the second day with over 8 1b.

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