There are numerous variations of a sunken float paternoster in use by the many anglers who fish for pike, its a method used by them on still waters and lakes in the main, but can equally be used on fast or slow moving rivers, drains or canals. The big difference between the version you would use on a river type fishery would be how the bait is mounted. This rig described and illustrated below focuses on this.

Again as will be seen in the various rigs in the site, it is really most effective when used with a livebait, this being because the swimming action of the live baits attracts pike, plain and simple. However in a river there is a reasonable possibility of using a dead roach, dace or perch, successfully. The reason they may work is that you will mount the live bait or dead bait head up the trace as shown below and not dorsal to pectoral as you would in a lake/stillwater rig. Find out more about set up below.

The first look at this rig will reveal that it uses a conventional 'through the middle' slider float which is set to depth by using a stop knot and bead or a couple of rubber float stops, not the little ones for regular float fishing but stronger and larger braid stops.
In essence this a regular surface fished paternoster fished under depth when used in deeper water, basically it is a rig that removes the need to know the exact depth of the swim you will be fishing, something that is very difficult to establish by plumbing as you will never get an accurate depth, so accept this at the out set and set the depth the bait will fish from the bottom rather that from the surface!

The float is a slim profile slider float (typical examples Drennan Piker, Zeppler or similar) as this offers the buoyancy needed, but not the resistance a stubby, fat profiled float might. There is little to worry about such resistance in still waters, but in flowing water the pressure will make getting a rig to hold position almost impossible. Remember float paternoster rigs are used for a specific reason most of the time, typically allowing you to present a live bait in a position where you need it to be static in a hot spot, by a feature or where a moving rig would risk snagging on sunken obstacles.

As with many rigs discussed this rig really needs the inclusion of an uptrace of around 36 inches of minimum 30lb BS multi-strand wire with a quick link swivel on the bottom end to allow easy switching of hook traces and hooking up the paternoster (rotten bottom) lead link.

The hook trace should be 15 to 18 inches long usig minimum 20lb BS multi-strand (7) wire with two size 4, 6, 8 or 10 semi-barbless trebles. The upper hook should be fixed and unable to slide on the trace. Some ‘snap tackles’ use a ‘sliding’ upper treble to allow adjustment to suit the bait, try and avoid such a feature as it both reduces the ability to set the hook and will weaken the wire. You don’t want fish slipping the hooks or breaking the wire in mid fight.

NB: Hooking and playing a pike in running water puts much more pressure on the tackle than will ever be experienced with even the largest stillwater pike you may hook.
The bait is mounted is by hooking the upper treble in the top lip and the end hook is mounted in the flank just in front of the caudal fin, with red bait flags for both added security and attraction. This type of mounting allows the bait to sit correctly in the flow and not get battered by the current as it might if hooked up from dorsal to pectoral root as you would with a still water fished livebait.

This mounting would also allow a dead bait to look more natural, particularly when presented in a moderate flowing current, looking and acting more like a live bait than a deadbait. If you don’t wish to live bait then use a smallish dead roach or similar fished ‘head up’.

The paternoster lead link, often referred to as a ‘rotten bottom’ by many, is used to set the working height from the bottom, rather than from the surface with this type of rig.  The name comes from the fact that this should be capable of breaking in preference to the reel line, uptrace or hook trace, by being the weakest link, should the lead get snagged. It should, however be sufficient in strength to cast the lead weight you use, in the case of fishing a river, this will not be very far so we could use a light breaking strain mono. but the leger weight will be heavier to hold the rig in the flow. You migh normally use 1 1/2 to 2 ounces on still waters, you would likely need 1 1/2 to 3 ounces for river fishing, dependant on bait size, float size and strength of flow in the swim, so it is better to be safe than sorry, using a link of around 8lb BS mono with a couple of overhand knots in its length to weaken it slightly.

The overall depth is set by float position, but the paternoster link sets the depth the bait will work in, varying by the hook trace length up and down. So with a 36 inches long rotten bottom, the bait can fish at between 18 inches off bottom to 48 inches off bottom. You can use a longer leger link, perhaps 4 or 5ft, it will depend on where you are fishing, the depth of the river and any features you wish to fish to. 36 inches will get you started though.

On choice of swims, you are better to choose to fish in slacker areas of your river than out in mid stream in full current as this is likely to push your rig out of position and into slacker water anyway. Locate and fish the margin slacks and eddies, back eddies in weir pools or mouths of feeder streams, small side rivers or culverts, where prey and pike may lie out of the main flows, particulary when levels are up and currents increase.