Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Trout_Bum on December 30, 2012, 08:17:19 PM
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Trout Bum Jr (my totally fishing crazy son) and I were out on the Cheddar trying to catch our first ever Steely the other day. Unfortunately no luck, but a great day just the same.
My question is, what do the top rods on this site use for floats? I use a Stealth 23 gram clear, and junior uses a 30 gram DNE that Santa left in his stocking. I am thinking that the heavier float is better in the water we usually fish....walking speed water and boulder gardens. We both use pencil lead run on the mainline and are careful to match the lead weight to the float so as to only have the coloured top visible.
Since we are steelhead virgins, any sage advise would be very welcome.
Trout Bum (sr and jr)
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Well your off to a very good start. You actually weight your float right, half the people on the chedder don't do that right. By weighting your float right you will detect more bites. As for size of float I would say 25 gms is a good all round size for the vedder. If its gin clear water then a clear float will be a lot more stealth but most the time it don't matter. That being said I always use clear floats go figure. If you have not tried the float stops. I would give them a go you can adjust easy and keep your self off bottom.
Hope this helps and keep up the good work taking the fish nut out!!!
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I use 25 gram cleardrift floats and DNE 20 and 25.
Cleardrifts are the closest thing you can get to the Zepler or Drennan without the high price tag.
I also have a 28 gram dink float just in case I run out of float stops.
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20gram ClearDrift is all I use.
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As water mostly have some color to during winter steelheading, a 25g DNE foam float is tough to beat in terms of value.
Even if you loose one, no big loss. I hate to run after floats in winter.
When fishing gin clear water in summer and fall, I do use Drennan 11g and 20g Piker floats.
I do end up running after them a few times every season. ;D
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Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.
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in gin clear water i use the clear drifts if not i use 20gram dne with a tooth pick i dont like float stopper to exspensive or a thill big game floats thos aer very very nice foats and they take a good amount of wait and they are sensitive
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Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.
Well we don't quite see what fish see in terms of the colour spectrum so I would say you are probably wrong.
Although fish don't see black, it's empty to them and they do see bright colours so there may be some truth to it.
Perhaps clear floats are not for all weather conditions.
You do raise a good point.
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Well we don't quite see what fish see in terms of the colour spectrum so I would say you are probably wrong.
Although fish don't see black, it's empty to them and they do see bright colours so there may be some truth to it.
Perhaps clear floats are not for all weather conditions.
You do raise a good point.
Last time I checked the sun isn't a color...
Why do fish use a form of cover on sunny days? I'm guessing because they can see it.
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Last time I checked the sun isn't a color...
Why do fish use a form of cover on sunny days? I'm guessing because they can see it.
Well sunlight is a colour, a spectrum of colours; some we can see and some we can't.
Same with fish, they see a different spectrum of colours then us.
Colours also look different in different weather conditions and different depts. It's amazing.
Fish use cover on bright sunny days only if the water is clear. If the water visibility is low, sun don't matter.
This is because they can see moving objects on the riverbank and in the sky which spook them.
Also because they don't like sunlight.
Plus also to hide from predators in the water, they go to deep dark spots.
There is also a reason why fish's belly is bright silver and chrome and why their backs are blue, green and black.
If you look at the fish from below it's harder to see silver bellys looking up at the surface.
What you are suggesting makes sense for us, but it's hard to say how exactly it looks to the fish.
Some people think that the colour of yarn doesn't matter, but I beg to differ. Colour is most important in my opinion. Shape and movement are not as important.
If I ever meet you on the river, I'll recommend a book for you to read if you are curious.
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Well sunlight is a colour, a spectrum of colours; some we can see and some we can't.
Same with fish, they see a different spectrum of colours then us.
Colours also look different in different weather conditions and different depts. It's amazing.
Fish use cover on bright sunny days only if the water is clear. If the water visibility is low, sun don't matter.
This is because they can see moving objects on the riverbank and in the sky which spook them.
Also because they don't like sunlight.
Plus also to hide from predators in the water, they go to deep dark spots.
There is also a reason why fish's belly is bright silver and chrome and why their backs are blue, green and black.
If you look at the fish from below it's harder to see silver bellys looking up at the surface.
What you are suggesting makes sense for us, but it's hard to say how exactly it looks to the fish.
Some people think that the colour of yarn doesn't matter, but I beg to differ. Colour is most important in my opinion. Shape and movement are not as important.
If I ever meet you on the river, I'll recommend a book for you to read if you are curious.
One little letter can change an entire meaning, in this case it is "a". Sunlight is not a color, it is a spectrum of colors meaning multiple colors not one single color ;D There is also a reason why the US Navy paints their ships the color they do ;)
Shoot me an email of the book I would love to read it. I know years and years ago on a forum I read about how fish see and it showed how different lures would appear to them. I tried to find it the other year and was unsuccessful in doing so.
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I used a foam dink float for many,many yrs until last yr,when i tied on a plastic float i found on the side of the river that someone had lost. OMG ,I coud not believe how it tracked! IMO, a plastic float tracks better and gives a angler a way nicer drift over a foam dink float.As far as fish seeing your float? A non issue in my experience.Ive had agressive steelhead attack my float on occassion. I think more of an issue is the sensitivty of the float you are using to be able to detect even the most sensitive of bites.You get that with a plastic float,when i used foam floats,i often shaved them down to be able to just float my wieght just enough without sinking to detect the delicate biters.In the end it all comes down to personel preference.
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I used a foam dink float for many,many yrs until last yr,when i tied on a platic float i found on the side of the river that someone had lost. OMG ,I coud not believe how it tracked! IMO, a plastic float tracks better and gives a angler a way nicer drift over a foam dink float.As far as fish seeing your float? A non issue in my experience.Ive had agressive steelhead attack my float on occassion. I think more of an issue is the sensitivty of the float you are using to be able to detect even the most sensitive of bites.You get that with a plastic float,when i used foam floats,i often shaved them down to be able to just float my wieght just enough without sinking to detect the delicate biters.In the end it all comes down to personel preference.
I've never understood peoples theories behind what you said. For example if a $8 drennan is weighted so it takes say 10 grams of force to pull the float under. How would it be more sensitive or better than a $0.90 foamie that takes 10 grams of force to pull it under? Same amount of force to pull it under to indicate a bite...
Don't you partake on BCFR anymore? Haven't seen you in a while.
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Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.
bright sunny day
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/canso/dollyfishing06.jpg)
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I really do not think it matters what type as long as the weight below is enough to balance the float.
Gibb( the shorter version ) works just as good as any that I have tried.
Just my 2cents worth.
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bright sunny day
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/canso/dollyfishing06.jpg)
Wow! I never thought of it that way... The yellow top sticks out like crazy.
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I'm with JC on this .. I guess I have seen the evolution of floats on the Vedder after 50 plus years of fishing it. The first were big, ugly split-side wooden jobs, brown bottom, red top ,that had a nasty habit of falling off your line sometime during the day. To a kid that often used rocks or wheel nuts for weights, losing a float was serious bad news ... and any found float was a gift, as my friend Chris knows. :D Next came the ping-pong ball floats crafted by George Friskie, perhaps the most innovative Vedder River angler of the era and arguably to this day. They were a work of art and floated a big chunk of lead and a big gob of bait but were fragile, prone to leaks and a bitch to cast.
We soon started carving dense foam fishing net floats, along with balsa and cedar. After varnishing and painting, these floats were obviously very labour intensive and it hurt big time when the crappy mono lines of the day failed ... it was always the line, never the angler... ::) and the prized float drifted away.
Finally, foam dink floats came on the scene, first the big fatties an inch wide, 8 inches long and wound on the line with one or two turns...total garbage, imo ... and then big expensive plastic torpedoes with interesting names, that again, are fragile and are often seen abandoned on river banks....
Nah, give me a 6”, ½ “ wide straight thru foam dinker, top painted orange/green anyday. Will float all I want to throw, and as JC says, is easy to retrieve. And cheap ;)
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bright sunny day
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/canso/dollyfishing06.jpg)
Baaaaah that light bulb is blinding me!!!
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I know right! I'm switching for sure.
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wayyy too much emphasis on float visibility...with all the debris floating down the river, i'm sure it doesn't make that big of a difference...i would focus more on line visibility before anything else.
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I've caught just as many fish using a 99 cent dink float as I have using a $5 fancy one.
You guys make way too much out of all of this. Just my opinion :-\
Guys that use expensive floats all the time probably buy all those gadgets on TV too, like the shamwow. ;D
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You need to be confident with your gear. I rarely loose floats, and enjoy fishing with nice floats.
Nicer floats add some weight for the cast.
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I was chatting with an older fella I see on the river from time to time today, and he uses a piece of foam strapped to his mainline with some red duct tape wrapped around one end.
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Thanks everyone for the great input to my original post. What iI will be taking away from this is that there are many float types and that it boils down to personal preference. I will be trying a DNE 25 gram foam float, white body with red top. This should allow best visibility in low light conditions for my tired old eyes.
Trout Bum
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How many people here have REAL experience with floats and their effects on fish? Because to me this all sounds like a bunch of hearsay.
I've personally fished over large schools of coho in clear water only to watch the school literally part down the middle like the Red Sea to avoid my presentation. I tried everything from lighter and longer leaders, using micro split shot, same results.
Finally, I cut off all my terminal tackle and drifted just my float over the fish, interestingly enough, the fish still dodged just the float.
My solution to the issue was my roll of duct tape in my truck. I covered up 90% of the red on top of my float with the duct tape, retied with my normal gear and voila, not only did the fish not dodge my gear but they started biting.
For the record, I was using a grey 35g DNE and was fishing in over 10ft of water.
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How many people here have REAL experience with floats and their effects on fish? Because to me this all sounds like a bunch of hearsay.
I've personally fished over large schools of coho in clear water only to watch the school literally part down the middle like the Red Sea to avoid my presentation. I tried everything from lighter and longer leaders, using micro split shot, same results.
Finally, I cut off all my terminal tackle and drifted just my float over the fish, interestingly enough, the fish still dodged just the float.
My solution to the issue was my roll of duct tape in my truck. I covered up 90% of the red on top of my float with the duct tape, retied with my normal gear and voila, not only did the fish not dodge my gear but they started biting.
For the record, I was using a grey 35g DNE and was fishing in over 10ft of water.
Red Green will be proud of you. ;D
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Baaaaah that light bulb is blinding me!!!
If the painted part of the float was out of the water the light would then be able to enter the float and it would reflect the light like a vehicles headlight.
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If the painted part of the float was out of the water the light would then be able to enter the float and it would reflect the light like a vehicles headlight.
I've used dne or whatever I came across for the longest time.
This year for the start of coho when the river was super low I switched to cleardrift and my hookups increased instantly.
Call it luck or whatever, but an angler must have confidence in their gear when fishing.
The increase in September hookups for me made me a convert. Now I've always got a cleardrift on during low water conditions.
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I was chatting with an older fella I see on the river from time to time today, and he uses a piece of foam strapped to his mainline with some red duct tape wrapped around one end.
Seriously? How does he adjust his float on his mainline for the water depth hes fishing?
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I often chuckle when people say they feel the need to buy a Clear Drift to improve their fishing. They are just cheap knock-offs of Drennan. The plastic is thicker, the material is more rigid so easier to crack. u might get them for half the price, but u end up buying more to make up for it. how come Drennan hasnt come after Clear Drift because i'm sure they have a patent on the design? maybe it's because the product is from China?
A good foam float at a much lower price like DNE does the job just fine. if u cant catch fish with a DNE, then u definitely wont catch fish with a Clear Drift.
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Seriously? How does he adjust his float on his mainline for the water depth hes fishing?
Elastic bands. The duct tape is just the indicator not taped to main line
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I often chuckle when people say they feel the need to buy a Clear Drift to improve their fishing. They are just cheap knock-offs of Drennan. The plastic is thicker, the material is more rigid so easier to crack. u might get them for half the price, but u end up buying more to make up for it. how come Drennan hasnt come after Clear Drift because i'm sure they have a patent on the design? maybe it's because the product is from China?
A good foam float at a much lower price like DNE does the job just fine. if u cant catch fish with a DNE, then u definitely wont catch fish with a Clear Drift.
No you're right, I don't catch fish so take what I said for what it's worth.
I learned if I paint the bottom joint of a cleardrift with my wife's clear nail hardener it lasts longer.
Been using the same float since September and I fish 2-4 days a week.
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Cork
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Say what you will about clear floats, but I'm sure that a half inch object (yellow top of a clear float) is going to scare fish a lot less than 4 inch object (a white DNE float).
This only applies in clear water conditions.
I have personally been carrying 3 types of floats, DNE, dink and cleardrift.
But now since cleardrift are not so expensive I might just skip the foam DNE floats.
Sterling C, good thinking.
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I've never understood peoples theories behind what you said. For example if a $8 drennan is weighted so it takes say 10 grams of force to pull the float under. How would it be more sensitive or better than a $0.90 foamie that takes 10 grams of force to pull it under? Same amount of force to pull it under to indicate a bite...
Don't you partake on BCFR anymore? Haven't seen you in a while.
Johnny, it's not the size of the float that gives you a nicer drift, it's the shape of the float.
And the book you mentioned is the book, it worked great for me.
You should give it another read and this time follow instructions ;)
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berrys started carrying off shore balsa floats and so far they have held up well. i personally will not use cleardrift because they quality is not good. have had water in them to many times. nothing is worse on a cold morning than having to change a leaky float. when i was out on the vedder the other day, a guy was fishing the other side of me and when he chucked his gear into the water a steelhead actually went for his float with a good splash. either that or he spooked it with his presentation.
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berrys started carrying off shore balsa floats and so far they have held up well. i personally will not use cleardrift because they quality is not good. have had water in them to many times. nothing is worse on a cold morning than having to change a leaky float. when i was out on the vedder the other day, a guy was fishing the other side of me and when he chucked his gear into the water a steelhead actually went for his float with a good splash. either that or he spooked it with his presentation.
Sure they are not as good as Drennans but they are third of the price.
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The initial batch pf Clearfloats that came out was poor quality. They have fixed the problem of water leaking
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whats better? buying a foam float that works with no surprises, or buying a plastic float that might leak when u get to the river, worse if the fish are biting? lol...
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whats better? buying a foam float that works with no surprises, or buying a plastic float that might leak when u get to the river, worse if the fish are biting? lol...
It's good to have both if you can afford it.
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The initial batch pf Clearfloats that came out was poor quality. They have fixed the problem of water leaking
unfortunately once is to many times for me
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berrys started carrying off shore balsa floats and so far they have held up well. i personally will not use cleardrift because they quality is not good. have had water in them to many times. nothing is worse on a cold morning than having to change a leaky float. when i was out on the vedder the other day, a guy was fishing the other side of me and when he chucked his gear into the water a steelhead actually went for his float with a good splash. either that or he spooked it with his presentation.
Cleardrift floats are a hardier than Drennans, but fishing hollow plastic floats in the winter is generally tough. The cold weather makes them brittle and really non-resistant to cracking.
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Personlly I prefer cork floats,i have fished all the plastics ,foam and balsa floats and the best tracking and most sensitve floats I have fished with are the cork floats I make at home ,and they are more durable as well.
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Personlly I prefer cork floats,i have fished all the plastics ,foam and balsa floats and the best tracking and most sensitve floats I have fished with are the cork floats I make at home ,and they are more durable as well.
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Yup I think we have done a great job with the cork floats that we make. I find they cast better, they track better and you can bounce them off of rocks without having to worry about them breaking or leaking.
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Johnny, it's not the size of the float that gives you a nicer drift, it's the shape of the float.
And the book you mentioned is the book, it worked great for me.
You should give it another read and this time follow instructions ;)
I never mentioned a book, you were supposed to email me the name of a book.
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I never mentioned a book, you were supposed to email me the name of a book.
LOL Johnny, yes you did without even knowing it. :D
Sent you an email.
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Was in the store the other day and they dont have or carry Stealth floats anymore and is no mention of them on this thread.
I liked them and they were priced right.
Anybody know if they are still around or ?
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Army and Navy downtown still carry them
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Was in the store the other day and they dont have or carry Stealth floats anymore and is no mention of them on this thread.
I liked them and they were priced right.
Anybody know if they are still around or ?
Get Cleardrift floats.
Also good price.
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Floats dont matter for steelhead, there not coho. You dont even have to set the hook...
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If you are dropping a few hundred or more on a reel, and as much on a rod, why would you cheap out on a float :D :D :D
Rod...sage....reel...milner...simms top to bottom...float..foam dink hahahaha ;D
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i myself have used all the floats mentioned and to be honset the foam DNE works just as well as any balsa,dink or clear plastic.....but like others have said you must have confindence in your gear or you'll be questioning yourself........
scruff
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If you are dropping a few hundred or more on a reel, and as much on a rod, why would you cheap out on a float :D :D :D
Rod...sage....reel...milner...simms top to bottom...float..foam dink hahahaha ;D
This is pretty creepy! Are you stocking me bcguy! :o
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I've used just about every type of float mentioned here, and I've never found a difference between any of them. I just make sure I match the float size to the water I'm fishing, and weight it accordingly. I just use what I find, (log jams are your friend) I haven't bought a float in a long time, and always have a stock of foam and plastic in several sizes. Like others have said, confidence is the key, so use what you like!
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Down here you see guys fishing from shore and using a plastic water bottle as a break away float with a mullet suspended underneath!
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Best way to rig a dink float I've ever come across. Learned this from Rod from Bent Rods. You'll need: - some DNE floats (I use 20g, 25g, 30g) - some bamboo BBQ skewers - Some RC fuel tubing (get it from a hobby shop, very cheap, buy by the foot) - Some glue (I use Gorilla glue)
First take a bamboo skewer and poke out the existing tube inside the DNE float. It should pop out quite easily as it's just a bit of glue holding it inside. If you don't pop the tube out you won't be able to thread your skewer through the float.
Put a little glue on the skewer and thread it through the float (I like Gorilla glue as it expands and holds like mad)
Do this with as many floats as you want to make. I would suggest doing 2-3 in each weight of float you like to fish. Let the glue dry for an hour or two.
Now take some wire cutters and snip the skewer about 1/2 an inch from the top/bottom of the float.
Now you are done. An optional step it to take some sandpaper and round off the tips of the skewer (I do).
NOW, to rig it up! Snip two small pieces of RC tubing, I use about 1/4 inch. You'll have to experiment here as if you clip it shorter the float will slide a bit easier on the line, longer and the float will be harder to slide. I find about 1/4 inch is perfect. I keep extras cut to length in my vest.
Slide two cut pieces of tube up your line, then stick each end of the float in the tubes - done! Advantage over other float rigging methods is you can pop the float out easily and switch to a bigger or smaller float depending on the water, the RC tubing grips the line perfectly and does NOT start to slip like a worn out bobber stop, if you get your line tangled you can pop the float out which may may it easier to work with the line, if you get a snag your line does not cut into the float like with a wrap dink float, the float moves easier when you want to adjust float depth than wrap floats or bobber stops.
I have converted a few buddies to this method and they love it. Other say it's too much work and unecessary. Personally I think it's worth the work and once they are done up they are DONE. Can be used with any float where the line goes straight through. I prefer DNE floats as I find they drift nicer due to their tapered profile.
Give this method a try you wont be dissapointed!
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Now take some wire cutters and snip the skewer about 1/2 an inch from the top/bottom of the float.
Now you are done. An optional step it to take some sandpaper and round off the tips of the skewer (I do).
NOW, to rig it up! Snip two small pieces of RC tubing, I use about 1/4 inch. You'll have to experiment here as if you clip it shorter the float will slide a bit easier on the line, longer and the float will be harder to slide. I find about 1/4 inch is perfect. I keep extras cut to length in my vest.
Slide two cut pieces of tube up your line, then stick each end of the float in the tubes - done! Advantage over other float rigging methods is you can pop the float out easily and switch to a bigger or smaller float depending on the water, the RC tubing grips the line perfectly and does NOT start to slip like a worn out bobber stop, if you get your line tangled you can pop the float out which may may it easier to work with the line, if you get a snag your line does not cut into the float like with a wrap dink float, the float moves easier when you want to adjust float depth than wrap floats or bobber stops.
Sounds interesting, is it the main line stay outside of the float?
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I uses shrink tube on my loafer floats from the U.K. Shrink tube comes in different colors and sizes.
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Sounds interesting, is it the main line stay outside of the float?
Yes, the mainline will run on the outside of the float.
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I'm with JC on this .. I guess I have seen the evolution of floats on the Vedder after 50 plus years of fishing it. The first were big, ugly split-side wooden jobs, brown bottom, red top ,that had a nasty habit of falling off your line sometime during the day. To a kid that often used rocks or wheel nuts for weights, losing a float was serious bad news ... and any found float was a gift, as my friend Chris knows. :D Next came the ping-pong ball floats crafted by George Friskie, perhaps the most innovative Vedder River angler of the era and arguably to this day. They were a work of art and floated a big chunk of lead and a big gob of bait but were fragile, prone to leaks and a bitch to cast.
We soon started carving dense foam fishing net floats, along with balsa and cedar. After varnishing and painting, these floats were obviously very labour intensive and it hurt big time when the crappy mono lines of the day failed ... it was always the line, never the angler... ::) and the prized float drifted away.
Finally, foam dink floats came on the scene, first the big fatties an inch wide, 8 inches long and wound on the line with one or two turns...total garbage, imo ... and then big expensive plastic torpedoes with interesting names, that again, are fragile and are often seen abandoned on river banks....
Nah, give me a 6”, ½ “ wide straight thru foam dinker, top painted orange/green anyday. Will float all I want to throw, and as JC says, is easy to retrieve. And cheap ;)
Hey Dave a great wrap up . You bottom bounced my brain thru the evolution of floats I and others have used since the sixties . Again a great post ....