New Old Floats

[Johnny wilkins]

I Got New Floats, From the 40's

So I was all excited today as a set of new floats came in from Louisiana, of course they were vintage floats on wrapped onto even older winders. A winder is just what it sounds like, you wind your rig up on it and these babies are sweet. I can see in this fishing tackle something that is around 75 years old, yet it is more advanced than what we have today.
Tackle from Louisiana is easily from trade routes originating from France where fishing goodies have come for 100's of years. What sticks out immediately is the split shot is very tiny, smaller than any Water Gremlin shot. The split shot is spaced out to serve a purpose whether to combat flowing water or to make the bait drop in a certain manner, controlling the float on top of the water. I was so excited to receive these floats with their original line and even a couple of old-school hooks without eyes. These are called spade end hooks and they are attached by wrapping the line around the hook shank - the smashed spade end holds the wraps on the hook.

What is old is new in many cases. These floats are far better than anything we have on the shelves - something to aspire to. I really have to get my act together to fix this situation and I am . I have a fishing show to prepare some graphics for and then get my printing ordered so it can ship / arrive in time. I also have some brochures to print.

I couldn't help myself so I posted a new group called "Catch". If you would like to learn along with us - visit this link: Catch Group

This is reserved exclusively for open-minded anglers who will learn together with us by listening, and adding details with the group conversation.

[Dwayne Denison]

How about some pics Johnny. I would love to see the floats and hooks

[Johnny wilkins]

Right- but the mono can be any size because this is a very strong, sure way to rig a hook. Since the line wraps around the hook shank a bunch of wraps are pulling on top of the piece of line which points STRAIGHT to your pole tip (or rod tip). Since the hook can't pivot, when you make a hook set (even on these rigs that are 75 years old - 200 years old) the hook is lined up STRAIGHT to you. When you pull that hook will NOT pivot out and will strike home faster, deeper than a hook tied to the eye.

Our lightest hooks and line even in the 3/4 of a lb. class are tied to in this fashion and so are big fish rigs that are tied to take down a 50 lb. fish. Physics is the same. Great point. In the old days the hooks had a steel bead on top to keep the line from slipping off the end. When hook manufacturers could produce the eyes in hooks, apparently people liked tying in this fashion better- but that doesn't mean that an eyed hook fishes better, it only means that it is currently selling better.

Once you have worked with spade end - you are hooked!

[JBplusThuy]

So that's what they call those hooks. They are common in Japan even today, mostly sold in pre-rigged packages, the equivalent of our snelled hooks. The mono on them is usually really heavy for the size of the hook. I might have a few around in some corner somewhere.