Souped up slip bobbers... part 2..

[Tony Livingston]

Slide the tube back into the foam body and secure it with a drop of glue. I recommend  leaving about 3/4" of the tube sticking out of the top of the float body.

Now, take those metal flat washers, clamp em' in a vise, and use a hacksaw to cut through one side. Like thus:

Slide an appropriate amount of washers, ( I usually use 6-7), onto the plastic shaft, right up against the foam body. Then slide the o-ring up against them to hold everything in place.

That's it, all done. What? why did I make you slit the washers? Cause' now  your new float is infinitely adjustable.... by sliding the O-ring off onto your line, the slit will allow you to remove and add washers as your bait/jig changes... No more cutting off your line to install a heavier or lighter float.... the float's sensitivity can be changed while leaving your setup intact.

I know what else you're thinking.... "Tony, how the heck am I supposed to thread my super limp fishing line through both beads??" Well, I suppose you could leave the bottom bead off, like most commercial slip floats do, but then you're back to having your line rubbing on the plastic tube, possibly digging another groove....

I use a bobber threader.... commonly sold in the winter to thread spring bobbers on ice rods. Run it through both beads, run your line through the loop in the end, leaving 8" or so of slack, and pull the threader back out... Voila', a threaded float.

One more thing... you know how commercial bobber stops come with a plastic bead to prevent the knot from sliding through the float? Well, why use that bead...we're trying to get away from plastic, remember? Thanks to the smaller hole in the glass beads, you will find that bead is no longer necessary:

And here's my hint of the day. When you install that stop onto your line above the slip float,  anybody's float, not just this one, I always install a second stop right below the float also. This allows me to "capture" the float between stops, effectively turning it into a fixed float.... when I need a sliding type float, I just slide the lower knot down against the weight, or hook. It's out of the way, and who knows that splash of color might just act as a fish attractant!

[Michael J. Searl]

Thank you for sharing the neat idea. I'll be using the solder version as shown on the Carlisle slip float. I have bought mine at a good price by the box at Grizzly Jig shop.  

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"I've got some ideas, I'll keep tinkering..."

With these words, humankind advances. Thumbs up to you.

[Tony Livingston]

No apology needed David, I didn't associate negativity with anything you said, in any fashion at all. I agree with your assessment regarding having the line enter at the top of the float...... terrible,as it requires extra placement weight to "lift" the line up to the top. I have been experimenting with sliding the tube down through the float body until it protrudes only 1/2" or so, and it seems to help, but there's still room for improvement.

I've got some ideas, I'll keep tinkering.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

The lower bobber stop will also catch your float, Tony, in case your line breaks near the terminal end. That way you don't have to go chasing it, as you do when you break off and only have a single stopper above the float.

Good work, Tony.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I was thinking abotu this the other day. First, I apologize fo sounding smarmy, Tony. You are right about weiht and its help in casting.

The thing I wrestle with is the line down throught the top. I prefer the line to come to the float from the bottom, and then down to the terminal tackle. This is like the Euro-style floats.

The problem with this is the float tends to helicopter on the cast, and often the float, weight and hook ends up in a tangle at "splashdown." I find that the shorter I make the float the less this tends to be an issue.

Secondly, the line entering the float through the top on the through-float set up will sail  a bit in the wind. This may not matter - or it may create a problem.

The thing I like best about the Euro style float is the way it reacts to bites. Even soft takes can be readily seen, as the float upsets easily. Tilting, rising and slight sideways movements are obvious.

I guess there is no perfect answer. Thanks for your post... it gives food for thought.

[Tony Livingston]

When it comes to my slip float fishing setups, I tend to look at weight as having two objectives.  First, I need to be able to cast out to the spot I want to fish. This facet of the weight needs to be applied more-or-less horizontally, to allow me to reach that spot. I think of this as casting weight. Second, once I have reached the target area with my cast, I need the bait to descend vertically, to the depth I want to fish. I refer to this as placement weight.

In order to cast to a spot out on the water, you need a certain amount of weight to reach it. That weight comes from the total combined weight of your setup - placement and casting combined. I think if I were to give it more thought, I might be able to express this as a mathematical formula, by using the elements of distance, weight, and location.....hopefully, I never get that bored.

Once my cast has reached the target area, I need my bait to descend...placement weight comes into play here, BUT I do not want the casting weight to have any impact on it, as I desire my bait to sink slowly, not plummet to the bottom.

To that end, I prefer to have the majority of my casting weight attached to the float itself. I don't want my placement weight any heavier than absolutely necessary, as I desire a slower fall through the water column. I want my placement weight to impact my casting weight, I do NOT want my casting weight to impact my placement weight. There will be small exceptions, as when my float drifts in the wind, or travels back towards me as my line slides through it. Both of those are instances of casting weight affecting placement weight, but I try to keep them to a minimum.

The downside to allocating casting weight to the float, is the splashdown.... If your float hitting the water scares a flock of crows out of a nearby cornfield, it's probably time to move a little closer to your targeted casting area, which will allow you to reduce your casting weight....hence the removeable washers on my floats.

I would imagine that most anglers already know these things, whether they realize it or not. They adjust their floats accordingly as experience has taught them to, without thinking about it. One can easily overcomplicate anything, including float fishing.

And that's why I prefer weighted floats. I do like balsa much better than foam, but foam was what I bought to demonstrate my technique on. Either will work, but David is correct in saying that balsa floats will require less additional placement weight.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

PS I also recently learned to tie a proper stop knot, and may soon break ties with the store bobber stops. Well..... maybe. They ARE pretty handy. :-)

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Now, me, I don't like heavily weighted floats. I prefer them to be just shy of neutral buoyancy. I was using dinky styro floats, but recently I hit on using hardwood dowels for the body.

Unlike foam which requires a lot of counter weight, the wood itself is naturally dense and so only very little extra weight is needed. This I add to the drop line in the form of micro shot - BB size and smaller!

For the lower leg and the signalling antenna, I still use the bamboo skewers.

[Vince Fusco]

That sounds like a great idea, Tony. It seems like whenever I used a slip float, my line would hang up before it got to the desired depth. I would add weight, flip my rod tip, and anything else I could think of to get the line through the tiny hole in the bead. It looks like your way will cut down on my frustration when using a slip float rig, and it is adjustable for different baits.

[Tony Livingston]

Federico, sorry for the confusion!

Thanks for the compliment Steve. I have some of those weights also, they work great, just not adjustable. If a fixed weight float fills the bill, (and it does most of the time), i have had good success using solder, wrapped around a screwdriver  as a mandrel, then installed on the float: