Casting "Floats"

[Guest Mike Connor]

Originally posted by Salar:

I wandered into this section expecting to find something about fly fishing...

 

See my reply to Newt regarding the floats.

 

You don´t have to use a fly-line to go fly-fishing!

 

TL

MC

[Guest Newt]

Originally posted by Mike Connor:

The floats are threaded on to the reel line. Then a shock bead ( mainly to protect the knot) is threade  on. Then a swivel is tied on.

 

The leader is tied to the other end of the swivel.  

Mike - unless I'm missing something, there seems to be nothing to stop the float riding up the line. Are they only designed to toss out and then retrieve? It sure looks like a stop knot on the line, then a small bead above the float, then the float would give you more options like controlling the depth of your bait if you leave the rig sit still for a bit in the water.

[Guest Mike Connor]

Originally posted by Newt:

Mike - unless I'm missing something, there seems to be nothing to stop the float riding up the line. <END OF QUOTE>

 

There is nothing to stop the float riding up the line.

 

In practice this does not occur, as flies are more or less weightless, and you are almost always retrieving slowly. Sometimes very slowly indeed.

 

When a fish takes, it feels practically no resistance at all, and the takes are transmitted directly to the rod tip.

 

If you use a stop knot, you will lose these advantages, and fail to hook a good proportion of cautiously taking fish.

 

TL

MC

[Guest Newt]

Ah so. Thanks for the clarification.

 

I may well get in touch with you about getting some of these in a short while. Wife has been out of work since March so we were pretty much buying only essential stuff but she starts work Monday (happy happy) and we should be on a somewhat better financial footing soon.

[Guest Mike Connor]

Originally posted by Newt:

Ah so.  Thanks for the clarification.

 

I may well get in touch with you about getting some of these in a short while.  Wife has been out of work since March so we were pretty much buying only essential stuff but she starts work Monday (happy happy) and we should be on a somewhat better financial footing soon.

They are not that difficult to make yourself. I made quite a few using aluminium tubing and cork. The hardest part was getting the central hollow stem right. I finally used plastic tubing, and melted it slightly at the ends, so that it stayed put, and the aluminium tube did not cut the line. The whole thing was then well coated in pre-warmed epoxy.

 

They all worked OK, but it was a terrible mess on working out the sinking rates for some. Floating types are not a problem. The commercial floats are practically all made of special plastics, the floating types of hard plastic foam.

 

You can also "tune" "Tiroler Holzlis" to do the same job. This is basically a piece of clear plastic tubing ( model shop, etc) about 3/8" diameter, and about six inches long, with a lump of lead in one end, ( "tune" by cutting off bits of lead), and a swivel in the other. These work, but tend to tangle occasionally. They are very cheap though, and very good for touch ledgering, etc.

 

TL

MC