Visible float

[Tigger]

 

I can understand why people go to the trouble of making floats.

I would imagine it to be enjoyable even, especially if you make some you like to use and they look nice also.

Personally, it doesn't interest me enough to make the time to make floats.  It's difficult enough to find a few hours time to go fishing.

So, i'm happy to buy some floats, and in all honesty I think it would be a fair old hasstle getting the correct materials etc to make the shop bought ones which I use and prefer.

[Vagabond]

On 8/20/2021 at 11:26 AM, Tigger said:

 

I can understand why people go to the trouble of making floats.

 

 

 

Yep, and the same applies to rods, flies, reels, right up to fishing huts, marlin boats and your own fishing lake. The two  main ways you benefit are firstly that you can spend a little time work[ng on your hobby when circumstances prevent you actually going fishing  - eg flood, spawning season (both the fish's and your own), Covid rules etc etc.   Secondly the satisfaction of catching with something you made yourself is profound -  I have caught trout and salmon on flies that I tied myself, from feathers from birds I had  shot myself (said birds cooked and eaten  by self and family)

One benefit is unlikely though - don't kid yourself you save time and money. I have spent more of both on fly tying than ever I spent buying flies in a tackle shop.  As Tigger implies,  each to his own.

[Tigger]

Dave, a number of years back Brian made some floats, he gave me a couple and they looked great.  Anyhow, because Brian had gone to the trouble of making them I have never used them for fear of loosing 'em!

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Tigger

[markhoop]

On 8/20/2021 at 11:26 AM, Tigger said:

 

I can understand why people go to the trouble of making floats.

I would imagine it to be enjoyable even, especially if you make some you like to use and they look nice also.

Personally, it doesn't interest me enough to make the time to make floats.  It's difficult enough to find a few hours time to go fishing.

So, i'm happy to buy some floats, and in all honesty I think it would be a fair old hasstle getting the correct materials etc to make the shop bought ones which I use and prefer.

It's just a satisfying to do, it can fill a cold rainy winters afternoon but, saving money is not really part of it, they are good ones in shops and cheap enough to buy. 

[Tigger]

 

Yeah, I get that Mark, and I totally agree.

My problem is I have a lot of animals/pets, birds, dogs etc and any spare time I have is spoken for.

Something is always wanting a walk, to be fed or cleaned out .

 

[ayjay]

I am officially colour blind in that I can't pass the Ishihara Test: however, as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with my colour vision - checking at times with my wife, we may see slightly different hues, but that's as far as it goes, I can see a myriad of different greens when in woodland etc, traffic lights, no problem, etc etc.

One thing I do struggle to see is a red float tip, all of mine are painted yellow, and I can  see tiny alterations in the way the float rides when I'm catching a lot of Dace,(in particular) and other species, but they mostly bury the float when when trotting and I can see when it's not there as well.

[The Flying Tench]

On 8/18/2021 at 5:08 PM, Vagabond said:

I can't remember EVER buying a float - no not quite right - I did once buy a set of Avon trotters from a chap I knew to be trying to start a business (the floats were OK but his business fizzled out) .  Otherwise I always made my own from bird quills, porcs,  corks, balsa wood, Norfolk reed stems etc - soon I had several lifetimes worth of floats (and I have been fishing for over eighty years) Then I started finding floats in bushes, up trees, on the bank (once found a whole float-tube full)  - even in the water attached to snags !  Always regarded it as a challenge to get someone else's lost float back.  Now I'm such a doddery old bugger that I find it enough challenge not to fall in whilst netting a fish.

Lots of good advice in this thread already - I will just add the concept of CONTRAST.    In a thick pea-soup-coloured lake -  use a bright magenta float top. Summer trotting with bright green leaves of riverside bushes etc reflected in the water  = use a scarlet top.  Dark peaty water  or under bridges - use bright yellow, ...and likewise mutatis mutandis.   One more tip for late night sessions - use a BLACK tip - it will contrast against the reflection of the sky ,  Paint your own float tops  Buy a paintbrush or two and a set of kiddies acrylic paints and your in business.

I've delayed responding to this till I've been out for a couple of outings, and I certainly see the point in what you are saying, Dave. Is there any reason you don't mention orange, the commonest colour for shop bought floats? 

My problem today will be hard to solve, I suspect. I was trying to trot a Thames weir stream, and the reflections from the trees around my float were a mixture of dark green, light green, yellow, bright, dark - with lots of ripple in the water as well. The effect was like camouflage, I lost my float completely in it all. Any views, anyone? I gave up and moved to another swim. 

[Tigger]

Sometimes a black tip stands out best in those kind of conditons.

[chesters1]

If you buy a set or two of those crystal floats and a set of coloured tips you can then choose the colour to suit the situation. paint one white and one black to join the other colours and your set 

You can even buy tiny nightlights to go in them for those balmy nights when your fishing past dusk, saying that i always found green ones played tricks seeming to move and dip under their own volition whilst red and blue ones dont!

Edited August 23, 2021 by chesters1

[Martin56]

9 hours ago, Tigger said:

Sometimes a black tip stands out best in those kind of conditons.

I'm finding Black tip floats are best for me in all light conditions, that said. I'm mainly down the edge or 3 rod lengths Max'!

Black is becoming more easy on the eye - is that an Age Thing??