Float Fishing – Fish Floats & Catch More Fish!

A better question might be, why aren’t you switching to float fishing?

Float fishing has been around since the 1700’s and has been big since the 1800’s. In the United States it took us a 180 years to catch on, but float fishing got big here in the 1980’s. A certain guy named Mick Thill seemed to drive the float fishing tackle, landing a big deal with a major tackle company to promote float fishing. If you didn’t know what a float was, it is a bobber that catches fish.

Way back when, everyone fished floats because they first would catch their own minnows and small fish baits. They would then switch that fish bait to a larger float.

In the last 50 years the lure craze has turned every fishermen into a casting-crazed, plastic and balsa-wood zombie. Every fisherman used to know how to fish. Now, they know how to shop and look through catalogs.

The truth is, if pressed to catch their own minnow baits on a hook, line and  float, many of us would go fish-less. If you took the red pill, jumped down the rabbit hole and could fish differently, would you? I invite you to set what you know aside and fish unlike you have before. A world of catching many and larger fish awaits you. Tackle-busting, line-ripping fish are waiting for you to hook up on them.

Are you ready to catch more fish than you ever have in your life? Make the switch to fishing floats and learning float fishing. If you do, I promise you mystery, excitement and the thrills of sport fishing like you have never known.

The last time I left a pond, I noticed that many went fish-less some caught 1 small fish, and I was leaving the pond with not one of the biggest fish, but both of the largest fish. Both fish caught on a float were 3x the size of the fish caught by others. No one had two. More times than not, all eyes are on the spot where I am fishing. The action, the fish splashing, comes from the line beneath my floats. I have also noticed that when I fish floats for stocked trout, people tend to crowd closer thinking my spot is better. It isn’t better, my float is set up better to catch fish.

In the next two or three articles I will break down the use of floats, easy rigs you can make and float fishing techniques. The system and good floats are easy to understand. They work well nearly everywhere and almost always. They out-fish artificial baits and proper float rigs out-catch bobbers.

The important differences you need to know about floats vs. bobbers are also easy to understand. If it is round or fat, it is bad. If it is tall and slim, it is good. Skinny and light are the best floats. If it is plastic or foam, odds are, it is bad! The reason that these qualities are bad is that they don’t catch fish. They don’t catch fish because of their shape, their resistance to being pulled under water and the fish get a chance to spit the bit (hook). It is the bobbers that offer the fish the chance to get away before you can strike and set the hook.

Good floats are made of balsa, wood, quills or reeds. These are lighter than plastic. I will say it again, great fish-catching floats are skinny and tall, closer to a pencil in width. Skinny objects travel through the air and slide through the water better. A great float is the smallest float you can throw. Examples of great floats can be found here at LiveBaitFishingTackle.com. At this site, we sell mostly thin floats that are good for catching.

The last high-level concept you need to understand is that those chubby slip-bobbers with the plastic tube out the top (any bobber where the line comes out the top), is not a sensitive float.  These are bad. Bobbers have only two uses. Based because of poor physics and bad action,  these could be used for drift fishing and fishing large baits such as shiners or suckers. The bulbous round bobber bodies and shape only make them suitable for moving water of drifting boats or in rivers.

Many so-called experts also undershot these bad bobbers. Companies write the term “Pro” on these bad bobbers and even have stamped a float-fishing legend’s name on horrible products. Remember, just because someone has a logo shirt or tournament shirt, doesn’t mean their product is the best! It only means they are trying to sell you that product.

Great slip-floats are very skinny and long and they will show you what you need to know to set the hook. Most of the stuff on the hooks at tackle shops and even big box stores is too chubby, made of cheap materials and just plain started with a bad design from someone who doesn’t know how to float fish.

There is great news here. If you just want to catch more and larger fish, you can have adventure waiting for you. Believe in better floats and you can realize better fishing.

Step forward, take the red pill and don’t set your fishing rod down. Once you start using good floats, you have a greater chance a fish will pull your rod into the lake! You will have more strikes, catch more fish and hook more monster fish.

Travel through LiveBaitFishingTackle.com to see great float shapes and better slip floats.

For more fishing tips, tricks and for those in the Chicago area, you can pick up fishing lessons at ChicagoFishingSchool.com. Wishing you great fishing – Catch You Later –  Johnny.