homemade floats

[t_miller316]

does anyone here make their own panfish floats and does anyone have any ideas or pics of some to get an idea. i will be using balsa wood and curious as to what you use for the center tube, bobber stop etc.

[Spike-A-Pike]

I have never made any floats from scratch, but I have modified a good number over the years. I start with a Thill spring float and add a snap swivel by threading it on to the spring. Add a bobber stop knot and a bead to set the depth of the bait and a split shot 6 to 8 inched above the hook.

The thing I like best about this setup is that you get all the castability of a slip bobber and remove the float opening a snap swivel. If you have kids that like to swap baits/lures every 5.487 milisecond or two like mine, add a small snap below split shot and swap a hook for snelled hook... the kids will be swapping setups all day and you only had to spend 10 minutes the night before getting the gang rigged.

Bruce

[clemmy]

RiverMan is the TU member you need to talk to...

Otherwise, a google search on floatmaking will give you lots of reading material..lot's of it British. There's also UK books on the subject. I thought I remembered a US store that carried floatmaking supplies from the UK, I'll try and find it if I can..

No you rednecks, UK does not mean University of Kentucky, even if it IS college Basketball season....lol

Clemmy

[t_miller316]

thanks and if you find site let me know

[BigTimeBuzzer]

WELL DON'T LAUGH TILL YOU TRY IT....lol. They are certain suckers that have a hollow plastic sticks instead of the traditional paper ones. After you enjoy the sucker, there is your center tube. You cane even get them in differnet colors. For the bobbers stops, I tie my own. You can tie them on the same sucker sticks and cut them into small sections so you can slide the stop off the end and on to your line. Another good thing to tie the stops on are coffee stirrers. You can cut them easier than the sucker sticks. You can get the beads just about anywhere...You can also make a good float from the quill of a porcupine....VERY SENSITIVE...I hope theis helps....BTB

[robbor]

I use thill floats, mini stealth. A few years back I bought a refil pack for counter display of either 50 or 100 floats and they were 1/2 price or less direct from lindy/thill and that was as a consumer with no discount.

As far as home made floats I make my own catfish/shark/heavy bait floats out of plastic containers, pm me if you need info.

[Mac10]

Repeating Big Time Buzzer's comment about using porcupine quills.... They are the best bobbers I have ever used. Simply sand the end that was in the skin of the porcupine, just to remove a little of the roughness, superglue some light weight copper wire by wrapping it in the glue about 4 turns and then wrap the wire around a small straw a couple turns, then clip to make an eye for your line to pass through. Then get some black rubber bands to twist and slip on the quill body about midway....use this rubber band to hold your line on by passing it through a couple of the rubber band wraps and then down to the end with the copper wire and through the eye.....you then can slide it when needed to change depth. It's by far the most sensative float I've ever used..... If worm fishing, a split shot isn't needed at all, but a very small one near the hook aids in casting. I always used mine with 4 lb test line on an ultra lite outfit.

The bobber lays flat in the water if your copper wire is light enough....then stand up on the bite.

[ensenada don]

Take a piece of thin rubber band and tie around your line really tight. Trim the tag ends off,and you have a bobberstop that will go through the eyes on your rod without hindering your cast, and you can slide it up and down the line wherever you want. Put any kind of bobber on, with a split shot about 6-8 inches from your bait or jig, and yor bobber will slide down the line to the weight. When you cast the weight will draw the line through the bobber to the stop. If you're fishing in a stream you can keep your bait just off the bottom while you drift it.

I've done this fishing in the ocean where the waves come in over rocks,it keeps you from getting hung up.

Goout with your buddy,and you set yours at 4 feet and he tries 6 feet, then 8, 10 etc till you find the depth the fish are feeding. With this rig you can set you bobber stop at 30 feet if you want and it won't hang in your reel or make any difference casting and you can make a bunch from 1 rubber band.

Good Luck!

[JSC]

I had to get in on this one. The attached photo is of a Central Alabama Special. Originally made by Mr. Rainwater