Float making.

peterjg

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
1,904
Reaction score
1,809
Markg, you making fishing flies! The whole world waits with baited breathe to see the unveiling of your entomological creations!!!

I tied some flies once and although they resembled something one might see in the trap of a public urinal they actually worked!

PS, now whenever I return home after another fishing blank on a dull and cold winters day and I feel useless, depressed, a failure, all I have to do is look at those photos of your floats and rod and the world seems a better place, I immediately cheer up, nay burst into hysterics ......
 
Last edited:

rayner

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Messages
4,862
Reaction score
2,053
Location
South Yorkshire.

We all had to start somewhere !!!!!

Wow.....2014 think i must have started float making in 2013

These wagglers where made of bull rush, painted tips and a no 8 swivel as an eye

The offerings on show here are very close to my float with similar materials. There's no way I will try to reach the upper echelons both you and Binka have achieved.
Luckily, I have lower standards than the pair of you, it's easier for me to stay where I am with my float making. I have neither the time nor the inclination.
 

purplepeanut007

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
468
Location
Manchester
Just make them really well to last a long time....they dont have to be fancy.
Floats dont like damp and frost and if not sealed correctly will swell and crack so experiment with getting the sealing and lacquring to last a long long time.
 

rayner

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Messages
4,862
Reaction score
2,053
Location
South Yorkshire.
They're cheap enough to make, a season is all I want from them.
If I wanted to take my time to make a float to last I reckon I could, the main concern for me is a workable float that I can knock up in quick time.
That's not to devaluate others attempts if float makers want a lot more than my efforts. I suppose you put in the time you like.
If I could get away with it I'd just use a stick. I like my dodgy uncomplicated way of float making if I made the efforts that you PP and Binka put in I'd place them in a glass-fronted case I couldn't bear to lose them.
 

no-one in particular

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
7,783
Reaction score
3,780
Location
australia
Just had a condor moment, if this don't work out, I have dozens of wooden floats and even a couple of big cork sea floats, I am wasted on here.
 

Attachments

  • 100_0619.JPG
    100_0619.JPG
    532.2 KB · Views: 148

purplepeanut007

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
468
Location
Manchester

Christening the new pin on the River Ribble using a very early stick float model. ?
 

Attachments

  • 20201018_155246.jpg
    20201018_155246.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 149
  • 20201018_140413.jpg
    20201018_140413.jpg
    4.4 MB · Views: 139

purplepeanut007

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
468
Location
Manchester
My next clutch of floats are six
"Straight Sarkanda Wagglers".
Read the rest on the blog. ?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20201208_182223_505.jpg
    IMG_20201208_182223_505.jpg
    270.1 KB · Views: 131
  • 20201128_100739.jpg
    20201128_100739.jpg
    625.9 KB · Views: 137

purplepeanut007

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
468
Location
Manchester

New Porcupine Stick Floats For A Friend. Click the link for all the pictures. ?
 

Attachments

  • 20201228_222123.jpg
    20201228_222123.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 131
  • 20201228_222214.jpg
    20201228_222214.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 134

purplepeanut007

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
468
Location
Manchester

I just managed to squeeze a pair of pike floats in before the start of 2021. Click the link for all the pictures.

Happy New Year Everybody . ?
 

Attachments

  • 20201231_143327.jpg
    20201231_143327.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 131
  • 20201231_153025.jpg
    20201231_153025.jpg
    804.4 KB · Views: 119

Keith M

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
6,546
Reaction score
6,259
Location
Hertfordshire
Nice floats PP.
Yours are tad more professional looking than the simple ones that I make PP (y)

This is how I’ve made a lot of my Pike floats :)



NB: The Sea hook Shanks are the type with the barbs on them.

Sometimes I just glue some ‘Biro tubes’ or plastic straws right through the balsa doweling instead of using the sea hook shanks.

Keith
 
Last edited:

Keith M

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
6,546
Reaction score
6,259
Location
Hertfordshire
Nice floats PP.
Yours are tad more professional looking than the simple ones that I make PP (y)

This is how I’ve made a lot of my Pike floats :)



NB: The Sea hook Shanks are the type with the barbs on them.

Sometimes I just glue some ‘Biro tubes’ or plastic straws right through the balsa doweling instead of using the sea hook shanks.

Keith

I have also occasionally glued a dart flight to one or two of them, which can then be quite useful for drifting out a suspended bait in a wind when if it’s in the right direction.

Keith
 

seth49

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reaction score
6,539
Location
Lancashire
Last summer I picked up some Canada geese wing feathers that they had moulted, anyone used these for floats, thinking of making some floats with them, now I’ve got plenty of time on my hands.
 

Aknib

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2019
Messages
1,874
Reaction score
2,873
Location
Isle of Onamower
Last summer I picked up some Canada geese wing feathers that they had moulted, anyone used these for floats, thinking of making some floats with them, now I’ve got plenty of time on my hands.

Go for it Keith, I like goose quill for various reasons.

It's very adaptable, can be left long and very sensitive if required, very robust and very...

Free! :)

1.JPG


2.JPG


3.JPG


I must have hundreds of stripped quills knocking around, it's hard to walk past a decent feather without picking it up and taking it home.
 

no-one in particular

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
7,783
Reaction score
3,780
Location
australia
I pick up quills as well but have not tried goose ones as yet. I have some big swan quills I found after what must have been a fox attack. Might have a go with them sometime soon. Sea gull quills a plenty where I live but they are often on the small side but they can make good inserts on other materials.
 
Top