The price of floats!

[@Clive]

I haven't needed any new floats for quite a while so have lost touch with the market. However, I decided that I could do with some heavy sliders to fish the deeper stretches of the local rivers that bottom out at over 4 metres. There was nothing under €4 and they were Zebco which is the cellar of the basement in quality. Anything with a reliable name attached was over €10. I saw some sliders at €15 which is what the chap in front of us in the supermarket paid for a whole fishing outfit yesterday. Rod, reel, line, floats!, everything. How can they charge €15 for a float?

Looks like I will have to make my own.

 

[nottskev]

I haven't needed any new floats for quite a while so have lost touch with the market. However, I decided that I could do with some heavy sliders to fish the deeper stretches of the local rivers that bottom out at over 4 metres. There was nothing under €4 and they were Zebco which is the cellar of the basement in quality. Anything with a reliable name attached was over €10. I saw some sliders at €15 which is what the chap in front of us in the supermarket paid for a whole fishing outfit yesterday. Rod, reel, line, floats!, everything. How can they charge €15 for a float?

Looks like I will have to make my own.

Sliders are a bit tricky to make. I make my own bottom-end sliders, but I bought these Tubertini top-end sliders from Benwick Sports. They have a massive float range. They're not so sexy as the Avon sliders Aknib makes, but they take some weight - these are 10g and 12g. They have a lined tube through the body instead of a top ring. They look a bit clunky, but I got them for barbel in heavy water and they seem built for the job. I can't remember the price, but I think around £4.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Floats are such little yet important items of tackle and how they ca cost those sort of money is disgraceful, especially those that are mass produced.

Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of these little works of craftsmanship from done quite famous makers. I also have a few that were once owned by Richard Walker and some pike bungs from BB.

Some are kept purely for display but most are in use as they should be.

 

[@Clive]

Thanks Kev. I used to make them out of balsa and cane using tube that came with WD40 sprays for the line to run through. The ones that I have been using recently are pole floats and only go to 4g. I slip a micro swivel on the stem and lock it using silicone tube to give top and bottom attachment. I' wanting them for roach so 6g to 8g would do me.

I agree Peter. Some are kept back for nostalgic purposes, but mainly they are a tool and there is no way a modern plastic and styrofoam float can cost so much to make.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Last week I saw an advert for some large 8” Paul Cook floats that were £69 a piece!

I think I’d burst into tears if I had one of those come adrift while fishing.

I have been known (in my younger years) to don waders to retrieve lost floats as well a climbing trees.

 

[ian g]

I do something similar to Clive but use lolly pop sticks instead . Plus whip an eye on the stem.

 

[mikench]

Goldfish tackle on eBay plus another guy in Rumania sell decent slider floats at around £2.99 or less for more than one plus £1.99 postage for however many you want. Good value.

 

[nottskev]

You can make any waggler, straight or bodied, a slider with a small-eyed adapter. I didn't see any top and bottom sliders on ebay though, Mike, bar one small balsa set that top out at 4AAA. Where did you see them?

I did come across a set of 30 floats. Bids start at £490. Buy It Now for just £700.


Fetish

1. a form of sexual desire in which gratification is strongly linked to a particular object or activity or a part of the body other than the sexual organs.

2. an inanimate object worshipped for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit.

 

[barbelboi]

I try not to lose floats. In fact I'm still using floats from the 60's bought from Peter Drennen in his mothers garage.................

PS I wish I still had them..............

 

[@Clive]

I've stumbled across something I can use at Decathlon in the trout fishing equipment of all places. €2 a piece and won't take much work to convert them.

 

[Philip]

Clive, I have these Milo floats that would serve as sliders if you attached an eye to the stem (they already have a hole through the body).
At 10g they may be a bit large for your needs but I have a few going spare I could post if your interested.

 

[@Clive]

Thanks Philip, they will be larger than I need.

Like you I use sliders to lay on or float ledger for carp in deep, slow swims. I can get by with 4g pole floats with the swivel attached to the stem. But in the swims I have in mind for trotting I will need another 2g or slightly more purely to get the bait quickly through the bleak layer, down to the roach. I think I should be OK with the Decathlon floats. They have a top attachment and I can push a micro swivel on the stem as I do with my other floats.

Thanks for the offer

 

[ian g]

I have a few floats from Decathlon , I like there sliders with the detachable tips . Handy for fitting night lights or different coloured tips

 

[Philip]

Yes I like those as well Ian, I have used them for Zander and Mullet after dark with a nighlight pushed in the top...not expensive either.

 

[mikench]

I will have a look Kev. Here is the guy in Nuneaton.

 

[Steve Arnold]

I plan on a more serious attempt to float fish the Lot this year. Towards the end of last season I bought a suitably strong Korum float rod that should do a job here.

These floats from Decathlon look like they can be made to work.....

FLOTTEURS PECHE DE LA CARPE AU COUP PF-F900 CC4 1,2g x2

FLOTTEURS PECHE DE LA CARPE AU COUP PF-F900 CC4 1,2g x2 au prix de ★ 5€ ★ sur Decathlon.fr. Flotteur très robuste spécialement développé par notre équipe de concepteur pour la pratique de la pêche de la carpe au coup.

www.decathlon.fr

There are more patterns in the video on that link.

I have a few traditional Avon floats and a few bought for mullet fishing. I am not spending a fortune on these things, a big bag of wine corks in the kitchen, plenty of elder in the garden hedge.... and I studied the first Billy Lane series on floats very well!

 

[ian g]

I have a few different types of floats from Decathlon , I mainly float fish on the middle Severn , laying on as a rule so I use quite large floats 4-8 grams mainly . I also make a lot of my own . Korum speci floats are also worth a look . I generally just whip an eye on to give the option of making them into a slider.

Korum Speci Stick Glide Float Fishing Tackle and Bait

KORUM GLIDE FLOATS - SPECI STICK The ultimate big bait, big fish float for fast-running water. These floats are great when targeting big fish in shallow water, especially with larger baits on the hook. Uses strong 2.5mm thick alloy stems, a du .... £1.99.

www.fishingtackleandbait.co.uk

 

[Alan Whitty]

£69 for any float is a joke without a laugh,especially as nearly every float sold isn't what you really want,more a compromise,safe to say I will make my own rather than pay silly prices,I heard today that someone is charging over £100 for 25kg of halibut pellets,they can sod off....