Steelhead floats

[ChrisK]

Is is me or does this play a major factor in the stealth of our float rigs. One other question is why do some float manufactures paint the under waterline portion of their floats black when this color stands out like a beacon in most water conditions ?

Your thoughts ??

[bare foot wader]

if you have a proper drift going on the float should be the last thing a steelie sees, not so much in crystal, gin clear water but in most normal visibility conditions

 

IMO a river will naturally have debris floating on the surface and not every tiny thing on the surface will spook the fish, so I don't think a bit of black will scare many fish...I stay away from the unstained balsa wood floats, i would be inclined to believe that they might stand out a bit much

 

i've also heard that a clear plastic float on a sunny day can intensify the light passing through it (ie like a magnifying glass effect)...i've scratched up the surface with sandpaper before, can't say i noticed any difference but whatever gives you confidence is always good

 

I personally stick with black ravens, clear/translucent green drennans and thill turbo masters(my absolute fav for quick water)

[Spiel]

All my floats have a natural cork bottom, nuff said.

[solopaddler]

I dabbled briefly with plastic floats. Some guys love them, I'm not one of them.

 

Balsa all the way for me in a variety of shapes and sizes.

[ChrisK]

Heres a good read..

http://www.fishonbc.com/articles/steelhead-floats/

[SRT8 smoker craft]

I use 5-6gram drennans in all conditions I find the float does little to spook fish but some guys wear camo and crouch down low in clear water conditions and I were blaze orange so I don't get shot by hunters.

[DRIFTER_016]

The only floats I have used for the last 20 years are balsa with natural bottoms.

I don't have any issues catching fish.

 

Here's some of my last batch before the clear coat went on.

 

[okumasheffield]

The only floats I have used for the last 20 years are balsa with natural bottoms.

I don't have any issues catching fish.

 

Here's some of my last batch before the clear coat went on.

 

 

did you make those?

[solopaddler]

did you make those?

 

Re-read his post.

[highdrifter]

Re-read his post.

 

HAHAAH!!

[canadadude]

I dabbled briefly with plastic floats. Some guys love them, I'm not one of them.

 

Balsa all the way for me in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I agree, I always painted some white on the bottom and the tops orange, when I'm swimming and look up I always just see white pretty much. I never understood the black finish.

[Aaron Shirley]

I have experimented heavily between clear plastic, balsa and cork floats painted in a variety of colours in clear water conditions over the years. My conclusion; it really doesn't matter what type of float is employed in your drift set-up, they all work equally (depending on float style for water type of course).

 

I used to believe that a clear plastic 'almost invisible stealth' float was significantly improving my hook-up ratio in clear water when I was younger, especially with heavily pressured fish. It gave me confidence in clear water as well. I couldn't have been farther from the truth to my surprise after experimenting over the years.

 

The reason for researching this so much, is when I fished clear water with heavily pressured steelhead (especially noticed this on the Ganny in the spring), I found steelhead shy away from my clear 'invisible' float, 4lb fluoro, tiny hook and small shot at least 18" above the hook. I've also had them clear the water hitting my clear plastic floats on some tribs!

 

Steelhead have extremely good eyesight. If you experience clear water heavily pressured fish that shy away from a balsa float, they will also shy away from a clear float that is white under the cap and painted a bright colour on the top.

 

Now I just use whatever float I have in my vest for the water conditions, although balsa floats very well. If I experience heavily pressured steelhead in gin clear water (don't fish those conditions much anymore) shy away from my float set-up, I break out the fly rod and cast quartering up river without a strike indicator. I have found steelhead have great eyesight ahead and off to the side, but don't see as well more than a 45 degree angle behind them. I believe that is partly why the fly rod works better in those conditions, apart from the lack of hardware drifting above their heads.

 

Good steelheading!

 

Aaron