Going to post this now because I just finished emailing someone a lengthy explanation of the float rig. Checked my emails right after and there were two more requests for a good explanation.
Hopefully this will explain what it looks like and how it works without to much confusion. Sometimes words just don't give the entire picture. So here goes.
Traditional float or bobber rig is the standard clip on version either plastic, cork or foam. Clip it on desired distance from your hook and toss it in the water. Works great as long as it is within a few feet of the hook. I the float is too far away rom the hook then you can't reel in your line all the way without unclipping the float. Casting a rig like this is just about as easy as trying to throw a slinky accurately. Enter the sliding float rig.
This rig comes in many shapes and sizes. Key to the sliding float is the float will have a hole right through the center of it. And the hole will be large enough to allow your line to pass through it. Another key and there are a few to this rig is the stopper. Some rigs use a piece o cotton string that comes on a very small liece of plastic tubing. You take your line direct from your reel and pass it through the guides. Then you pass it right through the small piece of plastic tubing. Now you take this piece of cotton sting that is pretied on the tube ad gently slip it off the tube onto your ishing line. Once done throw the tube away. You are finished with it. Now you have this pretied piece of cotton on your line. It looks like a very small coil of string with two ends sticking out. Take both ends and pull very tight. This will pull the knot tight. Don't worry because cotton can't hurt mono fishing line. Pull the two ends very very tight then using a nail clipper clip off the ends of the knot. You should if done right end up with a small cotton knot on your line that if when pulled hard will slowly slide up and down on your line. You now have what is called the bobber stop in place. Along with these bobber stops are small beads with a hole through the center. Now you pass your line through the bead. Simple. Now take your line and slide it through the center hole of the float or bobber. Almost done. Now take a snap swivel and tie it to the end of your line. Now you can relax because all that left is the leadered hook and a split shot.
The bobber stop or cotton knot is the neat thing about this rig. It's small enough to be reeled directly onto your fishing reel without causing any problems. You can slide it up and down to allow your depth of the hook to be set wherever you desire. The bead and float will just slide effortlessly up and down between the stop and the snap swivel. If you want to cast, the float and bead are directly down on the swivel so you have a nice neat package to cast. No throwing a slinky. Once the rig hits the water the line will start to slide right through the float. This will continue until the bead and float come into contact with the stopper. So if you are fishing in say twenty feet of water and have the stopper set at eighteen your line will slide through the float and hit the stop and hold your bait two feet of the bottom. Hook a fish and start reeling in and the float will just slide back down your line until it hits the swivel so it never gets in your way.
If you want to look on line you can check out sliding float rigs. There are many many sizes of floats and an assortment of stoppers. The stopper I just mentioned is the one I have used for years. However I'm always trying to refine my tackle so I checked around and found this stopper that I started using last summer and love it. It's now the stopper of my choice. Called the Jack Petersons Custom Bobber Stop by Northland Fishing Tackle. The model I use is called ST-L It is packed four stoppers and beads to a pack. The bobber stop is actually a small piece of orange rubber that easily slips on to your line and holds fast again without damaging your line. Easy to use and deadly when fished correctly.
A few tips. I use this rig with my favorite bait. A nice lively juicy fat minnow. I set the stop so the minnow will be a few feet off the bottom. The only place deadlier for this minnow to be than a few feet off the bottom is on dry land. Near bottom is a death sentence for any small fish. This said the minnow will go crazy trying to get out of this area even with a hook in it. If you use a leader with any length to it the minnow will always seem to be able to tie it into a knot. Nothing ancy but I can't tell you how many times I have reeled in to find an overhand knot in the leader. I tie my oun rigs and for the sliding float rig I keep my leaders right around four or five inches long. Just doesn't give the minnow enough room or leverage to get Boy Scoutie on you.
Why it works. This rig works so well because it keeps the minnow in the flounders kill zone. Bait on the bottom is not the best place. Bait dangling just overhead is perfect for flounder catching. Also every gamefish in our waters will always pay attention to that near bottom area. The float rig will also keep your baits away from the many clumps of seaweed that littler the bottom. When you drag a rig over the bottom you are like a rake through the grass. Another reason this rig works so well is that it will drift with the wind and tide very slowly keeping your bait not only in the deadly area but also keep it in that area longer.
This rig is better than perfect in shallow water. Even flounder get spooked in shallow water. But they love to hunt there especially in low light conditions. Early morning, late evening and cloudy days are the perfect times to go shallow water flounder hunting. But you want to do it quietly. Anchoring up and letting the float rig drift for you will keep you quiet and the fish relaxed. Five feet of water just set the stop at about four feet. Place it in the water right next to your boat and let it loose. The wind or tide will slowly drit it away and the small chop on the surface will make the loat bob up and down causing the bait to be very active allowing every fish in the area to see it. Just let the rig float away until you almost loose sight then just reel in and do it again. Another tip is to throw a little chum. Even canned cat food works wonders. Doesn't always draw in the predators but it will work magic on what they love to eat. Chum in shallow water will get every grass shrimp and shiner moving in right behind your baot. The predators will soon show up to work this concentration of food. What better place for your float rig and bait to be hanging out.
Want to fish deeper water then just set the stopper at the depth you want. Your bait will still stop no matter what depth you set it at. I do use one or more split shots on this rig. I place them directly to my line just above the snap swivel. I did at one time place them on the leader but flounder shaking their heads caused many of these to just ly off. Placing them on top of the swivel will cut this problem down a little.
Most important. The secret to the sliding float rig is slack line. As long as your line is slack your bait will be at the desired depth. If your line draws tight your bait will be slowly pulled back up through the float. It a sliding float rig ad it slides both ways. Just watch the float and feed out line. When the float goes under reel in the slack and set the hook. Very simple rig. I like minnows because they are alive and flounder love them. But I also use strip baits and grass shrimp and anything else I have ever caught flounder on. With the float bouncing on the surface it will give even dead bait a lifelike look to it.
This rig is also great from land such as docks, bulkheads, sod banks and even beaches. Just cast it up current and feed out slack line then let the current slowly drift it right down along where you are ishing. You don't even need a boat to drift fish this rig. It's simple and deadly. Just remember to always feed out line to keep it slack. thats the big key to this rig working correctly. Great way for the kids to have fun. Sometimes it's difficult for kids to get the hang of drift fishing. Bouncing on the bottom can confuse them. Watching a float is like candy to the kids. Watching their expressions is priceless to adults. Hope I did this rig justice and didn't confuse anyone. Any questions just ask.:thumbsup:
Hopefully this will explain what it looks like and how it works without to much confusion. Sometimes words just don't give the entire picture. So here goes.
Traditional float or bobber rig is the standard clip on version either plastic, cork or foam. Clip it on desired distance from your hook and toss it in the water. Works great as long as it is within a few feet of the hook. I the float is too far away rom the hook then you can't reel in your line all the way without unclipping the float. Casting a rig like this is just about as easy as trying to throw a slinky accurately. Enter the sliding float rig.
This rig comes in many shapes and sizes. Key to the sliding float is the float will have a hole right through the center of it. And the hole will be large enough to allow your line to pass through it. Another key and there are a few to this rig is the stopper. Some rigs use a piece o cotton string that comes on a very small liece of plastic tubing. You take your line direct from your reel and pass it through the guides. Then you pass it right through the small piece of plastic tubing. Now you take this piece of cotton sting that is pretied on the tube ad gently slip it off the tube onto your ishing line. Once done throw the tube away. You are finished with it. Now you have this pretied piece of cotton on your line. It looks like a very small coil of string with two ends sticking out. Take both ends and pull very tight. This will pull the knot tight. Don't worry because cotton can't hurt mono fishing line. Pull the two ends very very tight then using a nail clipper clip off the ends of the knot. You should if done right end up with a small cotton knot on your line that if when pulled hard will slowly slide up and down on your line. You now have what is called the bobber stop in place. Along with these bobber stops are small beads with a hole through the center. Now you pass your line through the bead. Simple. Now take your line and slide it through the center hole of the float or bobber. Almost done. Now take a snap swivel and tie it to the end of your line. Now you can relax because all that left is the leadered hook and a split shot.
The bobber stop or cotton knot is the neat thing about this rig. It's small enough to be reeled directly onto your fishing reel without causing any problems. You can slide it up and down to allow your depth of the hook to be set wherever you desire. The bead and float will just slide effortlessly up and down between the stop and the snap swivel. If you want to cast, the float and bead are directly down on the swivel so you have a nice neat package to cast. No throwing a slinky. Once the rig hits the water the line will start to slide right through the float. This will continue until the bead and float come into contact with the stopper. So if you are fishing in say twenty feet of water and have the stopper set at eighteen your line will slide through the float and hit the stop and hold your bait two feet of the bottom. Hook a fish and start reeling in and the float will just slide back down your line until it hits the swivel so it never gets in your way.
If you want to look on line you can check out sliding float rigs. There are many many sizes of floats and an assortment of stoppers. The stopper I just mentioned is the one I have used for years. However I'm always trying to refine my tackle so I checked around and found this stopper that I started using last summer and love it. It's now the stopper of my choice. Called the Jack Petersons Custom Bobber Stop by Northland Fishing Tackle. The model I use is called ST-L It is packed four stoppers and beads to a pack. The bobber stop is actually a small piece of orange rubber that easily slips on to your line and holds fast again without damaging your line. Easy to use and deadly when fished correctly.
A few tips. I use this rig with my favorite bait. A nice lively juicy fat minnow. I set the stop so the minnow will be a few feet off the bottom. The only place deadlier for this minnow to be than a few feet off the bottom is on dry land. Near bottom is a death sentence for any small fish. This said the minnow will go crazy trying to get out of this area even with a hook in it. If you use a leader with any length to it the minnow will always seem to be able to tie it into a knot. Nothing ancy but I can't tell you how many times I have reeled in to find an overhand knot in the leader. I tie my oun rigs and for the sliding float rig I keep my leaders right around four or five inches long. Just doesn't give the minnow enough room or leverage to get Boy Scoutie on you.
Why it works. This rig works so well because it keeps the minnow in the flounders kill zone. Bait on the bottom is not the best place. Bait dangling just overhead is perfect for flounder catching. Also every gamefish in our waters will always pay attention to that near bottom area. The float rig will also keep your baits away from the many clumps of seaweed that littler the bottom. When you drag a rig over the bottom you are like a rake through the grass. Another reason this rig works so well is that it will drift with the wind and tide very slowly keeping your bait not only in the deadly area but also keep it in that area longer.
This rig is better than perfect in shallow water. Even flounder get spooked in shallow water. But they love to hunt there especially in low light conditions. Early morning, late evening and cloudy days are the perfect times to go shallow water flounder hunting. But you want to do it quietly. Anchoring up and letting the float rig drift for you will keep you quiet and the fish relaxed. Five feet of water just set the stop at about four feet. Place it in the water right next to your boat and let it loose. The wind or tide will slowly drit it away and the small chop on the surface will make the loat bob up and down causing the bait to be very active allowing every fish in the area to see it. Just let the rig float away until you almost loose sight then just reel in and do it again. Another tip is to throw a little chum. Even canned cat food works wonders. Doesn't always draw in the predators but it will work magic on what they love to eat. Chum in shallow water will get every grass shrimp and shiner moving in right behind your baot. The predators will soon show up to work this concentration of food. What better place for your float rig and bait to be hanging out.
Want to fish deeper water then just set the stopper at the depth you want. Your bait will still stop no matter what depth you set it at. I do use one or more split shots on this rig. I place them directly to my line just above the snap swivel. I did at one time place them on the leader but flounder shaking their heads caused many of these to just ly off. Placing them on top of the swivel will cut this problem down a little.
Most important. The secret to the sliding float rig is slack line. As long as your line is slack your bait will be at the desired depth. If your line draws tight your bait will be slowly pulled back up through the float. It a sliding float rig ad it slides both ways. Just watch the float and feed out line. When the float goes under reel in the slack and set the hook. Very simple rig. I like minnows because they are alive and flounder love them. But I also use strip baits and grass shrimp and anything else I have ever caught flounder on. With the float bouncing on the surface it will give even dead bait a lifelike look to it.
This rig is also great from land such as docks, bulkheads, sod banks and even beaches. Just cast it up current and feed out slack line then let the current slowly drift it right down along where you are ishing. You don't even need a boat to drift fish this rig. It's simple and deadly. Just remember to always feed out line to keep it slack. thats the big key to this rig working correctly. Great way for the kids to have fun. Sometimes it's difficult for kids to get the hang of drift fishing. Bouncing on the bottom can confuse them. Watching a float is like candy to the kids. Watching their expressions is priceless to adults. Hope I did this rig justice and didn't confuse anyone. Any questions just ask.:thumbsup:
