How To Set Up A Fishing Rod With Float

How to set up a fishing road with a float. 

Float fishing is one of the simplest fishing methods, which is at the same time very effective. Here we explain exactly how it works.

How To Set Up A Fishing Rod With Float

Float mount for standing water

Fishing with a float rig is the most common method of fishing. The reason for this lies in their ease of use and the tension that arises. Every angler knows it: the float twitches very carefully – once or twice – then abruptly dives under. Attack! The hook is in place and the adrenaline level shoots up! These are moments that make an angler’s life unforgettable.

There are many different types of poses on the market. The most common are lock poses and freewheel poses. While the former are very well suited for flowing water, freewheel floats are designed for use in still water. In the following we explain how a free-running float assembly is constructed and which details the angler must pay particular attention to.

Setting up a running pose montage

When rigging a free-running float, the first thing to do is thread the so-called float stopper onto the main line, then comes the bead, then the float, clamp leads, swivel, carabiner, leader and finally – the hook with the bait.

Why this particular order? The stopper is pulled onto the line first because we use it to determine the depth at which the hook and bait should be offered. To illustrate this, let’s cast our float rig imaginarily and observe what happens: first the clamp weight goes down and after it all the other components: the hook, the leader, the swivel and finally the float. But since we put a stopper in front of the float, this stops the float from sliding along the line (hence the name running float) and the whole assembly stabilizes. The bait is now floating underwater exactly where we wanted it to be.

Optimum lead weight

Every angler should calculate the total weight of the clamps before they are clamped onto the line. The weight of the lead chain should ensure that the float is optimally balanced and neither protrudes too much above the surface nor dives too deep into the water. Because if the float dives too far, you won’t be able to recognize a bite immediately, and if the float is too far above the surface, the fish will become suspicious because it would feel a lot of resistance to the bite.

The information that the manufacturer prints directly on the floats helps when choosing the optimal weight. While the German manufacturers specify the weight in grams, fishing floats from English-speaking countries often have incomprehensible load capacity designations based on ounces. Here you will find a table that translates the ounce breaking strains into grams.

Pay close attention to the individual details

If the stopper slips through the float eyelet when assembling a float, a bead should be placed in front of it to effectively prevent the stopper from slipping through. The market also offers float stoppers that already have a bead shape and therefore do not require an additional bead. When rigging a float, the main line is tied to the swivel with a Grinner knot for optimum strength. You can either choose a commercially available ready-made hook-lead combination or tie one yourself.