The shotting capacity of a float

On the stem or the body of a float there is a number with a “g” — from fractions of a gram to tens. It is not the weight of the float but the weight of the shot you have to hang on it for it to sit in its working position.

What that number means

A float displaces water and by Archimedes’ law holds a mass equal to the mass of the water it displaces. The printed shotting capacity is the part of that mass at which the body is already under water and the tip is still above it.

So the number describes not “the maximum it will take” but the one state in which the float works. Anything else is either under-shotting or over-shotting.

An under-shotted float says nothing

If there is too little weight, part of the body stands above the water. To sink it a fish has to apply noticeable force — and a cautious touch simply never reaches the surface.

It looks like “there are no fish”: the bait comes back chewed and nobody saw a bite. The commonest reason for a blank day on the float is under-shotting, not an absence of fish.

An over-shotted float goes under with the wave

If there is too much weight, the tip goes under on its own. The float either sinks straight away or hides with every wave, and a bite cannot be told from the ripple.

The gap between “says nothing” and “sinks” is narrow — which is why the load is made up from several small shot rather than one lump.

Why the weight is split into several

The bulk of the weight goes higher up, and the smallest shot closest to the hook. The upper shot pull the rig quickly through the top layer; the lowest one sets how slowly the bait falls through the last metre.

It is the same lever as the free travel on a running lead: the total weight stays the same, and the behaviour changes completely.

Shot it with the tackle fully made up

The bait, the hook, the hooklength and a wet tip all have weight too. A float set with bare line becomes over-shotted once the bait is on — which is why the shotting is checked assembled, with the bait you intend to fish.

Change the bait from maggot to sweetcorn and the shotting has changed, and it shows on the tip.

What we do not write here

How many grams to take on a particular water. That depends on depth, current and wind, and there is no general figure for it. There is one working rule and the eye checks it: what stays above the water should be the tip, not the body.