What a float is

A float is a buoyant part of the rig, with the line either running through it or held on it. It does three jobs at once: it holds the bait at a set depth, it shows the bite, and it adds weight to the tackle so that a light bait can be cast at all.

Three jobs that argue

Each of the three pulls the float its own way. To cast well it needs weight and a thick tip — and those damp down a weak bite. To show a cautious touch it needs a fine tip and the smallest reserve of buoyancy left — and a float like that will not cast into the wind.

So choosing a float is always choosing which of the three jobs to give up today. There is no universal one, not because makers never thought of it, but because the demands contradict each other.

A float does not work without weight

On its own it shows nothing but the wave. What makes it work is the weight that sinks the body almost to the end, leaving only the tip above the water: then any force applied to the hook shows at once.

How much to hang on it is set by the number printed on the float, not by eye. The pair — float and lead — is inseparable here: it is one unit of the tackle, not two parts side by side.

Two ways of attaching it

Either the float is held on the line without moving, or it runs along it. The first is fixed: the depth is limited by the length of the tackle. The second is a slider: the depth is set by a stop and the rod does not limit it.

This is the main division, and it matters more than shape, colour and material put together.

How a float differs from a bite alarm

A bite alarm reports movement of the line. A float does more: it holds the bait in a set layer of water and shows not only a pull but a lift — when a fish raises the bait, the float lies over on its side.

That lift bite does not read on a legered rig at all, and it is the main reason why electronic alarms never pushed float fishing out.

What goes wrong unnoticed

The varnish on the body cracks and the float starts taking on water — the shotting capacity drops and the float sinks “for no reason”. The tip fades in the sun and stops reading against the wave.

The check is simple: stand the float in water at home with its working weight. If it sits differently from last year, the body has taken on water.

What we do not write here

Which shotting capacity to take for a particular fish or water. It depends on depth, current, wind and bait all at once, and we have not found a verified source for a general figure. You match it on the water.