While I'm sure we'd all like to believe the float is the magic ingredient, would it have caught the fish without the "killer single egg roe bag"? Probably not. Presentation of lure/bait is what makes it for fish. The float's job is to FLOAT isn't it? 
Well Dragonspeed seeing as you asked...I do believe that the float does play a big part in successful float fishing. Besides a good float is just nicer to fish with
Now while I have not been around as long as some anglers on this forum lets just say I have been around long enough to have caught a couple of steelhead here and there and have had the opportunity to observe so interesting fish behavior.
First from the anglers perspective think of your float as your eyes into the Steelheads world, if your eyes are mostly closed you can not see what is happening very well. A quality float, say...the Stealth Traditional Series for example (insert shameless plug here)
will tell you better what is happening down below as they are more sensitive and track much better. A nicely tapered float like say...the Stealth Traditional Series for example (insert shameless plug here)
will also retrieve with less effort and less surface disturbance. I am not saying that you will not catch fish on cheap dink floats I am just saying that they lack some of the refinements that the more advanced floats can offer. Attention to details, sometimes small details are what separates consistent anglers from occasionally successful anglers.
Something that many anglers overlook is the fishes viewpoint, they look forward and up. Fish in shallow,slower or clear water are much more weary and a visible float can spook or distract fish that may otherwise be thinking about your bait! keep in mind the two most visible colors are white and black, dark floats can be particularly visible because they silhouette and are very obvious. I have observed on several occasions Steelhead and Salmon move aside as a visible float drifted over them and then take the bait presented under a clear float. Personally I catch most of my Steelhead in 3 feet of water or less so for me a clear float does offer and advantage.
Today I was on the Vedder and I hooked (and lost) a fish in a run that had just been fished by and experienced angler that had just left minutes before. The fish was in two feet of water and the other angler had a black float, mine was the Stealth Traditional Series (insert shameless plug here)
I cant help but think that it helped as we were both fishing bait.
As I said you can catch Steelhead with any float but consistent success float fishing is about paying attention to the little details and subtleties and a good quality float is a big step in the right direction. IMHO.
BTW thanks Chris
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Topic: New float works pretty good! (Read 5830 times)