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[Trout_Bum]

Trout Bum Jr (my totally fishing crazy son) and I were out on the Cheddar trying to catch our first ever Steely the other day. Unfortunately no luck, but a great day just the same.

My question is, what do the top rods on this site use for floats? I use a Stealth 23 gram clear, and junior uses a 30 gram DNE that Santa left in his stocking. I am thinking that the heavier float is better in the water we usually fish....walking speed water and boulder gardens. We both use pencil lead run on the mainline and are careful to match the lead weight to the float so as to only have the coloured top visible.

Since we are steelhead virgins, any sage advise would be very welcome.

Trout Bum (sr and jr)

[joshhowat]

Well your off to a very good start. You actually weight your float right, half the people on the chedder don't do that right. By weighting your float right you will detect more bites. As for size of float I would say 25 gms is a good all round size for the vedder. If its gin clear water then a clear float will be a lot more stealth but most the time it don't matter. That being said I always use clear floats go figure. If you have not tried the float stops. I would give them a go you can adjust easy and keep your self off bottom.

Hope this helps and keep up the good work taking the fish nut out!!!

[adriaticum]

I use 25 gram cleardrift floats and DNE 20 and 25.

Cleardrifts are the closest thing you can get to the Zepler or Drennan without the high price tag.
I also have a 28 gram dink float just in case I run out of float stops.

[Bandit420]

20gram ClearDrift is all I use.

[bigblue]

As water mostly have some color to during winter steelheading, a 25g DNE foam float is tough to beat in terms of value.
Even if you loose one, no big loss. I hate to run after floats in winter.
When fishing gin clear water in summer and fall, I do use Drennan 11g and 20g Piker floats.
I do end up running after them a few times every season.   

[Johnny Canuck]

Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.

[SteelheadAdict]

in gin clear water i use the clear drifts if not i use 20gram dne with a tooth pick i dont like float stopper to exspensive or a thill big game floats thos aer very very nice foats and they take a good amount of wait and they are sensitive

[adriaticum]

Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.

Well we don't quite see what fish see in terms of the colour spectrum so I would say you are probably wrong.
Although fish don't see black, it's empty to them and they do see bright colours so there may be some truth to it.
Perhaps clear floats are not for all weather conditions.
You do raise a good point.

[Johnny Canuck]

Well we don't quite see what fish see in terms of the colour spectrum so I would say you are probably wrong.
Although fish don't see black, it's empty to them and they do see bright colours so there may be some truth to it.
Perhaps clear floats are not for all weather conditions.
You do raise a good point.

Last time I checked the sun isn't a color...

Why do fish use a form of cover on sunny days? I'm guessing because they can see it.

[adriaticum]

Last time I checked the sun isn't a color...

Why do fish use a form of cover on sunny days? I'm guessing because they can see it.

Well sunlight is a colour, a spectrum of colours; some we can see and some we can't.
Same with fish, they see a different spectrum of colours then us.
Colours also look different in different weather conditions and different depts. It's amazing.

Fish use cover on bright sunny days only if the water is clear. If the water visibility is low, sun don't matter.
This is because they can see moving objects on the riverbank and in the sky which spook them.
Also because they don't like sunlight.
Plus also to hide from predators in the water, they go to deep dark spots.

There is also a reason why fish's belly is bright silver and chrome and why their backs are blue, green and black.
If you look at the fish from below it's harder to see silver bellys looking up at the surface.

What you are suggesting makes sense for us, but it's hard to say how exactly it looks to the fish.
Some people think that the colour of yarn doesn't matter, but I beg to differ. Colour is most important in my opinion. Shape and movement are not as important.

If I ever meet you on the river, I'll recommend a book for you to read if you are curious.

[Johnny Canuck]

Well sunlight is a colour, a spectrum of colours; some we can see and some we can't.
Same with fish, they see a different spectrum of colours then us.
Colours also look different in different weather conditions and different depts. It's amazing.

Fish use cover on bright sunny days only if the water is clear. If the water visibility is low, sun don't matter.
This is because they can see moving objects on the riverbank and in the sky which spook them.
Also because they don't like sunlight.
Plus also to hide from predators in the water, they go to deep dark spots.

There is also a reason why fish's belly is bright silver and chrome and why their backs are blue, green and black.
If you look at the fish from below it's harder to see silver bellys looking up at the surface.

What you are suggesting makes sense for us, but it's hard to say how exactly it looks to the fish.
Some people think that the colour of yarn doesn't matter, but I beg to differ. Colour is most important in my opinion. Shape and movement are not as important.

If I ever meet you on the river, I'll recommend a book for you to read if you are curious.

One little letter can change an entire meaning, in this case it is "a". Sunlight is not a color, it is a spectrum of colors meaning multiple colors not one single color  There is also a reason why the US Navy paints their ships the color they do 

Shoot me an email of the book I would love to read it. I know years and years ago on a forum I read about how fish see and it showed how different lures would appear to them. I tried to find it the other year and was unsuccessful in doing so.

[Dennis.t]

I used a foam dink float for many,many yrs until last yr,when i tied on a plastic float i found on the side of the river that someone had lost. OMG ,I coud not believe how it tracked! IMO, a plastic float tracks better and gives a angler a way nicer drift over a foam dink float.As far as fish seeing your float? A non issue in my experience.Ive had agressive steelhead attack my float on occassion. I think more of an issue is the sensitivty of the float you are using to be able to detect even the most sensitive of bites.You get that with a plastic float,when i used foam floats,i often shaved them down to be able to just float my wieght just enough without sinking to detect the delicate biters.In the end it all comes down to personel preference.

[Johnny Canuck]

I used a foam dink float for many,many yrs until last yr,when i tied on a platic float i found on the side of the river that someone had lost. OMG ,I coud not believe how it tracked! IMO, a plastic float tracks better and gives a angler a way nicer drift over a foam dink float.As far as fish seeing your float? A non issue in my experience.Ive had agressive steelhead attack my float on occassion. I think more of an issue is the sensitivty of the float you are using to be able to detect even the most sensitive of bites.You get that with a plastic float,when i used foam floats,i often shaved them down to be able to just float my wieght just enough without sinking to detect the delicate biters.In the end it all comes down to personel preference.

I've never understood peoples theories behind what you said. For example if a $8 drennan is weighted so it takes say 10 grams of force to pull the float under. How would it be more sensitive or better than a $0.90 foamie that takes 10 grams of force to pull it under? Same amount of force to pull it under to indicate a bite...


Don't you partake on BCFR anymore? Haven't seen you in a while.

[canso]

Plastic floats are over rated, they're a gimmick that far too many people fall for. Setup a float rig and toss it in a swimming pool, hop in the water and look at it from below, it acts like a light bulb.

bright sunny day

[CohoMan]

I really do not think it matters what type as long as the weight below is enough to balance the float.

Gibb( the shorter version ) works just as good as any that I have tried.

Just my 2cents worth.