Bubble Floats

The Great Wallsendo

The Great Wallsendo

Well-known member
Had a think about this while on me hols...

Has anyone ever considered fishing a bubble float that had virtually neutral buoyancy IE it doesn't float on the surface but floats enough to stay just off the bottom...

Sound crazy? this would surely mean less snags and instead of fishing a leger set up that rolls around in the surf this would encounter less drag on the sea bed and present your bait better?

Dunno really just kind of a brain storm I had...anyone tried it/thought about it?
 
I'm not into Speed Dating...and Paint Balling on the beach would just be dangerous :p

It could be very much like power balling....except...with a float filled to almost neutral buoyancy there would be no washing around on the sea bed but just above it ;)
 
The Great Wallsendo said:
I'm not into Speed Dating...and Paint Balling on the beach would just be dangerous :p

It could be very much like power balling....except...with a float filled to almost neutral buoyancy there would be no washing around on the sea bed but just above it ;)
Click to expand...


lol, speed baling has nothing to do with dating or paintballing. Its taking heroin and amphetamine/cocaine at the same time.

alledgedly what kiled river phoenix
 
Never float fished myself yet, but I was wondering is the float not there for bite detection aswell as to keep your bait at a certain depth? and wouldn't you lose that if it were submerged? or is that not much of an issue?
 
you'd still get the tell tale bite signal on the rod tip - as you would with a free running weight

you'd basically use the semi filled float as a weight....
 
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cant see why it wouldnt work, you might be on to something

you could call it "float power balling" or just Flowerballing for short lol
 
Bubble floats are popular in denmark, for catching sea-trout. i used one a few times and it actually took on too much water till i couldnt see it any more. when i reeled it in it was just under the surface. so its going to be differcult to make it float at any chosen depth.
 
I see what you mean now, that's a class idea, but if your going to present your bait on the bottom and have the float hovering above I'm guessing you'd need to know pretty much the exact depth of water and air to water/sand ratio for the float? which could be tricky?
 
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try using a golf ball with a curtain hook screwed into it. It will have the weight for casting using a bass rod, and should bob around under the surface adding mobility to a head hooked ragworm or sandeel for bass!

cheers

stu
 
you might find it easier to just use a normal paternoster rig but add cork balls found in the carp section in a tackle shop ,slice half way through with a knife and slide on to the line, to give the hook some lift , i use this to lift the bait off the deck , you can slide the ball up or down the line to adjust lift and if enough are added you can have a hanging bait in slack water or flat calm
very good with whiting and coalies but you do get the odd fool of a fish attacking the cork
 
a bubble float full of water just sinks to the level of the water. If you wanted it to sink you would maybe have to put a bit of lead shot in. Cant see how it would mean less tackle losses as only the float would be off the ground, end gear would still be on the bottom. Best stick to what buddle floats are meant for, float fishing.
 
Going off the bubble float subject a bit.
Whats a controller float/how do ya set them up, is a controller float the same as the polysterene ones you can get?
 
As Ronvik rightly says, they have used this setup on the continent for years. A slightly more sophisticated type of casting float called a sbirulino is used. You can buy these in various weights to suit the casting weight of your rod and also in floating, intermediate, slow sinking and fast sinking variants, just like fly lines, except you can cast these a LONG way with just a fly or an eel lure attached.

I've been using this setup for my SWFFing for the last 2 years after reading an article by Mike Connors who SWFF's the German and Dutch coastline. I use a 12ft 1.75lb TC coarse rod, a fixed spool reel with 15lb mainline and a sbirulino with a 12ft trace attached. It easily casts out to around the 100yd mark (if that floats ya boat) but it allows for really light fishing for most summer species.

Only problem is finding a sbirulino stockist in the UK, I had to order mine from Austria (with help from a German speaking mate).
 
RobAdair said:
As Ronvik rightly says, they have used this setup on the continent for years. A slightly more sophisticated type of casting float called a sbirulino is used. You can buy these in various weights to suit the casting weight of your rod and also in floating, intermediate, slow sinking and fast sinking variants, just like fly lines, except you can cast these a LONG way with just a fly or an eel lure attached.

I've been using this setup for my SWFFing for the last 2 years after reading an article by Mike Connors who SWFF's the German and Dutch coastline. I use a 12ft 1.75lb TC coarse rod, a fixed spool reel with 15lb mainline and a sbirulino with a 12ft trace attached. It easily casts out to around the 100yd mark (if that floats ya boat) but it allows for really light fishing for most summer species.

Only problem is finding a sbirulino stockist in the UK, I had to order mine from Austria (with help from a German speaking mate).
Click to expand...

I brought a few of these in bulgaria, which were a very slow sinking variety. They worked a treat to fish the mid water layers and i caught quite a few mullet and garfish with them.
Also tried them off seaham pier, left to drift round with the tide with a 3ft leader and whole sandeel. Was hoping for a bass but managed a few mackerel instead.
 
The Great Wallsendo said:
Had a think about this while on me hols...

Has anyone ever considered fishing a bubble float that had virtually neutral buoyancy IE it doesn't float on the surface but floats enough to stay just off the bottom...

Sound crazy? this would surely mean less snags and instead of fishing a leger set up that rolls around in the surf this would encounter less drag on the sea bed and present your bait better?

Dunno really just kind of a brain storm I had...anyone tried it/thought about it?
Click to expand...

Dont think it would work, certainly not anywhere with tide pull, for certain species your bait needs to be fixed on or near the bottom.
 
Tony the golf ball method works very well, on beaches and broken ground, but as terry say's it's no good in a big tide, because the tension on the line, will pull the gear to the top.:)

#18 (permalink)
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13-08-2007, 08:57 PM
Topfly
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Thats right codnot, you just put a screw eye ( curtain wire type ) into a slow sinking golf ball and attach a clip swivell, and trace. :)
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