Float Fishing for Beginners

Why Float Fishing?

The purpose of float fishing is to place a desirable bait into an area likely to contain fish at a depth where the fish are likely to be. A float will suspend bait in the water at a fixed depth. The bait can be left alone until a fish swims by or it can be moved slowly by either the water's current or the angler's reel.

Equipment

The basic outfit for float fishing consists of a fishing rod, a spinning reel, fishing line, a float, a sinker, a hook and bait. Fishing combos are available in the sporting goods department of any chain store. A good combo for float fishing will contain a 5 1/2- or 6-foot rod and a spinning reel prefilled with either six- or eight-pound test line.

Getting Ready

Tie a hook to the end of the line, clamp a sinker onto the line about a foot above the hook and attach a float to the line above the sinker. Normally, live bait such as a worm, cricket or minnow is threaded onto the hook. There are also artificial baits that can be tied to the end of the line instead of using a hook. The placement of the float depends upon how deep you think the fish are. As a very general rule, you want your bait to hang a few inches off the bottom, so, if you are fishing in six feet of water, place the float 5 1/2 feet from the hook.

Catching Fish

Fish are drawn to areas that provide food and shelter. You will want to cast or drop the bait in an area where there is a sharp change in depth or other change in bottom structure, shelter such as a fallen tree or a pier, or another source of water entering your fishing area.

When a fish eats the bait, it will pull the float under the surface of the water, which is your signal to bring the rod tip up quickly, embedding the hook into the mouth of the fish, after which you will reel the fish back to you. When landing a fish, keep the line tight between your fishing rod and the fish. Make the rod to absorb the weight of the fish by keeping your rod tip high and allowing it to bend, which will reduce the stress on the fishing line. Also, when you bring the fish out of the water, either use a landing net or raise the fish with the rod. Grabbing the fishing line and raising the fish up will frequently cause the line to break or allow the fish to flip off the hook.