The fishing floater is a key tool which can be used effectively to target and land fish successfully. The floater normally serves as an indicator of having a fish on the line, but in this case it marks the spot of your cast, and is used to figure out the depth at that spot. Knowing that depth allows you to adjust to your target fishing depth and hook up with the fish. To do this, a stopper must first be placed on the main fishing line. Rubber or vinyl stoppers are available for this purpose, but they start to slip as the hole in its core widens after repeated adjustment. Using thin string or thread which is slightly thicker than normal sewing thread is recommended for the stopper.
Before tying the stopper, estimate the depth. Let's use 10 feet as an example. My arm span when fully extended and measured from finger-tip to finger-tip is slightly over 5 feet 10 inches. What I would do is extend the main line to two arm spans from wrist to wrist to get the 10 foot measurement and tie the stopper at that point. It is best to use a fairly long section of the string on your first attempt. Leave about an inch and a-half of excess string hanging down and away from the thumb while the thumb and forefinger hold and position the string over the main line. Then make a fairly wide loop with the string going behind the main line and back to the front where the thumb and forefinger are grasping the string over the line and complete the loop by going past them and heading behind the line again. Once that is done, slide the free end through the loop while making sure that it wraps over the main line from below, then continue going up and through the loop in the same way again. This process is repeated about five times before pulling the ends of the string to tie the knot of the stopper. Do not exceed doing this seven times, especially if you are using a baitcast reel as a thick knot may catch on the level wind. It is a good idea to leave at least a quarter inch of string on each end to retighten after adjustments.
Before sliding the main line through a swivel and snap for the fishing floater, unless the swivel is specially designed for the floater, a small plastic bead with a hole wide enough to thread the main line is needed. Without the bead, the loop of the swivel will pass right over the stopper's knot, rendering it as being useless. Naturally, a swivel with a loop smaller than the bead must be used.
Incidentally, having two short rubber tube sections with a round toothpick or bamboo skewer segment inserted through them over the main line will serve as a good stopper to keep the floater from coming into contact with the casting and bait setup at the bottom end. It is best to set this stopper to be slightly longer than the length of the fishing floater.
Since the objective here is to measure the depth, simply having a sinker attached to the snap at the bottom end instead of the cast setup is highly recommended. If the main line snaps accidentally, the loss is much easier to bear by doing this.
If the floater is upright after casting, the depth has been underestimated, and if the floater does not stand it has been overestimated. Gradually adjust the stopper position while casting to get the correct depth, then adjust again to bait and catch your target fish. May your floater keep busy shooting into the water thereafter!
If visuals are desired to verify procedures for setting the stoppers, feel free to visit [http://www.baitcastfishing.com]
Instructions on shaping and creating light and balanced fishing floaters may also be found on the website, along with customization hints to convert standard rods to baitcast rods, and useful information to experience and master long distance bait cast fishing.
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