Favorite Bobbers / Floats

Stonedfish

Stonedfish

Known Pluviophile
Forum Supporter
What are your favorite floats or bobber when you gear fish?
My favorites are DNE out of Canada. I’ve found them to be super durable. Used to buy them at Ted’s.
I liked the Clear Drift floats for awhile but broke quite a few of them, especially the bottom part.
SF

DNE Fishing Tackle Foam Floats

Qualify foam floats and trout floats designed and manufactured by DNE Fishing Tackle.
www.dnefishingtackle.com
 
I love cleardrift floats, and Beau Mac bobber doggin floats. Cleardrifts do seem to have the lowest durability but even then I can usually get quite a while out of one before I break it by doing something stupid (like casting across the river and onto rocks on the other bank).

There is a company called Never Quit Fishing I love getting soft beads/other tackle from, who just started stocking EDEM slip floats.
neverquitfishing.com

EDEM, TB8 Foam Slip Float

Available now in the USA, EDEM TB8 foam floats are made of soft, pliable polyethylene foam, and are a great choice when fishing for salmon, trout, and steelhead. The float body is black and the top is colored in bright orange and chartreuse for easy spotting. 20 gram is similar to a 5/8 oz...
neverquitfishing.com neverquitfishing.com
neverquitfishing.com

EDEM, TB13Y Foam Slip Float

Available now in the USA, EDEM TB15R foam floats are made of soft, pliable polyethylene foam, and are a great choice when fishing for salmon, trout, and steelhead. The float body is metallic green and the top is colored in bright orange and chartreuse for easy spotting. 20 gram is similar to a...
neverquitfishing.com neverquitfishing.com

I might order some to give them a try. I remember finding one up on the vedder a couple years ago and I used it for a while and loved it. It was a hard foam body painted in high viz/ easy to see colors. Plus from that website they are 3 bucks each which is quite a bit cheaper than some comparable ones.
 
Like y'all, I like the Clear Drifts for any time I think the clearness might matter. These days that's mainly spring chinook as they are so spooky I want to do anything possible that might make a difference even if it's only in my head.

Otherwise I like the Hawken Aero-Float AF-5. I feel like I get the best of a fixed float with the extended top and bottom and the grommet inside helps it smoothly slide.

hawkenfishing.com

Aero-Float AF-5 Series

The Aero-Float 7 represents the pinnacle of Aero-Float technology. Extensive testing and modification have led to what we believe is the ultimate fixed float.
hawkenfishing.com hawkenfishing.com

I also put a bright pink corky between the float and bobber stop bead. If I don't see the corky perched on top, I know something is tangled somewhere.

The EDEM TB8 above looks nice. Kind of like an improved Aero-Float AF-3.
 
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Corky is a great idea. I usually just use a bigger bead on the top of the float so it's easier to see, but its not always a dead giveaway.
 
bennysbuddy said:
does anyone make their own floats out of wine corks ?
Click to expand...

Haven't done so myself but know others that have.
We used to use small, round cork floats back in the day for super low, spooky summerruns.
SF
 
When I lived in Australia we used a porcupine quill for a float to cast grass bait for blackfish. The quills are hollow and create no wind resistance so you can make soft casts and not lose the grass.

We wrapped homemade wire eyes to the side of the quill just like you wrap a guide on a rod. Easy to make, super sensitive and easy to cast.

Never thought about using them on a fly rod?
 
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I used to use clear drifts but they got hard to find. I've used beau-mac torpedo, both clear plastic and foam, for years now with no complaints.
 
Rvrfisher360 said:
There is a company called Never Quit Fishing I love getting soft beads/other tackle from, who just started stocking EDEM slip floats.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on these. I ordered a couple of the TB7 and TB8 20gr floats and they just arrived. Really like the looks of them and will give them some drifts this weekend.
 
I like the DNE floats too. They bounce off rocks better than the Cleardrift or Drennon floats I've used. But, I've find the Aero Floats work just as good. I'm not partial if I'm float fishing.
 
longputt said:
When I lived in Australia we used a porcupine quill for a float to cast grass bait for blackfish. The quills are hollow and create no wind resistance so you can make soft casts and not lose the grass.

We wrapped homemade wire eyes to the side of the quill just like you wrap a guide on a rod. Easy to make, super sensitive and easy to cast.

Never thought about using them on a fly rod?
Click to expand...
I’ve done it. Better than a round bobber for chironomid fishing sometimes.
 
I've stayed with aerofloats.

There were some awesome floats I got from canada called sold under the name "top shelf floats" that I really liked, but I can't find them anymore. Hard foam. They actually came from Germany, the one I have left has the brand name "Zerban" on it. Can't find anything by that name either.
 
Do people favor slip floats over fixed peg floats for center pining steelhead ?
 
I've been using Thill floats, to include their pole floats in the surf. Sounds crazy , but it works.

Also use lighted floats for night time fishing on moving or still waters.
 
Depends for me. Slip floats for some things, like very deep waters, and fixed for known depth still waters, or deeper moving water ala "bobber doggin"
 
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