How to Make a Steelhead Slip Float

Like their cousins the salmon, steelheads are rainbow trout that journey to and from the sea. A common method of fishing for steelheads in rivers is using a float to help detect strikes. Most types of fishing floats are constructed to securely attach to a specific point on the fishing line, but that causes a problem when trying to reel in the line -- you can't reel the line in past the point where the float is attached. Slip floats are designed to solve the problem by allowing the line to "slip" through the float upon retrieval.

Things You'll Need

  • Fishing float
  • Line stays
  • Snap swivel
  • Leader and hook
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove the shaft from the center of a rod-style fishing float. Insert the bare end of your fishing line through a line stay, though the hole in the center of the float, and then through another line stay at the opposite end of the float. Tie a snap swivel to the end of the line with a triple half-hitch knot. Snap the leader and hook to the swivel and bait the hook.

    • 2

      Slide the float up the line to the depth at which you wish to fish. For example, if you want the bait to hang 6 feet below the water's surface, slide the float 6 feet up from the end of the line. Push the line stay at the terminal end of the float -- the end nearest the hook -- up against the float.

    • 3

      Cast the line; the stays at each end of the float will hold the float's position on the line. Reel in the line when you get a strike. As the float hits the guide at the end of the pole, the stays and float will slide along the line, allowing you to reel in the line -- and the fish.