How to Use a Float to Detect Bites When Fishing

Connected to the line above the hook, fishing floats are designed in a variety of sizes, shapes and configurations. Often referred to as bobbers, fishing floats are constructed of plastic or foam shaped into a ball, egg or cylinder that "bobs" up and down in the water when a fish takes the bait. When attached to a fishing line, a float allows fisherman to detect bites that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Instructions

    • 1

      Attach the float to the fishing line according to the design of the float. Floats are generally of two designs: plastic floats with a button and a metal clip and foam floats having a rod traversing the center of the float.

    • 2

      Push the button on a plastic float to expose the clip. Slip the clip over the fishing line and release the button, making sure that the clip retracts back into the hole on the float, securing the float to the line.

    • 3

      Pull the rod from a foam float. Insert the line into the float, working the line through the center hole from top to bottom. Insert the rod, firmly, back into the float to secure the line.

    • 4

      Adjust the distance between the float and the hook to allow the hook to reach the proper fishing depth as the float sits on the surface of the water. Experiment by moving the float up or down along the line until you find the depth where the fish are feeding.

    • 5

      Work still waters, like lakes and ponds. Let out the fishing line until the line just below the surface of the water, under the float, goes slack, indicating that the bait has reached the bottom. Reel in about 1 foot of line and slide the float along the line to the point where the line enters the water. If you have not gotten a bite in 15 minutes, move the float down the line -- closer to the hook -- in 1-foot increments until a productive depth is located.

    • 6

      Use an oblong- or cylindrical-shaped float when fishing in current. Cast the fishing line into the current of a river and watch the float as it moves downstream. Continue to move the float up on the line -- away from the hook -- until the float lays on its side in the current. This indicates that the bait is at the bottom of the river. Adjust the depth of the float, 1 foot at a time, by moving the float closer to the hook until the float stands upright in the current.

    • 7

      Watch the float at all times. Once the float dips below the surface, indicating a fish has taken the bait, set the hook.