How big is yours and where do you put it?

[thecrow]

No not what you might be thinking but top and bottom floats, how tight do you have the bands (I use silicon) where on the float do you position them bottom of the stem? half way up? under the float body?

Same with the top band, how far down the float do you position it? near the tip or again half way down?

Why do you position the float rubbers where you do? what are the advantages of having them where you do? does everyone have them in the same position?

Lots of questions I know but I have noticed them indifferent positions when viewing pictures and wondered why.

 

[sam vimes]

Top rubber as far down the float tip as possible. Middle rubber just below the float body, if it has one. Half way down on a proper stick float. Bottom rubber right at the bottom of the stem, usually with a slight overhang past the end of the stem.

 

[mikench]

You should have just left it that Graham ie the title. My immediate response is 12" but it don't use it as a rule!

I cannot help you with your questions but will learn from the responses!

 

[Ray Roberts]

I usually use three. I sometimes use a short tail rubber for the bottom one as it makes for a neat streamlined fixing. The top one I vary depending on how the float is running through.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Peter Jacobs]

On most of my floats (other than wagglers obviously) I use 3 float bands,

The top one just below the tip colour, the middle one I position at the bottom of the body of the float and the tail rubber right at the end and oversized by about ¼to ½ of an inch.

I use three to keep the float from slipping, particularly on pole floats, and always use silicon tubing.

 

[thecrow]

I am intrigued as to why both Chris and Peter leave an overhang on the bottom rubber, also that from what Ray said it appears the positioning can effect the floats performance as it travels.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I am intrigued as to why both Chris and Peter leave an overhang on the bottom rubber, also that from what Ray said it appears the positioning can effect the floats performance as it travels.

My view is that by doing do it gives a "softer" exit and possibly a better bait presentation, particularly when holding back hard, than the (what I call) harder transition if it wasn't there.

It might not add much other than "confidence" but then to me that is important
.

 

[sam vimes]

It's the way I learned from the angling media when I bothered with it. I've seen suggestions that short is actually the way to go. I've even heard it said that long was just a conspiracy put about by those that sell silicone tube. However, I have tried both ways and simply prefer long. As far as I'm concerned, I find it less prone to tangles. Another benefit is that, if you damage to the rubber/silicone, if it's over long, you've got more leeway to carry on fishing without having to break down a rig and replace the rubber.

 

[barbelboi]

I tend to use this set up on sticks with a third band on the 'wire' as a spare in case one breaks.

 

[tigger]

I use three and sometimes four as in BB's pic. Regarding the bottom piece protruding beyond the end of the float...I think it makes no difference to anything whatsoever, sometimes I will use a longer piece and have it pushed all the way up the stem so it's flush with the bottom and others it might protrude a bit but as I said it serves no purpose to leave it longer...imo.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Top Middle & Bottom but

top just below the coloured tip opf the float and matching if possible Middle right up under the body of the float depending on line lenght from base of float to hook i will either use a conventional silicone bit or for longer lenghts i use one of those Tapered sleves the carpies use i was having problems at one time of the line getting knotted up around the top pof the float this seemed to cure the problem so i have just carried on works for me so cant see a point in changing .



PG ...

 

[trotter2]

Bottom rubber is supposed to hand over the end of the float to prevent tangles but it does nothing to prevent tangles .Wrap overs happen at the top of the float when the float rubber exposes the tip. Have a think about that one guys.

 

[flightliner]

I,m pretty much like most here---- top, middle and bottom.

 

[peterjg]

This thread is brilliant, I am going to print it off and keep a copy by the bed then when I can't sleep I shall read it and before you can say "float rubber" I'll be happily snoring my head off!

 

[Philip]

I'm another one who likes a slight overhang on the bottom rubber..reason I do it is because (and this will be hard to explain) ...if the float stem is poking out at the bottom and you have shot below it tight to the float I recon there is more chance it will tangle as the tip of the stem of the float does not sit flush against the shot as the shot being round will mean the stem tip sits slightly to one side of the shot and poking slightly down. basically it sits slightly askew if you see what i mean.

However if the bottom rubber overlaps the tip of the stem then the shot will sit flush to the rubber so in a sort of straighter line.

That probably make no sense & whether it actually stops tangles I am not certain but to me it looks neater so at the very least it helps confidence wise.

 

[tigger]

I'd like to know what kind'a tangles you people who say you get them are? I don't have a long protruding piece of tubing hanging from my float and don't get in any tangles so I ain't got a clue what your doing with your gear lol.
There's no way a dangling piece of tubing is gonn'a stop tangles....someone has just come up with this weird idea and it's caught on! It's weird how people just believe pure bullshine they read or hear or see some celebrity angler doing.

 

[Alan Tyler]

I've never seen the point of a middle rubber; I don't think I can recall ever getting a tangle between the float body/stem junction and the trapped line. I suppose if I fished matches I'd take the trouble, though, just one more potential b@ggerup avoided.
On the few occasions I've had a float rubber break, it's always been the top one, and that isn't the one most folks double-up. Odd.

The more it matters to you that the float should stay upright when held back against the flow, the lower should be the top rubber. I only twigged this a couple of years ago, after fifty-some years of thinking about angling; slow learner, or what?
The thing is, we don't usually think to put on a top rubber big enough to fit the belly of an Avon float, do we? What got me thinking was experimenting with little two-ring sliders for quietening the strike in shallow rivers. The obvious place to put the top ring was the base of the tip, just where we'd usually put the upper rubber, but as soon as I held back the little floats, they'd lie flat.
It all clicked when Mark Wintle showed a picture of **** Walker's slider for his roach-hunt on the river Beane - a long, slim stem with a small, slim body more or less midway along it, and the upper ring BELOW the body. The likes of Mr Walker don't usually act on a whim...

Cynic that I am, I now have a little game to play when reading in old books the section on the Nottingham slider. If the illustration shows a "production" float with the top ring above the body, then the float was made to catch anglers, and the author was a writer who fished a bit; if the ring is at the fattest part of the body, it was probably home-made by the author, to catch fish; and he was an Angler who wrote a bit. I know which deserves more attention.

 

[theartist]

The middle rubber can mean the difference between losing a good float and not, it has no other significant benefit.

Having a bottom rubber slightly hanging off does limit tangles with light floats, it only has to hang over a few mm

 

[barbelboi]

On the few occasions I've had a float rubber break, it's always been the top one, and that isn't the one most folks double-up. Odd.

The new top rubber will slide over the hook and no. 4's to the float to replace the broken one without the need to break down.

 

[thecrow]

Middle right up under the body of the float depending on line lenght from base of float to hook

Why does it make a difference what length of line is between the base of the float and the hook as to where you position your middle rubber?