For use with hook/small baits. Never used floats much before except for small strike indicators/plastic floats to cast flies/poppers using ultralite spinning gear. This year was different, fished until lakes were iced over here and had to switch to Gulp alive 1" minnows and worms when the panfish bite slowed down using artificials.
Could not find alot of info on the weight needed to balance floats so purchased a few to mess with. Did not have a chance to use all of these listed, but now that lakes are iced over, I decided to make a list of weight needed to balance these properly for a quick carry reference to save time rigging. This was done with a 5 gallon bucket but should put you in the ballpark if using the listed floats. I thought this might help someone who is new to floats and eliminate some of the guesswork. My next list will be for these floats using different weighted jig heads.
All were set up with 4lb. mono. , a #8 Truturn hook w/Gulp alive minnow and Watergremlin #B tin, or #BB lead or #3/0 lead. Small redworms/pieces of nightcrawlers should substitute OK
See pics for reference. These are small panfish floats (#6 is mid size)
1A -Thill shybite 3 1/8" fixed. 2BB splitshot Water level black line on float
1B -Thill shybite 2 1/2" fixed. 1BB splitshot Water level black line on float
1C- Thill shybite 2" fixed. 1B (Tin) splitshot Water level middle of yellow
2 -Thill mini stealth 1 3/4" fixed,slip or waggler. Water 2BB Water level white line on float (cool little float!)
3 -Thill small center slider 2 1/4" slip. 1 3/0 splitshot Water level black line on float
4 -Thill pro series 1/2" slip(unweighted) 1 3/0 splitshot Water level mid yellow on float
5- Thill 3/8 pencil float slip 1BB Water level-small amount of yellow on float showing
6-Thill pro series 3/4"slip (weighted) 1 3/0 splitshot Water level mid yellow on float
I use fixed for shallow water to 5' , slips for deeper water and ease to cast. Just my preference. Different floats used for windy conditions, water depth and how far you want to cast.