Often, fishermen prefer to make floats with their own hands rather than buy these fishing devices in stores.

And this is not at all surprising, since the use of homemade floats is beneficial for two simple reasons:

You save personal money; Based on your personal fishing considerations and needs, you can get a float of almost any shape, color, or design. Next we will talk about the manufacture of several types of floats.

During the work you may need some tools and a number of different materials.

Tools:

• Vise;
• Pliers;
• Drill;
• Calipers;
• Chisel.

Materials:

• A piece of foam;
• Goose feather;
• Bottle stopper;
• Plastic tube;
• Wire of different sections.

Also bring epoxy glue, a few pieces of sandpaper, and quality, waterproof paints.

Store floats

Foam floats are characterized by a high level of sensitivity. The most common are homemade spherical models, drop-shaped or olive-shaped floats.

To begin with, small square or rectangular blanks are cut out of a piece of foam plastic. Next, using a sharp utility knife, the float is given the desired shape and cleaned with sandpaper. Instead of a knife, you can use a drill with an appropriate attachment.

After cleaning the float from dust, we paint its body in the desired color or combination of colors. When the paint has dried, coat the foam float with varnish and again give the workpiece time to dry. Next, drill a small longitudinal hole in the center of the workpiece and insert a core (feather or wood) into it. Core length can reach 6-7 cm, thickness on average is 1-1.5 mm. You can also slightly change the design by gluing a thin feather element only into the upper part, and in the lower part making a small loop for fishing line from thin wire.

Instead of wire, you can use an eye from a hook. Most often, a single sinker is used in the tackle, when using it, only part of the float rod is visible to the fisherman. Foam floats are quite sensitive, so they will notify the fisherman even of weak bites. For the float to operate effectively, it requires fishing line with a thickness of up to 0.16 mm.

Most fishermen are also well aware of goose floats, which are distinguished by their excellent performance on the wave, good sensitivity and ease of manufacture. To make a float of this type, no complicated procedures are required. The only delicate point is removing the awn from a goose feather, since it is important not to damage its integrity. If everything went well, cut off the thinner part of the feather diagonally and bend it into a loop.

We insert a wire ring and a tongue from below, wrap it to the rod and coat it with varnish. The upper part is painted in the desired color if necessary.

According to the manufacturing scheme, this float is similar to the previous one. However, it must be remembered that the cork material is porous and gradually becomes heavier when in water. In this regard, all large holes in the workpiece must be closed using waterproof putty or alternative means. After this the float processed with sandpaper, degreased and painted. A rod with a loop is inserted into the longitudinal hole made. At the end of the loop, an eyelet from a large hook is put on.

Such a float is fixed using a tube that is put on a fishing line. It is shipped with 2-3 weights to approximately half the rod of the upper part of the float body.

Floats of this type are also highly sensitive and durable. The manufacturing process is simple. You will need a regular plastic tube that can be used as a holder for flags, balloons or cotton candy.

Take the tube and shorten it to the desired length. Next, you need to seal the edges to prevent water from getting inside. Using a lighter or a regular candle, heat the tube around the edges. When the plastic softens and swells a little, twist the heated end of the tube into a kind of pigtail. Next, we wait until the heated parts cool down and a reliable seal is obtained.

Once again, slightly heat one of the edges of the tube, after which you need to flatten it using pliers to make a small hole. This hole is needed for a thin wire on which the nipple will be put on and the fishing line will be threaded. All that remains is to trim off the excess, clean and paint the surface of the float. In just an hour you can make a whole set of sensitive and reliable floats of different colors without spending money in stores.

DIY float (video)

Related articles:

Choosing a coil for a feeder	Shimano feeders review
Do-it-yourself bait	Preparing makushatnik	Fishing on flat feeders
	Review of hooks for feeder fishing	How to choose a feeder rod

	DIY fishing crafts
	Review of the best balancers for ice fishing
	Fishing with jigs: varieties, gear, fishing techniques
	Types of fish finder echo sounders for fishing
	Review of aluminum fishing boats
	How to choose a spinning reel?
	Electric motors for inflatable boats (review)
	Aluminum fishing boats
	Which coil to choose for a feeder - overview of characteristics

The float is an important component of fishing equipment. In specialized fishing stores you can find a great variety of floats of various shapes and colors. However, many fishing enthusiasts prefer to use a home-made float instead of a ready-made float. It is quite easy to make a product of the required size and desired shade yourself from available materials. In addition, this method will help save money.

For a homemade float you may need the following tools:

• Sharp knife;
• Awl;
• Sandpaper (both fine and coarse);
• Tape measure or caliper;
• Electric drill;
• Vise;
• Chisel.

You can make a float with your own hands from various materials. Perfect for this:

• waterfowl feathers;
• bottle cap;
• plastic tube;
• wire of different sections for forming loops and rings;
• tree;
• rigid foam.

Toothpicks, waterproof paints and epoxy glue will help you process the float blank as necessary.

Each of these materials has its own buoyancy characteristics. The choice of a suitable option for the manufacture of this product depends on the characteristics of the type of fish and the reservoir in which it is planned to be caught. When selecting a material suitable for making a homemade float, it is necessary to take into account some nuances:

1. A light float weighing 0.2 - 0.8 g is used for catching fish close to the shore. Such a float reacts well even to minor bites and is quite suitable for catching crucian carp, rudd or roach.
2. The float, weighing 0.8 - 2.5 g, is used for catching fish in difficult conditions on the current. Such a float allows you to cast gear at 20-30 meters, which is very favorable for catching large fish: carp, bream, chub, silver carp or crucian carp of impressive size.
3. A heavy volumetric float weighing from 3 to 10 g is used to cast gear over a distance of at least 50 m, which allows you to catch a large catfish or carp. Floats of this size are clearly visible even at an impressive distance.

When making any float, it is necessary to load it correctly, then the fisherman will be able to see even the slightest bite.

Features of making a foam float

The desired shape of the float should be cut from the workpiece with a sharp knife. The length of the product should be 50-70 mm, and the thickness - 10-20 mm. In the center along the axis, you should then insert a toothpick to 2/3 of the depth. Its outer part must be secured in a chuck firmly fixed in the vice of an electric drill.

Then, using high rotation speeds, using sandpaper or a file fed to the workpiece, you can make a float of the required shape by adjusting the angle of the tool with an abrasive coating.

After this, you should remove the toothpick from the workpiece, make a hole of the required diameter and insert a feather or plastic antenna, after which the connection must be secured with waterproof glue.

How to make a feather float

Such a float, due to the peculiarities of its shape, is considered the most sensitive and responds well to even the lightest touch of a fish on the bait.

The feather shaft must be carefully cleaned of fluff, without damaging its impenetrability in the process. To do this, you can use a knife or clean it with fine sandpaper.

Then, at the bottom of the keel, to attach the fishing line to the thin part, you need to put on a rubber ring, which can be cut from a 5 mm nipple.

After this, the resulting workpiece can be painted with waterproof paint. For this, two colors are usually used: black and red or black in combination with orange.

How to make a float out of wood

Wooden floats have excellent sensitivity and good balancing. Such a float can be made from light and durable balsa.

A bar suitable for these purposes must have the same density along its entire length, a good option: 0.1-0.12 g/cm. cube Additionally, you need to take steel wire with a diameter of 0.5-0.7 mm and carbon fiber rods 1 m long and 1 mm thick.

To make the body of the float, you should separate a piece of the block and give it an oval shape. It is recommended to clean sharp edges with sandpaper.

Then you need to make holes for the antenna and keel, which should go 1/3 of the length of the float body. This is best done with a drill. Holding the barrel in a vice, drill a hole with a diameter of 0.1-0.2 mm, insert a keel coated with glue inside and leave for half an hour. After this, you need to drill a hole for the antenna on the other side. Then the antenna (it can be made from a kebab stick) should be greased with glue, inserted into the resulting hole and left for another half hour.

It is also necessary to make a hole in the body of the float for a ring, through which the fishing line will subsequently be pulled. To do this, use a thin drill to drill a hole 0.5 cm, make rings out of thin wire, dip them in glue and insert them into the resulting hole.

Next you can start priming and painting. After priming with an alcohol solution (nitro varnish diluted with acetone is usually used), the product must be thoroughly dried. You can then give the float the desired shade. It is recommended to apply the paint evenly over the entire surface of the float, otherwise its carrying capacity when in contact with water will change significantly, which will not have the best effect on the functionality of the equipment.

A balsa float is quite simple to manufacture and has a long service life. It can be used for any type of fishing.

We'll tell you how to make a float with your own hands at home without making much effort with the help of our article.

The homemade float is a success and is often used by fishermen. After all, it is made with soul, for various types of fish and from inexpensive, improvised materials. This article will tell you how to make a float quickly so that it pleases you, is noticeable and convenient when fishing.

A good quality float should be made from materials that easily float on the surface of the water. The most accessible and sensitive materials:

• Bird feather (duck, goose, swan)
• Plastic tube (cotton candy, flag, balloon)
• Styrofoam
• Small traffic jam

Before you make a float, you need to decide what kind of fish it will be designed for. For small crucian carp or rudd, floats made from a plastic tube or bird feather are a good option. And for predators such as perch or pike, a cork or foam float is more suitable. Such floats hold bait well and prevent it from tangling the fishing line. Therefore, powerful bites are always noticeable.

Considered the most sensitive bird feather float, thanks to its keel-like shape, it responds well even to light pushing of the bait by fish. This makes it possible to make a successful hook. In addition, it is easy to make, or rather nature itself made it, and you only need to improve it a little. Let's move on to the lesson on how to make a float from a bird feather.

1. We carefully clean the rod from fluff so as not to damage its water resistance. You can cut it with a knife and clean it with fine sandpaper or scorch it with the flame of a lighter or match.
2. To attach the fishing line, you need to put a rubber ring on the thin part at the bottom of the keel. It can be cut from a 5mm long nipple.
3. For better visibility on the water, our invention needs to be painted. To do this, use waterproof or regular paint, which it is advisable to varnish. But the best option is to borrow nail polish of a suitable color from your wife or daughter and cover the float. Usually two colors are applied, one part black, the other red or bright orange.
4. We stretch the fishing line, attach the weight and our float is ready.

P melt made from plastic tube, It is not inferior in sensitivity to a pen, but is more durable, has a proportional, attractive appearance. The manufacturing process is simple:

1. Measure the required length and cut it.
2. The edges of the tube must be sealed to prevent water from getting into it. To do this, heat one end of the tube at a distance of 5 mm from the edge, with a candle fire or a lighter, until the material softens.
3. As soon as a kind of bubble appears, twist the tube into a pigtail. After cooling, the seal is ensured. We perform the same procedure on the opposite side of the tube.
4. Then we take any edge and heat it again and flatten it with pliers.
5. We make a hole for the lock; a nipple will be put on it, through which the fishing line is pulled.
6. We cut off all the excess ends and paint the float.

P it's time to tell you how to do it float made of small cork or foam. Let's combine these two materials into one section, since their manufacturing principle is the same.

1. We cut out a blank from a wine cork or polystyrene foam and use a sanding machine with an emery attachment to give it a smooth look.
2. We make a through hole and insert an ampoule from a pen, a lollipop stick, a plastic tube or something similar through it. There is no need to seal the edges of the rod, since the buoyancy is provided by the foam itself or the cork.
3. We put a nipple on the stick and paint our float
4. Once completely dry, it is ready for fishing.

As you can see, making homemade floats is not at all difficult. Of course, the first copy may not turn out perfect right away, but you will be able to make the next one much faster and look attractive. The big advantage of such floats is that they can be made in large quantities in a short period of time.

Winter this year turned out to be warm, to the great regret of ice fishing lovers. In addition, the new year has already passed, which means spring is not far away. It makes sense to prepare for float fishing.

In this article, we'll look at simple ways to make cool floats.

Let's start with probably the most ancient, classic and many-loved technology, making goose feather floats! It was on these floats that our grandfathers and fathers caught fish, and some of us have probably already experienced this miracle of technology.

Fishing with such a float is much more interesting than with store-bought ones; it’s a completely different psychological mood. It’s one thing to stare for hours at a plastic pin sticking out of the water, and another thing if it’s a goose feather, painted and made by hand. The feather float is very sensitive, it shudders at the slightest touch of the fish, as it is thin, long and has low bite resistance. In addition, when you cast a fishing rod, the slave is not afraid of the sound of the float falling on the water, plus the fish perceives this float as something natural.

Materials and tools for making a goose feather float:
- goose feathers (large, from the wings);
- scissors;
- blade;
- cambrics or rubber band from the nipple;
- varnish or paint (waterproof);
- sandpaper.

The process of making a feather float:

Step one. Cutting off excess plumage
To make the float, you will only need the central part of the feather, so you can immediately cut off all the “fluff” with scissors or a blade. Do not rip it off as this risks damaging the air chamber.

The pen shaft consists of two parts, a white part and also a chamber. Due to the chamber, the float floats, since there is air in it. When making a float, try not to damage the chamber, as water will fill into the float and it will sink.

Cut the float to the required length, only cut off the white part!

Step two. Float processing
When you cut off the fluff, sand the central part with fine sandpaper so that nothing sticks out. You can also carefully burn the remaining parts.

Step three. Float mount
To secure the float to the fishing line, it is enough to cut two rings from a nipple elastic band or from another suitable one. We put the rings on the fishing line and insert the float.

Some hobbyists also make a hinged mount, which can be made from thin copper wire.

Step four. Protection and painting
If desired, you can paint the float any color. Although white is already clearly visible, this is especially true in the evening. It is enough just to apply a couple of strips of contrasting paint so that you can see the degree of immersion of the float when biting.

It is important to take care to protect the float from water. With prolonged use, the float will sooner or later begin to absorb water if no measures are taken. It is advisable to paint or varnish the entire float. You can also coat it with epoxy glue; this will generally be a strong and durable coating.

That's all, the feather float is ready, now let's look at how to make a foam float!

The float is made from foam plastic a little more complicated, but it turns out to be more massive, such tackle can be thrown further and catch larger fish. These floats also look quite interesting. You can use wine corks as the starting material. By the way, goose feather floats are sometimes combined with foam plastic.

Materials and tools for making foam floats:

Hacksaw;
- stationery knife;
- Styrofoam;
- round nose pliers;
- drill;
- sandpaper;
- wooden skewers;
- Super glue;
- baby powder and emulsion;
- paint and varnish;
- wire or thin spring.

Float manufacturing process:

Step one. Cutting the required pieces of foam
Decide on the size of the float and use a hacksaw to cut the pieces to the required size.

Step two. Drilling holes
Holes need to be drilled along the workpieces. Their diameter should be such that wooden skewers can fit into them. The skewers should go in with some effort. You can buy them in a store that sells various things for the kitchen.

Step three. Rough forming
Now take a utility knife and roughly cut out the profile of the future float.

Step four. Insert and fasten the skewers
Carefully insert the skewers into the previously drilled holes. When inserted, take second glue and drip it into the places where the skewers enter the holes. The glue is liquid, it will fit into the gap and securely fix the skewer.

Step five. Grinding
Once the glue has dried, the fun part comes - sanding. In this case, the float receives its finished look and is practically no different in quality from the store-bought one. We clamp the end of the skewer into the drill chuck, turn it on and carefully use sandpaper to form the float profile.

You will need to process not only the foam part, but also the wooden skewer.

Step six. Preparing for painting
Before painting, the author rubs baby powder into the foam, for what purpose, I personally don’t understand. Then the float is dipped into a jar of emulsion paint, which is diluted with water. Wait until the whole thing is completely dry.

Step seven. Painting
What color to paint the float is up to everyone to decide for themselves. The author paints the lower part of the float, which will be under water, light brown. Simply dip the float into the paint to the desired level.

As for the mast, it can also be painted. The author here alternates three colors, yellow, blue and white.

If you want to put stripes on the float, this will allow you to clearly see the degree of immersion, clamp the float back into the drill chuck and turn it on at low speed. Using a thin brush, apply paint in the right places and you will get excellent, even rings.

When the paint is completely dry, be sure to apply a layer of varnish on top. It will protect the paint and also prevent the wooden skewer from absorbing water. With varnish, the float will last much longer and retain its original appearance.

Step eight. Fastener
The varnish should dry within 24 hours, after which you can begin making the fastener. Thanks to it, the float can be hung on a fishing line. You will need to secure the ring at the bottom of the float on a skewer; for this purpose the author uses a small steel spring. We make a loop at the end, cut it to the desired length and put it on a skewer.

Buy at good discounts for personal use and as a gift to friends and acquaintances.

Buy quality products at affordable prices at. Give gifts to yourself and your loved ones!

Subscribe to us on Facebook, Youtube, Vkontakte and Instagram. Stay up to date with the latest site news.

How to make a float from a wine cork?

This article discusses two options for making wine cork floats. One of the simplest and most affordable options for making floats from Chupa Chups. The second, more complex, is made from a barbecue tube.

Making a float from a Chupa Chups stick

The body of the float will be a wine cork. We will also need a Chupa Chups candy stick. Take any wine cork and cut it in half.

We make a hole inside the cork using a drill with a suitable drill or self-tapping screw so that the tube fits inside with force. We insert it halfway along with a piece of fishing line:

There is a slot on the tube. When we thread the float onto the main line, it is necessary that this hole is located at the bottom of the float. We will insert the lower part of the fishing line into it. As a result, it will fit tightly to the tube and you will get this situation:

This float can be used when fishing in waves and in calm places. It is well suited for fishing from a boat. You can use a longer tube and a whole stopper. Then we will get a more stable, but less sensitive float. Or vice versa, cut off only a third of the cork and thread it onto a shorter tube. This way we will get a lighter and more sensitive float.

Sliding float made of cork and kebab sticks

Let's make a more complex float. For this we will use a kebab stick of this type:

Then we thread the stick through the cork and see how tightly it fits to it:

After this, remove the cork and cut off the sides.

Our task is to obtain a neat oval workpiece with an elongated body. To do this, we cut off the sides and sand each side evenly with medium-grit sandpaper:

The work is not as tedious as it might seem. Cork lends itself well to processing. This is not a tree that takes a long time to clear. Within 10 minutes we will get this neat barrel for the float:

We thread it onto a stick and see how the elements will harmonize with each other. Against this background, we see how well the barrel turned out.

Next, you need to coat the lower part of the float with transparent and water-repellent wood glue, onto which we will then stretch the barrel. Then we coat the entire barrel to protect it in the future from moisture and water getting inside:

The antenna can be lubricated with varnish, which will protect it from water while fishing. After this, we make a hole in the stick on the side where the barrel is attached. To do this, take a drill and a drill bit 1 mm thick. We drill strictly in the center.

In this hole we place a pre-made ring and 0.8 mm thick wire.

First we coat it with glue and insert it into the hole. It should look like this.

The ring can be attached in another way - using threads. You need to attach it to the stick and make turns over the entire surface, and then coat this place with glue.

The top of the antenna can be painted with acrylic paint or a marker. As a result, we get a sliding float like this:

Don’t forget that the float should be immersed so that only the painted part is visible from the water.