When I was growing up it was common to use a float in tandem with live bait when fishing. We used this combination to work banks, let our bait move naturally with the current right into the path of a waiting hungry fish. The evolution of float fishing began many years ago, but today you will see just as many anglers using floats to present artificial lures as you do live bait.
There are several reasons floats work well with any type of bait. Floats allow you to control the exact depth you are fishing, which works very well when you are targeting suspending fish. Depth control also allows you to work heavy underwater structure without getting hung up, but still gives you the ability to get your bait in front of fish that may be using that structure for cover. Another great advantage, as I mentioned earlier, is the ability to let your bait move with the natural flow of the water and being able to work eddies that form around hard structure.
There are a variety of different floats and everyone has some different opinions on what may work best. When fishing with artificial baits under a float, most anglers prefer a float that pops. By popping the float from time to time anglers believe the sound mimics feeding fish and will draw predators to your bait. These popping floats also work well because, unlike live bait, artificial baits normally require some action on your part to mimic the action of a live bait. The action you provide does not need to be constant a quick pop and then waiting allowing your bait to settle back down will normally do the trick and many times you will find the fish will hit the bait as it falls back down in the water column.
Just remember that the same techniques do not always work each time and it really depends on the weather conditions, current conditions and other factors. You may find that really ripping the float hard and working at a fast pace may work better at times, so don’t be afraid to vary your approach if what you are trying is not currently working.
Fall is a gre