For years and years I have fished with a 10" pole float with an 1 1/4 oz weight. I must have 30 new ones in a drawer. I have switched for popping corks using 3/8 oz weights. The popping floats that I have been using are the fixed ones if fishing in less than 3.5’ to 4’ of water and the adjustable ones if the the water is over 4’.
After going to the lighter tackle, those pole float setups seams to weight a ton.
What are you fishing with?
Also I am using a 2/0, 1/0 and 1 size hooks. Most are bronze in color. I have some read ones that worked a few years ago but seams to gotten away from them.
“bluffton style” corks are massive!
adjustable floats are almost the only way to go IMO.
i will use “popping corks” with both plastic and brass beads, mostly in the late fall when targeting trout. first reason is the clacking sound to attract trout (i do believe that works in many cases) and second would be the weight of the float allowing me to work it in the wind. i’m not a complete convert to the popping cork, especially given the price, but i’ll admit they do have their applications.
for most other fishing, (when the aforementioned two methods aren’t important to me), all i care about is suspending bait at the desired depth, so i use a styrofoam “cigar” float. usually the 3" ones, with the plastic peg in the top. great for flounder fishing among lots of other things, you can change depth in a second and peg it back onto the line. with real thin braid, sometimes the peg doesn’t hold the line very well… but the good ones also have a hole through the peg, allowing you to configure them as slip corks with a bobber stop somewhere up the line. they weight almost nothing, so a big enough split shot to stand the float up is all i use… making it very sensitive when the wind isn’t an issue.
most of my hooks are #1 and 1/0, i have been liking mutu light circles and owner SSW j hooks for inshore.
i look forward to reading other responses to your question.
Short answer: I agree with Barbawang on adjustable floats. Long answer: First I’ll admit that I’m relatively inexperience -I’ve only been inshore fishing for a couple of years and haven’t developed an intuitive sense of what set-up is appropriate for a particular setting or tide. Inexperience requires flexibility but also allows for a bit more creativity rather than simply doing something because that’s how it was taught to you or just “how it’s done”. For what it’s worth, this is what I’ve arrived at: I have 2 casting rods, one with a jighead and one a weighted worm hook. However, my “still fishing” rods all leave the dock set up the same, 6 feet of flouro or mono leader to a 2/0 circle. That’s it. I have a tray of slip on floats and various weights of twist on Water Gremlin sinkers. You can set up 3-4 rods with any combination of float rigs or “carolina rigs”. Like Barbawang mentioned, you can adjust the floats for depth or add/remove weight below the float (although I think the split shot he recommended damages the line more than Gremlins). You can change the weight of bottom rigs by adding a Gremlin or leader length by sliding the weight up or down the line. You can go from a float rig to bottom to freeline in seconds. To make those changes to a traditional float or Carolina rig - or replacing after a break off- is alot of tying. It’s quicker and easier to just tie on a hook or simply grab another rod and slap on/off a float/sinker. Barbawang said he alsmost always uses adjustable floats except when he wants rattles or weights. With all due respect, the adjustables are available with internal beads and/or weights. As for slipping on braid, they hold well on 20# leader -one of the reasons for a 6’ or so leader (plus only have to re-tie a hook and still have 4’ or so of adjusability after a break off or 2 at the hook). All my inexperienced 2 cents but it’s worked for me and I’ll be happy if it helps anyone in some way.