Well, yes and no John. If you look at the classics such as wagglers, antennas, stick floats and Avons, they are all built to patterns that have proved effective for generations. The discussions between match anglers about the ratio of stem to balsa and the degree they went to to make their own one's perfect filled countless pages of fishing magazines in the 70s.John Milford wrote: ↑Thu Jul 27, 2023 4:05 pmI agree they do not meet your former criteria Dave, but surely they meet the latter?Dave Burr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 27, 2023 3:52 pm Theoretically, floats can be made of any buoyant materials but one does have one's standards. Even as a youngster, when I found celluloid floats by the water or rescued them from the bushes, I disliked them and would leave them as a last-chance option. I see no problem in collecting them though, us fella's will collect almost anything but using them, no thank you. Floats should be beautiful or extremely practical.
Seeing some of the shapes and designs, I feel ingenuity figures too.
Antennae floats need a balance between the size of the body and the length of the stem, the width of the stem is also crucial to give bite indication, depending on the style of fishing.
Avon floats again are all about balance which depends on the rate of flow you want to fish. Wagglers, well I guess they are the simplest but, all nearly of the celluloid ones are unnecessarily broad.
I don't want to sound high-handed or aloof John, I just don't think that celluloid brings much to the party other than a sort of robustness. I have never seen a top angler (very broad term but I don't want to be too specific) using them. I am nothing more than competent at float fishing and, as I previously said, would never willingly use them. Having said that, some people use Mitchell 300s and fibreglass rods, there's no law against it and you can do what you want within reason. It's right that somebody should retain collections of all facets of our lives and hobbies and your collection is impressive.