The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

mazza wrote:in my opinion these floats are only like buying fancy rods or fancy reals that a lot of peaple enjoy on here its upto personal choice i only buying one for now i dont have no intension to use it i want to admire it and put it on my book shelf where i can admire it just as i would if i bought painting or sculpture or spiit cane rod or antique centre pin real

With you on that one :thumb: would be just like having a 3D picture

One thing i'm sure we can all agree on is that AF's floats are very well made.

Some people may not like the styles or extra detail he adds to each float but one thing is sure it has made every float maker sit back and look at there own work and either wish they had his skill or attempt to improve there own work.
What AF (and a few others) have done is to increase the amount of people that now make there own floats, look at this forum, the float making section has over 1200 posts about float making and i'm sure there are a fair few more hidden around other parts of this forum.
Maggotdrowners has a float making thread that runs to 36 pages, MFS has over 1200 posts in the float making section, and other sites also have a lot of float making post on them.

Not to mention the numerous float makers that have there own website, some are members on here. Look at Ebay for handmade floats and theres dozens of people selling them, some good, some bad, a few dreadfull but people are having a go.
Go back 5 years (you can on some forums) and you'll see people asking about float making but not knowing where to start and where to get materials, now its fairly easy to get both information and materials as so many seem to be having a go at making there own because of the interest that people like AF have started.

AF together with a few others have created this interest so we should be thankfull for that. I've seen the handmade pole float market go in the last 10years from 1 or 2 anglers making them to quite a little industry now, I can think of 6 pole float makers that have either helped me with good advice or supplied me with materials long before there were readily available, and a couple of them now make floats for there living, the market for handmade pole floats is so strong.

It doesnt matter if you love them or hate them, you have to admire the skill and workmanship that gone into them, i do find it amusing that some people get carried away with how they look (in both directions) when you think about it any float when being used for fishing is mostly underwater and out of sight, and you spend your time wishing the part you can see would go under as well.

Like the Brazilian whipping video I put in "Rod Building" yesterday, I can admire the skill it takes to produce the finished article but know it's just not 'understated' enough for my taste ...

... but wouldn't it be boring if we all liked the same thing ?

Yes Ashby, that video... I too admire the skill, but the end result of that rod is something more akin to Zsa Zsa Gabor's walking stick (if she owns one) than it is for a fishing rod, to my mind at least. Sometimes less is more, and on fishing floats and rods there is a fine line between when something is tasteful or garish.

The last rod I restored I did toy with the idea of a metalic silver tipping to the guide whips but, after much agonsing, I bottled it. I figured that it'd end up looking Christmas-tree-like and yes, it did. You have to try these things though.

Haydn, you can a get a metallic gunmetal thread from Gudebrod

Bling, but muted blong.


I do like the Indian inspired inkwork Andrew has been using on float panels since his trip to India...reminds me of fretwork screens.

Some time back I bought some porkie and goose quill floats from Andrew for one reason. That is to provide some benchmark for my own float making attempts. Prior to receiving Andrew's floats, I rather fancied my own creations. I still do, but I did realize that I was a million miles off the mark compared to someone like AF. What was also useful is that I could scrutinise the detail on Andrew's floats and learn from that too. So, for my own reasons, it made sense to support the man and hey, there is simply no denying it, Andrew's floats are utterly exquisite works of art. And he assured me that because they're so beautiful, they catch bigger fish! (and I of course believe him) :hahaha:

Hi

I also have drooled over the pictures on his website, but at around £20 a float if I was ever lucky enough to own one I doubt very much I would ever use it, for me they are just works of Art, nice to own and nice to put on display in a glass case, mind you same can also be said for my Centrepin which cost me more than I paid for my first car, I am just to paranoid to use it.

Paul

I would be frightened to use one, and that would be my problem. Why buy something you would not use. I use mostly basic peacock un painted or varnished. If I lose one it's nothing. A float should be like ammunition.

However I would still love to own a few if they were a present?? He is a true artist.

Ten years on and Andrew’s floats are commanding 3x their cost in 2012. A ‘Redmire’ quill, relatively simple compared to some of his work, recently made well over £100 on an auction site. They have become a bit of a phenomena that few can rationalise other than taking the view that the market has decided. We are lucky to have him & Paul Cook making such beautiful things & the stuff of dreams for some of us.

I have a wonderful set of Andrew’s floats that are to be mounted in a display frame shortly, with illustrations and design by Rob Olsen, that I shall be auctioning for a cancer charity.

Watch this space as it will be quite a unique item (I need to speak to Mark of course).