The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I have always loved the look of traditional floats. I have some from my early fishing years late 1950s and love just collecting them as well as using them.
I have over the years collected about 400 and have them stored in 5 wooden boxes. Part of the collection consists of 65 Hand made floats made over the last 3 or 4 years by Ian Lewis. Before starting collecting Ian's float I looked around for floats made by a number of other makers. I found Ian's floats
to be very good quality and at a very reasonable price. Of those 65 floats 3 are made from Raptor feathers. Each one has a certificate which is needed to prove they came from annual moults, and are required by law. 1= Peregrine Faulcon, 1= Eagle Owl and 1= Golden Eagle. All came from a live collection of Raptors when the owners contacted Ian during the first Covid lockdown, as they were not getting any visitors. Ian ran an auction for a number of sets of 3 and I bid enough to acquire a set. All Ian's floats are beautifully made.
Does anyone else like collecting these type of floats?

I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only TFFer tempted by Ian’s raptor float auction!
viewtopic.php?p=443462&hilit=Owl#p443462

I’ve been buying floats from him since I started using vintage and antique tackle. However, I recently started making my own - with encouragement and advice from others here, it seemed like the logical next step.

Phil

Hi Phil. I have made traditional floats myself and have done since I was a teenager. I am still using them today. I still have about 30 that I made myself when fishing the float, and these are the ones I usually use. Most I have made are more applicable to lake fishing. I like close range carp fishing and find that a slightly over weighted float fished just under the surface and not visible, with a single shot close to the hook and a piece of lobworm on the hook is a great and exciting way to fish. The anticipation of waiting for the float to suddenly appear on the surface is a great way of fishing. As soon as a fish picks up the bait it's game on. You have to keep an eye on the depth as if you cast to say a slightly shallower area it changes things a bit and if it's deeper where you cast you could miss a fish completely

I make my own quill floats based on the London patent style called naiads. Reminds me I have several that need to be finished off with whipping and varnish, but sadly I've lost the urge to make more.

Santiago wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:40 am I make my own quill floats based on the London patent style called naiads. Reminds me I have several that need to be finished off with whipping and varnish, but sadly I've lost the urge to make more.

That’s a shame, they are very special and appreciated.

Tengisgol wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 1:31 pm

Santiago wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:40 am I make my own quill floats based on the London patent style called naiads. Reminds me I have several that need to be finished off with whipping and varnish, but sadly I've lost the urge to make more.

That’s a shame, they are very special and appreciated.

Cheers, hopefully one day I'll get the urge to make some more.

It's good to see that people still like to make their own floats. It makes catching fish all the more enjoyable when it's done using your own products. I have two woodturning lathes and use the small one to make items like floats or making ferrule stoppers for my cane rods. And I have a large lathe for rebuilding old split cane rods.