The Art of slip floating ?

The float n fly used to be a main way of fishing my micro jigs .
My rig was simple, a 1/80 or 1/100th handtied jig under a 3/4” weighted snap on round bobber .
Sometimes I’d go to a 3” weighted Mr Crappie snap on pencil float ( I think that’s what’s called ) , to get more distance.
The issue I ran into was the jig and float would tangle during the cast , even more so , the deeper I fished.
I’m thinking if I went with a slip float I could eliminate the tangle during the cast and could possibly gain more distance and the ability to fish deeper during the winter.
I’m thinking of using 4# test as my main line , with bobber stop , bobber , possibly a split shot and a tiny swivel . Then I will attach my leader of maybe 12-14” in either 3# or 2# line , then jig .
When fishing only 18-24” deep , I’ll use a shorter leader of 6-8” .
Using the lighter leader to keep from losing my whole rig in case of a hang up .
How do you guys fish a slip float ?
Am I over thinking this ?

I plan on using a 7’ UL rod with conventional guides most the time but do have a n 8’ UL glass rod and. 9’ light action Steelhead rod for when I really want to reach out there at the bigger reservoirs .

Thats basically how I do it. One difference is that I attach my lighter line leader with a barrel swivel. Thats what keeps my other stuff sliding off the line when snagged. :ThumbsUp

I tied up a rig and ran into a couple of issues but was able to fix them .
First , my head hole was too big for my bobber stop , so I just took it off because the bobber hole w is small enough as to not pass over the bobber stop .
Next , the bottom hole on the bobber slide over my swivel . I added a 4mm tungsten bead between the bobber and barrel swivel.
I searching now for the split shot I recently bought and put up , in case I need more weight to help pull the jig down .
I guess it’s going to be trial and error getting the weight right .
Hope I can get out tomorrow and try it out .
When we have nice days during winter and spring it’s usually windy and the slip float may replace my jig n snap on float rig for windy day fishing.

Slip floating can be deadly. On a stream, once you get the weight and grift right hang on. Really deadly with a wet fly.
Bob

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Originally Posted by BobC

Slip floating can be deadly. On a stream, once you get the weight and grift right hang on. Really deadly with a wet fly.
Bob

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Bob , you got me to thinking .
The little Trout Magnet floats can be rigged up as a slip float . I’m wondering what weight jig will work with them .
I’ve ordered some 1/32 worm weights to use instead of split shot .
If the TM float works with a 1/32 jig , I can use these weights with one of my micro spider flies . Should make a deadly combination.
I’ll report how it goes .

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

Bob , you got me to thinking .
The little Trout Magnet floats can be rigged up as a slip float . I’m wondering what weight jig will work with them .
I’ve ordered some 1/32 worm weights to use instead of split shot .
If the TM float works with a 1/32 jig , I can use these weights with one of my micro spider flies . Should make a deadly combination.
I’ll report how it goes .

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Yes, I would be very interested in your results with that setup. Slip float fishing really does work well.
Bob

I got to try out a couple of rigs this morning for about two hours .
I first rigged up a 5’6” St Croix Premier UL with a Daiwa Fuego LT 1000d and 4# Floroclear main line and 3# leader .
The rig was put on the line in this manner , bobber stop , small bead, Trout Magnet float , 1/32 worm sinker , small bead , then small barrrel swivel . Then I tied on a short leader about 12” .
I tried several flies and jigs and had the float go under once , but I had too much slack in my line .
This combination worked great . I was getting about the same distance that I was with the snap on bobber with 2# line .
But , I didn’t have any tangles using the slip float even when casting in the wind .
I should have gone with a lighter main line and I’ll will try 3# next trip .

BTW , a 1/32 oz sinker is max for the little trout magnet float . I added a bb split shot and it almost sank it .

I wanted to try a shorter rod because sometimes , I need the accuracy of the shorter rod over distance.

The other combo I tried was a 7’ St Croix Premier UL paired with a Daiwa Legalis LT 2000s , with the same line and float set up .
I maybe got 6-10’ more distance out of the longer rod .
It too would benefit from a lighter main line , unless I went to a larger float to handle more weight .

Using the little Trout Magnet floats , I could go straight 2# for main line and leader and if I loose the rig , they’re rather inexpensive.
Amazon has the 36 count for $8.49 Black Friday special today .

I did manage to catch one small shellcracker on a mini Trout magnet under the slip float rig to keep the skunk off .
Had one bigger one get off right at the bank .

I used a slip float this year when I wanted to fish deeper 8-10 foot water and couldn't use a fixed float. Worked ok but missed more bites than normal. Was using JDM rods with the tiny guides and could feel the stop knot tic the guides while casting and knot going through the guides affected the casting distance. Rods with bigger guides like your St.Croix rods should have no problem. Next time I'll try it with my 7' Loomis.